The Amazon of Voltron
by Mitzuki118
Summary: "Are you an Amazon?" Lance leaned back a little. Hadn't this guy ever heard of personal space? Jeez. "Yes?" Keith reeled back, a smile so wide on his face that it had to hurt, "Holy crap! Holy shit! You're an Amazon! I've met an Amazon!" "Language," she lightly scolded him. Figures that the guy who fell from the sky in a giant red robot lion would be a fanboy
1. Chapter 1

"We are the Amazons, killers of men. Only the feeble-headed try their luck with us."  
― **Anne Fortier** , **The Lost Sisterhood**

Chapter 1

Lance McLain gathered her short brown locks unto a small ponytail before she looked both ways to see if anyone had followed her. The streets were empty of her guards, only a few women were still out buying food from the market place and Lance let out a relieved sigh.

Good.

She'd lost her guards then. Her mother would be furious with her but twenty-four hour watch on her was grating on her nerves. Sometimes being a princess sucked. She was just lucky her mother actually allowed her to be trained with the other women, otherwise she'd go crazy with all the meetings that she had to sit through with her mother on a daily basis.

She was supposed to attend another meeting with her mother in another ten minutes to discuss the matters of the recent Galra attack that had occurred just a few days ago but she was just so tired of the non-stop arguing. The meeting would go on for quite a while anyway. Most of the women wanted to retaliate but her mother, the queen, would argue that they should leave the Galra Empire alone.

Lance snorted as she started making her way out of the market place to take the path that led to the forest, which would take her to her secret cave by the ocean. The attack hadn't lasted very long; she and the rest of the Amazonians had taken down the small fleet of Galra in a matter of minutes. Lance was honestly disappointed, she'd only had to punch them once and they would go down.

Once they'd taken them captive they began the interrogation. According to one of the captive men, they had been ordered to make the Amazonians declare their allegiance to Lord Zarkon or face death.

It hadn't been the first time the Galra had attacked their small planet Cloyetera. The planet was small and was inhabited by women only so the Galra had assumed they could easily overtake them. They were wrong.

The first time they'd appeared, they'd only sent about five Galra in battle cruisers to make them submit. They managed to set one of their temples on fire before the she and the rest of the Amazonians were on them. The Galra had not survived the battle.

The second time the Galra had attacked, they'd come with masked people wearing long brown robes that concealed most of their bodies and could use their quintessence to strike. Those had been tricky, they had the ability to teleport and they moved fast.

The battle lasted a little longer than the first fight but in the end the Amazonians had been victorious. Lance smiled at the shocked expressions the Druids and the Galra had shown when the Amazonians had summoned lightning bolts from their hands to strike back. Everyone always looked down on them because they were women but seeing their shocked expressions when an Amazonian beat them always brought a smile to her face.

The attack from a few days ago had been the sixth time the Galra attacked; she could very well understand why most of the women there wanted to retaliate but she also knew that there weren't many Amazonians to take on the Galra Empire by themselves. Thus, it only brought more arguing during the council meetings.

Lance glanced at the tallest building in the center of the city where one of the screes was displaying the recent attack from the Galra with a warning at the bottom informing everyone to be on their toes in case of another attack.

The other screens attached to smaller buildings were displaying news from other planets on how they were faring against the Galra to news from Cloyetera where they were having a sale on face cream.

Lance stopped paying attention to the news and started making her way through the marketplace. She mindlessly pulled her ponytail to cover the half of her face in an attempt to conceal her identity and picked up her pace.

One of the Amazonians glanced her way when she passed and furrowed her delicate blond eyebrows at her.

Cesti, she recalled. The woman may look delicate with her baby face and rosy cheeks but she knew how to throw a punch. Lance knew, she'd been on the receiving end of them more times than she could count. Not only that but just like the rest of the Amazonians, she was almost seven feet tall.

Lance was only 5'4 (probably inherited from her father) but she used her small size to her advantage and was landing more punches than receiving them lately.

Cesti glanced around Lance and frowned when she noticed she was alone. As the blond Amazonian began to open her mouth (probably to ask her about her missing guards) Lance put a finger to her mouth and Cesti hesitated.

Lance put her hands as if in prayer and sent her a pleading look. Cesti narrowed her green eyes at her and Lance pulled out the big guns a.k.a the puppy eyes and Cesti's eye twitched before she finally _finally_ let out a sigh of defeat and made a shooing motion for her to go.

Lance's blue eyes gleaned and she smiled before she dashed away and entered the forest.

* * *

The way to her secret cave was a bit of a trek, but she'd been using this path since she was ten and knew it like the back of her hand. Normally she would take Nyx, her griffin, along with her but the poor thing was probably too tired after the Galra attack from a few days ago.

Oh well. Perhaps she'll ask one of the Mer to give her a few fish for Nyx later.

Speaking of the Mer…they would probably be attending the meeting through live stream since they couldn't leave their underwater city deep in the ocean. This was their planet too; they would want to discuss what to do about the Galra as well.

Up ahead she could see the firebirds flying along and chirping to each other. A mild breeze kissed her face and she knew she was close.

Lance left behind the rolling green land surrounded in high trees and emerged upon the sandy path leading to the ocean. She took a few steps forward before spreading her arms wide and breathing in deep.

She always loved the smell of the ocean, it reminded her of her time back on earth in Cuba at the Verdugo beach where she had spent some time with her father and five brothers. Thinking about her other family back on earth always made her melancholy.

According to her mom, she had crashed on earth more than forty years ago before her father found her and nursed her back to health. Her mother had been suspicious of him, she didn't trust males, but he won her heart with all his little jokes and sarcastic attitude.

Back then her mother hadn't been queen yet and so she remained on earth for at least ten years and gave birth to five beautiful boys and one girl before she finally repaired her ship and was ordered to come back home.

Lance only spent two years on Earth before her mother decided to go back home. Since no males were allowed back on Cloyetera, Lance and her mother had been forced to leave the rest of their family on Earth.

They did visit every few years though but she still missed them terribly.

From then on, Lance was put to train with the rest of the Amazonians, and even though she was half human she was by far the strongest among them. Sure she was the smallest among the rest but she had inherited all of her mothers powers along with a few of her own.

She could easily breath underwater, she had telekinesis, she could summon lightning from her fingertips and she had the ability to heal. Training with the Amazons had sharpened her shooting and combat skills as well so she was pretty bad as if she said so herself.

Finally reaching her cave, she turned back before pushing a few leaves to block the entrance and made her way inside. With a wave of her hand she turned on the light and gazed at her secret hideout.

The cave only consisted of a small bed, a red couch, her tablet and a few snack bars in case she got hungry. With nothing better to do, Lance made her way over to the bed, took of her boots and promptly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

She awoke with a jolt hours later to a feeling of wrongness and hurriedly made her way out the cave before she let out a curse. The sun was already gone and the moon was out; her mother was going to be pissed.

She'd left late in the afternoon everyone must be sleeping by now. Yup, her mom was going to be pissed.

Oh quiznack.

A flashing light caught her attention from the corner of her eye and she whipped her head upwards to see something falling from the sky. Lance narrowed her blue eyes; was it another Galra ship?

No…Galra battle cruisers were usually black and purple. This seemed different.

Lance squinted her eyes as the thing began to fall faster; was that…a lion?

As the unidentified object got closer, Lance could finally see the thing clearly. It _was_ a lion. A giant red robot lion, but a lion nonetheless. As the giant robot crashed in the center of the ocean she was knocked off her feet from the sheer force of it.

Lance quickly shot to her feet and at the sight of the red lion beginning to sink, her instincts kicked in and before she knew it she had dived in to the freezing ocean and hurriedly made her way to the robot to see if anyone needed help.

Lance focused her mind and stilled the red lion from sinking as she made her way to the lion's mouth. She had to be quick; this thing was too big for her to keep still for a period of time.

"Hello?" she yelled as she banged the red lions head. "Anyone in there?"

No answer.

She could swear the red lion was watching her though. Freaky.

"Hello?" she tried again.

For a while there was absolute silence, but then she heard the low moan of pain and she smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of there okay? Just hold on!"

Lance put a foot on the lions mouth and lifted herself up, she was pretty sure that the door was around here somewhere.

"Come on, open up! Where's that darn door?"

The lion began to start sinking again and Lance forced her mind to focus on keeping it still, she was dimly aware of the beat of sweat running down her cheek at the sheer concentration it was taking her to keep the lion from sinking. If she could just find that door…

As if sensing her thoughts, the red lions lit up and started to extend its mouth until a door finally opened and she let out a relieved smile.

Glancing up at the lion, she shouted her thanks and dove right in to the cockpit. She could have sworn she heard the thing purr in her mind but she was probably just imagining things.

The lights were on, but dim. Probably running on backup power. It was when Lance was scanning the small compartment that she noticed the slouched figure. The pilot was slumped in the pilot's chair and Lance quickly made her way over.

Upon closer inspection she noticed that the pilot was wearing a white and red armor, the helmet was cracked and one of the hands was bended at a weird angle. Probably broken she surmised. Lance slid between the pilot seat and the side console before she lightly crouched and placed her hands on either side of the pilots face to peer closer at the face underneath the helmet.

A second later her eyes widened. The pilot…was a _male._

Males weren't allowed in Cloyetera! Lance bit her lip and peered closer.

Black hair that she was pretty sure was a mullet. She'd seen it on TV back on earth. He had fairly thick eyebrows, and uneven-cut bangs that were swept to the left of his face. If it weren't for the blood dripping from his temple and the split lip and forming bruise on his cheek, Lance would say he was attractive.

She blinked.

Okay, whom was she kidding? The guy was damn handsome but this was no time to be ogling him, she had to get him out of here and hide him from the rest of the Amazons or they'd probably try to kill him.

Decision made, Lance began to unstrap him before slumping him over her shoulder. With that done she quickly made her way outside, her blue eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of the Amazons. With any luck, the rest hadn't noticed the red lions fall.

Satisfied that no one was around, Lance let go of her hold of the red lion so she could hover over to her cave. She looked back once at the sinking red lion and frowned.

"Sorry, I'll get you out later. I need to take care of this guy first."

She didn't know why she was speaking to a robot but felt like she needed to say the words. There was another bout of purring in her head and she whipped her head back once more to the red lion but it had already sunk.

Frowning, she reached her cave and started making her way inside before she gently placed the male on her bed. With a wave of her hands the lights turned on and she turned back to the injured guy. For a minute she just stared at him in hesitation before nodding to herself.

She could do this. All she had to do was heal his injuries.

Letting out a loose breath, Lance brought her hands up and hovered them on the guy's head before slowly making a descent down to his toes.

Okay, the guy definitely had a concussion, a broken hand, three cracked ribs and some slight internal bleeding. Not too bad.

She tightened her ponytail once more before placing her caramel colored skinned hands over his chest and concentrated. A green light emerged from her hands as she focused on healing the worst of the injuries first.

Satisfied that the internal bleeding was taken care of, Lance took another deep breath and focused on the rest of the injuries.

Twenty minutes later she put her aching hands down and wiped at her brow. Done. It looked like the guy was going to make it after all.

Lance slowly got to her feet before placing her hands on the guys helmet before she slowly pried it off.

Oh.

She blinked.

Now that male was no longer in immediate danger, she found that she actually had time to admire him. He was certainly handsome she thought wryly.

Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, she pulled his bangs out of his face and gazed down at her work. His split lip was no longer split, his broken arm was no longer broken, the bruise on his cheek was gone and she had wiped away the blood from his temple.

She'd done a good job if she said so herself.

Another thing she noticed about him was that he was human. He certainly smelled human, but there was another scent to him that she couldn't quite catch.

She shrugged.

Now all she had to do was wait for him to wake up before she could send him on his way.

But first…she made a face at the bloodied armor the guy was wearing and decided that she didn't want her bed any more bloodied than it already was and so she began to slowly remove his armor until he was left in only a black t-shirt and black pants.

There. Much better.

Lance got to her feet and immediately held on to the couch next to her before she could fall on her face.

Woah.

Maybe she'd used more power than she thought. Her stomach suddenly let out a growl and she frowned.

"Guess I'm hungry," she mumbled quietly as she made her way to one of the granola bars that were stashed somewhere in this room.

A quiet moan caught her attention and she immediately ran back to the male in her bed and hovered anxiously over his face as he started to come to.

Blue-grey eyes met her own before the guys eyes widened in alarm and he threw a wild punch, which she easily caught.

"W-what?" the male stuttered as he looked around in alarm, "W-where the hell am I?" he threw another punch in her direction and she caught his punch again before he narrowed his eyes at her in anger, "Who the hell are you?!"

Lance tilted her head. "Your savior."


	2. Chapter 2

"Life would be tragic if it weren't funny."

-Stephen Hawking

Chapter 2

Alarms blared in the Red Lions cockpit but neither he nor Red was paying attention. Both of them had their eyes set on that Galra bastard to notice anything else.

Zarkon was right there!

If he could kill that bastard now, he could end the war and all of this would be over.

He couldn't let this opportunity pass!

A flurry of voices was echoing from the speakers, probably his teammates, but it all sounded like jumbled words that were more distracting than anything.

Keith was too angry to stop his attacks and Reds own fury only encouraged him more.

Together they fired beam after beam from their mounted gun at Zarkon only to curse as that blasted shield that surrounded the Galra ruler deflected every attack they fired.

Keith slammed his fist in anger.

If they could just get rid of that shield…

"Keith!" a voice snapped at him and Keith blinked as Shiro's face appeared on the corner of the screen. "Fall back! I've rescued the princess and taken her back to the castle. We have to go!"

Keith stared at his long time friend in shock and shook his head in frustration. "Zarkon is right there Shiro! We can take him out!"

Shiro narrowed his eyes at him and ran a hand through his short white bangs making the scar across the bridge of his nose more prominent, "There's too many of them Keith! We only have three lions out there and I'm not much help in this battle cruiser that I stole. We have to fall back!"

"But Shiro-"

"Hey guys?" Pidge said, her image appearing on the right corner of his screen, "We could use some help over here!"

Hunk's face appeared below Pidge's face on his screen, his orange strip of cloth tied around his head falling down his face, he looked nervous, "Guys! There's too many of them!" he pulled at his black hair in fear, "What do we do?!"

"Paladins! Get back to the castle!" the princess commanded. "Keith, I need you to pick up Shiro's ship, it sustained some damage!"

Keith grunted but changed coarse and steered Red in Shiro's location, "On it!"

Pidge pushed up her glasses making her brown eyes more visible, "Hunk and I will cover you guys!"

"Thanks!"

Keith passed battle cruiser after battle cruiser until he had a clear path to Shiro. Hunk and Pidge covering him as he made Red grab the smoking ship in her paws before starting to make his way back to the ship.

"I've got Shiro guys!"

Two cheers accompanied his statement and he grinned.

"Everyone, return to the castle." Shiro said, "Coran get ready to put down those shields, we're coming your way!

Coran's chipper voice answered them back, "Already on it!

"We're all ready here," the princess responded. "As soon as you all get inside, I'll wormhole us out of here!"

Something suddenly slammed into him and Keith let out a shout as he slammed his head on the console. He was dimly aware of Shiro's own surprised shout and his friends calling out to them in concern.

Stars danced in his vision and he shook his head to get rid of them. He didn't notice the blood running down his temple but a swipe at his lower lip let him know he'd split his lip.

"Keith?" Pidge's voice called.

Hunk's voice called after her, "Shiro buddy? You okay?"

Keith shook his head a little more and blinked.

"Fine," he managed to say. "Shiro?"

There was a beat of silence before Shiro's voice answered back, "I'm fine. Coran, the shields!"

"We're trying!" Coran answered back, there was a bit of fear in his voice, "It's not working though! I think the Galra shield is stopping us-"

Pidge's voice drowned him out, "Wait. Guys look! The shield!"

"Guys?" Hunk asked, a bit of excitement entering his voice, "I don't know what's going on but I think we can wormhole out of here now!"

"Princess!" Shiro shouted.

Keith's head felt like it was throbbing but he steered Red to the wormhole that the princess had just opened. Making sure Shiro's ship was still clutched in Red's paws he made a dash to the wormhole and followed in after the green and yellow lion.

Red suddenly started shaking and Keith held on for dear life as the sound of his friends screams echoed around him. Something was wrong.

"Guys, I'm going to throw up!" Hunk cried.

"What the hell is happening?" Pidge screamed back.

"Princess, what's going on?" Shiro yelled.

The shaking suddenly grew worse and Keith screamed along with his friends as they were thrown in different directions.

Keith's eyes grew wide in fear as he saw the battle cruiser that Shiro was on slip from Red's paws and started heading towards the yellow lion.

"Shiro!" he yelled.

"Hunk, grab Shiro!"

"Wait, Pidge what's going-"

"Paladins!"

"Keith!"

The alarms in Red suddenly grew louder and Keith shouted as something heavy collided on his arm. That arm was definitely broken, or at the very least badly bruised.

And suddenly there was fire.

A burst of searing heat and noise and pain wrapped around him and suddenly he was falling. Falling fast. His own scream was blocked out as the screeching of metal and the sound of alarms grew louder in intensity.

He saw bits of green and- was that an ocean?

Mercifully, he lost consciousness before he hit the ground.

* * *

His eyes slowly eased opened and he groaned. Everything hurt. He could feel the blood from his temple gushing down the side of his face and he let out another groan. A look around his surroundings showed him the dim lights of the cockpit and he sat a little straighter before he hissed out in pain as the movement jerked on his arm.

He glanced down at his arm and winced. He was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to bend that way. Crap. It was definitely broken.

He slumped back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling before his eyes shot open as the previous events suddenly came back.

The others!

Shiro!

Were they okay?

He tapped his helmet and called out to his friends a few times but only static answered him.

A sudden banging from outside caught his attention and he slowly looked behind him to where the door was.

"Hello?" a voice yelled. "Anyone in there?"

"Here," he wheezed, clutching at the spot where his ribs were located, "I'm here."

More banging.

"Hello?"

Keith tried to answer back but only managed a moan of pain before the blackness took him and he lost consciousness once again.

* * *

Keith moaned as his eyes slowly flickered open and he noticed a rocky ceiling lit in dim lightning.

"W-what?" he stuttered out.

A face suddenly appeared above him and Keith's instincts kicked in as he threw a wild punch at the person's face only for it to be caught in the person's hand. "W-where the hell am I?" he threw another punch and let out a growl of frustration as the person caught his other fist in their hand _again._

He blinked his eyes rapidly before they narrowed on the person, no girl in front of him. "Who the hell are you?" he asked angrily.

The girl, still holding both his fists in her own hands tilted her head, "Your savior."

Keith's eyebrows furrowed before he looked closer at her. The girl looked about his age with short brown hair, some of the bluest eyes he'd ever seen and was wearing what he could only describe as a toga. The white gown had a shoulder drape, and brown trim on the drape, hem, waist, and neckline that complimented her caramel skin.

She was pretty.

He'd even go so far as to say she was beautiful but for all he knew, she could be a serial killer in pretty clothes. He'd seen enough in the news to know that it was usually the pretty ones that turned out to be killers.

He couldn't let his guard down though; no matter how cute she looked as her gaze bore into his.

"If I let go of your hands, will you attack me?" she asked him.

Keith startled and tried pulling his hands back to his side. No dice. She wasn't budging.

"Only if you attack me," he replied after a third attempt.

The girl nodded and slowly, carefully, loosened her hold on his arms. He immediately brought them back to his side before clutching his right arm to his chest. Hadn't his arm been broken?

He brought a hand to his temple and noticed there was no blood. No injury. A swipe at his lip confirmed that he didn't have a split lip anymore either. What the fuck?

"You're a male." The girl stated.

Keith frowned as he brought his gaze back to her. She was watching him so intently that he felt the sudden urge to blush. "Y-yeah," he frowned as looked himself over, "Why, don't I look like one?"

He knew he wasn't the most attractive guy out there but it was pretty obvious he was a guy. Right?

The girl shook her head at him and smiled a little. Keith felt himself relax a little. "I'm sorry. I just haven't seen a man in a very long time. I'd forgotten what you all look like."

Keith nodded in understanding as he looked around the place. Where they in a cave? If they were it was one of the coolest caves he'd seen in his life. Small lights hovered on the ceiling giving the cave a bit of light. The place looked cozy with its red couch and small bed that he was currently standing on with his dirty boots.

Flushing, he instantly climbed down and mumbled a small apology at the girl before taking a seat at the edge of the bed. He glanced down at the sheets and noticed the red bloodstains on the sheets and he instantly felt even guiltier.

"Is this from me?" he asked as he pointed at the bloodstains that stood out from the white sheets. The girl nodded as she took a seat on the carpet on the floor before crossing her legs and looking him over.

And the guilt continued to pile on.

This girl had saved him, treated his wounds and what had he done to repay her? Tried to punch her in the face.

Awesome.

The girl put her hands under her chin and continued to gaze at him in silence for so long that Keith started fidgeting. Was there something on his face?

"What's your name?" she asked suddenly.

Keith startled before he narrowed his eyes at her. "Why do you want to know?"

The girl shrugged. "I just wanted something to call you instead of 'hey you' but if you don't want to answer that's fine too." She grinned, "I'll just call you mullet."

Keith's jaw dropped and he brought his hands to his hair self-consciously; did it really look like a mullet? "Keith!" he practically shouted. At her raised eyebrow, he lowered his voice. "It's Keith. And it's not a mullet." He felt the need to add.

The girl nodded and flashed him a smile that made his legs quiver, "Nice to meet you Keith. My name is Leah but you can just call me Lance."

"Lance?" He frowned, "Isn't that a guys name?"

She shrugged and her smiled turned mischievous, "It's a nickname that took when I used a bunch of lances to kill the pythons." She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, "Besides, I kind of like it. It suits me, don't you think?"

Keith nodded absently, the name Leah sounded like it was suited for someone who was a girly girl but she didn't strike him as someone that would gush over makeup like most girls.

He pulled a black strand of his hair in his fingertips before asking another question, "Were you the one who healed me?"

Lance nodded.

"I-but how?" At her confused expression, he elaborated, "My arm was broken! I'm pretty sure of that. And not only that but my ribs don't hurt anymore, I don't have a bruise on my forehead and there's no split lip anymore!"

Lance looked like she understood.

"Did you put me in a healing pod? How long was I out? Where's Red?"

Lance flailed her hands, "Whoa there! One question at a time." She reached behind her and finally finding what she wanted, thrust granola bar at him. "Eat this. You must be hungry."

Keith took the offered treat cautiously and sniffed it a few times. Lance rolled her eyes before taking it back, ripped open the wrapper, and bit a small piece off. "See? Not poisoned."

Keith waited a few seconds then nodded as he took the bar back from her, "Sorry, it's just-"

She grinned at him. "Better to be safe than sorry right?"

He grinned back and took a bite of the granola bar. "Exactly."

Lance placed her hands on the floor behind her and leaned back before looking up at the ceiling, "Ok, let's see. No I did not put you in a healing pod. You were only out about half an hour maybe? And if you mean the Red giant robot, it sunk into the ocean."

Keith promptly choked on his food and Lance looked at him in worry as he started coughing. She got to her feet and threw a water bottle at him, which he gladly drank.

Satisfied that he was no longer about to choke, he turned back to Lance, his expression panicked. "What do you mean it sunk into the ocean?

Lance looked at him in confusion, "You know, it sunk into the ocean just like Jack did when Rose let go of him in Titanic even though there was plenty of room left in that piece of wood."

Keith's mind reeled, "You've seen the _Titanic?"_

"Uh, yeah. It's a good movie. Sucky ending but good nonetheless."

Keith blinked at her furiously, "Are we on Earth?"

"Nope. But it's pretty close to it. We're on my home planet Cloyetera, home of the Amazons."

"Amazons?"

Lance nodded.

"Like those women from _Wonder Woman_ who are all fierce and strong and their motto is pretty much 'no men allowed on our home unless they wanna die' Amazons?"

"I don't know what a _Wonder Woman_ is but yeah pretty much." She scrunched her eyebrows together, "You've heard of us?"

Keith nodded as a giddy feeling suddenly took over his senses, "In Greek Mythology! I've read books about the Amazons about how fierce and powerful they were! In fact, there are tons and tons of books about you guys! _Wonder Woman_ being one of them!"

Lance blinked at him curiously before the right side of her mouth twitched upwards, "Is that so?"

Keith nodded enthusiastically, "Wait." He looked her over again like it was the first time and he gripped her legs as he leaned in close to inspect her face, "Are you an Amazon?!"

Lance leaned back a little. Hadn't this guy ever heard of personal space? Jeez. "Yes?"

Keith reeled back, a smile so wide on his face that it had to hurt, "Holy crap! Holy shit! You're an Amazon! I've met an Amazon!"

"Language," she lightly scolded him.

Keith didn't seem to hear her as he mumbled to himself, letting out an excited squeal whenever he glanced back at her.

Were all males this weird she wondered. Her father and brothers hadn't acted this way around her, well only a few times but not to this extend.

"Wait, if Red sunk how are we going to get her out?"

Lance blinked her blue eyes at him. "Her?"

He waved a nonchalant hand in the air. "Yeah, she's obviously a girl."

Lance raised an amused eyebrow at him and grinned. "Obviously."

Satisfied that Lance knew Red was a girl (I mean obviously) he asked her again, "So? How are we going to get her out?"

Lance waved a hand at him. "I can probably get her out with my telekinesis, but it might take me a few tries. She's bigger than most things I've lifted with my mind."

"Telekinesis?" Keith asked, his mouth twitching upwards yet again.

"Yeah, but only me and my mom have that ability." She started naming her abilities with her fingers, "I can also throw lightning bolts, I have super strength, I can heal, and I'm a darn good sharpshooter if I say so myself."

Keith was practically shaking in excitement at this point, "Telekinesis? Lightning bolts? Ability to heal? Holy shit!"

"Language!"

He waved her comment off and frowned, "I need to get in touch with my friends! We were separated in our battle with Zarkon! I have to get back to them and let them know I'm okay!"

Lance's eyes grew wide as she suddenly got to her feet and gripped his arms, "You fought Zarkon? How are you not dead?"

Keith seemed to take offence to that, "Because I'm a Paladin of Voltron! Me and the others fought Zarkon with our lions!"

"Voltron?"

"Yep."

"You're a paladin of Voltron?"

Keith seemed to puff his chest at that, "Damn straight. I'm the red paladin!"

Lance stared at him in complete puzzlement before she put her hands on his head and closed her eyes.

Keith swallowed at the close proximity and looked at the side, "Umm, what are you doing?"

"Checking for head injuries. You obviously still have a concussion."

Keith batted her hands away from him. "I'm telling you the truth!" he growled back at her.

The looks she was giving him looked a lot like pity and he didn't like it one bit. "Keith, Voltron is just a bed time story that parents tell their children to get them to sleep. It's not real."

Keith seethed, his good mood instantly gone, "How do you explain Red then?"

Lance hesitated and Keith plundered on. "If you help get in contact with my teammates, I'll prove it to you!" he scratched at his black hair in frustration and groaned, "Well, it's only three of us right now. Shiro can't get Black out unless we find the Blue paladin, but I'm sure we'll find them soon and we'll be able to form Voltron!"

Lance still looked dubious.

"Please," he whispered, his voice pleading. "I'm telling the truth. Please believe me."

Lance gave him a long look before finally nodding, "Okay. I'll believe you." Keith sent her a relieved smile and Lance blushed as she turned to the side and crossed her arms, "I'll still want proof though." She added stubbornly.

Keith grinned and opened his mouth to say something else to her when Lance suddenly tensed and whipped her head around and tilted her head slightly.

Keith was instantly on his guard and he reached for him Bayard at his belt only to notice it wasn't there.

"What is it?" he whispered to her. "And where's my Bayard and sword?"

Lance didn't say anything for a few seconds to him and just when he thought she wasn't going to answer him she finally spoke, "Amazons. They're coming this way." She bit her nail anxiously. "It was only a matter of time I suppose. You made quite the entrance. As for your weapons, I think they're still in the Red lion's cockpit."

Keith blinked before letting out an annoyed sigh, "And you didn't bring them with you?"

Lance whipped her head back to him and glared, "I was a little busy saving your life and keeping Red from fully sinking to notice. So no, I didn't bring them with you."

Keith groaned but understood. He still didn't like the feeling of being defenseless but he suppose he could still use his fists if the need arose. "So? What do we do?"

Lance opened her mouth to reply when an alto voice spoke over her, "Lance. We know you're in there. We have a few questions for you, come out or I'll beat that pretty little butt of yours." The voice drawled.

Lance rolled her eyes and Keith felt the urge to snicker but held it in.

Lance sighed and looked back at him, a hand on her hip, "Look I'll go explain the details to them. They might come and kill you or they might let you live."

Keith balked, "They're Amazons! Isn't it their rule to kill men who trespass on their home?"

Lance hummed, "Well yeah, but I'm hoping I can convince them otherwise." She shrugged, "You have a fifty-fifty chance."

Keith scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'd like to live thank you very much."

"Oh Lance," the voice outside sang, "I'm getting irritated."

Lance sighed and started heading out, she turned back to Keith and made a beckoning motion at him and he cautiously followed after her, "Just stay behind me okay? Don't show your face just yet."

Keith swallowed but nodded. "Okay."

Lance turned back to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey," she whispered. "Do you trust me?"

Keith stared back at her and found that the answer was yes. He did trust her. Sure he hadn't known her for very long but in all the time that he'd been in her presence, he hadn't felt a hint of malice from her.

Keith nodded and placed his hand on top of hers, "Yes."

She grinned and started heading out, Keith hot on her heels making sure to stay hidden behind her back. It's a good thing she was a bit taller than him, the thought irked him for some reason but it would keep him hidden from the dangerous women that would pretty much kill him on sight.

As they made their way out of the cave, the dim light from the light bulbs was replaced with the light from the moon. The ocean looked very blue. It was beautiful; he'd never seen an ocean so blue and _clean._

His father had taken him to the beach when he was younger and he remembered how he hadn't wanted to take one step inside because of how grayish and brownish it looked like.

But the ocean in Lance's home planet was nothing compared to this one, he felt the sudden urge to take a swim and just float around as he gazed at the moon. Perhaps Lance would join him.

And cue the blush.

Keith shook his head and Lance shot him a worried glance before turning back at the women standing a few feet away. There were about twelve of them from what he could see and _holy shit_ they were tall.

Taller than him _and_ Lance.

All of them were wearing togas like Lance was but in different styles. Some had it long enough that it covered their legs and feet and others had togas that cut above the knee like the one Lance was wearing.

Swords, shields, and arrows with bows were strapped to their back.

They were stunning.

They looked like those fashion models that he'd seen on magazines, and even though some of them looked pretty buff, they were still stunning.

Still…

Lance had them beat in the beautiful department.

Keith stood closer to Lance and gulped.

The twelve women suddenly dropped into a crouch and Keith startled.

"Princess Lance," a pretty buff woman with yellow cat like eyes said, "We saw something pretty big fall from the sky. Are you all right?"

Princess? Keith thought.

Lance waved her arm and the women stood in one fluid motion. Lance scratched her nose and cleared her throat, "Right. Um. About that."

A red head with freckles spread on her cheeks took a step forward, "Do you know what it was Princess?"

Lance fidgeted uncomfortably and Keith pinched her arm, "Keep it together," he hissed at her.

Lance sighed in defeat, "Okay, first of all don't get mad and try not to freak out at what I'm about to show you okay?"

The twelve female warriors looked at each other before nodding back at Lance.

Lance took a deep breath and stepped to the side to show Keith.

The woman gasped and one women let out a shriek before promptly fainting.

The next thing Keith knew, he had eleven weapons aimed in his direction and Lance immediately stepped to his side and put an arm out as her other hand pinched her nose in annoyance.

"Wow. You guys never listen do you? You just did what I just told you _not_ to do."

"Princess," a blonde with curly hair hissed, "Step back. Let us eliminate this intruder."

"No can do Cesti, this guy is my guest." Lance answered back.

"But the rules-" a woman with green skin and brown hair snarled back as she aimed her arrow at Keith's head.

"Forget the rules! He can help us fight the Galra!"

Wait. These women were also fighting against Zarkon Keith thought.

"Lies," the woman with the yellow cat eyes snarled before spitting on the floor and leveling him with a glare, "All men do is lie and seduce women."

Okay. Rude.

Keith rolled his eyes and a woman with blotches of blue on her skin screeched at him, "He looked at me! Now I'm going to end up pregnant!"

The women tensed and took a step forward.

Were these guys serious?

Lance sighed in annoyance, "First of all," she leveled a glare at the cat eyes lady, "I believe him and he hasn't tried to seduce me once so there," she leveled her blue eyes to glare at the woman with blue blotches on her skin, "And second of all, he can't get you pregnant by just looking at you," Keith nodded back furiously before Lance continued, "He has to touch you. Then bam! Pregnant."

The twelve (the one who'd fainted was awake it seems) women paled and took three steps back.

If Keith didn't have a variety of weapons aimed at his person he would have laughed at the ridiculous lie that Lance had just told. Nonetheless, his lips started twitching upwards and he had to bite the inside of his cheek before he laughed and got himself skewered by one of the Amazons.

"Now then," Lance clapped her hands together and the women turned their gaze back to her, "I think it's time to go talk to my mother."

She looped one arm around Keith's arm, ignored the scandalized screams from the women, and strode forward towards the forest pulling Keith along with her.

Lance and Keith walked ten steps before Lance turned back to the warriors, "You guys coming or not?"

Keith found it damn amusing when they scrambled after them, some even tripped on their own feet as they hastily followed after them.

"Damn," Keith said to Lance, "You're pretty badass."

Thirteen voices answered him back in annoyance, "Language!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Friendship," said Christopher Robin, "is a very comforting thing to have."  
― **A.A. Milne**

Chapter 3

"What's that?"

"That's a space moth."

"What about that glowy thing?"

"That's a space dragonfly."

"Oh! What about _that?"_

"That's a rock Keith."

"No way! It's glowing!"

Lance crossed her arms over chest as she gave him a droll stare. "Then it's a space rock."

Keith huffed and looked at her in suspicion. "Are you just adding the word space to everything?"

Lance's lips twitched. "Maybe."

Keith huffed and pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a glare at Lance. She had the audacity to smirk at him.

"Umm," a voice nervously said from the back. Keith turned his head to see a girl with black short hair and hazel eyes wringing her hands over the hilt of her sword as his gaze bore into hers. The girl let out a little squeak as she made eye contact and Keith immediately recognized her as the one who had fainted when Lance first revealed him.

Keith raised an eyebrow at her and the girl let out another squeak. "Yeah?"

Two of the Amazons who had red reptile skin and were clearly twins leveled a glare at him before patting the girl on the back in encouragement.

The girl seemed to take reassurance from them and took a deep breath before speaking, "To be f-fair, Lance doesn't really know the entomology of this place. She's more interested in poisons and bigger creatures."

"Adina is totally right of course," Lance said from beside him, "I've absolutely no interest in those slimy creatures."

Keith deflated and Lance felt a twinge at her chest from the sight. They've been walking for a good ten minutes and every insect they passed seemed to catch the black haired boys interest. Perhaps because they were bigger than the ones on Earth. Unfortunately, Lance knew next to nothing about them. She tended to stay away from those creepy crawlies.

Cesti and Reyna knew more about them but when Keith asked them, they'd just glared at him and raised their weapons menacingly in return.

Keith had wisely not asked the rest of the Amazons anything else.

Lance lifted a branch sticking out from a tree before ducking her head under and waited for Keith to duck his head to get under before letting the branch go and promptly hitting Reyna in the face.

Reyna narrowed her yellow cat eyes at her before breaking the branch in two in annoyance. Lance winced and mumbled an apology at her before continuing with their trek.

Lance turned back to Keith and winced. The poor boy looked like someone had taken his favorite toy.

The twittering of birds made her look up and she suddenly grinned as an idea formed in her head.

"Hey Keith," said boy turned his blue-gray eyes at her and she grinned wider, "Want to see something cool?"

Keith raised an eyebrow at her as he watched in confusion as Lance put both hands to her mouth and made a twittering sound that sounded like a part of a song and waited.

After five seconds had passed (he counted) he was about to ask Lance what that was supposed to do when he heard a soft chirp answer back. At the sound, Keith turned his eyes towards the sky and felt his eyes widen at what he could only describe as a Phoenix flying towards them.

Lance stretched her hand out and Keith watched in amazement as the bird landed on her hand with a small chirp.

"Holy-"Keith began only to promptly close his mouth at the level of glares he received. He coughed, "I mean yeah that's cool."

Lance giggled beside him before petting the firebird on its head. The bird let out a little pleased sound and Keith's eyes almost bugged out as he watched the bird spread its wings as fire suddenly covered its body.

Keith whipped his head back to Lance to check if she was all right but the girl seemed unperturbed as she nuzzled her face onto the birds' neck.

Keith took a hesitant step forward. "Does that not hurt?"

Lance shook her head. "No. The firebirds have the ability to tell if someone is kindhearted or not. If they sense that you are not pure at heart, their flames will burn you. But if you are, the flames feel warm." Lance turned away from the bird and stretched her arm out at Keith, "Would you like to try holding it?"

There were a few snorts from the Amazons while others dissolved into giggles.

Reyna pushed back a strand of her violet hair away from her head and gave Keith a haughty look. "The firebird will burn him alive."

Adina looked worriedly at Keith, "Are you sure you want to try? There's no shame in saying no," she mumbled nervously.

Ami and Tami, the twins, looked on in interest as the girl with the blue blotches on her skin was taking bets in the back with the other Amazons.

Keith felt a bubble of irritation at their words but as his eyes went back to the firebird engulfed in flames he hesitated.

The bird went back to normal, it's fire replaced by orange and yellow feathers.

Lance seemed to sense his hesitation as she put her other hand on his shoulder in encouragement, "Keith." He looked up from his balled fists and met her eyes, "You can do this. You're the red paladin right?" At Keith's hesitant nod Lance smiled and patted his shoulder, "Then you can definitely do this. From what I've heard, the red paladin's element is fire."

Keith's eyes widened. How could he have forgotten that? He'd always felt at ease in the desert where the sun was blistering hot and after becoming Red's pilot, he had found it oddly comforting to be in even hotter places that the universe had to offer.

Lance was right. He _could_ do this.

Keith straightened his shoulders and after giving himself one more pep talk, he stuck out his right hand and waited as Lance stretched her arm with the firebird towards him.

As the firebird looked his way curiously, Keith held his breath as the bird slowly inched its way to Keith's arm.

Its talons were long and sharp but it didn't seem to want to hurt him as it gazed at him in curiosity. Releasing another breath, Keith brought his left hand and patted the bird on top of its head and Keith watched as the bird closed its red eyes in contempt before it suddenly engulfed itself in flames.

Keith startled and felt the urge to shake his arm before he got burned but instead of the intense heat he was dreading, all he felt…was warmth.

There were a few shocked gasps from the back and Keith turned his head slightly to see the rest of the Amazons with their jaws open. Adina was the only one who looked relieved among the group but it was Lance's reaction that he enjoyed the most.

The look she was giving him was so damn proud that he was instantly reminded of Shiro and he felt sudden warmth envelop him.

"I-but-how?" Reyna croaked, while she gestured to him and the bird back and forth. "This-it's not possible."

Lance sauntered over and closed the violet haired Amazon's jaw with an audible click. "See? Even the firebird trusts him. He won't do us any harm."

Reyna still looked skeptical but she lowered her sword as she regarded him with newfound respect.

Cesti whistled as she too lowered her weapon. "Well that was awesome. I suppose if the firebird is comfortable with you, then you must not be that bad."

The rest of the Amazons looked back and forth between Reyna and Cesti to Lance and Keith before finally deciding that he wasn't much of a threat after all and slowly lowered their weapons.

Adina sheathed her sword to her belt and took a hesitant step forward towards Keith. "Umm, y-you're not h-hurt right?"

Keith looked at her in surprise for her genuine concern of him but shook his head. Adina sent him a relieved smile as she rubbed the firebirds chin. The bird let out a happy chirp and flapped its wings in joy.

"Aldara! Are you choosing other people over me? Me who feeds and bathes you when you come back all sticky from the swamp?" Lance said, pressing a hand to her chest in mock offence. "You wound me."

The firebird, Aldara, lifted its head from nuzzling Keith's cheek and let out a sad little chirp. Lance made a sniffling sound and crossed her arms over her chest as she turned her head to the side, "I see how it is. I understand. Maybe I'll go make friends with the other birds; perhaps Cronus? He seems nice."

Aldara let out an angry aquak before she flew over to Lance and starting making cooing sounds at her. The Amazons chuckled and even Keith couldn't help but smile at her antics. Lance was a good actress.

Aldara landed on Lance's head and nuzzled the princess's cheek in what could only be described as an apology before Lance smiled and patted her under her chin. "Well, I suppose I'll forgive you. For now. Besides, Cronus is a bit of an attention seeker, don't you think?"

Aldara let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter to Keith's ears and nodded its head in agreement.

"Good girl," Lance said, "Now go back to Keith before he starts crying from the lack of attention he's getting."

"Hey!"

Aldara nuzzled her cheek one more time before flying over to Keith who stretched his hand out automatically for her to land on.

The trek through the forest seemed less tense than before and Keith suspected that this was all according to Lance's plan if the satisfied smirk she was wearing was any indication.

Keith saddled closer to her and mumbled a small thank you to the blue-eyed Amazon but Lance only gave him a puzzled look that didn't fool him for a minute. Keith bumped shoulders with her and Lance returned the gesture with a grin as Aldara gave a happy little chirp on top of Keith's head with a flap of her wings that sent both of them into fits of laughter.

* * *

It wasn't until they left the forest and Reyna announced that they were getting close that Keith looked up from playing with Aldara only to let his jaw drop at the sight before him. Three huge mountains enveloped the city and what was even more shocking were the three floating islands above the city itself.

Keith furrowed his eyebrows at a particular island in the sky when he saw movement and he felt his jaw drop. Was that?

Keith pulled Lance's arm to get her attention, his eyes never once wavering from the creatures that were flying around the island.

"Are those…griffins?" Keith asked, staring at the flying creatures in awe. "Those are…griffins."

Lance ripped her gaze from Aldara who had perched herself to her shoulder and followed his gaze as she pulled him along and nodded, "Yup, those are indeed griffins. Everyone else calls them Felis Leo but that's just a fancy word for griffin in my opinion."

Keith's mouth opened and closed but he could not for the life of him think of any words to say. He would probably go with holy shit but he'd used that word so many times today that he suspected Lance wanted to give him a dictionary once they made it to their destination.

Actually no, scratch that. Lance had already informed him that she would hand him a dictionary once they arrived.

At the time Keith had glowered at her but now…maybe he did need a dictionary.

Holy shit was just not cutting it anymore.

He got enough glares from the women every time he uttered the word anyway. Perhaps they'd be happier if he learned other words to describe his awe.

The sudden rise of voices snapped Keith's attention away from the griffons only for him to be met by even more Amazons passing by.

Some looked scared at the sight of him, one woman in particular picked up her daughter and hid her from view, but most of them took out their weapons and aimed it at him.

Lance and the rest of their entourage surrounded him in a protective circle as they raised their own weapons.

They'd reached a giant gate guarded by two Amazons and six archers who had their bows aimed at them.

One of the women guarding the gate turned her stern hazel eyes to them and snarled in anger as she pulled her shield in front of her and aimed her sword in Keith's direction. She and the rest of the women guarding the gate looked older than Lance and her party who he had discovered were around the ages of seventeen to nineteen.

Keith sighed; he was getting pretty tired of having weapons aimed at him.

"You bring a man to Ecumenopolis?"

The woman next to her turned her light blue eyes to Lance, "Why is he not dead? There are no men allowed in Cloyetera."

Lance lifted her hands in a placating manner as she spoke, "He brings us no harm. He claims to be a paladin of Voltron. He can help us defeat the Galra."

The women exchanged glances between each other and even the archers whispered among themselves as they looked at him in curiosity.

The woman with the hazel eyes didn't lower her weapons as she turned back to Lance, "He lies. Voltron does not exist."

Cesti spoke up before Lance could, "While I am not sure that Voltron exists, I can however attest to the fact that he will not harm us."

The older woman lifted her chin at the curly blond and raised a brow, "Oh?"

Reyna licked her suddenly dry lips and nodded, "The firebird did not burn him when he touched it."

There were several gasps at this declaration and the women all turned to Keith with mixtures of surprise and disbelief.

"Prove it," one of the archers demanded.

Lance shrugged and motioned for Keith to raise his arm for Aldara. He did so and the bird happily returned to his side before she flapped her wings and engulfed herself in flames. As she did so, Keith scratched the bird under its chin and let out a happy sound, the flames turning brighter at the action.

There were several more gasps and Keith smirked at the gaping women.

For a moment no one said anything and just gawked at him in disbelief until Lance clapped her hands to get their attention.

The Amazon princess was smiling like a maniac and Keith liked her a little more for it, "I assume that's enough evidence?" the women with the hazel eyes slowly closed her mouth and nodded before letting out a sharp whistle that had the gates opening with a small rumble.

* * *

Lance was enjoying herself immensely. Who knew shocking her fellow Amazons could be this fun? The sight of their jaws dropping in shock almost sent her into waves of laughter but she reined herself in.

Seeing Keith skip around and point at everything that looked interesting was so amusing she couldn't help but smile though. He looked like someone had given five cups of coffee and the sugar high had reached its peak as he started squealing when one of the griffons flew over their heads.

He turned over and tugged her arm as he pointed frantically at the griffon. He was speaking too fast for her to properly follow the conversation so she just nodded when it seemed appropriate.

Lance glanced at her entourage who were shooting Keith worried looks about his behavior and snickered. At least now she wasn't afraid for Keith's life. When she'd first revealed him to her friends, she'd been afraid one of the women would skewer him with their swords, probably Reyna, she had a bit of a temper and tempted to act before she thought things through.

Now, instead of keeping her guard up she let herself relax and stand a bit apart as she watched the black haired boy talking with Adina about the giant coliseum where they would have tournaments every year to test their strengths against each other.

Ami and Tami made their way over and said something to him that had him blushing and them laughing at his expense. Adina tried to placate him as she got his attention again and pointed at one of the buildings with a giant statue with a women kneeling before another women with her hands hovering over her in concentration.

The building was called The Healing Chamber; it's where woman who had a strong affinity for healing would go to study. It's where they would practice over real life creatures and learn the different methods of healing.

Lance herself still attended whenever she had free time. She needed the practice and reading over the scrolls in the library was fun. She had a knack for healing poison from a body though. There were different kinds of poisons around, if someone was poisoned you had to find out what type of poison it is, what creature or plant it came from, and extract him from the body before they start to heal the rest of the body.

She was getting quite good at it too. She'd even started mixing in different poisons from different creatures to see what she could create, it was fun.

"He's an odd one," Reyna commented as she walked beside her and followed Keith with her yellow cat eyes, "Are all males like this?"

Lance shrugged, "My brothers would get like this whenever dad bought them a new game. Maybe it's a male thing."

Cyra appeared on Lance's right as she curled a strand of her red hair around her finger, her emerald eyes boring into her, "Do you think your mother will let us keep him?"

Lance wiggled her eyebrows at her, "Why? You interested in him?"

Cyra flushed and scowled, "N-no. I just feel like testing myself against him in battle, nothing more."

Reyna and Lance exchanged looks before smirking, "Right." They said sarcastically.

Cyra flushed and stomped her foot, "Oh shut it you two."

"Just remember," Lance said as Keith began to call her over, "I saw him first."

She didn't wait to hear their responses as she made her way over to Keith with a smile and a skip to her step.

* * *

Okay Keith decided. This was his favorite planet by far. Sure most of the women still looked like they wanted to kill him but with Lance and her friends surrounding him he felt completely at ease. They'd even started talking to him and teasing him like he was an old friend. It was nice.

The buildings looked a lot like those Greek buildings he'd seen in textbooks but with a little more technology. There were screens on a few buildings showing news of the recent Galra attack to commercials about some weapons and face creams.

He'd even seen a giant hologram of an older woman appear at the center of the city where she kept reminding everyone that she was here if they needed to talk.

The three mountains had waterfalls raining down on them but it felt nice. It gave the air a sweet scent.

"Can someone ride a griffon?" he asked as his gaze followed another one of the flying creatures.

Lance answered him with a grin, "Of course. We archers ride them during combat." She cast him a playful grin, "Why? Do you want to ride one?"

Keith shrugged with a sheepish expression, "Am I that obvious?"

Thirteen voices answered him back. "Yes."

Keith flushed.

Reyna gave him a playful shove that almost had him falling to the floor on his face and laughed, "If the queen decides to let you stay we would not be opposed to letting you ride one."

"Unless she decides to have you killed," Diona said with a sniff as she tucked a blue strand behind her ear making the blue splotches on her skin more prominent.

"Yes. Unless she decides to have you killed." Dolly, Erie and Echo stated with a nod of their heads.

Harley and Harmony looked excited at the prospect of that idea and Keith made sure to stray away from the two blondes.

Ivy gave him a sympathetic pat on the head before she went back to filing her nails.

Lance smiled and guided them through an archway surrounded by different blue and green flowers until they were at the entrance of the council chamber where she could already hear women talking inside.

"Ready?" Lance asked Keith.

Keith shrugged as he chewed on his lower lip, "As ready as I'll ever be."

Lance put a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled at him as she said the only thing that could make him feel better, " I won't leave you. I'll be there."

She said it like she meant it. Keith believed her and felt a surge of gratitude.

At his nod, Reyna and Cesti who were the tallest among them pushed the gate opened and Keith took a deep breath before walking in.

* * *

At the sight of him, all chatter stopped. Lance and the rest of her friends walked to the middle of the stage and Keith reluctantly followed after them.

Everyone was seated up in rows of balconies and were openly gawking at him in silence. That only lasted about ten seconds before the room erupted in chatter.

"Is that a male?"

"Why hasn't anyone killed him yet?"

"He looks so pale."

"Princess, what is the meaning of this?"

"Enough!" a booming voice said with such authority in her voice that everyone instantly shut their mouths.

A woman wearing a brown dress with a fur coat on his shoulders walked into the room and Keith immediately knew that this was Lance's mother. The appearance was uncanny. The woman's hair was longer and black and instead of blue eyes like her daughter she had brown eyes that were staring at him so intently she felt the urge to flee.

A tug on his arm caught his attention and Keith looked down at Lance to see that she had taken a kneeling position. In fact, everyone in the council chamber had taken a kneeling position.

Keith slowly lowered himself to a kneeling position and lowered his head like everyone else.

"All rise," the queen said.

As soon as everyone was back on their feet, the queen took a seat on her throne, as she looked him over before diverting her attention to Lance.

"Why is there a male in my presence?"

"He fell from the sky," Lance answered back, "I saved him before he could die."

The queen arched a delicate eyebrow at her daughter before turning her eyes back to Keith, "I see. Is he not dangerous?"

Adina nervously wrung her hands and answered, "He isn't dangerous. We all thought he was but then-" she glanced at the firebird perched on Keith's shoulder, "Aldara's flames did not burn him."

The queen lifted both brows at this as she glanced at Keith with new interest, "Is that so?"

Reyna and the rest of the Amazons who had escorted him and Lance to the council chamber nodded, "It is true your highness." She gestured to the other women by her side, "We all witnessed this."

"We can show you if you'd like," Lance suggested.

The queen shook her head, "No. That's all right. None of you have ever lied to me, I trust your word." The queen gazed at her daughter before she narrowed her eyes at her, "There's more. What is it?"

For the first time since they began talking, Lance looked nervous, "He…also says that he is a paladin of Voltron and he and his friends are fighting the Galra Empire."

The queen swiveled her attention back to Keith and she actually looked surprised by this, "But-Voltron is just a bed time story we tell our children. It is not real."

"With all due respect," Keith replied, "It's true. I am the red paladin, if you desire more proof we can go back to where Lance- I mean Princess Lance found me and I can show you the red lion that I pilot."

There were a few whispers among the rest of the women in the council chamber but Keith kept his attention on the queen as she gazed at him for a long time.

"I have a quicker method to get evidence." The queen stated.

Lance tensed beside him and Keith sent a worried glance at her before turning his attention back to the queen, "And what is your method if you don't mind me asking your highness."

The queen gave him a thin smile as she leaned forward, "I can look through your memories and see if what you claim is true."

Keith shifted his body slightly at the thought, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with someone looking through all my memories." He said honestly.

The queen smiled at this, "You can relax. I shall only look at your most recent memories."

Okay, that didn't sound too bad.

The queen continued, "If you try to resist too much, the process… _can_ be painful though."

Oh.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that…

Still…

If he let the queen look through his memories, he could show her that he _was_ a paladin of Voltron and perhaps then they'd be able to help him make contact with Shiro and the rest of his teammates.

Decision made, Keith took a deep breath and nodded, "All right. You can look through my memories."

The queen nodded, "Close your eyes and relax your mind for me. You will feel some slight discomfort but try not to resist."

Keith did as he told and closed his eyes as he willed his body to relax.

At first he didn't feel anything but then he felt a slight touch in his mind and Keith gasped at the foreign entity. It didn't belong there. His body tensed.

"Relax," the queen mumbled.

Keith tried but at the insistent presence in his mind, his body began to shake.

"Keith," Lance said, covering Keith's hand with her own. "Relax. Focus on my hand. Can you do that?"

She gave his hand a light squeeze and slowly, Keith's body began to relax.

He gave Lance's hand a squeeze of gratitude before he let out another gasp as the queen dove right in to his mind.

He saw himself at his old shack in the desert where he was trying to find that frequency.

The day Shiro crash landed on Earth as he, Hunk and Pidge rescued him.

Him leading the rest of his friends to the cave where the yellow lion was hidden.

Them finding Allura and Coran, the last Alteans, frozen in the healing pods.

Him, Hunk and Pidge as they became paladins of Voltron.

The queen skimmed through their battles and their search for the blue paladin to the recent events with the battle with Zarkon and the wormhole that separated him from the rest of his teammates.

Him landing in the ocean before blacking out.

And finally to him waking up with Lance anxiously hovering over him.

As the queen left his mind, Keith let out a shuddering breath and tried to calm his beating heart. His other hand was still gripping Lance's hand with a white knuckled grip but she didn't seem too concerned about that as she peered at him anxiously.

"You okay mullet?"

Despite himself, Keith let out a huff of laughter as he finally steadied his heart and gave her a playful smirk.

"Shut it Princess Leah."

Lance pouted and whined, "Ugh, don't call me that."

Keith grinned, "Whatever you say…Princess Leah."

Lance huffed, "You're terrible."

"Ahem."

Keith flushed as he turned back to the queen who was looking at them with barely contained amusement, "If you're both quite done."

"For now," Lance said with a smile.

Keith wanted the ground to swallow him whole at the comment.

The queen leaned back on her throne and placed her hands on her lap, "I have looked through your memories red paladin. What you say is true and from what I could seem, you do not wish to bring us any harm." The queen got to her feet and placed her hands on the railing as she gazed down at him, "You have my word that we will do everything in our power to get you back to your teammates." She turned back to the rest of the women in the council who were protesting and raised a challenging eyebrow, "You also have free reign as long as someone is by your side at all times. You also have my word that no one shall attempt to take your life. I welcome you to our home red paladin of Voltron."

Keith let out the breath he'd been holding and bowed his head, "Thank you, your majesty."

The queen let out a snort and waved her hand, "Please, call me Lexi."

Keith smiled before he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug. "Yay! You get to live!" Lance declared as she easily lifted him off his feet and twirled him around.

Keith flushed but he couldn't help but return the hug with as much enthusiasm.


	4. Chapter 4

"Kings of the land and the sky we are; proud gryphons."

\- **Elizabeth Munro** , **Wingspan**

Chapter 4

"Keep your feet planted, sword up." Reyna said to him four days later, as they spent the cool morning training in one of the sparing rings.

Keith adjusted himself accordingly and locked eyes with her own yellow cat eyes lest she remind him _again._

Each of the Amazons that were part of Lance's entourage had taken turns teaching him new things that he could use in battle, new tactics. Things he wouldn't have thought to even try until they suggested it.

They'd been at it for four days- training with anyone who was willing to spar with him, working with Lance on how to shoot an arrow or guns that they apparently seemed to have.

Though they weren't normal guns that shot bullets, these guns shot beams that were gathered from ones own quintessence. Unsurprisingly, Keith made more progress with the former. He was a better fighter with swords than he was with arrows and guns.

He never seemed to hit the target, his shot would land quite a ways away from the center and then he'd get irritated and throw a tantrum. Lance's words not his.

It's not his fault though, okay maybe it was. But in his defense, the arrows that the Amazons used were not normal arrows. At least he was pretty sure they weren't. Normal arrows didn't weigh more than fifty pounds last he checked.

Reyna swiped his feet from him and Keith went down with a grunt before the tall violet haired Amazon planted one foot on his chest as she looked down at him.

"Eyes on me. If this were a real battle, you'd be dead."

Keith wiped the sweat from his brow and took Reyna's offered hand to get to his feet. They'd been at this for half an hour already, but he kept getting distracted.

Seeming to sense this, Reyna sheathed her sword and offered him a bottle of water. "You seem distracted today. More so than usual." She took a swig from her bottle before looking down at him. "Something on your mind?"

Keith let out a frustrated sigh, "Its just-it's been almost two weeks. _Two weeks!_ And we haven't heard anything from Voltron." Keith's eyes turned frantic, "What if something happened to them?"

After the council meeting where the queen had declared that he was not only allowed to live (yay) but was able to stay in Cloyetera as well (double yay), the queen herself and Lance along with their bodyguards had gone back to where Red lay underwater and with a little help from the mermaids, err myr he corrected himself, they were able to bring the red lion back to the city where the science and engineering division was currently fixing her.

"Ah, I see." Reyna said as she took a seat on the cool grass. She didn't seem to mind that her toga dress cut a little more as she crossed her legs. "You simply have to be patient." Keith looked like he wanted to argue, so Reyna continued speaking, "What is that mantra you said your friend told you about?"

Keith sighed and took a seat across from her and crossed his legs or at least tried to but the toga they'd given him didn't let him so he simply spread his legs out and crossed them at the ankles. If Pidge ever saw him wearing it, he'd never live it down. "Patience yields focus."

"Yes that. That right there is a good saying. I'm sure your friends are all right. You red lion's repair are almost done as well; it's been sending a signal for days I'm sure your friends will notice it."

Keith sighed but nodded as he finished the whole bottle of water. Reyna regarded him with narrowed eyes before she got to her feet and offered her hand to him. Keith took it and reached for his weapon but Reyna shook her head at him.

"You're obviously not in it today. Let's call it a day," she turned a mischievous grin at him and Keith narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "I know something that will lift your spirits up."

Keith quirked an eyebrow in challenge. "Is that so?"

Reyna's smile turned downright devilish. "We're going to go see Lance."

Despite himself, Keith's lips twitched upwards and Reyna's smirk turned wider. Quickly wiping the expression of his face he tried to look nonchalant as he looked down at his nails like they were the most interesting things in the world. "I thought she was busy with her mother today."

Reyna checked her wrist where the transparent bracelet that all Amazons were required to wear was and scrolled through a message she had just received. "Nope. According to my darling Adina, the queen just left to finish some last festival details but left with strict instructions for Lance to finish her training for the day. If we hurry, we'll be able to catch the last few minutes of her training."

Keith was already walking away and Reyna snickered as she counted down from ten. It was when she was nearing four that he came back with a faint tint to his cheeks.

He coughed awkwardly into his hand as he looked to the side, "I ah-don't know where she is." He mumbled.

Reyna threw her head back and laughed before she began pushing him in the right direction. "Males," she muttered with a shake of her head, "are idiots."

* * *

Despite the early hour, every shop was open as they walked through the city. A few Amazons greeted them as they passed, something Keith had eventually gotten used to since Lance made it a point to always walk through the city where everyone could see them.

The first few times had been awkward, some of the Amazons still raised their weapons at him or glowered at him but Lance would keep him distracted with idle conversation and after a few days of Keith not going berserk like they thought he would the Amazons had adapted and some even talked to him whenever he passed by.

There were a few musicians playing an instrument that looked a lot like bagpipes from Ireland. They sounded pretty good though; Lance's favorite bakery was open as well and he could already smell the sweet odors as they passed by. One thing that Keith absolutely loved about Cloyetera was the fact that they actually served food very much similar to Earth.

When Keith asked, Lance had told him that she and her mom would bring back food that they really enjoyed from Earth to share with the rest of the Amazons. The Amazons clearly loved it and had done their best to imitate the food that their queen and princess seemed to love.

And boy did they succeed. When food had been served to him the first time he'd almost cried at the sight of bacon. Sure it was purple but the taste was exactly the same so he let it go. Hunk would absolutely love this, he'd tried some other food over his time in Cloyetera and he loved everything that they'd served him.

The crowd seemed to increase the further they went into the city, Amazons coming and going out of coffee shops, others buying weapons from the blacksmiths. There were a few with long white dresses that went all the way down to their feet walking with medical books in their hands; healers probably.

Every now and then a griffon would sail past them and give a cry of greeting and Keith would track their every move until they disappeared. He had still not gotten the chance to ride one yet and he was a bit disappointed but Lance had been busy.

Her friends had offered to take him on a ride with them but he politely refused. Lance had made him a promise and like she kept reminding him; she intended to keep it.

The sound of clashing blades and excited squeals made Keith frown as he and Reyna finally made it to the training ring closest to the ocean where a gathering of women were surrounding the field and cheering on-Lance?

As Keith and Reyna pushed through the crowd, Keith was able to get his first look at his friend since the day before and the sight before him made him shiver. Lance was wearing a black and white toga dress that cut across her knees, as it was her favorite style. Her short brown locks were tied in a loose bun as she parried and clashed swords against five other older Amazons.

Keith had not gotten the chance to see Lance fight yet, but now that he had he felt like having a sparring match of his own. Lance was good. The sparing field was definitely bigger than the one he and Reyna had been using. Lance and the other five she was sparring with were using every space available.

The five Amazons increased by three more and as one they all charged at Lance only for her to flip backwards a good feet away before spreading her legs out and laying a solid punch to the ground that had it crumbling.

The eight Amazons lost their balance and Lance used the opportunity to change weapons from her swords to her bow in one swift move before she started throwing arrow after arrow at the Amazons who were still trying to get up. Some had gotten their legs stuck between an opening in the ground and brought up their shields to protect themselves, the arrows pierced right through the shields mere inches away from their faces, while two Amazons finally regained their balance and went after the princess.

One of the Amazons leaped at Lance and threw a punch at the princess's face only for Lance to block it with her bow. There was a crack and the bow was split in half just as the Amazon brought out her other fist and struck.

Lance barely had time to block it by crossing her arms in an X motion but the punch still sent her flying before she rolled to a crouch and eyed her opponents with a smirk on her lips.

Two more Amazons suddenly joined the fray and the cheering grew in volume as the now ten Amazons charged at Lance with a battle cry. Keith made as if to help her; ten versus one was cheating wasn't it? But Reyna reined him in and shook her head at him.

Her yellow cat eyes turned back to the fight and she grinned, "Our princess is strong. Just watch."

Keith frowned and turned his eyes back to the match.

Lance took a deep breathe and got to her feet before she splayed her arms out and suddenly the Amazons stopped in their tracks as slowly Lance lifted them up with her mind and sent them flying.

The Amazons landed with a grunt but were on their feet in seconds. Shrugging, Lance took out her two swords and twirled them in her hands before running straight for them. Lance blocked, kicked, and tripped the women off their feet with ease until all ten of the Amazons suddenly took out whips and whipped them around Lance's hands, her feet, her chest until she was spread eagle.

Lance struggled and grunted but the Amazons held firm as they spread themselves out. Lance was starting to sweat; it took a bit of effort but Lance willed her legs to move with some difficulty and started to drag the Amazons toward her while the Amazons themselves planted their feet on the ground but that seemed to be no help whatsoever because Lance was just that strong.

Lance's eyes glowed a bright blue and suddenly all of them were in the air, the Amazons released cries of surprise as they were now dangling from their whips and with a yell Lance tossed them to the ocean and the whips came loose.

The gathered crowd released a mighty cheer and Lance lowered herself to the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground she staggered and Keith was suddenly there holding onto her waist so she wouldn't collapse.

She was shaking he realized.

He cast a worried look over her before gently lowering her to the floor one hand still around her waist while the other was around her shoulder, "You okay?"

Lance released a shuddering breath and nodded, though she was still shaking, "Yes, I'll be okay. I usually don't use my powers all that much but I suppose mother is right." She released a shaky breath, "I do need the practice."

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and Lance barely managed to turn her head to see Reyna crouched down to her level looking at her with pride. "That was seriously awesome! They way you just threw them into the ocean was so darn hilarious!"

Running feet suddenly headed in their direction and Adina came to a stop as she crouched in front of Lance with a water bottle in her hands. "Here you must be tired, your highness."

Lance took the bottle and finished the whole thing in one go before she smiled at her friend, "Thanks Adi, but seriously just call me Lance. We're friends you know."

Adina blushed and scratched her head in embarrassment, "Sorry, sometimes I forget."

Reyna placed her hand around the black haired girls shoulder and reeled her to her side before planting a kiss on her cheek, "I think it's cute."

Adina giggled and touched her nose with her girlfriends in happiness. Even after seeing them kiss in front of him so many times, the sight still surprised him. Mostly because he couldn't believe that Reyna was with someone who was so shy and meek, he'd expected her to be with someone as loud as her but as long as she was happy who was he to judge?

Glancing down at Lance he was happy to see that the shaking had mostly seized and slowly helped her to her feet as the crowd surrounded them and congratulated her. Splashing footsteps made their way over to them and Keith saw the ten Amazons that Lance had fought with making their way over to them.

All of them were completely drenched but they all wore matching grins as they neared Lance, at the sight of them the crowd parted slightly and as one the drenched women took a kneeling position.

"Very well done your highness." One of the Amazons said with a grin, "Next time we'll add another ten to make this more challenging."

Lance groaned, "Please don't."

Everyone chuckled and with a few more congratulations the crowd slowly began to disperse and went back to doing whatever it was that they were doing before.

Lance stretched arms upwards before turning to Keith, "You're up early, did you do some sparring of your own?"

Keith nodded and pointed at Reyna, "She was sparing with me."

Reyna snorted, "More like kicking your butt but whatever you say," the violet haired Amazon said before she took hold of Adina's arm and started leading her off somewhere. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a date. Cesti and the other two will take over for us." And with a last backward wave, the two women disappeared.

Lance turned to Keith and smiled, "I have a gift for you."

Keith grinned, "Oh?"

Lance nodded and started dragging him by the arm, "Trust me, you'll love it. Now follow me!"

Now normally Keith would have tried getting out of her hold because he didn't like being led along like a dog but after Lance kept repeating the motion in all the time he was here he'd given up and just let her lead him to wherever she wanted to.

Lance led him away from the sparing field to a field covered in small flowers before she let go of his wrist and let out a loud whistle.

The flapping of wings gave her secret away and Keith grinned as a griffon landed a few feet away from them.

"This is Nyx, and today you get to ride her."

Nyx was beautiful.

And _tall._

Each of the griffons golden feathers shone like polished metal, the white of her breast looked smooth and bright. As Lance dragged him over, Nyx's blue eyes went from Lance to Keith in curiosity.

Keith started dancing on his feet, he'd been dreaming of this day since the first time he'd seen a griffon fly over his head.

Red sent him a huff of annoyance in his head and Keith quickly consoled her.

 _You know you're still my girl Red._

Keith got a mental image of the red lion swinging her tail in happiness and he smiled.

"I wanted to go for a ride and get this beautiful girl here some more than deserved fish for making her wait for my last visit."

Nyx puffed her feathers and let out a little squawk before nuzzling Lance's cheek with its beak.

Lance giggled, patting her neck, "So? Want to join?"

Keith narrowed his eyes at her, "Is that a trick question?"

Lance laughed and reached for one of the pouches hanging of Nyx's side and pulled out a familiar set of clothes before handing them over to Keith.

"We finally found your clothes," Lance sent him an apologetic look, "We didn't mean to lose them and it took us a while but we finally found them."

Keith took his clothes from her and hugged them to his chest. He thought he'd lost them forever after letting one of the Amazons wash his clothes for him. Thankfully Lance still had his armor so that was something.

Lance politely turned her back when he began to change from the white toga he was wearing to his familiar black shirt and black pants, thankfully he had combat boots with him. Once done, Lance turned around and handed him a hair tie, which he used to tie the back of his hair in a small ponytail though some strands still fell to his face. Lance procured a few clips and tied those back as well before deeming him ready.

Nyx lowered herself to the floor and Lance put the saddle on her before she climbed her side in one fluid motion before she reached down a hand for Keith. Lance hauled him in front of him and Nyx slowly got to her feet. Surprised, Keith gripped Lance's arm and she laughed as she laid her chin on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall mullet."

Keith shivered and Lance clicked her tongue and Nyx spread her golden wings and started flapping them as she started to run.

She flapped her wings once.

Twice.

And then Nyx suddenly shot to the sky and Keith will admit it, he screamed. His eyes watered and he felt his stomach go straight up his throat. It's a good thing he hadn't eaten anything yet otherwise he would have surely thrown up.

"Holy shit!" he yelled.

Lance laughed behind him and urged the creature to go faster and _holy crap_ they were flying fast. Nyx suddenly did a flip and Keith gripped Lance's wrists so hard he was sure he left her bruises.

Nyx kept flying up and up and whoa those were clouds! The griffon stopped flapping her wings and then they were falling and was this suppose to happen? Lance just laughed and laughed even as they were falling and just when Keith was sure they were going to plummet into the ocean, Nyx spread her wings wide and angled herself until one wing was dipping the ocean and Keith could feel the droplets of water hit his face instantly cooling his face.

And then Keith was laughing alongside Lance as he slowly ever so slowly spread his arms out towards the sky and let out a whoop of joy. His friend followed his lead and let out a whoop of her own.

"Hold your breath!" Lance yelled over the wind and Keith barely had time to do as she asked before Nyx dove for the ocean and oh crap the water was freezing! The Amazon princess tapped his shoulder and Keith opened his eyes to see underwater. "Look over there!" Lance pointed in the distance. He followed her gaze and his eyes widened as he saw the underwater city of the myr.

It looked bright and from where they were swimming, he could just barely see some of the myr swimming along before Nyx plunged them back to the surface and Keith took a lungful of air.

Keith's teeth were shattering but that wasn't enough to wipe the maniac smile from his face. He felt Lance lean her chin on his shoulder and he could feel her smile, "Having fun?"

He was grinning like an idiot and he tried to speak but after opening and closing his mouth and failing to say anything for the third time he just shut it his mouth. Lance seemed to understand what he wanted to say though if the knowing smile she gave him when he turned his head to her was any indication.

* * *

Lance felt her heart sore as she gauche Keith's face from where she was sitting behind him still gripping the saddles so they wouldn't fall off.

The red paladin hadn't stopped smiling since they set off on Nyx. The sea breeze from the ocean below them ruffled their hair as Nyx dipped her other wing into the ocean that had Keith letting out a surprised laugh when the droplets splashed them in the face.

"Exhilarating, isn't it?" she mumbled near his shoulder. Keith slightly turned his head to peer at her and she smiled as she gazed at the rippling crystal clear ocean before them, "When I first rode Nyx I was scared at first, I mean she just jumped off a cliff! I was ten, I was freaking out!" Keith chuckled and she felt the vibrations this close to him, "But then she started soaring high and I let out this shout; I was so excited. And on every ride I'd been on with her, that feeling has not gone away." She closed her eyes and sighed, "It's-"

"Exhilarating," Keith finished for her.

"Yes," she murmured, "It's simply exhilarating."

Nyx dove sharply and Lance wrapped an arm tightly around Keith as both riders braced their thighs as the griffon dipped into the water and sent something hurling into the air. A second later, she easily caught it in her beak.

The thing looked like a fish but was twice as big and with more than two eyes on it.

The thing in her mouth trashed but Nix was not deterred and then there was a crunch as Nyx swallowed the creature in one gulp.

"Whoa," Keith muttered in front of him. "Just swallowed it one gulp."

Nyx turned her face towards them and squawked, Keith turned his head toward Lance in confusion.

Lance smiled and patted Nyx on the side, "Sure thing girl. I'm ready whenever you are."

Keith frowned, "Ready for what?"

Before Lance could answer Nyx dove into the ocean and Keith barely had time to hold his breath before they came out of the water. Nyx threw something into the air before catching it in her beak. Nyx quickly killed the creature and tossed it in the air towards Lance who despite its thick size caught it easily in one hand.

Keith turned halfway to look at what she was doing.

"She likes it a little burnt sometimes so I'm helping her out." Lance explained.

Keith blinked in understanding and watched as sparks of electricity appeared on her fingertips before covering the fish like thing in blue electricity. It only took a few seconds for Keith to know that the fish was cooked.

It smelled strangely like chicken.

Lance ripped a piece off and threw the rest of the fish to Nyx who ate with a little pleased sound. Lance ripped the piece she was holding in half and offered her friend the other piece.

Keith blinked and stared at the offered piece in horror. That thing had been alive just minutes ago and Nyx and Lance were just eating like nothing. The griffon he could understand but even Lance?

Keith shuddered and Lance laughed.

"You're going to upset Nyx if you don't eat it you know." A teasing gleam appeared in her eyes as she looked at Nyx who had turned her head slightly towards them, "In fact, if you don't take it she just might drop you off somewhere and never let you ride her again."

Keith knew she was just teasing him but his eyes darted over to Nyx and he could have sworn the bird narrowed her eyes at him.

He snatched the piece from Lance's hand and took a delicate sniff.

Still smelled like chicken.

As he brought the piece to his lips to take a bite, he was all too aware of the two sets of eyes looking at him in expectation. He took one last breath, closed his eyes, and took a bite and began to chew.

His eyes flew open.

This…whoa. It definitely tasted like chicken but there was a hint of spiciness to it? That was weird but he was not complaining. He shoved the whole thing in his mouth and let out a moan of appreciation.

Now that was fucking delicious.

He must have said it aloud because Lance lightly smacked him for cursing but she didn't look too upset. Nyx let out a noise that sounded like an amused laugh as she continued to fly them above the ocean.

"Not that bad right?"

Keith finished chewing and swallowed before he answered, "It was really good. How come you guys don't serve this?" he asked as he started licking the flavor of his fingers.

Behind him Lance finished her own piece and was licking the remains from her fingers as well before she answered, "Because the griffons really like it. We tried once and a whole herd of them flew over and took them from us."

Keith laughed and turned to her in disbelief, "Really?"

Lance gave him a serious look that only made him laugh, "Really really."

Keith's face was numb with cold by the time Lance steered Nyx to a small hill were the bird lowered herself so its two riders could get off. His limbs were sore and he winced as Lance slowly helped him get down.

The princess grimaced, "Sorry. I forgot that you're not used to riding, next time I'll give you better clothing that's suited for riding."

Keith spread his arms out and tried to reach his toes to get rid of some of the tension in him. He was definitely going to feel this even more tomorrow.

The sound of flapping wings had Keith turning to the sky to see Cesti, Ivy, and Harley in their own griffons flying a few ways away from them. Noticing his stare, all three of them waved before disappearing into a set of trees.

"Where they watching us the whole time?" he asked Lance as she plopped down on the floor and crossed her ankles.

"Yep, they are my bodyguards after all. They didn't want to intrude so they kept a few paces behind." Suddenly remembering something, Lance got to her feet and went over to Nyx who had settled herself near the trees where the sun was shining the brightest, folding her wings tightly and took out two small pieces of bread, a mix of meat and fruits, and leathery pouch that sloshed as she came back and took a seat on the ground beside him.

Keith took out the pins and hair tie and smoothed back his hair from his face. Both of their clothes were still a little damp but with the way the sun felt, they'd probably be dry soon.

Lance passed him some purple and green fruit that was shaped like a pear, beckoning him to eat. Keith began to dig in, grimacing when a sour taste invaded his senses before turning into something sweet at the end and relished the coolness of the fruit as a bit of juice slithered down his jaw.

It wasn't bad.

"What is this?" he asked the princess as he took another bite.

"The sour kapok, its sour at the beginning but at the end it turns sweet." She answered, tearing off a piece of bread and passing it to him. He took it with a nod of thanks. "There's also the star berries that taste a lot like blueberries to me, and the icy blumas that I swear to _god_ taste like vanilla ice cream."

Keith smiled, "I'd like to try them sometime."

Lance nodded but her face fell, "Those only bloom during winter though. You'll be long gone by then."

Keith stopped his chewing before he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'd be back with my team looking for the blue paladin and fighting the Galra."

Lance handed him the leather pouch and took a swig of something sweet and licked his mouth. He cast a sidelong glance at Lance and noticed that she still looked a little down. Not wanting their little trek to end on a sad note he bumped her shoulder until she looked back at him, "I'll make sure to visit though."

Lance smiled a little and she narrowed her eyes at him, "Promise?"

"Promise."

Lance still looked doubtful so Keith lifted his hand and took out his pinkie, "Pinky promise."

The princess blinked at him in surprise before she snorted and laced her own pinky with his. "This promise is binding Keith," she said with a smile, "No backing out."

Keith grinned, "I wouldn't dream of it."

They fell into silence, eating while the sun began to do down, but it was a comfortable silence. But with Lance, the silence never lasted long before the princess had something witty to say.

It started with a lame pick up line, something along the lines of Are you a campfire? Cause you're hot and I want s'more.

Keith chocked on his drink but Lance just continued.

"I'm not Rapunzel, but I'll still let you pull my hair."

Keith was shaking his head at her but he was laughing.

Lance leaned into his persona space and made her voice husky, "I know milk does a body good, but baby, how much have you been drinking?"

Oh well look at that. Keith was blushing. Lance laughed good naturedly as Keith tried to calm his raising heart.

Keith didn't have any pick up lines of his own, nor did he know any good jokes but he was good at _something_ (besides fighting.) _  
_

"Do you have a coin?"

Lance checked her pockets and procured a golden coin and handed it to him. Keith showed her the coin and put it on his left hand. Making sure Lance was watching, he pretended to transfer it to his right hand and rotated his right hand.

He closed his right hand and lifted it to Lance, "Blow on it."

Lance gave him a wry smile and did as she was told.

He frowned, "What's that?"

Lance looked confused, "What's what?" she asked while looking around.

Keith brought his left hand up to her ear, making sure his palm was facing away from her face, and switched the coin to his fingertips before gently stirring her hair and procuring the coin from her ear.

"Tada."

Lance's jaw dropped as she looked at him, to the coin, to her ear, and so forth. "How did-I thought it was-"

Keith grinned at her and shrugged, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Lance blinked furiously before her face took a determined edge, "Again. I shall figure this out."

Keith laughed, "Whatever you say, Princess Leah."

"Keith, don't call me that jeez!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Sometimes it's easy to forget how much you miss people until you see them again."  
― **Colleen Hoover** , **Ugly Love**

Chapter 5

"Found him!" Pidge announced over the wide castle speakers.

Within minutes the rest of team Voltron arrived to the bridge in a brisk run. Shiro arrived first with Allura right on his heels. Hunk and Coran appeared a few minutes later smelling of spices. Probably fixing up some food for everyone.

"Pidge, are you sure it's him?" Shiro asks as he leans over her chair to look at the monitor in front of her.

Pidge pushed up her glasses and nodded, "Yup, it's definitely him. The signal is the same as the green and yellow lions."

Shiro released a sigh of relief. She couldn't blame him. After they'd wormhole away from Zarkon and his Galra army they'd all been split up. Pidge had ended up in the Trash Nebula where with the help of those colorful space caterpillars, was able to send out a signal back to the castle and been rescued relatively quickly.

Hunk and Shiro had ended up on a deserted, rocky planet where Shiro had been chased by giant reptile creatures until Hunk found him. He'd been in bad shape but Hunk had ministered some first aid kit and it was only three days later that Pidge and the others found them.

Coran and Allura had taken Shiro to a healing pod immediately and after a day he was good as new.

Despite their best efforts though, they had not managed to find Keith yet.

Allura clapped her hands in front of her and smiled, "Oh that's wonderful. Pidge send those coordinates to me and I'll wormhole us over there."

Pidge nods as she leans over her monitor to start typing, "Already on it."

Behind her, Pidge hears Hunk let out a relieved sigh, "Oh thank god. I hope he's okay, it's been two weeks."

Coran placed a hand on his shoulder, "Bah, Keith is a strong young man. I'm sure he's perfectly fine. Probably out there intimidating some poor creatures with his glare."

Shiro raked a hand through his hair and smiled a little, "I just hope he's not injured. After our last battle against Zarkon…"

Coran stood straighter and twirled the end of his orange mustache, "Right. I'll go set up a healing pod just in case."

Hunk fidgeted on his feet before declaring that he was going to fix something up for his friend in case he was hungry.

There was a little ding as the control podium in the center of the Castle ship's bridge received the coordinates that Pidge sent over before the princess leaned over the screen to view the contents.

Her white silver hair was pulled into a tight bun as she skimmed through the computer screen. "These coordinates are halfway through space. Why did he land so far away?" she muttered.

Pidge shrugged her shoulders as she looked over at the princess who was tapping her chin. Shiro walked over to her and tilted his head, "Can we wormhole over there?"

Slowly the princess nodded, "Yes, we should be able to. I've never been to this part of the galaxy so I'm not sure what we'll encounter so we'd best be on our guard." She pressed a button on the podium for the castle speakers and spoke, "All right everyone, brace yourselves I'm going to wormhole us as close as I can get us to Keith."

There were a few affirmatives from the rest of the team as Allura opened up a wormhole and steered the castle towards it. Pidge covered her eyes until the light of the Altean wormhole vanished before she opened her eyes. The space they were now in consisted of a few small planets scattered around.

The swish sound of the door opening alerted Pidge of Hunk and Coran's presence as they made their way over to look at their new surroundings.

"Is there anything on the scanners?" Hunk asked leaning over the advisor to look at the screen. "Which planet is Keith's signal coming from?"

Coran frowned as he looked over the readouts he was getting before bringing up the big screen so everyone could see and pointed at a small planet farther than the rest. "That one!" he announced cheerily, "The red lions signal is coming from this planet."

The rest of the paladins came over and looked at the planet that the advisor was pointing to and their eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before them.

"Is that?" Shiro asked as he peered closer at the blue and green planet, "Is that Earth?" he breathed.

Beside him, Hunk's expression matched their leaders perfectly, "Whoa."

Pidge shook her head slowly, "No, its too small to be Earth," she muttered, "But it looks really close to it."

Allura hummed to herself before turning to look at her advisor, "Coran, any sign of the Galra?"

Coran jumped in place before leaning over the screen quickly. After a few minutes he slowly shook his head, "No princess. There seems to be no Galra presence."

Pidge lifted her brown eyes to look over at Coran, "Is it inhabited?"

Coran hummed and nodded, "It seems so. I have no idea if the people there are dangerous or not though. In fact," he read over some of the readouts and frowned quizzically, "I'm not sure what the name of this planet is either. There's no mention of it at all."

The room grew heavy at the words until Shiro took action, "All right team, suit up. We don't know what we'll encounter down there but if there's one thing we know for sure is that Keith is down there and could possibly need our help. I want you to go to your lions and stand by in case we need them."

Pidge and Hunk nodded and started heading for their lions before Shiro turned to look over at the princess. "Princess, take us down there and put the shields around the castle just in case." Allura nodded and started typing instructions into the computer, "I'm going to suit up, but I want you all prepared for the worst."

Allura and Coran nodded as Shiro swiftly made his way to his room to quickly change into his armor in record time before hurrying over to the bridge just as Allura started directing the castle to the small planet.

" _I'm in position guys_ ," Hunk announced through the speakers.

" _Ditto_ ," Pidge announced.

Shiro nodded and placed his hand on the side of his black and white helmet and pressed a button, "Understood. Stand by in case we need you."

Shiro braced himself as the castle started descending towards the planet. The first thing he noticed was the bright blue sky surrounding them in all directions, as the castle started lowering itself Shiro noticed the sky blue ocean before him and couldn't help but look on in awe.

It'd been a very long time since he'd seen the ocean Nevermind one so clear and clean looking one than compared to the ones he'd seen on Earth.

As the castle kept descending, Allura released a small gasp and he turned his attention to her looking for any sign of danger. Finding none, he peered at her face and followed her stare and let out a gasp of his own.

" _Whoa,_ " Hunk breathed, " _Guys? Is that a city underwater? It looks like a city from where I'm looking at."_

" _It-it's definitely a city, and_ -"Pidge let out a gasp, " _Are those mermaids_?"

Shiro, Allura and Coran all turned to look at the city underwater and Shiro slowly nodded his head in awe because yes those were definitely mermaids.

"Look everyone!" Coran shouted as he pointed farther, "There's another city over there!"

Everyone turned away from the underwater city to look at three giant mountains that surrounded a city. There were waterfalls and flying creatures and three hovering islands at the top.

Allura steered the castle towards the city and tried to land the castle on a green spot of land that she found before the castle alarms suddenly sounded and everyone whipped their heads in confusion before they collided against something hard and were thrown off their feet.

"What's happening?" Shiro asked as he got to his feet.

Allura shook herself and got to her feet before frowning, "It's a barrier! We can't get in!"

" _Let me try_!" Pidge shouted.

The sound of an even louder alarm coming the city startled them all as figures began moving in the city.

A bright red light lighted the sky before beams of light struck the castle and everyone shouted as they made impact.

" _Damn it_ ," Pidge cursed as she furiously typed in her tablet, " _Whoever made this barrier is good. I'm trying to crack the code for it but just when I think I got it, it kicks me out!"_

" _Guys_?" Hunk asked nervously, " _What do we do?"_

Shiro's eyes went back to the screen where he could see figures moving in the city, flying creatures started heading over their way and even the city's lights underwater had turned red. "It looks like we're going to have to fight! Pidge, Hunk, get ready!"

" _Right!"_ they both said.

And suddenly they were flung forward as the barrier surrounding the city disappeared and Allura gave a startled shout before she gripped the handles and tried to steer the castle to a patch of land.

The alarm in the city had turned off and a glance at the other monitor confirmed that the city underwater had turned back to its blue and yellow light from earlier.

Another bright light erupted in the sky; this one white and the weapons stopped hitting them.

What was happening?

A beeping sound alerted his attention back to Coran who frowned at the screen, "We're getting a message princess."

Allura frowned but she nodded grimly at her advisor, "Take it."

Coran nodded and pressed the button before a woman's voice was heard over the castle's loud speakers, " _Put down your shield, we mean you no harm. If you come out without weapons we will not attack."_

Allura frowned and stepped over so she could reply, "Why the sudden change in attitude?"

There was static on the other end before the woman replied, " _Forgive us. We thought it was another Galra attack. Our princess has informed us that you are friends with our guest."_

Shiro leaned over the princess, "Guest? Do you mean Keith? Is he okay? Where is he?"

The woman sighed, " _Yes. I believe that is his name. He is safe_. _Come out peacefully and we shall not attack, you have my word."_

The communication cut off.

" _So? Are we going?"_ Hunk asked.

Shiro frowned before slowly nodding to himself, "Yes, we're going. They know his name and they stopped attacking but I want you all alert in case they try anything. Hunk and Pidge, you're both coming with me."

Allura stepped forward, her face determined, "I'm going too."

Shiro opened his mouth to argue but Allura cut him off, "Perhaps I can talk to this princess of theirs and get on the same page."

Shiro frowned but reluctantly nodded.

"There's a small crowd gathered outside the castle your highness." Coran informed them.

Allura thanked him as she and Shiro made their way to the castle entrance to greet these new people. Pidge and Hunk met them along the way and followed after them.

"I have to talk to whoever created that barrier," Pidge muttered, "The security was good, perhaps I could get some pointers."

Shiro smiled and ruffled her hair; "Perhaps we can ask them once we confirm Keith's condition."

Allura looked them over, her index finger hovering over the button to open the doors, "Everyone ready?"

Three firm nods were all she got before she pressed the button and all of them shielded their eyes at the sudden brightness.

Once used to the light, they put their hands down to see a horde of some very tall women in what Shiro could only describe as togas waiting for them a few feet away.

"Whoa," Hunk mumbled.

"Why do I feel like I just stepped into the set of _Wonder Woman?_ Pidge whispered.

Shiro's lips twitched to a smile before he composed himself and took a step forward. The women tensed and Shiro halted and put his hands up in a placating manner. He slowly removed his helmet and the others followed his example.

He opened his mouth to speak but another voice spoke before him.

"Shiro!"

Shiro and the rest of team Voltron turned to the familiar voice and smiled.

* * *

"Lance, to your left!

"Got it! Keith, to your right!"

Keith parried Cesti's sword with his Bayard before swiping her feet from her causing her to land on her back with a squeal.

Reyna had to take several steps back and brought her spare shield to block Lance's arrows.

Keith grinned viciously. This was seriously fun. He and Lance shouted instructions to each other, performing as if they'd battled along side each other for a long time. They hadn't. This was their first joint session and they were performing so well that they were giving Cesti and Reyna trouble.

When one of the Amazons came up behind him, Lance covered for him while he covered for his friend when she had to reload her arrows. They were a sight to behold; they'd gathered quite the crowd already, most cheering them on to Reyna's annoyance.

He and Lance moved constantly, flowing from one attack to the next with no breaks and no hesitancy. They trusted each other.

Keith hadn't felt this attuned to anyone in battle besides Shiro and that had required months of training together just for them to properly synch.

But with Lance, it all just came naturally. If he didn't know any better he'd think Lance was reading his mind. But she couldn't right?

Keith ducked Reyna's sword before throwing a kick at her chest. The kick only managed to make her stumble a few steps but it was enough to distract her as Lance moved in front of him and landed a solid punch to her friends jaw sending her flying.

Cesti moved towards them only for Lance to flick her wrist, sending her flying towards Reyna with a groan.

Having a chance to catch his breath, he turned to Lance who hadn't even broken a sweat, no fair he whined, before wiping his brow and turning to her, "You're not reading my mind are you?"

Lance blinked at him and mumbled a small no that only made him narrow his eyes at her in suspicion, "Lance?"

Lance frowned and crossed an arm over her middle, "No. I can't do that just yet. Mother says I can do it with practice but so far I haven't gotten much luck."

"Ah, and you don't think you can do it." He stated.

Lance scowled but the emotion didn't last very long in her face before she shrugged. Making sure Reyna and Cesti hadn't gotten up yet, he put a comforting hand on his friends shoulder, "You'll get it in to time."

Lance looked at him skeptically, "You think so?"

He grinned, "I know so."

Lance smiled, "Thanks Keith."

"No problem," he said as he raised his fist at her and she bumped her own fist against his. "Guess we're just really good at fighting together."

Reyna's amused voice interrupted them, "If you two are done flirting with each other perhaps we can continue?"

Lance and Keith blushed and shouted together, "We're not flirting!"

"It's not good to lie," Cesti teased as she got to her feet.

Lance huffed and Keith rolled his eyes, they weren't flirting they thought. Just friendly chatter among friends.

"Let's take a break," Reyna said as she stretched out her arms in front of her as Adina came with a water bottle, which she took gratefully.

The gathered crowd began to move away and Lance pulled Keith to the side where Nyx was perched on the ground with her eyes closed. At their approaching feet, the bird opened her eyes and let out a little sound before closing its eyes and went back to sleep.

Keith put his hand under chin and gave it a good scratch, smiling when Nyx nuzzled his hand. Lance made her way over to one of the pouches on Nyx and took out a small black box, which she handed to Keith.

Keith blinked and took the box, "What is it?"

Lance shrugged and tried to look nonchalant but Keith saw right through her, she was nervous. "A gift. Open it."

Keith arched an eyebrow, "Another gift?" he teased.

"Just take it, she's a gift giver!" Reyna shouted from her spot.

Shrugging, Keith slowly opened the box and blinked in surprise. Inside the box were two silver bracelets with a white stone in the middle. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that there was a red lion on one side and on the other side there was a small griffon with blue eyes. Keith's breath hitched as a caramel colored hand reached for one of the bracelets and he glanced at his friend who was looking at him anxiously.

"These are mood bracelets," she began to explain, "If you concentrate you're able to send a bit of quintessence into it to change it. Watch."

Lance closed her eyes and gripped the bracelet in her hand and as Keith watched, the bracelet glowed before it settled on a picture of a crystal blue ocean. The waves even moved inside the stone, it was pretty cool.

"See?" she said thrusting her palm to him so he could see the bracelet. "Your turn."

Keith carefully took out the other bracelet and gripped it in his hand before closing his eyes. He felt small warmth and he opened his fist to see that the stone had turned into an active volcano.

"Oh cool," Lance said peering at the bracelet in his hand. "Now we switch."

Lance took the bracelet in his hand and Keith took the one in her hand and put in on his right wrist.

"Lance," his voice cracked, and he had to clear his throat, "This is amazing. Thank you."

Perhaps it was the way the sun was hitting her, but Keith could have sworn she blushed. His bracelet suddenly changed to a pink color and he glanced from it to Lance and grinned.

"You said these were mood bracelets," he teased and Lance narrowed her eyes, "So?" he leaned closer to her and grinned when she took a step back from him, "What does pink mean?"

Lance turned her head, "I refuse to answer."

Cesti snickered a few feet away and answered for her, "It means very happy!"

Lance stomped her foot and looked at her friend in betrayal, "Cesti! You traitor!"

Keith snickered as the bracelet turned to an orange and he didn't have to ask what this one meant. Reyna lifted her head from where was whispering something to Adina's ear and gasped as she came running to them.

"Lance! You traitor!" she screeched.

Cesti and Keith jumped in surprise.

Lance looked up at her in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"You gave him a friendship bracelet too?" she lifted her leg and practically shoved her ankle at the three of them, "I thought I was special!"

Keith's lips twitched as Cesti and Adina face palmed. Lance groaned and put one hand on her hip while she pointed at her friend, "First of all, you took that from my jewelry box and second of all that goes on your wrist not on your ankle."

Reyna snorted and waved her hand in dismissal, "Details."

Cesti and Keith laughed while Adina was shaking her head at her girlfriend in mock exasperation. Lance just chuckled at their antics before turning back to Keith, "It's just a little present to remember your time here. So if you're ever in trouble," she held her up her right hand with the bracelet, "I'll know, and I'll come running. It kind of has GPS too…" she mumbled sheepishly.

This gift just kept getting better and better Keith thought with a smile. He was secretly pleased though, no one had ever given him such a gift like this. He felt the overwhelming need to cry and hug Lance. She was such a good friend, and he didn't have that many.

Shiro was his friend sure, but he acted more like a big brother to him. Hunk and Pidge he was starting to talk to more but he wasn't as close to them as he wanted to be. Coran seemed nice and Allura as well but sometimes they treated him like a kid. Lance was different. He didn't remember laughing this much in ages and it was nice. He was going to miss her when he left.

"Lance-" he began only to pause as the four Amazons before him suddenly tensed and shot their gazes up at the sky.

Keith reached for his weapons and followed their gaze, "Is it another Galra attack?"

Reyna answered, "We're…not sure."

The silence was heavy as the five kept their gaze at the sky and even Nyx had gotten to her feet searching for whatever it was that was disturbing her rider. For a moment there was nothing and then the clouds parted and something huge began to descend.

Keith squinted. What was that?

He couldn't see from where he was standing but there was something oddly familiar about the shape.

The sound of an alarm was echoed from the city before a bright red light suddenly lighted the sky and Lance and her friends were moving. "Okay, ladies! To your griffons, we're under attack!"

"Right!" Reyna, Cesti and Adina shouted as they let out a loud whistle before they began running towards the sound of wings flapping where their griffons were making their way over to them.

Lance grabbed his hand and hauled him on Nyx before she saddled up behind him, she clicked her tongue and Nyx started flying towards the city.

"Is it an enemy?" Keith yelled over the wind, his hair going wild making it hard to see. He should have tied his hair back damn it. From their position he could just start to see beams of light hit the descending object.

Reyna, Cesti, and Adina were a few paces behind them.

"We think so." Lance answered as she guided Nyx to the city.

Irritated, Keith angrily pushed his hair away from his face and felt his eyes widen as he took in the white object. "Wait! Stop!" He turned to Lance and gripped her wrists, "Tell them to stop!"

Lance startled and Nyx came to stop as she screeched at them in confusion, "What? What's wrong Keith?"

Keith pointed at the object, his lips turning into a smile, "That's the castle of lions! Those are my friends!"

Lance's eyes widened and she glanced at the castle? Before turning back to Keith. "Are you sure?" she yelled over the blaring sounds of the alarm.

"Yes!" he shouted back.

Lance nodded before she brought her left hand up and pushed a thumb on her wrist making the transparent bracelet solidify before she leaned over it and started shouting, "Everyone stop attacking! They're the lions of Voltron. I repeat, do not attack!"

There was static on the other end as a flurry of voices answered back in confusion, others in anger. Lance continued on, "Keith says they're his friends. Do not attack. That is an order!"

For a moment there was silence until the queens voice answered back, "Are you sure Leah?"

"I'm sure mother."

There was another moment of silence before the queen replied, "Very well. You heard my daughter. Put the barrier down, do not attack and send out the cease-fire arrow."

"Yes, your highness!" multiple voices answered back and Keith and Lance released sighs of relief as the alarms turned off, the shooting ceased and the barrier was taken down as the castle made its way to the east side where it was mostly green fields. A minute later, a bright white light erupted the sky and the castle landed safely.

"I guess its time to go greet your friends," Lance murmured. "You ready mullet?"

"So ready." Keith answered with a grin.

She returned the gesture and with a click of her tongue, Nyx changed directions and went straight for the castle.

* * *

The sea of assembled women parted for what Shiro could only describe as a griffon as it descended to the ground and lowered itself so it's two riders could safely climb down.

"Shiro!" Keith yelled.

His friend had the audacity to smile at him like he hadn't a care in the world. His black hair was in disarray, like he'd just gotten up from bed and forgot to comb his hair. He looked better than he last saw him-tanner and taller, leaner and more muscular.

Shiro was too stunned to move. He felt as if he did he'd wake up and this would all be a dream and Keith would still be missing.

But then Keith moved and Shiro met him halfway. The gathered women tensed. Some even reached for their weapons.

Shiro threw his arms around his friend and drew him close. The sound of two other sets of footsteps followed after him and suddenly two more pairs of arms went around them and lifted them in a group hug.

Hunk and Pidge laughed as Hunk swung them all around and Shiro would be lying if he didn't shed a tear or two at the reunion. And then they were all talking at once and laughing once more when they talked over each other.

Keith pulled away as Hunk set them down and studied them all, "God, I thought something had happened to you guys."

"Us too, kiddo." Shiro said as he put a hand on his shoulder, "We were looking everywhere for you."

"We're so glad you're okay dude," Hunk said wiping a tear from his eye.

Pidge lightly punched his arm and sniffed, "Don't disappear on us again you idiot."

Keith smiled and ruffled her light brown hair, "Won't happen again." He promised.

Allura cleared her throat and everyone turned their eyes to her, "Well, it's good to have you back Keith," she sent an anxious look back at the waiting women, "But umm, perhaps you could introduce us to your new friends?"

A few of the women surged forward and Shiro had to crane his neck just to look them in the eye. The tallest among them had half of her violet hair shaved with longs bangs covering the right side of her face with yellow cat eyes and a grin on her face. The women on her left clenching her hand had short black hair and hazel eyes that regarded them warily. And the last woman had curly blonde hair with green eyes looking at them all curiously.

Keith surged back to the crowd and dragged a honey-skinned girl with short brown hair and the bluest eyes he'd ever seen back with him. She seemed to be the shortest among the gathered women here but was an inch taller than Keith and like the rest of the women gathered she was wearing a toga but a cobalt blue one.

Shiro could tell from their body language that they felt close to Keith. The four of them stood protectively around him and Keith seemed totally at ease with them.

Keith said something to the brown haired girl he was still dragging over to them that had her lightly smacking him on the shoulder.

Something gleamed in the girl's right hand and Shiro turned his head to see a bracelet clamped on her wrist. He frowned and turned to Keith and noticed a similar bracelet on his friends' own wrist as well.

Very interesting…

Keith introduced the honey-skinned girl as Lance before turning to the violet haired women whose name was Reyna, the one with the black hair was Adina and the curly blonde one was named Cesti.

Shiro and the rest introduced themselves, Hunk gave a peace sign to the women who chuckled in response and Pidge was throwing question after question at the women.

She desperately wanted to know about the barrier around the city.

Lance clasped Shiro's hand firmly, he had to refrain from wincing, this girl had a grip. "It's very nice to meet you. I've heard about you from mullet over here."

Pidge's lips twitched, "Mullet?"

Hunk tapped his chin as he peered at his friend, "You know, now that I think about it, it does look like a mullet. Good eye."

Lance grinned and Keith groaned.

"Shut it, Princess Leah." Keith grumbled.

There was a choked laughed as Lance, who was apparently a princess, groaned.

"Princess Leah?" Pidge snickered. "Like from Star Wars?"

Lance err Leah? Frowned, "What's a Star Wars?"

There was an indignant cry as Hunk shoved his way over to them, "How do you not know about Star Wars?" he cried as he gripped her hands and turned to green paladin, "Pidge! Can you believe this?"

Pidge gave a sad nod, "I know buddy I know. We have to educate these poor people at once!"

Shiro smiled as Lance looked even more confused before her gaze went past him to where princess Allura was and she gasped. She marched right over to the princess and got down on one knee as she took her hand in hers, "This morning I saw a flower and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen; until I met you."

The gathered women all groaned and Shiro's jaw dropped. Princess Allura blushed and giggled into her hand and Shiro was so not okay with that.

Pidge snickered beside him and poked his stomach with her elbow, "Looks like you've got some competition there Romeo." Princess Lance/Leah whispered something into Allura's ears and the princess turned bright red. "Oh, I like her." Pidge announced with a grin.

Hunk whistled, "Ditto."

Keith groaned but smiled fondly at his friend. "Here we go again," he mumbled.

Lance said something else to the princess that turned her into a giggling mess before she turned over to the gathered women and started giving out directions, "Okay ladies. Tell the rest of Amazons to stand down. Cesti alert the cooks in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a feast for our gathered guests. And for all that is good, loosen up jeez."

Most of the gathered women began to disperse until it was just team Voltron, Lance and her two friends. The blonde one, Cesti, had left with the crowd on her griffon.

Pidge pushed up her glasses and tightened her hold on her helmet at her hip, "Did you say Amazons?"

Lance frowned but nodded. "Yup, Amazons."

Hunk stepped forward on dancing feet, "As in _all_ of you are Amazons?"

Lance tilted her head as she regarded him, "Yes that is correct." She turned to Keith with a puzzled look, "Are your friends hard of hearing?"

Keith snickered and Shiro's brows went up. Keith was openly laughing and no one had to force him. Usually he'd be pouting and glaring at everyone from his corner so this new attitude was definitely new but not unwelcome.

Pidge let out a squeal and Shiro winced. "So there are only women here?"

Lance nodded looking confused.

"And you're all warriors?" Hunk added excitedly.

Reyna and Adina nodded.

Pidge spread her arms wide, "Oh man! This planet is the best! We always need more women in the battlefield!"

"Amen to that," Reyna smirked, "We're clearly better."

Princess Allura giggled and made her way over to them, "Yes, having more women in the battlefield is definitely something we can all agree on."

"Oh most definitely," Lance said as she sauntered over to them with a smile, "We need to show these men how things are done!"

"Don't you agree Shiro?" Allura asked him and he paled as all five women turned to him with expectant looks. Keith looked away and was checking his nails, the traitor, and Hunk was just nodding along furiously. Shiro took a deep breath as a memory of his parents suddenly came back to him.

" _Remember Takashi, women are always right. Isn't that right dear?" his father said._

 _His mother grinned, "Damn straight. Shiro, listen to your father. He knows what he's talking about."_

Shiro plastered on a smile and nodded, "Oh yes. We guys need a woman's touch every now and then."

All five women said 'aww' and Keith snorted beside him.

"How about you let the other person in your team join us?" Reyna said looking up at the castle.

Team Voltron blinked in surprise but Allura nodded and called for Coran through her helmet. The castles shields covered the castle and as soon as the advisor came out the women were on him.

"What is this?" Lance exclaimed as she fingered Coran's mustache.

"Its-its so majestic!" Reyna crooned.

"I didn't know facial hair could look this good," Adina exclaimed.

Coran puffed up his chest and twirled the end of his orange mustache, which had the girls squealing, "Why thank you very much ladies. I do try."

And winked.

Coran _winked!_

Shiro groaned. Oh man.

Lance clapped her hands together, "How about we start making our way into the city. We've much to discuss and my mother wishes to speak with you."

Pidge turned and tugged Lance's sleeves, "By the way, is that a griffon?"

Lance grinned.


	6. Chapter 6

"we developed a firm, practical feeling of solidarity, which grew, on the battlefield, into the best thing that the war produced - comradeship in arms."  
― **Erich Maria Remarque** , **All Quiet on the Western Front**

Chapter 6

Pidge let out another scream that turned into laughter as Reyna urged her griffon to fly faster.

The green paladin spread her arms out as if she was in a roller coaster and let out a whoop of joy, "This is seriously awesome!"

Behind her, one hand around Pidge was Hunk who was looking a little green. He suddenly covered his mouth and moaned, "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick!"

Reyna turned to look at him in horror, "Don't you dare throw up all over my beautiful Callista!"

Adina flew her griffon beside her and offered the yellow paladin a brown paper bag, which he took with a nod of thanks. Allura and Coran who were riding with Adina looked at him in concern but he waved them off so they turned their attention back to the wondrous city of Cloyetera.

Lance angled Nyx to the left side of Reyna's griffon and looked at her friend's passengers with a grin. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked the big boned guy whose name was Hunk.

Hunk made another sound before swallowing back the contents that threatened to escape through his mouth. He gave her a shaky thumps up that wasn't fooling anyone.

"Keith," her black haired friend turned to her from his position in front of her and quirked an eyebrow at her, "Take the reins for me."

Keith let out a surprised shout as Lance let go off the reins and leaned in close to Hunk. Shiro put an arm around her waist when it looked like she was close to falling and held on tight.

"What are you doing?" Shiro asked the Amazon princess as she laid a hand on Hunks stomach.

"Making him feel better," she shouted over the rushing wind.

Curious, Shiro and the rest of his friends turned to see Lance's hand glow a soft green over Hunk's stomach. Hunk let out a surprise shout and Shiro tensed but the yellow paladin relaxed and blinked. The green tint to his cheeks disappeared and he looked back to his normal self.

"Better?" Lance shouted over the wind.

Hunk blinked and felt around his stomach before a wide smile bloomed his face. "Oh man! What did-that was-I feel great!"

"Astounding," Coran murmured. "Your highness, you can heal?"

Lance nodded shyly, "Yeah, I'm still in training though."

Keith snorted in front of her, "Please. She's being modest; you should see the things she can do. She's a badass."

"Language!" Adina and Reyna scolded. Shiro smiled and Lance smiled fondly at the red paladin.

Shiro stroked his chin as he regarded the two.

Very interesting indeed.

"Thank you, your highness. I feel so much better." Hunk said to Lance.

"Please," she smiled, "Call me Lance. And you're welcome."

The Amazons redirected their griffons to a building that had an archway surrounded by blue and green glowing flowers before directing them to the side so they could all climb down.

Once down the three Amazons led the way to the building and Reyna and Adina pushed open the doors. There was a slight rumble before the doors opened fully and as one they all stepped inside.

Most of the Amazons were already gathered up in rows of balconies whispering amongst themselves as Lance steered the group to the stage in the center.

The sound of another door opening had everyone stop their whispering and everyone took a kneeling position, startled the Voltron team followed their example and waited before a woman's voice spoke over them.

"You may rise."

Shiro and the rest of his team got to his feet and looked up at the tallest balcony where a woman who was undoubtedly Lance's mother was perched on a throne. The woman was wearing a white long dress with a light gray fur coat over her shoulders. She had on a golden crown with a blue crystal in the center placed on her long black hair as she regarded them curiously, her brown eyes twinkling.

She spread her arms wide and smiled, "Welcome to Cloyetera, Paladins of Voltron. I'm afraid I have to apologize for our rude welcoming. We believed you were Galra."

Princess Allura stepped forward and bowed her head respectfully at the queen, "No. It's quite all right your highness. Our appearance must have caught you by surprise, we should have tried to make contact before attempting to land."

The queen smiled, "Yes, I suppose you're right. However, we are also partially to blame for not attempting to contact you all first as well. No harm no foul. Your name dear?"

Allura straightened, her blue eyes rimmed with purple gleamed, "My name is Princess Allura from Altea and this is my fellow advisor Coran. The three beside me are the paladins of Voltron. Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge." She smiled, "I believe you've already met our red paladin Keith."

The queen turned her eyes towards Keith and Shiro had to do a double take as the queen looked at his friend with affection, "Yes, I believe we've met. Quite an interesting fellow, likes to brood in the corners," she laughed into her hand as her eyes turned to her daughter, "Until my daughter loosened him up. In fact," she leaned over the balcony and put a hand to the side of her mouth as she pretended to whisper something to them, "I believe I've heard him laugh recently, but perhaps those are just rumors."

Keith blushed as the rest of the Amazons laughed and teased him from their seats up on the balconies.

"Oh, man," Pidge, whispered to Hunk, "Keith has his own harem."

Hunk's lips twitched upwards and Shiro sent them a stern look and they quickly shut their mouths.

Allura giggled into her hand, "Yes, thank you very much taking care of our friend. We spent so long looking for him we almost feared the worst."

The queen leaned back in her chair and relaxed, "If there's anyone you should be thanking it's my daughter Leah. She's the one who saved him from drowning and even healed his wounds. How dashing." She giggled as Lance let out a small whine.

Reyna snickered beside her friend and Adina hushed her with a pinch to her hand.

Allura turned to Lance and gave her hand a squeeze, "Thank you very much your highness."

Lance blushed, "It's no big deal really."

Shiro smiled at her fondly, "It is a big deal, you saved our friend. You have my gratitude."

Pidge and Hunk agreed immediately and Coran placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled.

Allura turned back to the queen and frowned, "Forgive me if I'm being rude, but I heard that you all were having problems with the Galra?"

At the mere mention of them, the Amazons started throwing insults at the name and some scoffed before the queen raised a hand and the room went quiet. "Yes, we've been having some trouble with the Galra. However, there is no need for concern. We shall handle this on our own."

Allura wrung her hands together and stood straighter, "To tell you the truth, we have been fighting with the Galra for a while as well." She licked her dry lips, "How would you feel about an alliance with Team Voltron?"

At the name of Voltron, the Amazons started whispering to themselves. The queen raised an eyebrow at the Altean princess, "An alliance you say?"

Allura nodded, "Yes your highness. The paladins of Voltron are able to use the lions to form Voltron to defeat Zarkon. It seems to be his only weakness."

"I see," the queen murmured. "So that bed time story is true. If I remember the story correctly, there are five lions that are used to form Voltron."

Hunk started to shuffle his feet.

Allura swallowed, "Yes, that is correct your highness."

"From the reports we've gathered, there have only been mentions of the red, yellow and green lions. No mention of the blue or black lion. Why is that?"

Allura sighed, "I'm afraid we have not located our blue paladin yet and unless we do our leader, Shiro, cannot retrieve the black lion."

"I see." The queen said as she folded her hands in front of her, "I'm afraid that without the full set of Voltron, we cannot accept this alliance of yours. Once you've assembled all the lions we've be more than willing to enter this alliance with you. I'm terribly sorry my dear, but I cannot risk my peoples lives unless you're all gathered."

Lance opened her mouth as if to argue and her mother sent her a look that had her closing her mouth.

Allura balled her hands into fists but nodded, "I understand your highness. We will be back." She said, a determined edge to her voice, "You have my word."

The queen smiled, "I look forward to it. In the meantime, you're all in time for the Olympieia Festival that we shall have in another few hours. Please, stay and enjoy the festivities before resuming your journey."

Allura bowed her head and the rest of her team followed her example, "Thank you very much, your highness. We look forward to the festivities."

The queen got to her feet and looked over the gathered crowd, "Now then everyone. We have a festival to prepare for, you're all dismissed."

The crowd began to disperse and Shiro put a comforting hand on the princess's shoulder, "Hey it's okay. She didn't completely say no to the alliance. We just have to find the blue paladin and she'll be more than happy to join."

Lance nodded beside them, "That's right. Mother wants to get rid of the Galra as much as you do. Just find that blue paladin and we'll be more than eager to lend our services to you."

Allura sighed and smiled, "Yes. Thank you both for the encouraging words. Now then, I believe we have a festival to attend."

"Will there be food?" Hunk shyly asked as he rubbed his stomach.

Keith grinned, "Oh, you're going to love the food they have here. It's just like Earth food."

Hunk's eyes widened as he started salivating. "Oh man, I can't wait."

"A change of clothes first though? Just so you can be more comfortable." Adina suggested.

"Are you sure?" Allura asked, frowning, "We wouldn't want to impose."

"Not at all," Lance grinned, "We really want to dress up the males in your group," she said eagerly.

Shiro took a step back and Keith paled. Hunk actually looked interested and Coran was already describing what he wanted to Adina as they began to exit the building. The others began to follow after them talking in excited tones.

"Will I have to wear a dress?" Pidge whined.

Adina looked down at her and grinned, "Oh, yes."

"Aww man," Pidge whined.

"The festival will do you all some good, and you'll even be able to witness our princess here perform." Reyna said with a grin as she pulled Lance into a one handed hug that lifted the princess of her feet.

Keith turned to his friend with wide eyes, "You'll be performing? What are you going to do?" he asked stepping up beside her as Reyna put her down.

Lance put her hands behind her back and gave her friend a Cheshire smile, "That's a surprise."

Keith frowned but let it go.

"Oh that's right Keith. Where is the red lion?" Allura asked.

Keith blinked, "Oh, she's off in the science division while they repair her."

"Ah, the perhaps we should pick her up first and take her to back to the castle where the repairs will be done much quicker."

"Science division?" Pidge asked eagerly, "Is that where they developed that barrier that surrounded the city?"

"Yup, why?" Adina asked.

"Oh man, I seriously want to know what type of security they used to block me out. It was good, it kept locking me out when I tried to infiltrate it."

Lance hummed, "Okay, then let's do this. Keith, Pidge, and Coran can go to the science division to get the red lion and let Pidge ask her questions to the team there, while the rest of you go with Reyna to get fitted for your clothes. Once the first three are done, you'll head over with Adina to get your new clothes."

Keith frowned, "What about you?"

Lance put her hands to her hips and gave her friend a long-suffering sigh, "I have to get ready for my performance. I'll see you all in a few hours!" she yelled over her shoulder as she climbed on Nyx and flew away.

As soon as she left, Cesti landed on her own griffon and smiled, "I heard some people need a ride?"

* * *

Keith shifted uncomfortably on his feet, uncomfortable in his new set of clothes. He was wearing a black shirt rolled up at the sleeves with a dark grey vest on top of it. Every now and then, he would grip the red tie that Adina put around his neck in annoyance. His dark grey slacks matched the vest he was wearing and he'd even had to abandon his combat boots for some black dress shoes.

The sun was already beginning to go down, giving the city a nice view.

Beside him, Shiro and Hunk were wearing the same thing only Shiro's tie was black and white while Hunks' was yellow. Coran was wearing the same outfit but his tie was orange, he looked absolutely chipper and ready for the dance floor if the cha-cha he was doing in place was any indication.

A sudden wolf whistle had all four of them turning to see Allura and Pidge making their way over to them. The princess was wearing a light purple dress with a shawl over her shoulders. Her hair was loose and cascaded down her back. She looked regal.

Beside her, Pidge was gripping Allura's wrist tightly as she tried not to fall as she glared at the low heels that they'd practically forced on her. The long green dressed looked good on her but she was clearly uncomfortable.

Keith understood her pain all too well as he gave his tie another tug. The thing was too tight in his opinion but Adina kept tying it tighter each time she caught him tugging on it.

Allura smiled when she saw them, "My, you all look absolutely dashing. You know how to clean up well."

Shiro smiled back at her, a small blush on his cheeks, "You look beautiful princess." He glanced down at Pidge and smiled warmly, "You as well Pidge."

Pidge huffed but she looked pleased.

Amazons lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while other women were scurrying back and forth with hands full of trays.

A little ways away, a group of griffons were playing around with each other. Firebirds flew overhead, alighting their whole bodies in flames as they passed by. Keith could have sworn he saw Aldara fly by but he wasn't sure.

Keith glanced up at the three islands hovering above the city and saw the bird like cages that were actually a sort of elevator mechanism bringing down more Amazons to the ground to enjoy the festivities.

Speaking of Adina, the girl was fussing over her violet haired girlfriend as Reyna kept spreading her legs as she sat. She was trying to show her how to cross her legs and sit properly like a lady but Reyna didn't seem to be listening.

Both of them looked stunning in their matching black dresses. Adina had curled her short black hair and put a touch of makeup making her eyes seem bigger. Reyna kept fidgeting with her long dress, clearly uncomfortable. She was a lot like Lance when it came to clothes; both of them liked their togas cut above the knee so they could have room to move.

The festival was already in full swing and the music that was blaring over the speakers sounded oddly Celtic with a rockfish vibe. It wasn't bad.

Taking Red back to the castle hadn't taken too long so he had plenty of time to get his clothes picked by Adina. He was hoping it would take longer, even encouraged Pidge to ask more and more questions to the science division who were more than eager to answer but Adina sent Ivy and Harley to fetch him and Pidge, Coran had practically run to Adina's to get a new outfit. The weirdo.

He hadn't seen Lance in the last few hours and wondered where she could be. He glanced at the mood bracelet that she'd given to him as a present earlier and frowned as it changed from orange to yellow before settling on a green-peridot color. She was feeling too many emotions.

Cesti made her way over to where they were standing and beckoned them to follow her. She'd pinned up her short curly blonde hair into a loose bun, her white short dress swaying every time she walked.

She led them to a circular table where a bunch of Amazons sat scattered around in their own tables. There was a giant stage facing them with a set of instruments and chairs below. Keith and his friends all gratefully took their seats. No sooner had they sat before platters of food were placed in front of them all and Hunk released a moan at the smell.

The others looked nostalgic as they dug into their food.

"Oh man!" Hunk moaned over a spoonful of food, "What is this? It tastes like pizza but it doesn't look like pizza!"

Pidge took a bite of her brown mush that looked like rice and let out a sound of appreciation, "This tastes just like waffles! And this one tastes like fish!"

Shiro took a bite of his own food and Keith swore he saw him shed a tear, "It tastes just like spagettios."

Allura and Coran let out appreciative noises of their own as they dug into their food.

The crowd suddenly hushed as the queen stepped forward and made a toast before sitting behind them all on a huge table overlooking everything else. Her six guards in formal wear surrounding her as their eyes took everything.

Keith and the others raised their own glasses in the air before taking a sip of their drink. Mmm, not bad.

About a dozen Amazons suddenly emerged from the crowd and as one they all took a seat below the stage before picking up an instrument.

The crowd hushed and looked up at the stage eagerly. Keith's bracelet turned to blue and he raised his eyes to the stage as the curtain parted and Lance stepped to the center of the stage. She was wearing a long dark green georgette fabric dress with the white and yellow design throughout the sari draped over her right shoulder. Her short brown locks had been curled slightly making the small silver and black crown on her head stand out.

Twelve Amazons in black and dark green dresses made their way over before splitting up. Six pairs on Lance's right and the other six on her left. The women paired with each other and took each other's hands as the orchestra began to play.

Keith would forever remember this as the moment that Lance rendered him incapable of speech or movement. He was barely able to think. He mostly just gawked, his mouth open as Lance began to sing in such a beautiful voice as she hit the notes just right.

The women on both sides danced and twirled each other around the princess and the crowd was mesmerized. As the orchestra began to pick up Lance began to sway and twirl around the dancers, her breath not catching in her throat as she moved.

The orchestra slowed and Lance whispered out the next verse before the orchestra picked up again and Lance made her voice louder.

The orchestra took over and Lance danced around the dancers as they all moved around the princess. Despite being the shortest among the group Lance stood out.

As the song grew to a close Lance spread her arms out and sang out the last note before Keith was on his feet clapping like a madman. His face was feeling distinctly warm, he knew he had a flush on his face but he summed it up to the excitement he was feeling for his friend. He was so god damn proud of Lance. The crowd followed his example as they praised Lance with a huge applause. Hunk and Pidge were whistling and even Shiro and Allura wore matching grins as they clapped along with everyone else. Coran's shouting was practically tuning out the rest of the Amazons cheers.

Lance looked out of breath and flushed but happy as she smiled and took a bow, which had the crowd erupting in applause once more.

A few Amazons threw blue glowing flowers at the princess's feet while others shouted for an encore.

Lance picked up the flowers and cradled them to her chest before making her way off the stage. Disappointed sighs followed after her but the orchestra began to play something else that seemed to appease the crowd.

A few dozen Amazons crowded around their princess as she emerged and Lance smiled and thanked them for their words but it was clear she wanted to pass. Sensing this, Keith made his way over to his friend to rescue her. He didn't notice Shiro looking after him in curiosity.

As soon as Lance saw him she smiled and excused herself before making her way over to him. Once she was close enough she looped her arm through his and Keith led them back to the table he and his friends were occupying. "How was I?" she asked him shyly.

Keith let out a whoosh of air and grinned; "Now _that_ was amazing."

Lance smiled and quirked an eyebrow at him, "Really?"

"Really really."

Lance smiled before the sound of Keith's friends calling her name caught her attention. Coran gripped her arms and was exclaiming quite loudly on how much he loved her performance. Hunk said it was the most beautiful thing he'd heard while Pidge nodded vigorously along with him. Allura and Shiro politely praised her and made room for her to sit between Hunk and Pidge.

"Wow, you guys look amazing!" Lance gushed as she took them all in.

All of them seemed pleased by her comment and Coran even curtsied at her.

As soon as she sat down, one of the Amazons placed a silver tray in front of her and Lance thanked her before she slowly opened the tray. The tray suddenly trashed and everyone screamed and backed away. Lance squealed, took out the dagger strapped to her thigh, opened the tray and plunged the dagger into the creature.

Hunk looked like he was going to be sick, Pidge raised her head from where she hid behind him, Keith had drawn his sword out and even Shiro had turned his prosthetic arm into a sword ready for anything. Allura and Coran looked very interested in the princess's dinner and peered closer as they all took a closer look.

The creature looked like a crab but with four more legs and a blue and yellow tint to it. The creature twitched and Hunk let out a frantic scream before Lance twisted the dagger and the creature stopped moving.

They all watched in horror as Lance ripped a leg out and started chewing. Noticing the stares she was getting she offered them all a piece to which they all shook their heads. Coran took the plunge and took a piece before his eyes lighted up and he reached for another piece. Shrugging, Allura took another leg and bit into it, the paladins of Voltron cringed when they heard some crunching but Allura's eyes lit up in delight.

The three aliens looked back at the humans and then at each other before grinning broadly and offered them a piece to which they all refused. Oh well, more for them.

* * *

As the festival went on, plenty of Amazons had already made their way to the dance floor and were twirling their partners around. Allura had dragged Shiro to the dance floor and after a few tries the black paladin got the hang of it.

Coran was dancing from partner to partner as the woman pulled him along. He didn't seem to mind though; he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Lance and the queen had every head turning to them as they glided effortlessly through the dance floor. Every now and then they'd hover in the air and dance around the crowd with ease. Pidge swore she saw the queen do the robot but she wasn't sure.

Keith had moved to a corner and was turning down Amazon after Amazon who asked him to dance. His eyes were on Lance as she switched partners and glided through the room before dipping her partner. The Amazon swooned and Lance twirled her away before switching to another partner.

Shiro shook his head at his friend. He probably had no idea that his eyes kept dragging over to the Amazon princess.

Pidge made her way to woman wearing a lab coat on top of her dress and was in deep conversation. Hunk had found the head chef and was writing down recipes on a small notepad that he had brought with him.

After a while Coran headed back to the castle to check up on the red lion, one of the Amazons giving him a ride back on her griffon as they talked animatedly.

The queen made her way over to Keith and the red paladin tensed. He really hoped that she wasn't going to ask him to dance because the he'd have to agree. You couldn't say no to a queen. To his surprise, the queen merely leaned on the wall that he was perched on and looked at the crowd with a smile.

Keith's shoulders slowly loosened and he crossed his arms before looking back at the crowd.

For a while it was silent between the two until the queen cleared her throat and Keith tensed again.

"I noticed that you and my daughter have matching bracelets," she started.

Keith looked at the queen from the corner of his eye and nodded cautiously.

"Do you know what they do? The queen asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Keith frowned, "They tell what the other person is feeling by showing a color tuned to that emotion?"

The queen smiled and nodded, "Yes that is true, but it does something else as well." She turned her eyes toward him, "Do you know?"

Keith slowly shook his head.

"As the bond between the two wearing the bracelet grows, eventually you'll start to feel each others emotions. Everything you feel, my daughter will feel. And everything she feels, you will feel. Eventually you'll start to see what they see, you'll feel their presence close to you at all times." The queen sighed a wistful smile as she pulled back the sleeve of her dress and showed him her own bracelet, "My husband and I have the same matching bracelets. That's why I never feel truly alone. He's always with me."

Keith openly stared, his mouth parted, but no sound came out. He had no idea.

The queen laughed, a very high and sweet sound, "I'm sure my daughter had no idea they could do that as well. It'll be fun to see her expression when she finds out, don't you think?" the queen grinned back at him.

Keith blinked before he let out a snort that would have had Shiro scolding him for making such a sound in front of a queen.

"You're a good man," the queen said softly, "I'm glad you were able to become friends with my daughter. I haven't seen her this happy since they day she discovered ice cream." Keith laughed and the queen grinned, "You will be missed Keith. You were a delight to have in Cloyetera."

Keith smiled and respectfully bowed his head, "Thank you for having me. And thank you for letting me stay in your home." He hesitated and scratched his cheek awkwardly, "I don't remember my mother much, but I imagine she was a lot like you, so thank you for that too."

The queen blinked at him in surprise before she smiled softly at him and dragged him to a hug that he returned after a bit of hesitation.

The sound of an alarm going off startled them and the crowd started shouting as the city's barrier suddenly surrounded the city and a red light lit the sky. The queen tapped her transparent bracelet and after it solidified yelled at it, "What's going?"

The rest of the Amazons had turned to their bracelets as well, all of them looked tense. There was static on the other end before a woman shouted back, " _Your highness, it's the Galra! The Galra are approaching the city!"_

Coran's own voice was heard as Allura contacted him, " _Princess! I'm getting numerous readings vastly approaching! I believe it's the Galra!"_

The queen growled before she turned to the gathered crowd, her eyes seeking her daughters who gave a firm nod before she spoke in a voice loud enough for the crowd and the women on the other end to hear, "The Galra are attacking! This is not a drill, battle stations everyone!"

The women on the other line shouted back, " _Your highness! The Galra have brought more than a dozen battle cruisers with them this time! There's-there's too many! And what's more there are these two giant robots with them this time!"_

Allura stepped forward, "Your highness, if you help us get back to our castle, we can help with the two giant robots."

The queen frowned but nodded grimly. "Very well, you will all travel with the second wave, my daughter will clear the way as much as possible for you all." The queen turned back to her daughter and framed her face in her hands, "Be very careful and don't do anything dangerous."

Lance gripped her mothers face in her own before nodding grimly and stepping back, "Archers! You're with me! To your griffons!"

A dozen women surged forward before they all called out their griffons. The sound of flapping wings announced their approach before Lance tapped her transparent bracelet, pushed a few buttons, and then hovered the bracelet in front of her from head to toe.

Keith and his team watched in awe as a short cobalt blue kimono suddenly replaced the formal dress she was wearing with a black obi on her back. Blue and black-stripped high socks with black boots replaced the heels she was wearing.

The rest of the Amazons repeated her actions and soon enough every Amazon was wearing a short kimono of various colors.

Keith pushed through the crowd just as Lance hauled herself on Nyx and gripped her hand. Startled she looked over at him in confusion.

A myriad of emotions passed over the red paladins face before they settled on steely determination, "Be careful okay. As soon as my team and I get to our lions, we'll be sure to offer you back up."

Lance grinned and ruffled his hair to his annoyance before he stepped back as Nyx began to spread her wings, "I'll clear the way for you guys. Don't keep me waiting red paladin."

Keith gave her hand another squeeze and then she and the other archers were gone.

* * *

"Shit," Pidge cursed as she looked up at the sky as she and the rest of team Voltron followed after Reyna and the hordes of battle ready Amazons through the city after the archers, "It's another one of those Robeasts."

"Oh man," Hunk said, "Just trying to take one down was hard enough, but now we have to face two? Last time the Balmera helped us get rid of it, how are we going to get rid of this one?"

"You have us this time," Reyna said running beside them, "We Amazons are strong. Not only that but both our queen and our princess will be joining this fight as well."

"Let's hope so," Shiro murmured as he ran beside them, "Those things are tough."

"We can do it," Keith said fiercely, his eyes raking the sky as he watched the archers a few paces in front of them, "Red wants to tear those things into pieces."

"If we can get to the castle, we can return fire as well," Allura said as she took out her Bo staff and gripped it tightly in her hand as she ran with them.

As soon as they made it out of the city and into the green fields where the castle of lions stood, everyone gasped as they finally got a good look at the Galra army that they were about to face.

There were about a hundred battle cruisers in the sky, some shooting the castle as it returned fire. Dozens and dozens of Galra and sentries were on the other side of the field. A soon as they saw the group of women on the opposite side of them they began to charge.

Most of the battle cruisers started heading right for them as Lance and the rest of their archers released a battle cry as they headed right for the battle cruisers.

Keith could only watch in amazement as Lance and the rest of the archers pulled back their bows before letting the arrows fly towards the battle cruisers. Some went down when they made impact while others began to fire back at them.

The archers' griffons expertly dodged the attacks before all the archers slowly stood to a crouch on their mounts and Keith let out a shout of alarm as Lance and the rest of the archers leaped from their griffons to land on the battle cruisers.

"Holy shit!" Pidge yelled in awe.

Lance and the other archers landed punch after punch on the battle cruisers before punching their way inside. Galra pilots were tossed aside like toys before the archers jumped of the battle cruisers just in time for their griffons to catch them.

They repeated the motion over and over, their griffons releasing bolts of lightning from their mouths at any Galra pilot that was still alive as they were tossed.

"Now that was seriously awesome!" Keith grinned as he looked at his friend-kicking ass.

* * *

Battle cries from the other side of the field were heard as the Galra on land began to descend on them. About eight Amazons that Keith recognized as Lance's friends surrounded him and his friends as they started running towards their enemy.

Red roared angrily in his mind and Keith took out his Bayard and began to cut every enemy that approached him. A glance to his side showed that his fellow paladins had done the same and were engaged in battle.

Pidge and Ivy literally shocked any Galra that came their way. Allura had taken out a whip as she and Harley took down Galra after Galra. Shiro used his Galra enhanced arm to cut down any enemy in his way as Reyna covered his back.

They had to make it to the castle. The two Robeasts were beginning to charge towards them. Coran released the castle's own weapons on them but it wasn't doing much damage. The battlefield was pure chaos.

The few Galra unfortunate enough to get in his way, were cut down. Some even moved out of the way only to be cut down by an Amazon.

"Guys! The Robeasts are heading our way!" Hunk cried as he blasted a Galra away from him, Cesti cutting down the three Galra who were trying to strike him down from behind.

* * *

Suddenly there was a mighty yell and the two Robeasts were thrown a few feet away. Keith along with everyone else turned to see Queen Lexi herself making her way to the battlefield. She easily cut down any Galra who dared step in her way. Some she flung with a wave with her hand.

The Robeasts shook themselves out of their stupor and started descending on them again and the queen cut down another Galra before looking up at the sky, "Leah!"

Lance looked back from throwing another pilot into the sky before mounting Nyx and making her way over to her mother. Once close enough, Lance jumped of Nyx and the griffon let out a cry as she threw returned to the skies to help out the rest of the archers.

Lance and her mother shared a look before they nodded, spread their legs out and spread them arms out towards the Galra still blocking the paladins path to the castle.

With a yell, the two Amazons threw the Galra aside making a clear path for Keith and his friends.

"Go!" Lance yelled at them.

Keith and the rest of the paladins didn't argue as they ran to the castle, Shiro deciding to stay behind to help since he still couldn't use the black lion.

The castle's barrier dissolved just in time for Keith and the rest to make it inside before closing over the castle again. Allura ran straight for the bridge where Coran was while Keith, Pidge, and Hunk made a beeline to the lion's hangers.

Almost there! Red was calling him! She was itching to fight. She wanted to help his new friends fight, but more than anything though, she wanted to help Lance.

Lance who had saved her paladin from dying. Who had helped him when she herself couldn't. Red liked Lance Keith realized then grinned. Well, at least his lion and he seemed to have good taste in people.

Red huffed but agreed.

Finally making it to the lions hangers, all three of them quickly changed into their armor and stepped inside their own respectful lion.

" _We're in position!" Keith shouted._

" _Same here!" Pidge announced._

" _Me too!" Hunk answered_

" _All right Paladins, this is going to be a tough battle, but with the Amazons on our side hopefully we'll be able to take down those Robeasts." Allura said through the speakers._

" _Opening the hangers!" Coran shouted._

Keith waited impatiently for the hanger doors to open. Did it always take this long? Lance needed his help.

"Come on, come one, come on," he muttered impatiently as he tapped his fingers on the control panels.

The hander doors opened and Keith flew Red straight into the sky, Hunk and Pidge in their own lions flying after him.

One of the Robeasts jerked back as the queen sent it back with a wave of her hand before the thing turned to the field where the Amazons and the Galra were still fighting before its glowing purple eyes on its metal face shone and it opened its massive mouth. A beam of red light shot out before incinerating everything in its path.

The Amazons barely managed to dodge but some Galra were not so lucky. All that remained of them was black ashes.

Hunk rammed the yellow lions to the Robeasts side sending it tumbling before Pidge blasted a light of beam after it with her green lion. The other Robeasts just stood still, much too still in Keith's opinion but after glancing around he found Lance and her mother fighting side by side, deeming that she was fine for the moment Keith steered red to help out its fellow lions.

With a mighty yell Keith made the Red lion throw a laser beam from its mouth, hitting the Robeasts head on. The yellow lion hit it with the laser on its tail while the green lion fired laser after at it. It barely did any damage but it did leave a few scorch marks and kept it properly distracted so the Amazons didn't have to worry about it firing at them.

The Robeasts eyes glowed before it started shooting beams at them and Keith maneuvered Red to duck whenever its beam came at them. The robeast opened its massive mouth again only for it to freeze mid-motion as a force willed it to halt its actions.

Keith looked out from his screen to see Lance and the queen with their hands extended towards the Robeasts. A few amazons were shielding them so as to not be distracted, Shiro being one of the ones guarding them.

The yellow lion used the opportunity to slam its front paws on the Robeasts underside where they had learned was sensitive from their last battle. Lance and the queen made a crushing motion with their hands and everyone watched in awe as the Robeast began to bend unnaturally.

" _Holy crap, are Lance and her mom doing this_?" Pidge yelled over the coms.

" _Astounding_ ," Coran's voice murmured through the speakers in their helmets.

" _Keep at it guys, it's almost gone!" Shiro yelled._

" _Right!" Hunk answered back._

Together, the three lions hit it with everything they had and with Lance and her mother slowly crushing it, the robeast soon exploded and everyone shouted in victory.

" _Woo! We did it guys!" Hunk cheered._

" _That was seriously awesome!" Pidge replied._

" _You guys did good. I'm very proud of you all." Shiro said with a proud voice._

Keith grinned when he suddenly heard a scream.

"MOM LOOK OUT!"

Keith turned to the screen only for his eyes to widen as the second Robeast finally began to move and let out a bright red beam towards the queen who was hunched over her knees and panting.

Keith could only watch in horror as Lance pushed her mother out of the way and took a direct hit. Lance screamed as she was tossed far away from everyone before she landed face down and unconscious. A bit of smoke was coming off from her and everyone froze in terror.

"LEAH!" the queen screamed.

The robeast jerked, turned directions and started heading straight for the unconscious princess. Red roared angrily in his mind, filling his body with blazing energy. He was going to destroy that robeast. That thing had hurt Lance!

He steered Red towards the unconscious princess just like the robeast was and let out an angry cry. Nothing else mattered except Lance. He had to get to her. He had to get to her before that thing did.

But even as he pushed Red to full speed, he knew he wasn't going to make it. He was too far. He wasn't going to make it.

" _Princess! The blue lion its-" Coran's voice cut off._

The robeast opened its massive mouth and Keith cried out-

A furious roar sounded before there was a crash as the blue lion flew over and fired a beam of ice towards the robeast sending it flying back a few meters before plantings itself over Lance's unconscious body.

The blue lion reared its massive head and roared again as it stood defensively over Lance before lowering its head and growling at anyone who dared step any closer.

" _My god…"Pidge whispered._

" _The blue lion," Allura breathed, "It's found its paladin."_

" _Lance," Keith said in awe, "She's the blue paladin."_

* * *

 _All I Need by Within Temptation was the song that Lance sang if anyone was curious_


	7. Chapter 7

"I say looking on the bright side of life never killed anybody."  
― **Jenny Han** , **To All the Boys I've Loved Before**

Chapter 7

Pain. She was in so much pain. Why? What happened?

She was fighting. At least…that's what she thought she'd been doing.

What happened?

A roar sheered through the clouds in her mind, yanking her awake. Lance released a gasp that soon turned into a hiss as her injuries made themselves present. She was hurt. How the heck had that happened?

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Lance opened her eyes and noticed that she was laying facedown on the ground. The sound of fighting could be heard in the distance, swords clashing, the sound of wings flapping, shouts and screams from every direction.

And just like that, memories resurfaced to the front of her mind and Lance shot to her feet in one quick motion. Bad idea. She immediately fell to her knees and clutched at her chest. She smelled blood. _Her_ blood. Not only that but she could also smell her own burned flesh. Bits of smoke were still coming out from her clothes and Lance lifted the front of her kimono to peer under her armor.

Or at least tried to. Some of her armor was stuck to her skin, but she saw enough.

Reddened flesh met her eyes with blood still pouring out. Lance's body shook. She was going into shock she realized. No. Not right now. This couldn't be happening now. Her friends needed her help, she had to get herself together.

But no matter how much she tried to calm her racing heart, her shaking wouldn't stop. And then she heard it. The purring. Someone was purring in her mind.

Sensing a presence near her, Lance looked up and up and up, until she saw the blue lion standing over her protectively and gasped. The blue lion shifted and lowered its head until it hung next to her and purred once again.

Something cool and comforting washed over her mind as she openly gawked at two bright, golden eyes. Her shaking ceased. Slowly, Lance lifted her hand and placed it on the lions nose and jumped as the blue lion nuzzled onto her side.

The blue lion purred softly and sent another soothing cold into her heart, easing away her pain. It would only be a temporary fix but it was enough to get her moving.

 _Ride me._

Lance whipped her head to the blue lion as its gaze bore into her.

 _Ride me, my paladin._

"Lance!"

Lance tore her gaze away from the blue lion to see the red lion making its way over to her.

"Lance, get inside the blue lion now!" Keith shouted at her from inside.

Blue roared again and opened her mouth for her as she waited for her to climb in. Lance willed her legs to move and launched herself towards her lion.

 _Hers._

The statement made her smile. As soon as she was safely in, the blue lion snapped her jaws shut and began to stand. Lance stumbled but managed to make her way over to the pilots seat by holding onto the wall for support.

Lance did a quick scan of the control panel before she gripped the control handles and pulled. As soon as she did, the view screen activated and she blinked in surprise as the battlefield was shown to her. The green and yellow lion had engaged the second robeast that had attacked her while the red lion was hovering in front of her.

" _Paladins!"_ princess Allura's voice shouted over the comms, nearly giving her a heart attack, " _Shiro and the black lion are on their way! Now you can form Voltron!"_

" _All right!" Hunk shouted._

" _We could definitely use the help!" Pidge said._

" _Lance! Answer me!" Keith's frantic voice shouted._

Lance fumbled with the controls, how the heck could she talk back? And more importantly how did she get the blue lion to move?

"Umm, blue?" she said hesitantly as she looked around, "I think we should go he-"

She screamed. One second she was fiddling with the controls and trying to make the blue lion move, the next they were launching towards the robeast.

A mighty roar suddenly sounded and Lance turned back to the screen to see the black lion flying towards them. It was huge! Four roars answered back and Lance grinned. Blue sent her a mental image of what buttons did what and Lance nodded before pressing the button on the right side.

Immediately, the other four paladins faces appeared in the corners of her screen and she let out a surprised shout.

" _Lance!_ " Keith shouted as he took her appearance in, " _Why weren't you answering? Are you okay?"_

" _Oh man, I can see blood. A lot of blood,"_ Hunk whimpered, as he looked her up and down.

" _How are you even awake?"_ Pidge exclaimed.

" _Lance, I know you're hurt, but we need you in order to form Voltron. Do you think you can hold on until then?"_ Shiro asked, as he looked both concerned and determined.

Lance cast her eyes downward as she glanced down at her chest. Thanks to Blue numbing the pain for her she couldn't feel a thing. She didn't know how long that would last though.

She would have tried healing herself but she needed both hands.

Her eyes went back to her fellow paladins, and she set her jaw as she gave them a firm nod. " _I can do it. I'll help out for as long as I can."_

Keith still looked doubtful as he glanced at her through the screens, " _Don't push yourself too much. Let's finish this fast and get your wounds treated."_

Shiro gave her a look of gratitude before his face turned stern, " _All right team, let's form Voltron!"_

" _Yeah!"_ all five of them said.

" _Question: how exactly do we do that?"_ Hunk asked as the yellow lion dodged a beam intended for him.

He was met with silence.

" _You guys don't know?"_ Lance exclaimed as she and blue fired an ice beam at the robeast.

" _This is our first time doing this!"_ Pidge answered back with a grunt.

" _Paladins!"_ Allura shouted as her face appeared on their screens _, "The Amazons and us will distract the robeast! Use that time to figure out how to form Voltron!"_

" _Understood! Thank you princess! Everyone, make your way to me!" Shiro shouted._

Lance and blue ducked under the beam that was headed their way and started flying over to where the black lion was.

* * *

The three other lions made their way over as the castle started to engage the robeast. Lance glanced down at the field and was glad to see that most of the Galra were already dead, the battle cruisers were all gone, and the griffons and archers were flying around the robeast and launching arrows after it.

Her mother had managed to catch her breath and was doing her best to keep the robeast from moving.

Shiro talking snapped her attention back to him and she just managed to catch the last few sentences of his speech.

" _Listen up guys! The only way to succeed is to give it everything you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?"_

" _Yes_!"

" _Okay, let's go_!" Shiro shouted.

As one, all five lions shot to the sky, the sound of Allura's frantic shouting in the background. The Amazon's were throwing lightning bolts at the metal beast. Some of them even launched themselves on the robeast and were delivering punch after punch.

" _This isn't working!" Keith grunted out._

" _Paladins!" Allura shouted at them, "The castles defenses won't last very long at this rate! You must hurry!"_

" _We're trying!" Pidge cried._

The robeast finally managed to get out of the queen's grip and shook itself until the Amazons that were on it fell with a scream.

" _We have to go help them!" Lance screamed._

" _Oh, man! I'm definitely panicking guys!" Hunk cried frantically._

" _The castles defenses have broken!" Allura screamed._

A glance at the screen showed that everyone was panicking. They were going to fail. Lance let out a sound of frustration. Why wasn't this working?

Were they way out of their heads?

Shiro looked at all his fellow paladins faces and grimaced. They looked like they'd lost all hope. He narrowed his eyes. Not on his watch.

" _We can do this guys! We just have to believe in ourselves!"_ The other paladins looked up attheir leader _. "We're the Universe's last hope! We can't fail. We won't fail! If we work together, we'll win together!"_

" _He's right,"_ Lance said, she set her jaw and narrowed her eyes _, "We can do this!"_

What happened after was so fast Lance wasn't sure she witnessed everything. One minute they were flying in sync together and the next thing she knew, colors emerged and mixed. Thoughts that were not her own mixed together. She could feel Blue's cool energy wash over the others. Red's temperamental nature thrumming for action. Yellow grounding them and ready to defend. Green's inquisitive nature. Black's calm and collected nature even in the face of danger.

Somehow they were able to form Voltron and Lance couldn't help but smile along with the rest of the paladins.

" _We did it_!" Pidge said with a grin _._

" _Guys! I'm a leg!"_ Hunk exclaimed _._

" _How the heck did are we doing this?"_ Lance asked _._

" _Who cares? It feels amazing!"_ Keith shouted, a broad grin on his face.

" _All right, team!"_ Shiro said with a smile _, "Let's take care of that robeast!"_

* * *

It's after this that things became a blurring mess to Lance. With the forming of Voltron, Blue had to concentrate her powers on the fight. Lance was all right with that. She understood. But the pain that started coming back the more they fought the robeast was not a pleasant experience.

Her shaking resumed with a vengeance and she swallowed back the gasp of pain that desperately wanted to come out. She would not. She would not distract the others while they were still fighting. Somehow she was able to operate Blue and fight alongside the others even as she started to see black spots on the corners of her eyes.

She was so tired.

It hurt to breathe.

The whole cockpit smelled of her blood.

It wasn't until the cheers started that Lance finally let go of the thrusters and slumped into her seat.

So tired…

Maybe just a little nap…

* * *

Separating from Voltron wasn't the most pleasant experience. It left them feeling like they were missing something, but with the sheer euphoria they were feeling at the moment they didn't think too much on it.

" _We did it guys!"_ Hunk's cried as tears ran down his eyes.

" _That was awesome_!" Pidge said excitably.

" _Nice job, guys."_ Keith said with a smile _._

" _Way to go, guys_ ," Shiro said looking at them all proudly. " _We've defeated the Robeast_."

Keith couldn't help the smile that adorned his face at the praise as he looked at his fellow paladins. They had done it. They'd formed Voltron! And it was all thanks to Lance!

He turned back to the screen and frowned when Lance's face wasn't there along with the others.

"Lance?" he called to his friend.

Silence.

"Lance?"

Still nothing.

The others caught on and began to call for the Amazon princess but there was no response. Panic began to seep in and he glanced at the bracelet that Lance had given him what seemed like ages ago. The stone was gray.

Without thinking Keith took off his helmet and ran to the door, Red already had her mouth open, and blinked at the sudden brightness before scanning the field.

Thankfully, Blue was nearby and Keith immediately ran to her.

"Lance!" he yelled as his fist banged on the door. "Lance, open up!"

No response.

Keith growled and looked up at the Blue lions golden gaze and snapped at her in anger. "I'm here to help! Open up!" he growled.

The blue lions eyes glowed before it slowly opened its mouth. Keith dove right in and sprinted along the path, his breathing heavy to his own ears, until he finally found himself in the cockpit.

His eyes landed on Lance who had passed out on her seat, her head tilted to the side as she took shallow breaths.

The very sight of her frightened him more than anything he'd ever experienced.

He willed his legs to move until he was in front of her and gasped. Blood was pooling from her chest, staining her blue kimono to a dark blue. He could see reddened flesh from the burned parts of the kimono.

She looked so pale.

Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, hugging her to him before he slowly picked her up and cradled her to his chest before he started walking out the blue lions mouth.

Lance's head slumped to the side as she let out a whimper with every step he took but otherwise remained unconscious.

"Keith!"

Keith looked down to see the rest of his friends along with some of the Amazons making their way over. At the sight of Lance's slumped form in his arms they began to shout at once.

"We need to put her in a healing pod!"

"We can't! She may have radiation, we can't put her in a healing pod just yet!"

"Bits of her armor are embedded in her, we need to remove those first!"

"Where are the healers?"

Lance's next breath caught somewhere inside her and she choked. Blood splattered and dribbled down her chin and Keith tensed before he started pushing everyone away from him. The healing chamber! He had to get to the healing chamber! Despite how scared he was, he _had_ been paying attention to what the others said.

If they couldn't put her in a healing pod just yet, then a healer had to look at her first. And if the healers weren't here then he'd go to them.

Lance started to tremble in his arms and Keith started to run. He was dimly aware of running feet following after him and the others shouting his name but none of that mattered.

"Keith?"

"I'm right here," Keith said, his hold on Lance crushingly tight. "Just breathe!"

"Stay with me?"

Blue eyes opened weakly and Keith glanced down at her in relief, "Lance! Just hold on, okay?"

Lance tried to speak again but only managed to cough out more blood before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she lost consciousness once more.

"Over here!"

Keith looked up and saw three women wearing long dresses with a star shaped pin stitched to the side and sighed in relief.

Healers.

The three women opened the doors for him and gestured for him to place Lance on the table. He did but refused to leave when they tried to usher him out. He gripped Lance's hand tightly in his own and threw a glare at the woman when they tried to remove him by force.

"Let him be," a voice with authority said from the doorway.

Keith didn't have to look up to know that the voice belonged to Queen Lexi. She sounded so very tired but her voice still had the authority that it usually held.

The healers grimly nodded before they got to work.

One of the healers placed herself next to Lance's head and placed her hands a few inches above the princess's neck before a shimmering green light started to emanate from her fingertips. Lance's breathing started to sound somewhat normal again.

The other two began to slowly cut away the kimono and Keith looked away once he saw the severity of his friends' wounds. Her skin looked completely burned, blood still oozing from certain spots.

"Any radiation?"

"Surprisingly none."

"These parts of the kimono armor melted onto her skin, we have to pry them off."

"You three, come over here and hold her down."

A scurry of feet was heard before three more pairs of arms joined the first three.

"You guys hold her down and we'll peel them off."

"On the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Lance screamed and trashed on the table, a few tears trailing down her cheeks. Keith tightened his hold on her arm and grit his teeth as Lance's screams turned louder.

"Hurry!"

"This one doesn't want to come off, we'll have to cut it off!"

The sound of wheels as a cart was pushed to the women side was heard until the woman searched for what she was looking for before her hands closed on a scalpel.

"Got it!"

Lance's screams returned with a vengeance before she blissfully lost consciousness again.

"This will be too much for us to heal, we'll have to put her in the Healing Vat so it can restore her skin to how it was."

A comforting and familiar hand was placed on his shoulder and Keith tore his eyes away from Lance's face with some effort before looking up at Shiro's concerned face.

"Keith, they need you to let go. They can't help her until you let go."

"I can't," his voice cracked and he cleared his throat, "I promised her I'd stay."

"And you did, you stayed for the worst of it. Now you need to let go of her hand and let the healers put her in the tank."

"What if something happens to her and I'm not there?"

"We'll stay with her," a feminine voice said.

Keith lifted his head to look behind Shiro and saw Reyna, Adina and Cesti standing behind. Bits of their armor were torn and all three wore some bruises of their own but otherwise looked fine.

Reyna walked up to him and placed a hand on his head, "We'll stay in your place. You should go clean up," she glanced down at him and frowned, "You're completely drenched in her blood."

Keith glance down at his armor and noticed that he was indeed covered in Lance's blood. He didn't like it.

"Come on," Shiro said as he started to steer him to the door where Hunk and Pidge were waiting. He reluctantly let go of Lance's hand. "We'll get you showered and a set of clean clothes and then we'll come back."

Keith numbly nodded and followed after him but he couldn't help but glance back at Lance's prone form one last time.

* * *

Instead of taking him to the castle, Shiro brought him to Lance's house where he'd been staying for the past two weeks. Keith was glad; it was closer to the healing chamber than the castle was. Together they made their way through the open courtyard, past the massive garden that stretched out to the sea and climbed the stairs where two Amazons opened the massive doors to let them in.

It was when they were inside that Shiro hesitated, it was his first time inside the house (more like mansion) so Keith took the lead and walked down the long corridor and passed the dining room, the library, and the weapons room until he found the staircase that led to the second floor.

Once there he passed several rooms before he stopped on an intricate wooden door and reached for the knob. His eyes slid to the door next to his where he and Lance had decorated her door with little designs on the corners.

Lance had drawn a surprisingly good picture of Aldara and Nyx on two corners while Keith had (tried) to paint Red flying. Keith hadn't been able to sleep that day and had wanted to go out on a walk when he stepped out of his room and saw Lance sitting on the floor with a set of paints next to her.

Curious he had sat next to her and watched her paint until she finally noticed him and asked if he wanted to try. He remembered telling her that he wasn't a very good drawer but Lance had simply shrugged and said she didn't mind so Keith had taken the paint and started doodling.

Queen Lexi had found them a few hours later and simply laughed before she coerced them to let her join in as well. She hadn't been very good but she drew a blue and red flower. At least, she said they were flowers. That had been a good night, the three of them stayed up till the wee hours just talking and laughing as they painted.

Keith glanced away from the door and made his way inside with Shiro close behind him. Once there, he made his way to the restroom while Shiro walked to balcony to wait.

Keith threw of his armor slowly until he was just in his normal clothes. Surprisingly enough, only his armor had been dirtied. He took those off as well and stepped inside the shower to get some of the blood coating his arms away.

It was when he began to shampoo his hair that he felt a flurry of emotions hit him.

Confusion.

Pain.

Exhaustion.

Then it grew quiet for a period of time until colors began to cross his mind.

Mostly colors of blue, bits of red at the edges, followed by a warm happy feeling.

A glance at his wrist showed numerous colors before setting back to the blue sparkling ocean.

Were these Lance's feelings?

Was she dreaming?

Keith rinsed off his hair and stepped out of the shower before grabbing a towel and drying himself off. When he walked out, Shiro, Hunk and Pidge were waiting for him with a tray of food that they set on the desk.

"How are you feeling, buddy?" Hunk asked him as he took a seat on the green silk bed.

Keith sighed and draped the towel over a chair before settling down on the other side of the bed. Shiro brought the tray over and set it on his lap.

"Eat," Shiro said. "You're looking a little pale."

Keith pouted but picked up the spoon and started eating, he was sure it was delicious but in his current state, the taste didn't register in his mind.

"She's going to be fine you know," Pidge said suddenly.

Keith blinked. "What?"

"Lance. I know I don't know her as well as you do but from what I've seen she's strong." Pidge continued, her smile earnest as she regarded him from the floor where she was sitting cross-legged.

"Yeah, you're right," Keith said, realizing that he'd been staring off into space. "Lance is strong." The others grinned and Keith felt his own lips turn into a smile. A small one but it was a smile nonetheless.

Shiro was watching him with an odd expression but Keith didn't bother questioning him about it as he finished off the last of his meal and got to his feet.

"You're going back?" Shiro asked.

Keith shifted on his feet but nodded as he made his way back, the others scrambling to follow after him.

"By the way, where are Allura and Coran?" he asked.

Shiro answered, "They went to talk to the queen about an alliance now that the blue paladin has been found. The queen already agreed to it but she said that whether Lance wants to come with us or not is up to her."

Keith frowned but nodded.

Lance would come.

He wasn't taking no for an answer.

* * *

When he made it back to the Healing Chamber, most of the healers were already back from treating the Amazons that had been injured during the fight. Most offered him a nod of greeting but they all looked tired. They were probably exhausted.

The lights were low and glowed a warm blue. It was a bit chilly but the healers didn't seem to mind the cold.

Keith was directed to the second floor where he found pods filled with dark green water. Unlike the pods they had in the castle where they were situated vertically, the healing pods here were faced horizontally. Lance was on the third pod submerged in the water. He could barely see her face. The water covered her body.

Two healers were standing beside the pod making notes on their tablets as they checked her over.

"How is she?" he asked once he was close enough.

One of the healers glanced up from her tablet and smiled. She was one of the older women here and although she looked tired, her eyes were alert. "She's doing quite well," she said as she glanced back to her tablet. "The healing pod is doing its job, about a third of her skin has returned back to its unblemished self. Perhaps a few more hours and she'll be completely healed."

Keith released a sigh of relief as he glanced down at Lance's sleeping face. She looked peaceful.

"Is it all right if I stay for a while?"

The two healers exchanged glances and shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Keith nodded and thanked them before he brought a chair and sat down as he watched Lance sleep. There were some freckles across her cheeks that he hadn't noticed before. Her eyelashes were long and dark.

It was quiet.

He didn't remember it ever being quiet whenever Lance was around. She always had something to say to fill the silence, usually a joke or a lame pick up line that sent him into fits of laughter. And now, with her submerged in the healing pod, Keith found that he hated the silence.

He missed Lance.

Keith leaned forward, "You'd better wake up, you idiot."

"She will, she's too stubborn to stay still for periods of time."

Keith quickly moved away and almost knocked over his chair in the process as he turned to see Queen Lexi leaning on the doorway regarding him with a smile.

She'd changed from her armor into simple slacks and a t-shirt. It was the most casual look he'd seen on her since his stay in Cloyetera.

"Your highness, I…I'm sorry, I'll leave," Keith said as he scrambled for the door only for the queen to grip is harm before he could leave.

"You don't have to do that you know. Please. Stay." She said as her eyes slid to her daughter, "It's my fault she got hurt anyway."

"She was just protecting you," Keith said as he walked back to his seat. The queen dragged over another chair and sat next to him.

The queen sighed as she folded her hands on her lap, "If I'd been paying attention she wouldn't have had to get hurt."

Keith considered his words before speaking, "I think she would have done it for anyone really. She's that kind of person."

Queen Lexi looked startled but laughed. "That is indeed true. You seem to know her very well." She teased.

Keith flushed, "Well, we've spent some time together. It's only natural that I picked some things out."

The queen snickered, "Yes, I suppose that's true."

Keith frowned, he had a feeling he was missing something.

"Well then," the queen got to her feet and stretched, "I still have a few things to do. Will you stay with her until she wakes up? She doesn't like being alone."

Keith nodded and the queen gave him a pat on the head before leaving.

Once she was gone, Keith resumed his watch over his friend and got comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The sound of movement woke Keith up from an uncomfortable sleep and he woke with a start. At first he didn't know where he was and he looked around in confusion before a tan hand gripped the edge of the healing tub and Keith shot to his feet as Lance tried to sit up.

Lance lifted her head from the healing tub, her hair wet and clinging to her forehead, before Keith was on her. He pulled her close and hugged her so tight she released a small gasp.

Keith held her close; one hand on her hair while the other went around her waist. She was dripping wet and his clothes were soon drenched but he didn't care.

Lance was awake.

A warm feeling of happiness seeped into his mind and he didn't know if the feeling came from him or Lance but it felt nice.

Lance held him just as close, her hands around his neck pulling him towards her.

He was dimly aware of other people entering the chamber but he refused to let go.

And then Lance tensed and he frowned before he began to pull away but Lance clung to him tighter.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you dare move away from here."

"Umm, okay why?"

"…"

"Lance?"

"Because I have visitors and I seem to be completely naked. The only thing covering me right now is you, so don't you dare move."

Keith tensed and that's when he felt two soft…something's on his chest before a bright blush covered his face. Oh shit.

Keith averted his eyes as they both stood there in embarrassment.

"Your highness!"

"She's awake!"

"Umm, do you need some time to yourselves?" Pidge snickered behind him.

Keith glowered at her, "Just get a towel or something!"

"Hmm, I don't know," Reyna, said in amusement, "This is kind of funny to watch."

"Reyna," Lance whined in his arms as she tried to look behind him. The action only caused Lance to lean more into him and okay yeah Lance needed a towel right now. He wasn't ready for this. He released a strangled sound and Lance glanced up at his reddened face.

A mischievous gleam took over her features and Keith tensed.

"Jeez Keith, at least take me out to dinner first."

The others behind him laughed and Pidge wolf whistled at him. Keith groaned.

It was good to have her back.

* * *

Happy New Year Everyone!


	8. Chapter 8

"The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday."  
― **Steve Maraboli** , **Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience**

Chapter 8

Reyna was crushing Lance in a huge hug, tears in her eyes as she babbled. Cesti and Adina were both trying to get in on the action as Queen Lexi was watching with a smile.

Keith was watching Lance closely for any signs of discomfort, berating Reyna when she hugged Lance a little too tightly electing a groan from the princess.

"You little idiot!" Reyna cried, "Don't scare us like that again!"

"Reyna, calm down!" Lance said between laughs. "I'm fine, you can put me down now."

Shiro saddled up next to Keith and put an arm around the red paladins shoulder as he grinned at his friend before looking up at Lance. "It's nice to have you back your highness."

Lance frowned at him, "Call me Lance, your highness sounds too stuffy."

Shiro chuckled and smiled, "All right then. Lance it is."

"If you're all done," the healer from earlier said with a glare, "I'd like to check on my patient now."

Reyna looked sheepish as she put her friend down. They'd finally, to Keith's relief, found a towel to wrap Lance in until the healer checked her wounds and allowed her to get dressed.

Pidge had started laughing when he and Lance tried to separate without Keith glancing at Lance's…assets.

Hunk and Shiro had thankfully reined her in before she started filming but Keith was sure he'd heard Hunk and Shiro laugh at his misery.

Reyna put Lance down on the floor and Lance tightened the pink towel around herself a little more before walking over to where the healer had pulled a curtain to do her examination.

Keith had to stop himself from going with them.

He felt the urge to stay close just in case Lance needed him.

He'd seen the wince she tried to hide from the others when Reyna lifter her up.

There was a sudden yelp from behind the curtain and before he knew it, Keith had pulled the curtain and stepped inside to see the pink towel draped over a chair and the healer in front of a very naked Lance with both hands on her stomach.

Keith had never seen Lance so red in the face before, it went all the way to her ears, it was kind of adorable really, but that thought quickly disappeared as she screamed at him to get out and flung him back with a swipe of her hand.

There was laughter from his friends before Shiro helped him to his feet, his lips twitching from the effort it took not to laugh.

And Lance was yelling something in a language that he didn't understand but from the upraised eyebrows from the Amazons, he was pretty sure Lance was cursing at him.

Keith winced. Okay, he hadn't thought that through.

"Perhaps we should wait outside?" Shiro suggested.

Keith sent him a glare and the black paladin held both hands out in a pacifying manner.

"Oh man," Pidge laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "This girl is the best."

Hunk was tucked in a corner, his shoulders shaking, as he tried to muffle the chuckles that threatened to escape.

"Is everything all right with my daughter?" Queen Lexi asked as she peeked through the curtain.

"Hmm, yes everything is fine. The new skin seems to be a tad sensitive though. Nothing to worry about, it should go away in a few days." The healer said as she stepped out from the curtain and tapped away on her tablet. Her blonde hair was tossed to the side when it cascaded too close to the device. "The internal damage seems to be gone as well. Her breathing sounds normal and there's no concussion, but keep an eye on her just in case. Don't let her do anything that involves too much movement for at least a few days."

"Thank you very much Olwen, I can't thank you enough." Queen Lexi said as she gripped the healers' hands in her own.

Olwen smiled and bowed, "It was my pleasure your majesty. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go check up on my other patients."

"Yes, of course. Thank you again."

Olwen bowed one more time before she disappeared to the third floor. There was a shuffling of clothes before Lance pulled back the curtain to walk out. Reyna had brought her a blue long sleeved toga cut above the knee and after much whining the violet haired Amazon brought her friend her boots instead of her sandals.

Keith got to his feet and hovered over her to everyone's amusement. Lance snorted but let him do as he wished. If their roles were reversed, she'd probably be doing the same thing.

"How is everyone else doing?" Lance asked her mother.

"Everyone is fine. There were no serious injuries besides yours. We defeated the Galra and you and the rest of the paladins finished off the last robeast. As for the clean up," the queen grinned, "The Myr took care of it."

Translation: they ate the Galra remains.

Lance shuddered and then blushed as her stomach let out a loud growl.

Hunk was on her immediately, "Food! You need food in your stomach right now! I'll bring you something!"

"Wait, I can go-"

Hunk ran out the room.

"-Get my own food?" Lance finished lamely as she turned to Keith.

Keith shrugged and Pidge saddled up next to her, "Hunk's like that. We should probably go after him though, I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the way to the kitchen."

"Let's go fetch him then," the queen said, "We've much to discuss."

* * *

At the sight of their princess, many Amazons came up to them to give her a hug or asked if she was okay now. Many of them were out celebrating their recent victory over the Galra and were out drinking. At the sight of the paladins, they raised their glasses in gratitude much to the paladins' surprise.

In the end they found Hunk walking around aimlessly for search of a kitchen before they dragged him off to the Queen and Lance's house where Allura and Coran were waiting for them.

As soon as the two Alteans saw her, they enveloped her in a hug before Keith had to pry them off. So they wouldn't bring any discomfort to Lance's sensitive skin he said.

After that they all gathered in the dining room where food was brought to them all as they took their seats in the long table.

"Lance," princess Allura began, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm very happy to see that you're doing better now, but there's another matter I wish to discuss with you."

Lance put down her spoon as she turned her blue eyes to the Altean princess, "It's about the blue lion right?"

Allura nodded as she clasped her hands together, "Yes, as you know Voltron can only be formed with the union of all five lions. You saw for yourself how powerful Voltron was when you and the others united your lions."

Lance nodded and smiled, "I can still feel her. The blue lion I mean. Even now she calls for me, she has a very calming presence."

Allura wrung her hands, "Yes, that's the bond that forms between a lion and its paladin. The blue lion has chosen you to be its paladin. And we were wondering…well _I_ was hoping really, that you would join us in our quest to defeat Zarkon."

"Okay."

"I understand if you don't wish to-wait. What?"

"I said okay." Lance said she took another bite of her food, "I've been wanting to get back at the Galra for their continuous attacks anyway. So yeah, I don't mind joining you guys."

Allura gave her such a beaming smile that Lance had to look away.

"Welcome to the team Lance," Shiro said across from her.

"Finally, another girl on the team!" Pidge exclaimed.

"I'll amaze you with my food so much that you'll be begging to stay!" Hunk excitably said.

Coran beamed, "Oh! I have so many stories to tell you, your highness!"

"Don't think I'll go easy on you during training just because you're a girl," Keith teased next to her.

Lance snorted, "Please, I can mop the floor with you any day. Bring it mullet."

"So you've decided to go after all," Queen Lexi murmured.

Lance glanced back at her mom and nodded, "I have."

The queen sighed but she smiled, "I knew you would, you'd always wanted a life of adventure after all. You're just like you're father you know."

"So I can go?" Lance asked, her mouth lifting up in a smile.

"You're almost eighteen you know. You don't have to ask for permission," the queen said slyly, "All I ask is that you take care of yourself and visit every now and then."

Lance nodded, a warm smile on her face, "I promise mom."

Shiro leaned forward as he locked eyes with the queen, "You have my word that Lance will be taken care of your majesty. She's part of our team now, she's family to us now."

Pidge pushed her glasses higher, a mischievous grin on her lips, "Trust us, Keith will take _very_ good care of Lance."

The rest of team Voltron laughed and Keith frowned. What was so funny? He would take care of Lance. She had the tendency to do something stupid.

Lance pouted and moved her food around her plate, "I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter." She muttered.

Keith snorted as he pushed her plate of food closer to her, "Yeah right. And stop playing with your food."

Lance stuck out her tongue at him and Keith scowled, "Don't make me force feed you. I'll do it Lance."

The rest of the occupants in the room were watching the display with mixtures of amusement and bewilderment.

Keith felt warmth rise in his chest as he and Lance bickered back and forth. It was normal behavior between them and it was nice. He'd missed this. Only Lance could rile him up like this.

Lance narrowed her blue eyes at her friend, "You wouldn't dare."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest and arched an eyebrow at her, "Try me."

Lance squinted and making sure Keith was watching, pushed her plate away. Keith was on his feet seconds after and Lance let out a surprised scream as she shot to her feet and started running.

"Lance!" Keith shouted as he picked up a plate of food and started chasing after his friend.

"I thought you were joking!" she screamed.

The sound of their yelling soon faded and those left in the table erupted in laughter.

"Well then," Shiro said in between chuckles, "This new addition to the team will certainly make things interesting."

Pidge snorted, "I'll say, I haven't seen Keith act like this in like ever."

"Oh, man," Hunk, said he finished of the food in his plate, "They don't know what they're missing. This is so good!"

Queen Lexi laughed into her hand, her black hair falling into her face, "You'll have to forgive my daughter, she tends to be a little childish sometimes. But enough about that, the festival is still going on so I want you all to enjoy the rest of the night before you all leave tomorrow morning."

"Thank you very much, your highness." Allura said with a smile.

"Adina will help you get new clothes for the occasion, so once you're done she'll meet you outside."

* * *

Lance threw Keith another glare before scooping another spoonful of soup and putting it on her mouth before she chewed once, twice, and swallowed.

"All of it Lance, I don't want to see anything left in that plate," Keith warned as he kept a watchful eye on her.

Lance huffed but kept quiet.

Keith couldn't help feeling a little smug. After Lance had run away from him, Keith had caught her pretty easily before he tickled her sides until she cried uncle.

Unfortunately, once they'd both made their way back to the dining room their plates had already been cleared much to Lance's amusement.

Fortunately for them, the others informed them that the festival was still going on and that there would be plenty of food being served.

After that, both of them have been steered to Adina's where she was eagerly waiting to dress them up in formal wear.

This time, Keith and the other guys had been dressed in a black tuxedo that was very stiff in his own opinion. The only color they had was the color of their paladin armor. Allura had been given a blue long dress that looked bedazzled while Pidge was given a dark green dress and even higher heels than last time to her dismay.

Coran looked quite spiffy in his tuxedo with tailcoats at the end, Adina had even found a top hat and a cane for him that he said was absolutely necessary for his image.

Lance had put on a blue cross back lace panel corset dress with no sleeves that seemed easier for her to move in. Once they all made it to the festivities, Lance had tried sneaking past them to ask a blonde Amazon to dance when Keith gripped her wrist and sat her down with three plates in front of her.

His friend had gaped and whined at him but Keith was not deterred. He pushed the plates in front of her again and Lance sighed before she began to eat. She'd claimed that eating solid food was making her nauseous so Keith had brought her some different types of soup.

She was eating them slowly but she was eating and that's all that mattered.

The rest of his team had already gone their separate ways and were mingling with the rest of the Amazons.

Coran was once again surrounded by a horde of women who were trying to touch his mustache. Shiro and Allura were conversing with the queen at the back table. Pidge had coerced Ami and Tami to give her a ride in their griffons. Hunk was talking animatedly with a few women about the different type of food they had in Cloyetera.

"There," Lance said pushing the plates away from her, "All done. Can I go dancing now?"

Keith turned his attention back to her and after inspecting the three plates, nodded slowly. "No fancy moves though," he lightly scolded her, "You're not suppose to move around too much."

Lance snorted and got to her feet before stumbling back a step. Keith steadied her with a touch to her back and she grinned at him. "Thanks."

The sound of the orchestra changing songs caught her attention and Lance immediately walked to the dance floor. A few women walked up to her and immediately asked her to dance.

Lance complied and soon enough she was off dancing with an older brunette. Keith rolled his eyes and walked off to a corner where he can get a good view of everyone before he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Keith was immediately on his guard but when he turned and only saw Cyra he relaxed. The red headed Amazon was curling a strand of her red hair as she looked down on him with a grin.

"Hi Keith," she said with a wave. "I just wanted to extend my most sincere gratitude in helping us defeat the Galra yesterday." She batted her eyelashes at him and blushed, "You were quite dashing."

Keith arched an eyebrow, "Thank you? It was no problem really."

"I also wanted to let you know that I find you quite handsome, and I was wondering if you'd like to join me on the dance floor?"

Keith blinked owlishly at her and frowned, "Umm, no thanks. I'm not much of a dancer."

Cyra laughed and saddled closer to him, "That's fine, I could show you." Her voice took on a different tone that had Keith on edge before she continued, "I'm quite experienced."

Keith openly stared and his jaw dropped, but no sound came out. What. The. Hell. Was she…hitting on him?

He wasn't sure. He'd never been hit on in his life, but the way her tone changed? He didn't like it. She was looking at him like he was a piece of meat.

"So," Cyra asked as she pressed into him, "What do you say?"

"I'm afraid he'll have to decline. He already promised he'd save his first dance for me." A familiar voice said from behind them.

Keith sighed in relief and turned to see Lance looking at them with a tight smile. "Isn't that right Keith?"

Those blue eyes turned to regard him and Keith jumped in place. "Y-yeah," he stuttered out before clearing his throat, "I already promised her. Darn. Sorry Cyra."

Cyra frowned as she looked back and forth between the two, "Well what about your second dance?"

Keith's mind came to a halt as his eyes widened.

Thank god for Lance though.

"Sorry." Lance said not looking sorry at all, "I'm afraid I'll be taking all of Keith's dances for the night. The poor thing doesn't know how to dance so I'll be teaching him from the beginning." Lance glanced at her nails and smiled apologetically at Cyra, "I'm afraid he's a little slow so we'll be at it all night."

Keith had to bite the inside of his cheek from producing the curse that was just on the tip of his tongue and smiled tightly at Cyra, "Lance is right I'm afraid. I'm a bit slow-"

"Very slow," Lance cut in with a smile.

Keith's eye twitched, "Very slow." He gritted out, "So we'll be practicing all night. Sorry Cyra."

Cyra wrinkled her nose at them but huffed and walked away.

Keith turned to Lance and scowled, "A little slow?"

Lance grinned. "I believe I said very slow."

"Lance-"

His blue-eyed friend clapped him on the shoulder and grinned at him, "You're welcome."

Keith rolled his eyes and took a step back when Lance offered her hand to him, "Uh, what are you doing?"

Lance looked at him like he was stupid, "Asking you to dance duh."

Keith glowered at her and crossed his arms, "I don't dance."

Lance snorted and nodded her chin to where Cyra was watching them, "You will today." Keith opened his mouth to argue and Lance rushed ahead, "Unless you want to deal with Cyra. And trust me, she wasn't talking about dancing."

Keith made a face and tried for another excuse, "You're not suppose to be moving too much."

"Well it's a good thing you're very slow huh," Lance countered.

She stuck out her hand and Keith took it with a sigh of defeat-then mentally archived the feel of Lance's hand on his own, the softness and warmth it was radiating. He could feel the callouses from working with the bow but it didn't bother him as she pulled him to the dance floor.

A spark of electricity went through both of their hands but they didn't let go.

"Whoa," Lance said as the electricity around their held hands disappeared, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I didn't hurt you right?"

Keith shook his head, "Ah, no. It felt kind of nice actually."

Lance's eyebrows shot up, "Really? Most people don't like being shocked with electricity."

Keith shrugged, "It didn't hurt. Like I said, it felt nice."

"Hmm. Well okay. Now stop trying to distract me and come here. It's time to dance."

Keith grimaced and had no choice but to follow her, she was still holding his arm, but was a little relieved when she led them to an area that half hid them from view. He did not have a natural sense of rhythm, and he had not been looking forward to revealing that fact to everyone.

He could still feel Cyra's presence like a play of electricity on his nerves and he repressed a shudder. Lance said something that Keith missed and he snapped his attention back to her. She was pouting at him and he grimaced and muttered an apology that seemed to appease her because she grinned.

Lance reached out both her hands and Keith took his cue and raised his own hands, which Lance took in her own.

"Okay, the first thing you do is…"

* * *

Keith realized quite quickly that Lance was a good teacher. Her directions were easy to follow and she was very patient with him, even after he stepped on her feet for the fourth time in a row, but looking at her directly was another story. Up close he could smell her perfume, something sweet that he secretly liked, and could see the freckles that were usually hidden very clearly. So he stuck to looking down at her feet and endured.

He didn't know how long they were dancing but no one came to bother them, which he was grateful for.

Every time she praised him he'd feel his own cheeks heat up. Something Lance liked to endlessly tease him about. And even though he was scowling, he was secretly enjoying himself.

The song suddenly changed to something a little more upbeat and Lance picked up the pace and Keith, after some stumbling, managed to mirror her moves with not too much difficulty.

Lance twirled away from him and his mouth went dry. Okay how the heck were her hips moving like that? Moving like that should be illegal!

Lance grinned and danced around him as he stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. Noticing this, Lance twirled herself back to him and gripped his hands in her own and slowed down her moves so he could follow.

Once he seemed to have some idea on what to do, Lance sped things up and grinned when he followed her moves without missing a beat.

Keith returned the grin and turned his head slightly to see that the other dancers had dipped their partners at a certain part of the song and turned his attention back to Lance as he listened closely.

When the same beat as like time came back again, Keith took a deep breath, spun her out and dipped her.

Lance's startled laugh had him grinning back in victory and he puffed his chest at the praise she gave him.

"Oh, wow. Keith…that was amazing!"

Both of them were breathing heavily but they were grinning. Lance hadn't let go of his hands, something that Keith noticed immediately but didn't call her on it.

He liked holding her hands in his own.

And then Lance put a hand to her middle and gasped and Keith's smile disappeared.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he put an arm around her shoulder and peered at her as she blinked slowly.

"Sorry, just a little hungry." She answered back.

' _Ugh, nice one Lance. I'm sure he'll believe that'_ came the sarcastic reply in his head and Keith blinked in surprise before he decided to try something out and tried to speak to her in his mind.

' _Yeah, not a very good excuse. If you're in pain just say so you idiot.'_

The look of shock that she gave him had him grinning back smugly. So it _had_ worked.

Lance opened and closed her mouth before she pouted and peered closely at him.

' _Did you read my mind?'_

' _I did'_

Lance's eyes widened. _'Whoa…how?'_

Keith glanced down at their still joined hands and tilted his head at the matching bracelets they both wore.

' _You're mother said that the closer our bonds grows, the more the bracelet will let us do. Eventually we'll be able to read each others minds, feel each others pain, and feel each others presence."_

It looked like the blood had drained from the princess's head.

' _I-I didn't know that…I'm sorry'_

Keith frowned, confused, ' _Why?'_

Lance laced her hands together and looked to the side, ' _I'm sure you don't want me in your head. I can be…a bit annoying sometimes.'_

Where the hell had she gotten that idea?

"Lance. Look at me."

Lance took a deep breath and turned to look at him. Keith gripped her face in his hands and looked at her fondly, "You're not annoying. Whoever said that is an idiot, as for the whole mind thing…I don't mind." He grinned and shrugged as he tapped her temple, "If anything I can tease you both outside and inside."

Lance snorted and laughed.

"Ready for round two?" she asked with a smile.

Keith rolled his eyes, "You're tired Lance, and you're not suppose to be exerting yourself," he pointed out.

Lance wrinkled her nose at him, "Yeah, I know. But its my last day in Cloyetera, I want to spend it laughing and dancing with everyone."

Keith's face softened and gave her a look of understanding, "Ah, that's right. Fine," he relented and offered her his arm and after taking a deep breath, led them back to the center where everyone was to her surprise, "But no fancy moves."

Lance sent him a bright smile that had his heart beating a little faster. _The hell was that he wondered._

Lance pulled the skirts of her dress and still grinning at him, did a curtsy, " I am in your hands red paladin."

Keith snickered and took her hands in his as he began to move them into a slow dance.

* * *

Unbeknown to him the rest of team Voltron were looking at them with a grin.

"Oh man," Pidge said with a shake of her head, " _Please_ tell me I'm not the only one who sees the obvious chemistry there."

Hunk was looking wide-eyed at the red and blue paladin as they danced through the crowd, Lance having grabbed a bit of cake from one of the tables before taking a bite and then offering Keith some. The red paladin made a face and Lance twirled away from him, before taking another piece of the cake and tapping Keith's nose when she came back.

Keith glowered but allowed Lance to feed him the cake anyway. His eyes widened briefly and Lance said something that had him rolling his eyes at her.

Hunk gestured to them wildly, "How can you not?! I thought I was imagining things, but now…Keith has never acted this way. Like ever." The yellow paladin tapped his chin and turned to Shiro, "Has he?"

Shiro looked up from where he'd also been watching his fellow paladins dance and shook his head slowly, "Never. And the sad thing is, I don't think he's even aware of his real feelings."

"Ah, young love," Coran, said with a nostalgic sigh.

Hunk gestured back to his friends with a wild look in his eyes, "Look at them! Keith can't even keep his eyes off Lance!"

Allura's lips were twitching upwards into a smile, "What about Lance though? How does she feel about Keith?"

Everyone frowned and turned back to observe the red and blue paladin. Both of them were still dancing, though it looked more like a slow waltz at that point. A few amazons giggled when the two paladins danced near them and Lance sent them a wink that had them swooning. Keith frowned and twirled them away, but not before Lance blew the Amazons a kiss that had them giggling.

"Lance…is a bit hard to read," Coran mumbled as he took a zip from his drink.

"Ok, guys." Pidge said determinedly, "We have to do something."

"Pidge," Shiro warned, "Let's not do anything. For all we know, they're just really good friends."

Allura let out a snort that wasn't lady like in the least as she turned to the black paladin, "Oh Shiro, you poor thing." The others laughed while Shiro looked confused, "All right. We won't meddle." Pidge and Hunk let out audible whines at this, "For now. We shall observe. Perhaps they're not as dense as we think they are."

The others seemed appeased by this and they settled down in their seats as they continued to watch over Keith and Lance.

* * *

"Ready?" Keith asked the next day as they were preparing to leave. It was mid afternoon and after a nice breakfast, Lance had gone back to her room and packed the things she'd be taking with her. She'd changed out of her toga and put on a simple pair of jeans, a tailored blue western shirt that she'd rolled the sleeves to her elbow and some black and white converse. When Keith had seen her, he'd been pleasantly surprised. Lance simply shrugged and said that since she'd visited Earth a few times, she'd brought back a few clothes with her.

Satisfied that she hadn't forgotten anything, the others came and helped her take her luggage back to the castle. Most of the Amazons followed after them, most of them carrying bags or boxes that were gifts for them all.

Shiro and Allura were directing the Amazons on where to put the items, helping them out when they got lost.

Hunk in particular had expressed his joy at having been allowed to bring a bunch of ingredients back on their trip. No more space goo for a while he declared to everyone's amusement.

The science and engineering department had given them all a transparent bracelet of their own with a few modifications. Apparently the things could hold your clothes in them? They could talk to each other through them of course, it could take pictures, and apparently if you scanned something with it, you could materialize it later on. Now _that_ was pretty cool.

They had demonstrated by scanning a few books and then materializing them next to the originals. Pidge was quite happy with the transparent bracelet and had been playing with it all morning.

Coran had been allowed to take the clothes he'd worn during the festivals along with a few more that Adina and Harley managed to make.

Lance tapped her chin as she looked around the luggage that she'd brought and nodded slowly. "I think so."

"One more thing," a voice said behind them.

Keith and Lance turned to see Queen Lexi in a long black dress, her black hair braided down her back and carrying a thick book in her hands, which she passed on to her daughter.

Lance let out a breath at the weight but held it firmly in her hands as she peered down at the book.

"It's to help you with your powers. There's a few training methods that I wrote in there to help you master your powers. It has a bit of everything in there, after all I still think you have a few abilities you haven't unlocked yet so in case you do, this book will come in handy."

Lance hugged the book to her chest and looked at her mom gratefully, "Mom, thank you for this. I promise I'll keep up my training."

Queen Lexi regarded her daughter with a wry smile, "You'd better young lady."

"We're all ready to go." Shiro announced as he made his way over to them, "Just waiting for you guys."

Keith and Lance nodded before the blue paladin enveloped her mother in a hug and stepped back towards the castle.

Keith bowed his head respectfully but the queen brought him in for a hug to which he awkwardly returned.

"We'll take good care of your daughter your highness." Shiro promised as he looked the queen in the eye, "You have my word."

Queen Lexi smiled before there was screech and suddenly Nyx landed in front of them. The giant mount walked to Lance and nuzzled her face on Lance's cheek.

"Oh, Nyx my beautiful bird," Lance praised before she gave Shiro the best puppy eyes she could muster, "Oh can I take her please?"

Shiro hesitated and looked over at Allura who was making their way over to them. The Altean princess looked at the griffon and bit her lip in worry.

"If it's the size you're worried about, then it's no problem." Lance responded before letting go of Nyx, "Nyx, you know what to do girl."

Nyx took a few steps back before there was a blinding light that had them shielding their eyes before they glanced back and looked down to where Nyx now stood, the same size as a house cat.

The mount flew and perched herself on Lance's shoulders before both mount and rider sent pleading looks to the Altean princess.

Allura sighed in defeat, "Well all right, just don't let her eat my mice."

Lance grinned and Nyx let out a happy sound.

Reyna, Cesti, and Adina gave Lance one last hug that had her off her feet before stepping back from the castle.

Lance and the others waved one more time and then the doors closed and Lance released a sad sigh.

A comforting hand was placed on her shoulder and she glanced up at Keith, "They'll be fine." He suddenly grinned as he steered her to the bridge, "Ready for an adventure Blue Paladin of Voltron?"

Lance snickered, "So ready Mr. Mullet."

* * *

 _An Amber Pen: Thanks for the review! Embarrassing Lance and Keith is always fun XD_

 _lilnightmare17: Thanks for the review! I hope you like it so far!_

 _Guest:Yup Lance and Keith are starting to feel each others emotions and oh yeah Keith got some action there in the end XD_


	9. Chapter 9

"One does not seek love,' she told him, 'it should find you all on it's own"  
― **Barbara Lieberman** , **The Treasure of Ravenwood**

Chapter 9

"Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"Is that a giant moth?"

"…I think so."

"Oh."

"…"

"Are those fangs of his dripping acid?"

"Mmm, the floor is letting off some smoke when it hits the ground…so yeah probably."

"We're gonna die aren't we?"

"Mmm, I'm going to shoot it."

"What?!"

"It's in the way," Lance reasoned.

"Well, okay yeah, but what if it attacks us?"

"Then we grab the crystal that we need and run for our lives."

"Dude!"

Lance threw her hands up in frustration, "Look, the Akhenaton's need this crystal to power up pretty much their whole colony and the only thing standing between us and that crystal is this giant moth."

Hunk's mouth twisted to the side and he bit his lip in worry as he lifted his head from their hiding spot behind two sets of boulders to peer at the giant purple like moth _thing_ that was hovering in front of the crystal orb that they needed to collect.

It was suppose to be an easy mission. Just go into the dark sewers where the Igukers, some kind of worm like alien creature, had escaped with the Akhenatons' source of power, retrieve it, and bring it back to restore their power.

Shiro, Pidge, and Keith were in their lions above the surface protecting the Akhenatons in case any of the Galra came back.

When Team Voltron had gotten a distress signal from the planet Boabee, they had gotten there in record time to help them out. Unfortunately for them it was a planet full of alien like creatures that looked a lot like giant spiders to Lance.

She absolutely hated any form of insect. Wished they would all die in a fire, preferably by her. With a flamethrower.

The planet was dark, wet, and cold. It smelled like someone had left a bunch of eggs out in the sun, and even though all of them were wearing their paladin armor, the smell still permeated through. Lance instantly disliked the whole planet.

* * *

As they made their way to the town, it only got worse. The houses were made out of mud and a whole lot of spider silk. As soon as Team Voltron made it to the center of the town, they heard clicking and skittering before a horde of giant spiders came out to greet them and stood up on their legs so they were towering above them.

Lance fainted, Hunk looked like he was ready to piss himself, Shiro looked a little green, Keith had taken his bayard out and was inching his way over to Lance, and Pidge looked like she wanted to cry.

"Are you the paladins of Voltron?" one of the spiders hissed. Lance who had been getting up with the help of Keith promptly fainted again when she heard the spider speak.

Giant spiders that talked? What's next? They'll fly?

Lance had to give the black paladin some credit, he looked like he wanted to vomit from the spiders' breath, heck she and the other paladins took three steps back, but Shiro just gulped and after clearing his throat, found his voice, "Yes. Are you the Akhenatons that sent out the distress signal?"

The Akhenatons were black and sleek. Instead of the usual eight legs that the spiders on Earth seemed to have, these had sixteen legs, six eyes instead of eight, and they talked. Yes, Lance hated this planet.

One of the Akhenatons nodded its head, four of its legs/arms? Placed in front of its chest, the look would have normally made anyone else look meek but on the Akhenatons? Nope. It looked like it was rubbing its arms together, ready for its meal.

"Please," it rasped out, "Come this way, we'll take you to the queen."

Shiro nodded and beckoned his team to follow after them. Lance took her Bayard out and was looking around frantically, Keith was trying to distract her with conversation but it didn't seem to be helping. Pidge hung back to walk with Hunk who was in the same state as the blue paladin as they followed after their leader.

Coran and Allura were back in the castle (so lucky Lance whined) watching over the scanners in case the Galra decided to come back.

The Akhenatons led them to a cave dimly illuminated by the fireflies that were stuck in the ceiling with cobwebs. Lance scanned the passage, the arch of stone above them more than fifty feet wide, shadows writhed and she swore she could feel eyes on them.

A warm hand on her shoulder made her jump and Lance raised her Bayard in defense but lowered it once she saw it was only Keith. The red paladin was looking at her in concern.

' _You'll be fine'_ he said in her mind.

Lance took a shuddering breath and nodded.

' _Sorry, it's just I really really hate spiders.'_

Keith snorted in her mind _. 'The fainting made that pretty obvious'_

Lance pouted. ' _I didn't faint! The smell knocked me out'_

The excuse sounded weak in her own head and judging by the red paladins doubtful expression, he hadn't believed her either.

' _Relax, if they try anything I'll just stab them with my sword and get you out.'_

Lance smiled and patted Keith's hand in gratitude before turning back to stare at the path ahead while Keith stuck close behind her watching everything with a weary eye.

After a few more winding paths, they found themselves in a room full of cobwebs that strangely enough made the room look elegant. Lance and Hunk let out a whimper when they glanced at the ceiling and saw an Akhenaton perched on the corner of the room in its spider web. The thing was bigger than the other Akhenatons they'd seen so far. It was black with patches of pink at the tip of her legs.

The queen probably.

Noticing their presence, the spider twisted its head just like the owls on Earth do; Lance and Hunk huddled together, and crawled her way down. The skittering and clacking of her feet making the hairs on their skin stand.

"Welcome Paladins of Voltron," the spider said, her voice beautiful and pleasing. "Welcome to our home, you're here to help us?"

Shiro took a step forward and made eye contact, "Yes, the distress signal said you were having problems with the Galra?"

The spider nodded her head as she lowered herself, "Yes, the Galra have been here a few times. They hadn't been much of a challenge what with our defenses. However, just a few days ago some of those Igukers came and took the crystal that powers the whole place and we've been left completely unprotected."

"Igukers?" Hunk asked with a tremor in his voice. "Umm, what are those?"

One of the other spiders passed a tablet to them and the paladins hovered over the device to look at the creatures. They were kind of cute actually. They looked like caterpillars but with thick purple and orange fur and the size of a poodle.

"These are the things that took your power source?" Pidge said, a hint of doubt in her face.

"Yes," the queen nodded, "Disgusting creatures really. Very dangerous."

The paladins looked back at the tablet and frowned.

"Do you know where they headed?" Shiro asked taking charge.

"Yes," one of the Akhenatons said, its voice raspy, "There's a sewer that leads to their lair deep in the forest. They live underground and usually don't come up to the surface much but with the Galra attacks, they must have been spooked and come to investigate. They like shiny things; we tried to stop it but it was too strong and we were a bit preoccupied with the Galra."

"All right then. A few of us will stay here with the Akhenatons while the others go down into the sewers to retrieve the crystal."

Go down in the sewers and deal with cute little caterpillars or stay here and deal with the Akhenatons? The choice was a no brainer.

Lance's hand shot up, "Me! I volunteer to go!"

Hunk raised his hand up after her, "Uh, same here. Those Igukers don't look all too dangerous and no offence but," he glanced at the spiders around them and lowered his voice to a whisper, "I'd rather deal with them than stay here with these guys."

Keith looked between the two paladins before stepping forward, "Then I'll go as well."

The queen shook her head, "I'm afraid the entrance will only allow two to enter. After that its entrance will close for a while. We ourselves can't go but the Igukers shouldn't see you as a threat. You'll be fine."

Shiro tapped his chin as he considered his options before coming to a decision, "All right, here's what we're going to do. Hunk and Lance will go down to the sewers and retrieve the crystal while the rest of us will get on our lions and stand watch in case the Galra come back."

Keith opened his mouth to argue but Shiro stopped him with a look.

Pidge gave a devilish smirk to the yellow and blue paladins as she pushed her glasses up, "Think you guys can handle some little caterpillars?" she teased.

Lance scoffed and placed an arm around Hunk, "Me and Hunk got this! We'll show those caterpillars whose boss, isn't that right buddy?"

Hunk brought his other hand around Lance and laughed, "Oh yeah dude, they won't see it coming!"

Pidge rolled her eyes but grinned, Shiro mirroring her expression.

The queen straightened herself before looking between Lance and Hunk, "I wish you luck young paladins." And then two gray wings spread behind her and Lance was so done. She needed off this planet as soon as possible.

She tried to keep her face clear of emotion, which wasn't her strong suit, but no one seemed to figure out that she was internally crying so she called that a win.

Keith still looked like he wanted to argue as he looked between Hunk and Lance with a frown. Over the past few weeks, those two had gotten along too well in his opinion. It'd all started when Hunk let Lance help him out in the kitchen where they made one of the best soups he'd ever eaten in his life and declared right then and there that they were best friends.

Since then, the two had been at the hip and for some reason that bothered Keith. Lance still spent time with him during their training sessions but she spent most of her time with Hunk or Coran.

Apparently she really liked his stories. Even volunteered to go help him clean the healing pods just so she could hear more of his stories of when he was young. They'd even tried cooking together. That had been a total nightmare.

Coran always seemed to want to experiment with ingredients and Lance was more than eager to join in. The batch of food that they had made…Keith shuddered. He still had nightmares about it. He and the rest of the team had spent the next week in bed.

So yeah, Coran and Lance cooking together? Bad idea. Lance and Hunk? Total masterpiece.

Sometimes Lance went off with Pidge when the green paladin made an invention that looked interesting to the Amazon princess.

Maybe she thought Keith was boring? All he did was train after all. And when he wasn't training, he'd be eating or sleeping. Maybe he should try doing something else they could both do besides train? Don't get him wrong, he was glad that the rest of the team was getting to know Lance but he also didn't like sharing.

Keith shook his head; this wasn't the time for him to be worrying about his friendship with Lance. They had a mission to do, and that came first. And considering the fact that Lance had already fainted twice, he wasn't too eager to let her away from his sight.

"I still think I should go," he protested.

"Keith," Shiro said with a frown, "Hunk and Lance can do this. You, Pidge and I are needed to fight off any Galra that come in. Don't worry," he turned to Hunk and Lance and tapped his helmet, "Make sure you keep your comms on, just in case."

Hunk and Lance gave him a two-finger salute before they followed after one of the Akhenatons and were gone.

* * *

"You're pacing Keith," Shiro said in amusement, "Calm down."

Keith glanced up at the screen where both Shiro and Pidge's faces were being displayed inside the Red lion. The three of them were inside their own respective lions as they stood guard as they waited for Hunk and Lance to come back with the crystal.

Keith had only managed to sit still for about a minute before he got up from his seat with a huff and began to pace around the cockpit.

The red paladin gave Shiro a heated glance before going back to his seat with a huff.

"They'll be fine Keith," Pidge said with a roll of her eyes, "You're just jealous because you didn't get to go with Lance."

Keith felt a blush form on his cheeks because damn it she was right. And she knew it.

A few weeks ago, Keith had discovered that he liked Lance. More than liked her in fact. It had happened during a mission where they had infiltrated a Galra ship in order to save some prisoners that they had taken from one of their allied planets.

Keith had gone ahead and had split himself off from the rest of his team. One of the Galra had taunted him and damn it, Keith had let his temper take over and chased after him.

He noticed too late that the Galra was leading him to a trap and when he'd figured that out, he had been surrounded.

He'd tried calling for the rest of his teams but they must have been too far because all he got back from the comms was static. Keith fought as best he could, but it was clear he was outnumbered.

One of the Galra got a good hit and managed to stab his hand, Keith dropped his sword to the floor and staggered back when something heavy hit his head. He thought he was going to die, there were too many of them, and there was no one to blame but himself.

And that's when Lance showed up to the rescue. The Amazon princess had taken one look at Keith before her features turned to something cold. She flung the Galra away from him with a roar and ran to his hide before taking a stand in front of him.

The Galra got to their feet and attacked with a battle cry as Lance let her Bayard transform into a gun before she started shooting them down in a frenzy. Lance was laughing up a storm, blood splattered on her face, a sadistic grin on her lips as she stood over Keith and all he could think was that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

And that's when it him.

He liked Lance.

And he had absolutely no idea how to act around her now.

"Hey mullet," Lance said.

Keith instinctively looked up in a daze. Oh look, all the Galra were dead. Did he pass out?

"Let me heal those injuries of yours." And then she was crouched in front of him and _god_ ; even being covered in Galra blood didn't diminish Lance's original scent. She smelled sweet and Keith really wanted to take a good long whiff but that would be weird so he held himself back.

Keith swallowed thickly and held absolutely still as Lance put her hands on his hand and then on his head healing both injuries within minutes. He didn't even breathe.

"There," she said with a smile as she leaned back and offered him an arm, "Almost lost my favorite mullet there."

Keith's mind came to a halt. Her favorite?

"You okay Keith? Hello? Earth to Keith."

Somehow he found his voice and managed a convincing scoff, "I'm fine."

Lance frowned as they started making their way back to the others. "You seemed a little out of it for just a second there. Your attention span was even shorter than mine."

Keith snorted, "If that were true, I'd be truly worried."

Lance stuck her tongue out at him and god damn it, that was adorable. Keith needed to talk to someone. He didn't know what to do about this.

* * *

When they'd gotten back to the castle, Keith made a beeline to Shiro who was just exiting the black lion and ignoring the startled gasp that his friend let out, dragged him to his room.

"Keith what's wrong-"

"I think I like Lance," he blurted out.

The sound of a crash outside the room snapped both their attention to the door before the doors swooshed opened to see a slightly guilty Pidge standing there with her tablet abandoned on the floor.

"Oops?" the green paladin muttered.

Keith narrowed his eyes, "How much did you hear?"

"Everything," she mumbled trying to look apologetic. Internally she was doing a little dance and fist pumping as she shouted _I knew it!_

Keith felt the urge to grab a pillow and scream into it. So he did.

While their friend was having a crisis Pidge turned to Shiro, "You owe me a months worth of bacon."

Shiro made a face and scowled. Great there went his bacon.

"What am I going to do?" Keith cried as he started to pace around the room.

"Here's a thought," Pidge said sarcastically, "Tell her."

"This is no time for jokes Pidge!"

"I'm being serious!"

"Ugh, you're no help!" Keith turned his frantic eyes to Shiro, "What should I do?"

Shiro made an effort to look like he was thinking and Keith was starting to look hopeful when Shiro turned his black eyes to Keith, "I agree with Pidge. Just tell her how you feel."

Keith scoffed, "Have you seen her? She flirts with girls! There's no way I'm even in her radar!"

Pidge and Shiro exchanged glances before turning back to their friend.

"I've seen her flirt with guys though…besides I'm pretty sure she likes you too." Pidge said with a shrug.

Keith whipped his head to her, his eyes impossibly wide, "What gave you that idea?"

Shiro lifted his hand as he started to name a few examples, "The way she looks at you. She always tries to get your attention. She smiles the most when she's around you…"

"She blushes when you get close to her," Pidge added.

Keith frowned as he tried to remember if any of those things even happened but for the life of him he couldn't. Lance acted that way with everyone, he wasn't special…"I don't see it," he muttered.

Pidge rubbed at her face in frustration, how dense was this guy?

Shiro raised an eyebrow at him, "I think you're giving up because you don't want to take the risk. I know you treasure the relationship that you both seem to have right now and you don't want to ruin that. But Keith," Shiro made sure Keith was looking at him, "This could be the best thing for you both. Just tell her. She might surprise you."

"I…I don't know…"

"We'll help you out Keith, we got your back." Pidge said sincerely. Shiro nodded beside her as he put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Keith sighed and smiled, "Thanks guys. I'll think about it."

* * *

Back in the present Keith frowned at his two friends.

Pidge shook her head at him in annoyance, "I still don't know why you haven't told her how you feel about her," she muttered.

Shiro nodded as he looked back at Keith, "Instead you turned into a spluttering idiot every time you're near her before making up an excuse or running away. Its no wonder Lance has been spending more time with Hunk or Coran lately."

Keith scowled. He couldn't help acting that way; every time he saw Lance he'd have a brain fart and lose all manner of speech. He'd been spending more time in the training rooms lately, it let him vent out his frustrations.

Thankfully, he was still able to teach Lance hand-to-hand combat like he'd promised her without too much difficulty. Although there was that one time he pinned her to the ground and unbidden images of what he could do to her in that position entered his mind and he'd let out a strangled yelp that only made Lance look at him weirdly.

"I'm just saying," Keith, said with a pout, "Lance already fainted twice. She hates all types of insects, what if she faints again while they're battle if she sees another insect?"

Shiro tilted his head as he allowed a small smile to grace his lips, "Then she has Hunk to cover for her."

Keith threw his hands in the air, "You mean Hunk who looked ready to piss himself?"

Pidge snickered, "But he didn't. They'll be fine."

Keith still looked unconvinced and Shiro sighed, "Let's check in with then shall we?"

The red paladin straightened in his chair as he tapped the button on the side of his helmet to listen, "How you guys doing?" Shiro asked.

"Any cute caterpillars?" Pidge teased.

"You guys okay? Do you need me to come help?" Keith added.

" _We're doing fine Keith."_ Lance said in a dead pan tone _, "No caterpillars unfortunately_."

" _Although_ ," Hunk cut in, " _We did find a lot of arachnid limbs scattered around. The place smells worse than the surface if you can believe it, but otherwise we're doing okay."_

Shiro turned to Keith with an arched eyebrow that only had the red paladin bristling, "That's good. Keep us informed."

"See?" Pidge said with a grin, "They got this!"

Keith frowned, he had a feeling Hunk and Lance were about to stumble into trouble sooner rather than later.

* * *

The entrance to the sewer was almost completely camouflage with the vines but the Akhenaton leading them knew his way around the place and led them to the entrance with no problem. The thing looked skittish and kept jumping at anything that moved.

Lance knew the feeling.

As soon as it revealed the entrance, it practically flew away at an amazing speed leaving the two paladins alone. Shrugging, Hunk and Lance moved the vines out of the way and stepped inside. As soon as it did, the entrance closed behind them with a tough layer of mud.

The two paladins glanced at each other and began to crawl their way through the sewer until they got to a bigger opening where they could walk on their feet.

It was eerily quiet. The place smelled worse than the surface, a few arachnid limbs lay scattered around the floor, which had them wrinkling their noses.

"So far so good," Lance muttered while looking around.

"No sign of any cute caterpillars either," Hunk mumbled back, his hands on his Bayard.

"Shame."

"I know right?"

The two walked in silence once more before they made it to an archway with three paths.

"Right," they both said at the same time. And then grinned.

There was a bit of static from their helmets before Shiro's voice was heard.

" _How you guys doing?"_

" _Any cute caterpillars?"_ Pidge teased beside him _._

" _You guys okay? Do you need me to come help?"_ Keith intercepted _._

Lance rolled her eyes and tapped the side of her helmet, "We're doing fine Keith. No caterpillars unfortunately."

"Although," Hunk cut in, "We did find a lot of arachnid limbs scattered around. The place smells worse than the surface if you can believe it, but otherwise we're doing okay."

" _That's good, keep us informed_ ," Shiro said before the transmission cut off.

* * *

It was sometime after that they reached the end of the tunnel where they finally spotted the crystal in a hole. Unfortunately a giant moth like insect was hovering in front of it and it didn't seem to be moving anytime soon. The place was covered in wet mud but there were plenty of boulders to hide them from view.

The ceiling was covered in these pretty colored crystals that gave the place a rainbow hue. Hunk wanted to take one back with him, he'd started to collect things that looked interesting during their adventures as a paladin of Voltron

"So, can I shoot it?" Lance asked as she started to lift her Bayard.

"Dude, we can't! What about using your powers to bring it over here?"

Lance blinked and slowly grinned as she gave Hunk a good pat on the shoulder. "Oh my god. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you've been wanting to shoot something since we got here?" the yellow paladin suggested.

Lance smirked, "Oh you know me so well buddy. Okay," she turned back to the moth and inched her head upward, "Let's see if this works."

Lance lifted her hand and concentrated. The blue crystal wobbled on the ground and Lance grit her teeth. "Come on, come on," she muttered.

Beside her, Hunk was biting his nails anxiously as he whispered encouragements to his friend. "Come on buddy, you got this," he whispered.

Lance frowned and as the moth turned away she made a come hither motion and the crystal zoomed past until it landed in her palm.

Lance and Hunk grinned and high fived each other silently before they started inching their way out.

Once they were a good distance away, they let out sounds of relief and Hunk contacted the others through the comms as Lance pocketed the crystal in her armor, "Shiro, we got the crystal. We're heading back."

" _Good job guys, we'll see you in a bit."_

"Hunk?"

The yellow paladin turned to regard his friend who had stopped, his finger hovering over the button to turn his comm off. "What is it buddy?"

"Do you feel that?"

Hunk stopped walking and that's when he felt the vibrations in the ground as something rushed to them.

" _Guys? What's going on?"_ Shiro asked through the comms.

Neither of them answered as they raised their Bayard in front of them when they saw them. Three Igukers varying in color stared back at them curiously.

"Aww," they both said.

The Igukers were the size of a cat and they were adorable. That is until they released a shrieking sound that had the two paladins stumbling back in shock.

" _Guys? What was that sound?"_

" _Lance! What's going on?"_

" _Are you guys okay? Answer us!"_

And suddenly the caterpillars grew in size until they were towering over them before there was a crunching sound and their heads split four ways, their enormous mouths filled with ring after ring of razor-sharp teeth.

All three of them barreled toward them, their bodies surging and twisting in a horrifying manner.

Hunk shrieked and slipped on the reeking mud before Lance gripped his forearm and pushed him forward.

Their teammates were yelling at them through the speakers but they didn't have time to answer back. Both of them hurtled down the length of the sewer, shooting out randomly with their Bayard. Most of their shots missed but those that did hit seemed to do no damage anyway.

The sound of something screeching made them run faster as the sound of wings flapping was suddenly heard coming toward them.

The moth.

Lance was really regretting not bothering to memorize the pathway; there was a fork in the pathway and Lance and Hunk veered sharply to the right.

They didn't dare glance around, there was another fork and they veered to the left almost slipping on the mud as they ran.

The walls around them seemed to shake with the thunderous movements of the worms. The moth was getting closer; they could hear the sound of its wings and the shrieking noise it let out as it came after them.

Lance flung out her arm and threw the three worms a few feet away from them before she redirected Hunk to another fork where she could hear a familiar sound.

"Lance! What do we do?" Hunk cried as he ran beside her. His pants were starting to become heavy and would start to slow down soon.

"The water, I hear water coming from this way! If we can lure them to the water I might be able to electrocute them!"

Three shrieking roars had them picking up their pace until they noticed the enormous pit that opened before them. It was half full of water but it should be enough, Lance put an arm around Hunk and flew them to the other side of the pit just in time for the worms to come barreling down the path.

All three of them stumbled into each other and slid into the pit. Lance let go of Hunk and placed her palms on the ground as she released a mighty shock of electricity that traveled all the way to where the worms were squirming in the water.

Three inhuman shrieks followed after, the worms twitching and trying to scramble away. The smell of something burning also made them choke but Lance continued to release her electricity into the ground until finally, finally the worms stopped moving.

Of course, that's when the moth appeared in front of them and Hunk yelled out a 'oh come on' before Lance got to her feet and threw another lightning bolt at the moths face.

The thing screeched before it hastily flew away.

Hunk slid down the wall and released a sigh of relief, "Oh man. That was way too close. Dude, you were awesome!"

Lance grinned as she put her hands to her knees and took deep breaths.

" _Guys!" Shiro's distant voice yelled. "What's going on? Answer me!"_

" _Lance! I swear to god if you don't answer me, I'm coming over there myself!" Keith shouted._

Hunk shakily brought his hand to his comm and after a few breaths answered back, "We're fine. Just a bit of trouble with some worms but Lance totally kicked butt by electrocuting them so yeah…we're all good."

"We have the crystal guys," Lance said as she pulled Hunk to his feet, "This time we're definitely on our way back."

Three sighs of relief answered them back before they cut off the connection and started heading back.

"Oh, by the way," Lance said cheerily as she reached into her pocket and tossed something small at Hunk, "Got you a present."

Hunk barely caught the item in his hand before he put a hand to his chest, "You got me a yellow crystal?" His eyes got all teary and he blew Lance a kiss that she pretended to catch, "Dude."

"You're welcome, I got five more for the others and one for me," she said with a grin. "Now let's get the heck out of here."

* * *

Keith placed his hands on Lance's shoulders tightly as he looked her up and down. Both Hunk and her had gotten back from their trip in the sewers and already given the crystal to the closest Akhenatons who took the crystal and rushed back inside the cave where the queen was.

As soon as the others saw them, Keith had practically sprinted out of the red lion and rushed straight for her.

"Oh, god," Pidge moaned as she pinched her nose, "You guys stink!"

Lance snorted, "Nice to see you to Pidge," she muttered.

"Are you okay? Hunk said you used your electricity!" Keith said as he removed her helmet and checked for any injuries.

Lance laughed as she patted his hands, "I'm okay Keith. Relax."

"She was so cool!" Hunk said dancing on his feet, "You should have seen her! She barbequed those worms!" Hunk made a face, "It was kind of disgusting, but really cool too!"

Shiro clapped them both on the shoulders all looked at them with a smile, "I'm very proud of the both of you."

Hunk and Lance beamed.

"Ugh," Pidge groaned, "You guys need to take a shower!"

Hunk and Lance glanced at each other and grimaced. Both of them were covered in head to toe in mud, some green sort of goo was clinging to their helmets and okay yeah they definitely needed a shower.

A low humming sound suddenly covered the whole town and they all watched as the place suddenly turned brighter and an orange barrier surrounded the place.

"It looks like our job is done here, everyone back to your lions." Shiro said as he started making his way to the black lion, the others following close behind him. "Allura will be speaking of an alliance through video message."

* * *

"Ugh, I'm taking a two hour shower," Lance said once they were back in the castle as she took a delicate sniff at herself and grimaced. "See you guys later!"

"Ugh, right behind you buddy," Hunk, muttered as he caught up to his friend.

Keith frowned after them and completely missed the look Pidge and Shiro were giving him as Pidge shook her head and said she'd be in her room.

With nothing better to do, Keith made his way to the training room where he spent the next few hours battling gladiators.

It was already dinnertime when he made his way to the kitchen, a towel draped on his shoulders as he used it to wipe the sweat away.

Everyone else was already gathered at the table, everyone but Lance.

Keith frowned, "Where's Lance?"

Hunk looked up from where he was making food to glance at him, "I think she's still in her room sleeping. I'll bring her a tray of food in a bit."

Keith blinked and scratched his cheek awkwardly, "Uh, that's okay. I can bring it to her."

Everyone glanced up at him and Keith bristled, "What?"

"Oh nothing," Pidge smirked impishly, "Just thought it was nice of you to do that."

"So nice," Shiro added with a grin.

Keith scowled and picked up two plates of food and started making his way over to his friends room.

He could feel everyone's stare on his back but he ignored them.

* * *

Coming up to her room, Keith lightly tapped her door with her food and waited for a response. After knocking three more times, the door slid open and Keith walked inside to see Lance sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest, an art book in her lap and a set of headphones over her ears.

"Lance," Keith said, dropping down next to her and placing the plates beside him. "Dinner is ready."

Lance jumped and turned her head to him before lowering the headphones down to her neck. "Keith? What are you doing here?"

Keith pursed his lips, looking sheepish. "You were missing dinner." He said lamely.

Lance laughed and put down her sketchbook before taking the offered plate from her friend. "Oh, this smells so good," she moaned, "No fair, Hunk made this without me."

"He thought you were sleeping," Keith mumbled as he settled down next to her and leaned back on Lance's bed as he began to eat.

"Ah," Lance said around a mouthful of food, "Makes sense. Oh right, I have something for you."

Lance shot to her feet and began to rummage around her room. Keith looked at her in curiosity and tried to read her mind but Lance sent him a scolding look.

"Here," she said handing him the red crystal that she'd taken from the sewer, suddenly feeling self-conscious under Keith's watchful gaze. "You said you were collecting rocks from every planet you visit so I thought you'd like this."

Keith held out his hand and Lance placed a red crystal in his palm. "You remembered?" he said, his voice low.

"I remember everything you say."

Keith smiled and felt a little giddy at those words.

"Do you like it?" she asked as she took her seat next to him on the floor.

Keith ran his hands over the crystal and nodded. "Thank you Lance. I can't believe you had time to get this while also running away from those giant worms." He teased.

Lance snorted, "Well, I'm just that awesome after all. No big deal really."

"It has a hole," Keith remarked.

Lance whipped her head at him and gaped, "What? No way!"

She took the crystal from him and brought it to her face to peer at him closely. When she did indeed find a hole she whined.

Keith chuckled beside her, "It's okay Lance. I still like it."

"I wonder if the others have holes on them too," she muttered.

"Others?"

Lance nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah, I got a few more for the others. I already gave Hunk his, I'll give the others theirs later."

Keith's shoulders drooped a little at the revelation, that's what he got for thinking he was special…

An idea suddenly struck Keith and he quickly shot to his feet, effectively startling Lance, "I'll be right back. While you wait, take out the blue crystal, you have one right?" At Lance's nod Keith smirked and left the room.

Confused, Lance got to her feet and took out the blue crystal that to her dismay also had a hole and grimaced.

Keith suddenly burst into the room, his breathing heavy as he briskly walked over to Lance and took the blue crystal from her hands in one swift move. Keith turned his back to her and fumbled with something before he turned back around and stuck out his hand.

"Here, I want you to have this." His eyes looked determined but it was clear he was nervous by the way his hand shook.

Lance opened her palm for him and Keith dropped the red crystal in her palm, a string threaded through it, making wearable.

Lance stared in awe. "Oh."

"And I'll take the blue one," Keith was blushing, he knew that but he gripped the blue crystal in his palm as if afraid she'd take it from him.

Lance smiled at him softly before turning around and handing him the bracelet, "Put it on for me?"

Keith took the necklace and draped it around Lance's head hoping that she didn't notice the slight tremor in his hands. She had a nice neck…

Satisfied, Keith stepped back as Lance turned around, her hand around the crystal. "Okay, your turn. Turn around mister."

Keith snorted but complied as Lance placed the blue crystal around his neck. It felt nice. He was just happy that he'd managed to give Lance a gift this time instead of the other way around.

"Want to hang out with me for a bit?" Lance said with a quirk of her lips.

Keith's heart beat a little faster but he managed to nod, "Yeah," he breathed. "I'd love to."

"Good," Lance grinned as she turned to retrieve the iPod her father had given her all those years ago before scrolling through the list of movies she had stored in there over the years, "Have you seen Zombeaver?"

Keith tilted his head, "No…I don't think so."

Lance grinned, "Good. It's terrible. Make fun of it with me."

Keith laughed and leaned closer to peer at the tiny screen, his eyes glancing at Lance every few seconds. And if he took a few whiffs of Lance's perfume then at least there were no witnesses.

* * *

 _An Amber Pen: Aren't they just the cutest when they argue? Thanks for the review!_

 _Lilnightmare17: Thanks for the review :)_

 _Guest:The adventure has begun! And there was a dance, Keith and Lance HAD to dance together! it's a must XD_


	10. Chapter 10

" **Only** TRUE friends got your back when you're down. No matter the situation."

Chapter 10

Keith was being weird Lance noticed.

At first it wasn't very noticeable, small things like saying he was too busy training to take part in their weekly movie night. Or he was too tired to eat dinner with everyone else.

Lately though, he'd been refusing to train together like they usually do. He's been a little snarky with everyone, even Shiro who was just concerned about him. He seems agitated, like something's bothering him but he won't talk to anyone about it.

He keeps disappearing every once in a while only to return with something long sleeved.

Shiro tried talking to him but Keith just said it was nothing to worry about. Hunk and Pidge tried talking to him as well but he just walked out of the room. Allura and even Coran were ignored and Lance was downright avioded. If she came within a feet of him, Keith would bolt in the opposite direction.

She had a sinking suspicion what his problem was but she'd need to talk to Keith and ask him in person in order to make sure. The extra layers of clothes that he'd been wearing were another hint, but the real clicker was his scent.

Lance was good at many things, and one of those things included her high sense of smell. And lately, her friend has been giving off a familiar scent that she's encountered quite a few times. She hadn't been sure at first, when she first met him he had the scent of a human but there was another underlying layer hidden that she'd brushed off at the time.

Now though, the scent has gotten stronger and so familiar that she immediately understood Keith's sudden change in attitude.

Back in Cloyetera she remembered reading about hybrids and how the stronger side usually took over. Lance herself is a hybrid; half Amazon and half human. She got most of her Amazon qualities, with the exception of her height, so clearly her Amazon side was stronger.

Judging by Keith's strange behavior and the extra layers of clothes, his other side was winning.

Thinking back, Keith had said that his mother had walked out on him and his father. He doesn't remember much of her but according to his father, his mother was watching him from the stars. At first Lance thought that she had died, so does Keith in fact, but now…

Plus, there's that double edge dagger that his mother left behind for Keith and it all makes sense.

Keith…is half Galra.

* * *

The color was spreading Keith realized with dismay. Making sure he locked the bathroom door, Keith turned back to the mirror and grimaced as he turned his head upward to gaze at his neck. The blotch of purple was spreading, most of his arms were already purple and to be honest he was starting to freak out.

Ever since the fight at the Balmera planet where the scanner had not rejected him when he'd placed his hand on the scanner on the door and had the door open for him, Keith had been suspicious. Those doors were Galra tech, only a Galra or something Galra made like Shiro's robot arm could open those doors. And yet…they had opened for him. He hadn't mentioned it to the rest of his teammates at the time because they were in the middle of battle but Keith never forgot about it.

Then when they were fighting against Zarkon, he had told Keith that he fought like his Galra soldiers. Keith had been so angry at the time, it's why he'd ignored Shiro's orders and rushed straight at Zarkon.

Because it couldn't be true…right?

Wrong.

The purple splotches on his skin started to appear just a few weeks ago. At first, he'd brushed it off because it was just a little dark spot at the corner of his elbow. A few days after that another spot appeared on his hip, then his other arm. And now…the majority of his back and most of his stomach was purple, with the exception of a few splotches of white from his pale skin.

He'd tried to hide the splotches with extra layers of clothes but that wouldn't be much help anymore. Not to mention the other symptoms that he'd been feeling. He's been particularly jittery with all this pent up energy. He feels like he can go on a sparring match againts Zarkon himself.

He's hungry practically all the time but he makes sure to eat at night when the others are asleep so as not to arouse suspicion.

He's been spending more and more time on the training deck just to get rid of some of the tension that he's been feeling. His sense of smell has increased as well, something he'd rather do without honestly. Everyone on the team has a distinct smell to them that he's able to sniff them out individually. Although it has been useful in helping him avoid Lance.

The others had left him mostly alone with the exception of Shiro but Lance has been particularly persistent. Any other time, he would have gladly welcomed her presence. Heck, most of the time he yearned for her attention but ever since the purple splotches have started appearing, Keith had been avoiding the amazon.

She would try to read his mind and then she would know. It was hard enough keeping his emotions in check as to not make the mood bracelet give him away but that's taken some effort as well. Keith couldn't handle anyone knowing of his condition. He couldn't tell any of his teammates about what was happening because surely they would hate him. All of them had something against the Galra, Allura and Coran had their whole planet and its people destroyed by the Galra, Pidge's father and brother had been taken by the Galra and she was still looking for them, Shiro had been taken during a mission and had his arm modified with Galra tech after he'd lost his arm in the arena where they would make him fight for his survival, Lance had her home planet attacked again and again because the Amazons refused to side with Zarkon and his army, and Hunk…well he didn't know what the yellow paladin had against the Galra, but surely he must hate them after what his friends had been through thanks to them.

Keith sighed in frustration as he smashed the mirror in front of him to pieces. His hand was bleeding but he didn't seem to care. Nothing could hurt as bad as imagining what his friends reactions would be if he told them that he was Galra, or at least half Galra like he suspected he was.

They would hate him.

They were his family and he loved them all and that's exactly why he couldn't tell them the truth. They'd probably leave him just like everyone else in his life…

A sudden growl disrupted his thoughts and Keith couldn't help but grimace. He was hungry. Again. Thankfully, it was the middle of the night so he'd be able to get a quick snack without anyone noticing. Running a hand through his hair, Keith turned on the facet and let the water run through his injury; he'd have to bandage this soon.

After carefully picking up the broken glass and dumping into the trashcan, Keith put on his red and white jacket along with two more sweaters to cover the rest of the splotches on his arms and started making his way to the door when a sharp pain made his kness buckle.

What the hell?

Keith put a hand on his stomach and doubled over as his skin suddenly turned sweltering hot. What was happening? A prickling sensation on his hands made him turn his face in horror to see purple fur starting to appear at the edge of his palms. His nails seemed to grow until they resembled claws instead of normal human nails.

Keith shook his head slowly as he backed further into the room. No. This wasn't happening. He thought he had more time! A sob broke through and Keith clenched his eyes shut when a sudden bang on his door made him open his eyes wide.

"Keith! Open this door right now!"

Lance.

Lance was here.

He'd been so focused on himself that he hadn't smelled Lance making her way to his room.

"Keith!"

Keith looked around in fright. He couldn't let her see him like this, she'd hate him.

"I-I'm busy Lance!" he stammered out before clearing his throat, "It's the middle of the night, go back to sleep."

The banging on his door stopped and Keith almost heaved a sigh of relief before Lance sighed in annoyance from the other side and said in a firm voice, "I'm coming in Keith."

Keith ran to the door to try and block her but the door swished open and Keith stared at Lance in horror as she took him in.

Keith wanted to cry as he backed away, Lance had seen him.

Any minute now she was going to look at him in disgust and alert the others.

Despite himself, Keith felt a tear trickle down his cheek as he closed his eyes, scrunched up his shoulders, and waited for Lance to say something mean to him.

One could imagine his surprise when two arms suddenly enveloped him in a hug instead.

"You idiot," Lance muttered into his neck, "You should have come to me sooner."

Somehow, Keith found his voice, "You're not mad?" he whispered.

Lance shook her head as she tightened her hold on him, "Why would I be mad Keith? This is not your fault."

Keith wanted to desperately hug her back but he had to make sure, "You don't hate me? Even though I'm part Galra?"

Lance loosened her hold on him to stare him in the eye, "I could never hate you Keith. You're still you. So you're part Galra, big deal. You're still the same Keith who was fanboying over me telling him I was an Amazon; you're still my best friend. Nothing will ever change that Keith."

Keith felt himself tremble, was Lance serious? Could he believe in those words?

He must have been thinking pretty loudly because Lance gave him a fond smile as she brought her forehead to his and let her mind mingle with Keith's.

Keith took a startled breath as a comforting energy washed around him as Lance projected all her emotions to him.

 _Acceptance._

 _Fondness._

 _Protectiveness._

' _Of course I do mullet. You're still my best friend. And nothing will ever change that.'_

No longer having any doubt Keith brought his hands around Lance and hugged her tightly as he buried his face in her neck. And if a few tears slid down his cheeks and wet Lance's shirt, neither of them said a thing.

After a while, Lance pulled back and Keith almost whined before she brought a hand to his face and frowned. "You're burning up," she remarked.

Stepping out of the embrace completely, Lance lifted his hands up to examine the purple fur and claws hummed to herself.

"I know you're not much into doing your nails but jeez, trim these will you?"

Keith's mouth twitched at the joke and he felt himself relax.

"How are you feeling?"

Keith sighed, "A little hungry. A little hot. A tad embarrassed. The list goes on."

Lance's lips quirked in a smile as she nodded to herself before placing both hands on each side of his face. A moment later her hands glowed green and Keith felt the soothing energy wash over him; he no longer felt uncomfortably hot and the sharp pain ceased to something tolerable. The cut on his right arm closed and Lance wiped the blood with the edge of her shirt.

"When you came in," Keith began nervously as he licked his dry lips, "You made it sound as if you knew this was going to happen."

Lance nodded as she stepped back and took a seat on the floor; Keith followed her example and curiously watched as his friend leaned back on her hands and stared at him thoughtfully.

"When I first met you, you had the scent of a human but there was a hint of something else that I wasn't sure of until recently. Your smell started to change, and the whole extra layer of clothes wasn't helping your case either," Keith winced he'd forgotten about Lance's heightened senses, "I was trying to tell you but kept avoiding me," Keith winced again as Lance arched a brow at him in amusement, "I figured it'd be a matter of time. I was just falling asleep when your smell suddenly heightened drastically and I immediately rushed over. You forget that I'm half human and half amazon."

Keith couldn't help but grimace as shame washed over him, perhaps if he'd talked to Lance sooner all of this would have been easier to deal with.

Lance took a hold of his right arm and produced a nail cutter from the pocket of her shorts and started trimming the claws.

"Plus," Lance continued with a shrug as she continued with her work, "This happened to Diona as well." Keith looked up in surprise at that, "Notice how she has those blue splotches on her face?" At Keith's nod Lance continued, "She's half Amazon and half Cyan and one day her whole skin turned blue and she grew two extra arms and well you can imagine how freaked out she was."

Keith nodded slowly and suppressed a shudder; at least he hadn't grown any extra limbs…

"Anyway, most of the amazons are half something and sometimes the side that's stronger starts to take over and our appearance changes. When that happens, we would send a few women off planet to bring back suppressant pills. It keeps us from turning and that's how we dealt with it."

Keith looked up at her with a hint of hope, his eyes looking almost purple in the light, "Suppressant pills? Do you know where we can get some?"

HIs friend finished trimming his nails on his right arm and Keith silently handed her his left arm so she could do the same to that one as well.

Lance smiled and nodded. "We can usually get some at the swap moon or as I dub it 'The Space Mall'."

Keith looked down at the ground as he stared down at the purple furred hands in front of him, "Do you know if there's any near us?"

Keith couldn't see it but Lance grinned as she finished trimming the claws on his left arm before she got to her feet, "Yup, and we're going right now. Unless you want to wait?"

Keith immediately shot to his feet and gripped her arms, "No! I want to go now. I-I don't want the others to see me like this."

Lance stared at him quizzically, "Did you think we'd be mad? That we'd ask you to leave?"

Keith's body stiffened and he averted his eyes to the side, "They'd hate me," he whispered, "I didn't want to lose my new family."

Lance's eyes softened," Oh Keith, that would never happen. We all love you, we wouldn't hate you."

"Oh yeah? What about Allura?" he asked defiantly.

Lance rolled her eyes and huffed, "Allura…would not take it well sure, but with time I'm sure she'd loosen up. She needs to learn not to discriminate against a whole race for the actions of a few anyway. As for the others…I have absolutely no doubt that you being half Galra will make them see you any differently and if they do," Lance grinned and put both hands on her hips and even in her black shorts and blue tank top and wearing those ridiculous blue lion slippers she still managed to look fierce, "Then they'll answer to me."

Keith wanted to laugh but managed a snort instead.

Lance put a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "Its up to you if you ever want to tell the rest of the team. Either way, I'm on your side and I'll back you up. Just say the word."

"Thanks Lance," Keith said with a small smile, "I really appreciate it."

Lance sent him a peace sign and Keith rolled his eyes at her fondly, "No problem. Now let's go before the others wake up." She was halfway to the door when she remembered something and turned around to face him. "There's just one thing I want you to promise me though."

Keith blinked and scrunched his eyesbrows together, "What is it?" Lance was looking at him so seriously he felt that he should be prepared for anything.

"If you ever pop out some Galra ears I have first dibs to pet them." Keith's jaw dropped and Lance pointed a finger at him and pouted, "I'll be seriously pissed if you let someone else touch them before me. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'll cry."

Keith couldn't help it, he laughed. Lance crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. The red paladin put his hands up in defense and wiped a tear from his eye, "I promise. You have first dibs."

Lance seemed to be appeased because she smiled and turned to the door once more.

Keith caught her arm and sent her an incredulous look, "You're going in that?" his voice did not squeak, he swears it.

Lance looked down at her clothes with a frown, "Yeah. What's wrong with it?"

Keith let out a strangled cry, as he looked her up and down, "Lance, those shorts are way too short. And…" his eyes widened as he hastily looked away with a tint of red on his cheeks as he croaked out the rest of his sentence, "Are you not wearing a bra?"

"Nope."

Keith wanted to cry. There was absolutely no way he was going to let her venture outside where there are plenty of people who can ogle her in her state.

The red paladin released a sigh and pinched his nose, "Lance go get changed right now."

Lance crossed her arms, "What? But why?"

"Now Lance."

"You're not my dad!"

"Lance," he said with a warning note in his voice.

Lance huffed and threw her hands in the air as she whined, "God, you never let me do anything. Fine! But you change too then, take those extra layers of clothes off, you look ridiculous."

Keith's lips twitched upwards and Lance grinned at him in return before he started to laugh. Looking satisfied and a little too proud of herself, Lance nodded to herself and left his room before declaring that she'd meet him at the hanger where she would prep a small cruiser for them.

Keith was still smiling when the door closed as he shook his head and started taking the two extra jackets off him. Thank god for Lance, he really was lucky to have her as a friend. If he ever lost her…Keith shook his head. No. That wasn't going to happen, he wasn't going to lose her. Or anyone else on the team for that matter.

He didn't like the idea of keeping something this huge a secret from the others but he wasn't ready to face them. Not yet. But maybe one day he will, and when that happened Lance would be at his side. She'd promised him.

Walking into his closet he pulled out a black t-shirt, some jeans and a red hoodie that had a hood before planting his feet on his white and black combat boots and exiting his room.

The castle lights were dimmed which was normal since this was a time for sleep. Normally he would have trouble walking around in the dark but for some reason everything looked crystal clear. Maybe it was a Galra trait. At least this could actually be useful in battle.

Keeping his footsteps as quiet as he could, Keith made his way to the hanger where a small light alerted him of Lance's presence.

* * *

As Keith neared the Amazon princess he released a sigh of relief at her attire. She's discarded her pajamas and put on some black jeans, a blue t-shirt, a black sweater and her signature black and white converse.

Keith caught a delicious scent and he felt his mouth water.

Noticing his presence Lance turned her attention to him and gave him a little wave.

Keith took another whiff and licked his mouth, "Please tell me that's for me."

"Of course," the amazon princess said, tossing a grin in his direction as she stepped inside the small cruiser. Her brown hair was done in a high ponytail making her blue eyes pop out and Keith had to stop himself from staring. "Although, I did take a few bites," she added sheepishly, Keith cast her a small glare, "It was good! You can't really blame me."

No he suppose he couldn't Keith thought with a sigh. He shrugged and took a seat next to her before strapping in. Lance pushed a plate of beef casserole to him before pushing a few buttons on the dashboard, making the shield close over them as Lance started the cruiser.

Keith settled back on his seat and began to eat as Lance opened the hanger doors and veered the ship out into space.

* * *

The swap moon looked like any ordinary mall on Earth that Keith was honestly a little disappointed with how normal it looked. It was a pretty large shopping mall; then again it was located on a moon so maybe that's why.

Thankfully, it was mostly empty though that was probably because of the late hour. Nevertheless, Keith put up his hoodie to cover most of his face. It was very bright and filled with many types of shops, it even came with some pop sounding music blaring over the speakers, it was clean and spacious and Keith didn't know where to begin looking. Lance walked over to where the directory was and after looking over the list, Keith didn't know the language so he was just shifting on his feet, his friend nodded and steered them in what he assumed was the right direction.

Along the way, Keith noticed different types of aliens try to get their attention; some of the things did look a bit interesting though. Keith had to drag Lance away from a stall selling face creams although she did yell at the shop owner that she would be back.

There were quite a lot of clothing stores around the area, a place that he assumed was a restaurant judging by the booths in front of it, a shop were they were selling different types of weapons…perhaps he'd check that out later.

A hand on his wrist snaped him out of his thoughts as Lance dragged them to a giant white shop that had the smell of disinfected so strong it made both paladins wrinkles their noses in distaste.

Along the shelves were bottles of vitamins, protein powders, and other stuff that he couldn't read since they were in another language. A green alien man waved them over from the counter with his four arms and both he and Lance make their way over to him.

Upon closer inspection, Keith noticed that the man had three eyes instead of two with a puff of black hair making him look young.

"Something I can help you with?" he asked, his voice surprisingly deep.

Lance stepped forward and put her arms over the counter as she gives the alien a charming smile that Keith was instantly jealous of.

"Yes there is actually. We're looking for some suppressants for my friend here, do you happen to have any?"

"Indeed we do," he said happily as he took out a tablet and pushed a few buttons, "Race?"

"Half Galra and half human," Keith answered as he shoved his hands in his pockets and took a step forward.

The alien, Kusunoki his nametag said, looked up at Keith with surprise before nodding to himself and typing a few things on the screen. "I see," he said as he rubbed his chin in thought, "That's new, I'm afraid I'll have to take you to the back to take a physical so I can make the appropriate pills for you."

Keith hesitated and pursed his lips as he exchanged glances with Lance, "Will that take long?"

"Ah, no more than half an hour as you say in your Earth terms." Kusunoki said with a chuckle "The physical will take about ten minutes but the making of the pills will take a little longer. Luckily for you, I have all the ingredients with me."

"If it's not too much trouble, would it be all right for you to give us a years worth of them?" Lance asked with a smile, "Just in case."

Kusunoki three eyes widened before looking over the two of them thoughtfully, "It's no problem," he said slowly and arched a doubtful look at them both, "But it'll be quite expensive, can you pay?"

Lance dug through her sweater before making an aha sound and produced a small pouch jingling with coins and placing them on the counter. "I assume this will be enough?"

Kusunoki's four arms reached for the pouch and hastily opened it before letting out a surprise shout, "My word…"

"And while you're at it," Lance continued with a fluttering of her lashes, "A few vitamins for Galra would be much appreciated."

Kusunoki looked at her in shock before a wide grin spread over his features and he bowed and chuckled, "Why yes of course. I'll even add some vitamins for yourself, no extra charge."

Lance put a hand to her chest and Keith grinned, "Oh aren't you a dear? You don't have to do that."

"Oh, no I insist milady," Kusunoki said with another bow and wink/winks? "Anything for a lovely lady such as yourself."

Lance gave the alien a wry smile, and changed her accent to something British, "You're too kind. That would be lovely."

Keith dug his elbow into Lance's stomach, "Enough already, jeez."

Lance laughed well naturedly before patting Keith on the head, which only made him scowl at her, "All right fine, you ruin all the fun. Well then," she glanced back at Kusunoki who was looking at them with a smile, "I'll be back in half an hour?"

Kusunoki nodded.

"Ok then," Lance turned to Keith and gave him a hug before whispering into his ear, "If you need me just call for me in your head, I'll come with guns blazing."

Keith snorted and laughed, "I'll be fine Lance, just try not to get into any trouble."

Lance had the audacity to look scandalized at the comment, "Me? Never. I'm practically an angel."

"Lance," Keith said with narrowed eyes.

Lance turned her back on him before waving goodbye at him, "Yes yes, I'll be good. Promise."

* * *

Lance was hungry. And bored. Maybe this place had a good restaurant around the area. One of the older Amazons who had been to a swap moon before had brought back some food with her last time and Lance had thought it was good at the time.

She didn't remember how it all looked like, but she remembered its scent. Perhaps if she was lucky, she could find it and buy two trays for both her and Keith to enjoy.

With an objective in mind, Lance let her nose guide her through out the mall and started walking.

It was on the sixth restaurant that she noticed a familiar scent and Lance made a beeline in the direction.

The Clean Chestplate Tavern was anything but clean- the floors were sticky, the furniture was a mixture of cheap tables and chairs, and the air smelled of grease.

Despite how it looked, it had quite a crowd so it must be doing something right. After waiting for a few minutes in line, Lance went up to the counter and ordered something called Bubbles and Spice that was really a fancy name for eggs, a piece of ham, tomatoes that were blue, and what she was pretty sure were sausages and potatoes although one was red and the other was pink.

Finding an empty table, Lance made her way over and dug in. Her eyes widened a second later, this…was not bad. The tomatoes were especially delicious. She immediately ordered two more to go.

All too soon, she had finished her food and was looking around the crowd when she noticed him. He was wearing a dark hood but she could still see the long limbs, the light lavender skin and the long silver hair cascading over his back with a single forelock hanging down his face, but more because he stood out amongst the rest of the crowd.

She had a feeling that he'd put on the hood as to not attract any attention but had gotten the opposite reaction. Aliens were openly staring at him but the man didn't seem to notice or maybe he just didn't care.

Three plates were already set out before him, empty save for the stranger looking items on the plate that she swore moved and some of the tomatoes.

Lance hadn't realized she'd been staring until his gaze shifted and collided with hers. His eyes were blue with yellow sclera around them, noticing her staring he arched a delicate silver brow at her and Lance grinned.

She got to her feet and pushed through the crowd before taking a seat at his table across from him.

"I don't remember inviting you to sit with me," he said in amusement.

"Oh you did, your eyes say a whole story," Lance said with a grin.

"Oh?" the main said in amusement. "And what did they say?"

"They said and I quote, 'Lance you have permission to come sit at my table and convince me to eat the food that I ordered because I obviously have no idea what I'm leaving behind' and I of course could not deny such a blatant call for help so here I am." She said with a grin.

The man at the table chuckled in amusement, his eyes twinkling in the light.

"Well?" Lance questioned him, her blue eyes moving from the man to the food on the table in front of him, "Aren't you going to finish it? The tomatoes are the best."

The man glanced at his plate before looking back Lance with a wry grin. "You're not going to leave me alone until I eat these tomatoes as you call them aren't you?"

"I will stay right here and document this wondrous event and be ready with an 'I told you so' when you find how delicious they are." Lance replied as she put her hands under her chin and beckoned to the plate, "Well, go on. I have my lines all ready, just waiting on you."

The man laughed and picked up a fork and making sure Lance was watching, stabbed one of the blue tomatoes and stuffed it in his mouth. His eyes widened and Lance grinned as the man finished swallowing and groaned at her expression. "Oh don't say it…"

Lance took a deep breath and whispered back to him, "I told you so."

The man groaned and Lance laughed as she pretended to show him a picture, "Don't worry, I took a picture so you never forget this wondrous event, you can even frame it."

The man snorted and flicked a strand of silver hair back when it fell into his face, "You shouldn't have really."

Lance put a hand to her chest and grinned, "I absolutely had to. Why, one could say it was my duty."

A lizard like alien with green scales and a yellow apron tied around his waist walked by the table before placing down Lance's orders in a bag before her and scurrying off.

A light touch in her mind informed her that Keith was ready to go and Lance got up with a sigh.

"Leaving so soon?" the man asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"I'm afraid so, my companion is waiting for me. It was very nice to meet you Mr…"

"Lotor," the Galra replied smoothly, "Call me Lotor."

"I'm Leah but everyone just calls me Lance. It was nice meeting you Lotor, take care!" and with a last wave over shoulder Lance picked up her bag and exited the tavern and made her way to Keith, unaware of the lingering gaze watching her go.

* * *

When Lance made her way over to him, Keith was pleased to meet her back in his human form. Those pills that Kusunoki had made for him worked fast, the purple splotches were gone, the fur was also gone and he was pleased to know that his temperature had magnifically cooled down to his regular human temperature.

He was still very hungry though, but as long as his appearance didn't change again he was okay with that. The four-armed alien had given him six bottles, three that carried his suppressants while the other three carried vitamins for he and Lance at no extra charge.

Keith couldn't suppress a grin as Lance looked him up and down in satisfaction. "Well don't you look handsome?"

Keith was secretly pleased by the comment and tried to hide his embarrassment with a scoff but judging by his friends' giggles he wasn't fooling her.

"I brought us some more food," Lance said with a proud grin as she held a plastic bag with two trays.

Keith arched a brow at her, "More food? You're going to get fat."

Lance screeched and took a step back, "You take that back!"

Keith just grinned and began to walk away.

"Keith? Not funny, you're practically jinxing me here!"

Keith chuckled and let her trail after him.

* * *

It was almost six in the morning when the two made it to the castle. The ride back had been a bit crowded what with all the gifts that Lance insisted they get the team.

Why they needed a cow was a complete mystery to him though.

That Earth store they'd passed had practically shoved the creature at them and Lance had gotten attached immediately.

The cows name was Kaltenecker and it had a serious staring problem. It hadn't stopped looking at Keith for the duration of the ride back and the red paladin was seriously starting to get offended.

Lance released another yawn as she parked the white cruiser in its usual spot before turning the engine off. Seeing Lance yawn made him involuntary yawn as well, come to think of it they had left in the middle of the night, it was natural that they be sleepy.

Lance unbuckled her seat and turned to the side as she rummaged through the bags before finding the two trays of food and setting one on Keith's lap.

"If I'm getting fat, then so are you. Eat."

Keith snickered and Lance sent him a glare that had him quickly opening the tray and stuffing his mouth with whatever food she got him.

"It's good," he remarked as he took another bite.

"Oh I know, I have excellent taste after all," Keith couldn't see it but he could practically feel Lance's smug grinning beside him.

For a while they just sat there eating in companionable silence until Keith cleared his throat.

"Before we go back, I just wanted to thank you for what you did, I understand that you didn't have to but I'm glad you did. Thanks Lance, for having my back." He said with a smile.

Lance looked at him softly and Keith feelt his heart pick up, "Anytime Keith. I'll always have your back."

Keith quickly looked away in order to hide the blush on his cheeks because the look Lance was giving him was just too much for his heart. Unwillingly, Shiro and Pidge's words rang through his head.

' _Just tell her you feel'_

Maybe now is the right time…

"I'll always have your back to you know," Keith began as he awkwardly scratched his cheek. "No matter what, I'll support you and be there when you need help."

There isn't a response so Keith rushed on ahead.

"You're really important to me, more than you even realize and-" Keith's breath catched as Lance leaned on his shoulder. "I just wanted to tell you that I like you. Like really _really_ like you."

Still no response.

Keith scratched his head in frustration and he closed his eyes tightly before practically yelling his next words, "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you!"

When there was still no response from Lance, Keith opened his eyes slowly only to see Lance's sleeping face inches from his own.

Keith slumped in his seat and let out a sad sigh. Of course this would happen. He has the worst luck.

Still…

Looking at Lance sleeping isn't so bad though.

She's pretty cute when she sleeps.

Keith's face flushed as Lance pressed herself closer to him before letting out a little smile.

Keith's face softened and he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before he could lose his nerve and he leaned his head ontop of Lance's before slouching a little lower on his seat to get a better position.

So his confession wasn't heard, fine then. Maybe the timing wasn't right after all, but as his eyes roam over Lance's sleeping face, all he could think was that he had plenty of time to try again.

Next time, he'll make sure Lance is awake.

But for now, he'll enjoy this little moment between the two of them and have himself a good sleep next to the girl he loves.

* * *

 _An Amber Pen: Lance is probably the more oblivious one among the two of them XD thanks for the review!_

 _lilnightmare17: Thanks for the review :)_

 _Guest: Oh yes Pidge and Shiro are good at comforting Keith lol. Hunk and Lance have a good bromance going on XD_


	11. Chapter 11

"Why must this be so mortifying? Oh, that's right. Because its my life."  
― **Tessa Dare** , **Romancing the Duke**

Chapter 11

"Aww, aren't they cute?"

Someone snorted. "I'll say, now move so I can take a picture before they wake up."

"Pidge," a weary voice said, "You're not going to use this to blackmail them right?"

A pause. "No."

"That pause is not reassuring in the least."

"If you're going to take a picture, would you mind sending me a copy?" A voice with an accent said.

"Ah same here, I'm making a scrap book and Keith here always bolts in the opposite direction when I try to take a picture of him. This will be nice to embarrass him with-err I mean it'll look nice on the scrapbook."

Somebody snickered. "Right…I'll get those sent to you by this afternoon."

"Umm," a hesitant voice mumbled, "I'd like a picture too, if that's okay."

"Sure thing," there were a few more clicks and Keith stirred in his seat before nuzzling more into the warmth that was radiating below him.

"Aww," five voices cooed.

"Keep it up Keith! These shots are gold!"

"Is he sucking his thumb?" an amused voice said.

"He hasn't done that in years!" a voice exclaimed, "Pidge! Send me a picture of this!"

An amused chuckled answered him, "Looks like you're finally onboard with this Shiro."

"W-what? I just didn't want to be left out!"

"Ah young love," a chipper voice said, "Why, I remember when I was young and would often fall asleep with my lover," a nostalgic sigh, "Those were the days."

"By the way," a voice interrupted, "Is that a cow?"

Silence.

"No one said anything so I was wondering if I was seeing things but dude, that's definitely a cow!"

"Is that what that creature is?" a chipper voice said, "What does it do?"

"It produces milk," an amused voice said.

"Astounding," a voice with an accent said.

"Anyone else get the feeling the cows giving them the finger or is it just me?"

There were a few chuckles after the statement and the person who spoke before whined.

"Too loud," Keith mumbled in his sleep.

"Everyone shut up!"

A yawn, "Five more minutes mom," a sleepy voice mumbled under him, "I'll clean my room later."

There was movement underneath him as the person below him began to shift and Keith whined and pulled them closer, "Don't go," he whined, "It's cold."

Someone started cackling in the background before there were a few more clicks and Keith scowled as he began to open his eyes.

"Shh! Everyone act cool, he's waking up!"

Keith blearily opened his eyes and squinted at the sudden light and rapidly blinked as his eyes began to adjust to his surroundings. Sudden movement made him turn his head to see the rest of his teammates doing a pose?

Shiro was standing with an arm on his hip and pointing at an imaginary friend? Had to be because Keith couldn't see anyone in front of his friend. Hunk seemed to be frozen with his hands in the air. Maybe he was doing the Y.M.C.A?

Pidge was tapping away at her tablet with Allura and Coran hovering over her and rubbing their chins and nodding their heads like they were agreeing to something the green paladin said. That tablet wasn't even on though… And the four mice on Allura's head were juggling something between them.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked with a raised brow.

At his voice, his friends jumped and turned to him as if they just noticed him, "Keith!" they all exclaimed.

Keith gave them a suspicious look and repeated his previous question, "What are you guys doing?"

"Umm, exercising?" Hunk mumbled when it looked like no one was going to answer.

Everyone gave the yellow paladin a look of disbelief and Hunk threw his hands in the air, "Well you guys didn't say anything!" he hissed.

Pidge snorted. "Well I wasn't." the look she gave Keith had him on edge, "I was taking pictures," she grinned impishly, "You guys are adorable! I have so much blackmail material!"

For a moment Keith looked confused before the body curled up next to his shifted and he immediately understood.

"I-it's not what you think!" he stammered out, Lance whined and Keith immediately put a hand on her head and stroked her hair until she settled down. Noticing what he'd done, his face turned red and he cast worried eyes at his friends who looked like they were trying very hard not to laugh. Everyone but Pidge, she started cackling as soon as he made eye contact with her.

As soon as she did, everyone else joined her and Keith felt like hiding in a hole and never coming out. Unfortunately, all the noise must have been too much because Lance yawned and slowly sat up as she looked at the rest of their friends with sleep-deprived eyes.

Lance narrowed her eyes at the funny faces she received in returned and pouted petulantly, "What are you guys doing?"

"Enjoying the weather?" Hunk offered sheepishly. At the scowls he received in return the yellow paladins put his hands on his hips and cast them all a glare, "Well if you guys aren't going to come up with anything don't be mad at me for at least trying!"

"We were coming to wake you up?" Shiro offered as he ran a hand through his white bangs and looked around the rest of his teammates for support.

At their leaders look all five of them nodded their heads vigorously. Lance looked at them with unconvinced eyes.

"You're all liars, I heard clicking." Lance mumbled as she stretched her arms out and began to step out of the cruiser.

Pidge scoffed and averted her eyes. "You must have been dreaming."

"There's a camera in your hands…"

"Doesn't mean I was using it."

"The lights green and you're pointing it at us…"

Pidge stared blankly at Lance before she wiggled her fingers at the Amazon and did her ghost voice, "This is all a dream," Hunk muffled his chuckles by covering his mouth, "You're so sleepy, go back to bed."

"Pidge." Shiro said in amusement.

"A t the sound of my voice your eyelids will begin to droop." Pidge continued.

Allura and Coran watched with wide smiles. Keith's lips were twitching upward and Hunk was doubled over muffling his laughter. Lance was staring at Pidge with a grin as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Pidge."

"Ooooo,"

"Pidge, stop. It's not working." Shiro said between chuckles.

Pidge dropped her hands to her side, "Aww man. That usually works."

"Yeah," Hunk snorted beside her, "In movies."

Lance lifted her hand and the camera flew from Pidge's hands to Lance who took it gingerly in her hands. "Hey!" Pidge scowled.

As Lance began to scroll through the pictures, Keith leaned down to take a look at them and blanched. There were dozens of pictures of him and Lance huddled together. His head was resting on Lance's head while his other hand wrapped an arm around her waist. There was a picture of Keith sucking his thumb that he bowed would meet its end soon. A picture with Kaltenecker chewing on Keith's hair, as he lay oblivious in his seat. And another picture with Kaltenecker the cow laying her head on top of Lance's head where Keith swore it was grinning at the camera.

"Aww," Lance cooed beside him, "These are adorable! Send them to me!"

Pidge blinked her brown eyes in surprise. "Really?"

Keith cast his friend a worried look, "Really?"

Lance nodded with a wide grin and did a provocative pose that had them all groaning, "If you wanted to take pictures of me," Lance said with a husky voice and winked, "All you had to do was ask."

Hunk pinched his nose, "Buddy, I love you I really do, but please stop doing that pose."

Lance pouted beside Keith and handed Pidge her camera before Keith had a chance to delete that god damn photo.

"By the way," Shiro asked as he cast a suspicious look over the red and blue paladin, "Where were you guys?"

"Yeah," Pidge said beside him, "You guys missed Shiro's annoying wake up call with his new favorite whistle."

Shiro looked offended, he thought the paladins loved the daily breakfast announcement. Hunk put a comforting hand on his leaders shoulder and shook his head at him. "Dude, no one likes it."

Shiro looked quite miffed at the news and crossed his arms over his chest.

Allura giggled beside Coran and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "I quite enjoy it, don't worry."

"Oh, I bet you do," Lance mumbled underneath her breath.

Shiro seemed to be appeased for the moment if the wide smile he sent the Altean princess was any indication. Pidge rolled her eyes at the two and cast a suspicious look over Keith and Lance. "So? Where were you two?"

Lance and Keith shared a look silently having a conversation in their heads.

' _Well?_ ' Lance asked in her head. ' _What do we tell them?_ '

Keith chewed on his lip and cast a worried look over their friends who were waiting for a response.

"Keith?" Shiro asked firmly.

Lance cast panicked eyes to her friend. ' _Crap, that's his dad voice! Think of something quick!_ '

Keith's mind was a total blank though.

Noticing this, Lance inwardly sighed and turned weary blue eyes to Shiro. "Tampons," she blurted out. "We went to buy tampons."

Shiro and Keith blanched as Pidge burst out laughing. Hunk made a face and Allura and Coran looked confused.

"What's a tampon?" Allura whispered to Hunk.

Hunk looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here as Allura repeated her question to Shiro who was avoiding eye contact.

After a while the black paladin cleared his throat and cast a weary glance over his two paladins, "In the middle of the night?"

"It was an emergency," Lance smoothly replied, "So much blood. Rivers of it really," Shiro looked green and Pidge doubled over holding her stomach as she continued to laugh, "And Keith was wondering around the hallways so I took him with me."

Keith shot Lance an annoyed glare but quickly cleared his face of any emotion as Shiro and Pidge turned to regard him suspiciously. "It's true," he croaked out before clearing his throat, "It was an emergency."

"Oh yeah?" Pidge asked him as she got to her feet, "Where are they then?"

Lance and Keith blanched and cast a weary eye over the items they'd bought at the swap moon. Lance put both hands on her cheeks and gasped so loudly anyone could tell it was fake, "Oh my god." She said in a surprisingly shocked voice, "Keith! We forgot the tampons."

"Oh no," Keith deadpanned. "Whatever shall we do?"

Lance clicked her tongue, "Oh well. On the bright side, we got a cow!"

Shiro looked unconvinced, "Lance," he said warningly, "The truth."

Lance huffed, "But dad!" Shiro did not appear to like his new nickname and made a face, "It's the truth."

The black paladin made a face as he stared down the blue paladin whose will was beginning to crumble by the second. Keith sighed and decided to address his friend, "The truth is I wanted a change of scenery and Lance decided to come with me."

The others looked at him in surprise as Shiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully as Keith continued; "I haven't exactly been in a good mood if you haven't noticed."

Pidge snorted and rolled her eyes, "Oh we noticed."

Keith cast the green paladin a glare before turning his blue-gray eyes to his longtime friend, "I needed to cool my head and Lance was just helping me out. So don't be mad at her, she was just trying to be nice and take my mind off things."

Shiro cast worried eyes to his friend, as he looked him over. "And are you okay now?"

Keith let out a whoosh of breath and nodded, a small smile on his features, "Yeah. I'm okay. And," he looked over the rest of his team and bowed slightly to them, "I'm sorry for my recent behavior, you guys were just trying to help and I brushed you off. Can you guys ever forgive me?"

Hunk let out big fat tears and rushed forward to engulf Keith in a big hug. The others rushed in and Hunk opened his arms to let them all in the group hug.

"Of course we forgive you dude! We're just glad you're back to your moody self." Hunk cried as he swung the whole group around.

"Moody Keith is better than angry Keith any day." Pidge muffled out where she was squished between Shiro and Allura.

Shiro ruffled Keith's hair in affection as Hunk put them down on their feet, "I hope you know that you can come to any of use if you ever need to talk Keith. We're a team, we'll always have your back."

Keith nodded absently.

"Now then," Coran said with a clap of his hands, "How about some breakfast to celebrate?"

"Oh! I've just the thing!" Lance said excitably as she ran back to the cruiser and rummaged around the bags until she found what she was looking for. Kaltenecker and the rest watched in confusion except for Keith who had a pretty good idea on what his friend was looking for. Lance hid something behind her back and walked up to Shiro with a huge grin.

The black paladin for his part was looking more and more tense the closer Lance got. Last time the blue paladin had given him a gift; he'd opened the box to reveal a small orange and blue venomous snake with two heads. The thing had launched itself at him before the Amazon princess deftly snatched it from the air and cradled it to her chest.

Pidge had shouted in excitement, Hunk had yelped and hid behind Coran who looked quite interested in the creature, Allura backed away and cuddled her four mice who were freaking out, Keith actually went to pet the thing and Shiro had transformed his arm into a sword.

Safe to say, Shiro had kindly asked Lance not to give him any more gifts for quite a while.

"Someone told me that you absolutely adore this," Lance cast her eyes to Keith who rolled his eyes at her, "So here you go!"

Lance shoved a medium size box in front of Shiro's face that had him stumbling backwards before he deftly took the box in his hands and let out a gasp. "Is this?" he stammered out. Were those tears in the corner of his eyes or was Lance seeing things?

The others crowded around him to see what had their leader so teary while Lance stood to the side looking damn proud of herself.

"Mac and Cheese?" Pidge snorted. "Really?"

Shiro cast offended eyes to the green paladin who took a step back and raised her arms in defense. Allura and Coran looked confused, Hunk looked like he was already thinking of ways to make the mac and cheese fabulous, and Keith was casting worried eyes at Shiro who had started trembling.

"Shiro?" Keith asked as he waved a hand in front of the black paladins face, "You doing okay?"

"Hunk," Shiro hoarsely whispered, "Can you make this for today?"

Hunk beamed and took the box from his leaders hands and gave him a two finger salute, "Don't worry buddy, I got this!" the yellow paladin stated and began making his way to the kitchen before shouting over his shoulder, "Lance, come help me out!"

Lance stood up straight and gave him a salute as she marched to her friend. "You got it!"

Kaltenecker followed after her with a few bags in her mouth, she cast a glare at Keith who looked ready to get down and dirty right then and there, and left the room.

Coran clapped in delight and followed after them, "Paladins! I'll help out too!"

Allura and Pidge followed after them, the green paladin explaining what mac and cheese was to the Altean princess until only Shiro and Keith remained.

"You sure you're okay now?" Shiro asked him when they were the only ones left in the hanger. "I know its been a slow week with hardly any Galra attacks and you tend to get restless with nothing to do, but I'd really like you to tell me what's been going on with you." Shiro put his arm on Keith's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "I'd like to help with whatever you're going through."

Keith turned to look at his friend and leader, the concern in his eyes making him feel guilty.

Keith sighed and felt the urge to fidget as Shiro stood patiently by his side and waited for him to answer. Lance's comforting presence invaded his mind in concern.

' _Are you okay?"_

Keith got fleeting images of what Lance was seeing through her own eyes, mostly her talking with Coran and Hunk as the yellow paladin handed them both some aprons as he started giving out directions.

' _Yeah, I'm fine. Go back to cooking.'_ He thought back to Lance.

Lance made a humming noise in his head before she focused her attention on her current task and left his thoughts. Her presence still lingered at the back of his head though, always there if he ever needed her.

"Shiro," he began, swallowing thickly as Shiro turned to look at him. "There is something going on." He paused and looked down at his arms, the lack of claws and purple skin making him want to smile as he remembered how Lance had accepted him without fail even as he was beginning to turn Galra right in front of her. Lance sent him an image of himself with purple fluffy Galra ears and her petting them before Keith shooed her away and Lance left his mind again, her laughter echoing in his mind. "There is something going," he said again, his heart hammering in his chest as Shiro regarded him in concern, "But it's not something I'm comfortable talking about." Shiro opened his mouth and Keith rushed ahead, "Not yet at least." He turned pleading eyes to his long time friend and willed him to listen, "But when I am, I'll make sure to tell you. I promise. I just need some time."

Shiro was silent for a while as his intense gaze roamed over him but Keith stood straight and stared him in the eye. After a while Shiro nodded slowly and smiled, Keith felt the tension in his shoulders lessen at the look, "All right then. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here to listen."

Keith smiled and nodded as he released a sigh of relief, "Now let's go before we start hugging each other."

Shiro laughed and followed after him to the kitchen where the others could be heard even from all the way to the hangers, "So," Shiro began as he cast teasing eyes to his friend, "Did you enjoy your date with lance?"

Keith tripped on his feet and stammered, "W-what, it wasn't a date Shiro!"

"Right."

"Shiro!"

"I'm just saying, you guys looked awfully comfortable in each others arms."

"That was an accident!"

"And you did leave in the middle of the night, I saw the logs, you two left around two in the morning. Awfully long time for a walk."

Keith spluttered incoherently beside him and Shiro laughed so hard he almost missed Keith's mumbled words, "Although I did confess to her."

This time it was Shiro who tripped on his own feet as Keith hurried past him.

"Keith! Wait, what did you say? You did what? Keith!"

The red paladin just chuckled and left his friend stumbling behind him.

"Keith!"

* * *

When they got to the kitchen Hunk was stirring something in a pod as Coran and Lance took out another pot and started filling it with water. Pidge was typing away in her laptop while Allura was clapping to whatever her mice were doing.

It seems Kaltenecker had left the bags of gifts for the rest of the team on the table before disappearing to who knows where. Hopefully not his room Keith thought with a grimace.

Just as Keith and Shiro sat themselves on the table, Hunk began to sing.

" _I want to be the very best, like no one ever was dun dun dun-"_

The paladins looked up with a grin as Hunk whipped around, took of the spoon he was using to stir the mac and cheese and pointed at Lance who was dancing on her feet.

" _To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause!"_

Lance twirled around and pointed at Pidge who grinned and shot to her feet, " _I will travel across the land, searching far and_ _wide-"_ she pointed to Shiro who put both hands on his hips and continued with a surprisingly good singing voice, where she left off.

" _Teach Pokémon to understand, the power that's inside_ ," Shiro pointed at Keith who looked uncertain.

" _Pokémon?"_ he said with a shrug.

"Boo!" his teammates yelled.

"You were suppose to shout it out Keith!" Lance said with a pout.

"Keith," Shiro mumbled with a shake of his head.

"At least he knew the words," Hunk mumbled sheepishly.

Pidge pushed up her glasses and cast Keith a look, "Yeah, that's true. Its something."

Keith crossed his arms, "Standing right here you know."

"We know," the paladins said dismissively.

"I'm so confused," Allura mumbled as Coran applaud and called for an encore.

* * *

When the Hunk declared that the mac and cheese was done, Shiro was the first one out of his seat to get a bowl and pour its contents onto his bowl before sitting down on the table and practically scarfing down the food like a starved man.

The others cast him worried looks but when it looked like he was in no danger of choking on his food they left him alone to get their own food.

Allura and Coran seemed to like the mac and cheese and asked for seconds. Hunk and Lance were debating on how they could have made it better as Pidge voiced her own input every now and then when she looked up from her laptop.

Keith looked around at his family and smiled to himself. This had been nice. It had been a while since he'd made time to hang out with his friends, what with the whole turning-into-Galra fiasco that had him freaking out.

When he was ready he'll make sure to tell them all about him being a half Galra but for now at least he had Lance to share his secret with.

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

Frowning, Keith turned to Pidge who was grinning and typing away in her laptop as Shiro and the others turned to see what that noise had been about.

"Pidge, is it done?" Shiro asked with a hopeful look.

Keith and Lance shared a look. "What's done?"

Hunk turned to answer them as he swiveled in his seat, "Well, apparently Shiro remembered something about how he escaped when the Galra took him prisoner when he was sleeping. According to him, a Galra helped him escape!" he said with wide eyes.

Allura scoffed in her seat and crossed her arms, "Lies. All Galra are evil, Shiro must have remembered wrong."

Coran put a comforting hand on the princess and tried to settle her down.

Keith flinched at her tone and Lance gave his hand a slight squeeze as she tried her best not to glare at Allura.

Pidge was looking over the data as she typed a few more things before glancing at the red and blue paladin, "Shiro said the Galra who helped him inputted coordinates in his Galra arm, we weren't sure so he had me do a scan just in case."

"And?" Shiro asked eagerly as he pushed his empty plate away.

Pidge nodded, "Looks like you were right Shiro. These _are_ coordinates, which means," she cast wide eyes at the group, "We may have Galra allies."

For a moment there was absolute silence as they all took that in.

Allura was the first to voice her opinion on the matter. Galra were not to be trusted, but then Hunk reminded them that Zarkon used to be the Black Paladin before he turned evil. The black lion wouldn't have chosen someone who they didn't trust.

Shiro argued that the Galra who had helped him escape was another prime example that not all Galra were bad. Ulaz, the Galra who had helped him escape, had plenty of opportunities to kill him in his weakened state but chose to help him instead.

Keith agreed that not all Galra should be trusted immediately but they should at least check it out and get proof.

Lance and Hunk agreed that they should check the place out just in case. Pidge and Coran also agreed to Allura's dismay.

After what felt like forever, Allura finally agreed to check out where the coordinates led but urged them to put on their armor and be ready for anything.

"If I sense anything wrong," she stated with cold eyes, "I'll turn our weapons against them immediately. No arguments."

Shiro sighed but nodded his consent.

Allura cast them all a firm nod before declaring she was going to put on her own armor in case they got into a fight and left in a huff, Coran following after.

The five paladins split up and went to their respected rooms to change into their battle gear before heading up to the deck where Allura and Coran were already waiting. Coran shot them a little wave while Allura said nothing. She'd put on her pink and white body suit armor, attached her whip to her belt, and pulled her long silver hair into a tight bun as they all made their way to her.

"Ready?" the Altean princess asked them as she cast her blue eyes on them.

Everyone nodded back and Allura sighed before she left her position of leaning on the wall to make her way to the center. "All right, brace yourselves for a wormhole."

There was a blinding light that had them all shielding their eyes before a giant wormhole opened up in front of them and Allura and Coran steered the ship towards it.

"Here we go," Lance mumbled beside him. "You ready?"

Keith moved closer to her and nodded back, his face set in determination, "As ready as I'll ever be."

And then they made it to the other side and they all gasped as the wormhole closed behind them.

* * *

By the way, there were a few changes to chapter 10 so make sure to check it out! Just added a few more things and fixed a few things becuase gosh it was 3 in the morning and i did not re-check it when i posted it .

And for those of you who reviewed, thanks! I'd write a sentence for you guys but i'm in a hurry!

Make sure to leave a review, I love them!


	12. Chapter 12

"Discover the truth about your underlying psychic gifts and not only stop thinking of yourself as crazy but also empower yourself to make a major difference in the lives of others."  
― **Catherine Carrigan** , **Unlimited Intuition NOW**

Chapter 12

When the glow of the wormhole they'd just come from disappeared, everyone gasped at the sight before them. The space they now hovered in was surrounded with huge chunks of crystals floating around the area. The crystals gleamed a greenish blue but no matter how much they looked around the area that was all they found. No base, just crystals.

"Pidge," Shiro asked coming up beside her, his black eyes trained on their surroundings, "Is this the right place?"

Pidge looked insulted as she regarded her friend and leader, "Of course it is," she said with a huff, her eyes scanning over her computer just to double check the coordinates, satisfied that she was right (of course she was), she answered, "My decryption is solid thank you very much."

Shiro grit his teeth. It's not like he doubted Pidge, she was never wrong, but to come this far and find nothing? Maybe they were missing something?

"Coran," Lance asked the advisor as she came up behind him, "Anything on the scanners?"

Coran twirled the end of his mustache before looking through the readouts on the screen in front of him with a frown. After a few minutes Coran slowly shook his head at her.

"Nothing." He announced sadly, his shoulders slumping, "No sign of any activity at all, living or otherwise."

"Maybe we're missing something?" Keith asked shifting from foot to foot, his hand on his Bayard in case he needed it.

Lance lowered herself to the floor and sat cross-legged as she looked back at the screen with a frown.

"We have to be," Hunk muttered as his eyes roamed around the crystals with a frown, "There's something about those crystals that make me a little weary though."

All eyes turned to him and Hunk shifted in his seat at the sudden attention he was receiving.

"What do you mean?" Pidge asked her friend with a frown.

Hunk tapped his chin with a frown, "I don't know, there's just something about them that I don't like."

Coran's eyes widened, "Of course!" he shouted, as he turned to look at the others, "These are xanthorium chunks!"

"And those are?" Lance asked impatiently when Coran didn't continue.

"Ah yes, they contain highly unstable nitrate salts. One little bump can blow us straight to Wozblay!"

Hunk bit his nail anxiously, "So in other words, stay far far away from those crystals, got it."

Allura finally spoke up from her position at the helm, "We've checked it out, but now, it's time to move on. There's clearly nothing here."

"No," Shiro stated as he locked eyes with Allura's stubborn eyes, "There must me more to this. I can feel it. I propose we wait."

Allura looked ready to argue, but Keith cut her off. "It wouldn't hurt to wait for a bit. We came this far, we can spare some time."

Allura scowled and cast them all a glare, "Fine!" she practically yelled, "But I'm telling you, this is a waste of time!"

Lance suddenly shot to her feet and all eyes turned to her in concern.

"Lance?" Keith asked his friend as he came to stand beside her, "What's wrong?"

Lance didn't answer, merely tilted her head to the right before she let out a growl and ran out the room in a hurry.

Everyone looked startled and Keith was about to go after her when the sound of an alarm started ringing, making them all jump in surprise.

Allura turned to her advisor, "Coran, what is it?"

"There's an intruder in the castle!" Coran yelled over his shoulder.

"How can someone just sneak into the castle?" Hunk cried as he shot to his feet.

Allura brought up the big screen and started looking over the cameras placed in the castle with a scowl, "I knew coming here was a mistake! There," she pointed at a screen on the right, "he's on level five." Her eyes suddenly widened, "Lance will be making contact in just a few seconds!"

Keith didn't wait to hear anymore as he sprinted out the door, the other three paladins hot on his heels.

"I have eyes on him," Lance reported through the comms, "I'm making contact!"

"Lance, stay sharp!" Shiro ordered.

"Keep eyes on him Lance, we're heading your way!" Keith yelled, his pace picking up speed.

* * *

"Hold it right there!" Lance shouted at the intruder.

A tall lithe figure in a black hood stood before her, at the sound of her voice the intruder turned to look at her and Lance scowled. The guy was wearing a mask, she'd always relied on facial expressions when she was in a fight, people gave everything away with their expressions, it made fighting them easier if she could see their face.

Oh well.

Lance aimed her Bayard at the intruder and started shooting; the intruder was fast, he dodged every blast she sent his way as he made his way to her. She only managed to singe the corner of his cloak before he was within three feet in front of her.

Lance grit her teeth, fine then.

She put her Bayard away and took out the two daggers at her belt and engaged in combat. The intruder took a blade of his own and parried her attacks. As the man aimed his dagger to her shoulder, Lance crouched and landed a solid kick to his stomach that sent him sprawling.

The Amazon princess was on him before he could get to his feet but managed to roll away from the punch she was aiming at his face. The punch made a small indent on the floor, but the blue paladin was not deterred.

Lance palmed away her daggers and sent punch after punch at the intruders face, all he could do was block but the sheer force of her punches had him stumbling back.

It seemed the training Keith had given her in hand-to-hand combat was not going to waste at least.

Four sets of footsteps made themselves known as they approached them but Lance paid them no mind. The intruder however tilted his head at the newcomers and Lance took her chance to grip his mask and pulled him down before kneeing him hard on the stomach.

"Lance!" Keith yelled, his Bayard in the form of a sword, ready to help if she needed it.

The intruder gasped and Lance gripped the back of his cloak and threw him against the wall. Shiro and the others aimed their weapons at him and Lance took out her Bayard and aimed at him when he managed to evade her friends and stopped him in his tracks.

"Give it up," she said, her weapon at his head, "You're clearly outnumbered."

Shiro and the rest of the paladins formed a circle around him; their weapons aimed at him and the intruder slowly brought his hands up and surrendered.

As the intruder began to sit up, Pidge went around him and put him in handcuffs, when he moved his face to Shiro, the man jumped.

"It's you," the intruder mumbled, his voice surprisingly modulated, "I've found you."

Shiro's eyes widened and he stepped forward as he brought two hands to the intruders face. The masked man nodded slightly and Shiro took his cue and removed the mask.

Shiro gasped and took a step back. "Ulaz?"

The man in front of them was clearly a Galra what with his light purple skin, yellow eyes, and small patch of white hair in the middle of his head.

Ulaz opened his mouth to speak but before he could Allura ran over, picked him up by his collar and slammed him on the wall.

"Who are you?" she yelled, her voice cold.

"Wait," Shiro protested as he came to her side, "It's him. This is the Galra that set me free."

Allura cast him a doubtful look but set Ulaz on his feet.

"You've come," Ulaz, stated, a hint of relief in his voice.

* * *

Everyone but Coran gathered around a white room within the castle and surrounded the sitting Galra as they looked at him curiously. Allura had put handcuffs on his feet as well and Shiro sent her a frown.

"I don't think this is all necessary," he said.

Allura's eyes never left Ulaz, her eyes cold as she stared him down with a sneer, "I will not have some quiznak-ing Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!"

Ulaz let out small sigh as he looked the Altean princess in the eye, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

Hunk and Lance winced, comments like that weren't going to help the poor guys case.

He didn't say it haughtily; he said it as if he was simply stating a fact. Allura bristled in front of him and took a step forward, "If you're trying to win our trust, I assure you, you're failing miserably."

Ulaz ignored her and turned his gaze to the blue paladin, Keith marched over and blocked his view from her, his pose protective.

Lance moved her head to the side and gave Ulaz a grin that to everyone's surprise, he slowly returned.

"Except for you," he murmured, "I believe I might have met my end at your hands if you were serious."

Lance snickered and Allura sent the Amazon princess a glare, which she chose to ignore. "Lucky for you, I wasn't trying to kill you. There was an easier way to take you down but I've been itching to hit something."

Ulaz winced and mumbled so low that if it wasn't for Lance's good hearing, she would have missed it, "Well, you certainly got a few good hits. I'll be feeling them for a while."

Despite the situation, Lance laughed and Allura huffed in her direction. Lance was surprised she wasn't foaming at the mouth yet, "Stop making friends with him! He's a Galra!"

"I don't think he's that bad honestly," Lance said with a shrug of her shoulders. Allura looked betrayed while the other paladins looked surprised at the statement. Shiro sent the blue paladin a small smile of gratitude.

"My people and I are trying to win a war. A war we've been fighting for many decades," Ulaz said, his golden eyes shifting to Shiro. "When the witch Haggar took an interest in you, we knew you were important."

Shiro frowned, his white bangs falling on his face before he pushed them away, "What makes me so important though?"

"To be honest, I don't know," Ulaz, answered. "But when Zarkon's second in command took a personal interest in you, the only thing we could think of was to get you away from her reach."

"I never did thank you for helping me," Shiro said with a smile, "Thank you."

Ulaz inclined his head at the black paladin.

Allura narrowed her blue eyes, "You keep mentioning 'We'," she said suspiciously. Her eyes widened and her hand strayed to the whip at her belt, "Are there more of your kind on my ship?" she hissed out.

Ulaz's eyes drifted from Keith to Allura in a move so fast that no one else caught it. But Lance did, she hoped her slight shake of the head was read and it must have because Ulaz kept his mouth shut.

Pidge took a small step back at the Altean princess's tone and looked at her wearily.

Keith flinched behind Allura but no one seemed to notice, their attention on Ulaz. Lance gave his hand a light squeeze as she came up beside him; Keith squeezed her hand back and sighed deeply.

Unbeknownst to them, Ulaz watched them in interest from the corner of his eye.

Reassured that Keith was all right, Lance stepped forward and shook her head at Allura as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He's the only one here. If there was anyone else I would have noticed."

Ulaz nodded, "Your friend is right. I am the only one stationed in this base. My comrades and I are called the Blade of Marmora."

Hunk raised his hand, "Umm, what base? There's nothing here."

"That's because this place was a trap," Allura snapped with a roll of her blue eyes. "We've scanned everything here and there was no sign of anything. A perfect place to ambush us, especially if we've taken a closer look through those crystals."

Ulaz looked at the Altean princess with the patience of a saint and began to explain, slowly and accurately which only infuriated her all the more, "The base is hidden, now that I know that it is Shiro who has come, you are more than welcome to our outpost. Just head to the center."

Pidge quirked a dubious eyebrow at him, "Behind all the xanthorium clusters?"

Ulaz shook his head, "Right in front of it. In a hidden pocket of space time."

Allura made a face and turned to the speakers at the ceiling, "Coran, are you hearing this?"

Coran hummed, "I am picking up an anomaly on the screen. I suppose it could be a cloaked base."

Ulaz nodded, "Just head straight. You'll see."

Allura scoffed and looked down her nose at him, "If you think you're going to get me to destroy my ship by heading there, you've got another thing coming."

Shiro frowned and spoke up beside her, "We came all this way searching for answers. Are we really going to turn back now?"

Keith frowned beside his friend, "Shiro, you know I trust you, but this doesn't feel right."

"The Galra could have planted fake memories in your head," Pidge said and looked away when Shiro looked at her in betrayal.

"Oh come on guys, that would be so evil of them," Hunk said with a frown and then bit his lip, "Although I suppose they are."

Shiro looked at his fellow paladins in obvious hurt as he tried to reason with them, "Ulaz saved my life. Without him I wouldn't even be here."

Allura bit the inside of her cheek as she regarded the black paladin before turning to Lance, "Read his mind," the princess stated.

Lance looked at her in surprise, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Allura said, as she turned back to glare at Ulaz, "Read his mind. I trust your word over his."

Lance frowned and bit her lower lip, "I'm not very good at that. I've been practicing with each of you but I've only been able to get snippets."

"You can speak with Keith just fine though."

Lance narrowed her eyes, "That's because Keith and I have the mood bracelets, we're bonded to each other, it makes reading each others mind so much easier."

"Then try harder," Allura insisted.

Lance bristled and Keith put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he cast Allura a look, "Enough. She'll get what she can so stop pushing her."

Allura looked down at him but Keith held her stare as the rest of the paladins looked at them anxiously. Shiro looked ready to step between them in case things got out of hand but finally Allura gave Keith a firm nod and turned her gaze back to Lance, her expression a little less angry. "Please Lance, just try your best."

Lance hesitated a split second before nodding.

Sighing, she took a step towards Ulaz who was looking at her wearily. Once she was in front of him she crouched to his level, removed her helmet, and placed her hands on either side of his face before leaning her forehead against his. Keith bristled and marched over so he could keep a close eye on them.

Shiro and Pidge shared a look and rolled their eyes at his friend.

"Just try to relax, I won't look at anything else. I just need to see if that base you talked about is real."

Ulaz lifted his yellow eyes to her and nodded. Lance smiled and closed her eyes, Ulaz followed her example and everyone waited with baited breath as Lance tried to read his mind. A spark lit at the center of her chest, spreading quickly up to her brain as the usual need to use her powers reared its ugly head.

It's why she tried not to use her powers too much. Once she did she felt like reading more and more peoples minds until she knew every little detail about them. The need to get information so strong it was suffocating.

The bond with Keith had lessened that need, but sometimes it wasn't enough and she'd try to peak at the other paladins mind before she stopped herself. She'd been practicing due to Shiro and Allura's insistence but when she tried she would push too hard and leave her teammates with a migraine.

Recently, a new ability had made itself known to her. She'd discovered it by accident really. It happened about a week ago when Hunk and Pidge had been arguing about some experiment that they'd been working on. The two hadn't stopped arguing for hours and Lance had been beyond tired of their arguments and told them to shut up and go to the bed.

And then the oddest thing had happened, their eyes had gotten this glazed look before the two shut their mouths and silently got to their feet with this blank look on their face and left the room. Confused, Lance had followed them and to her shock they each went to there rooms, got to bed, and closed their eyes.

The sound of their snoring soon followed. Lance was so shocked she stumbled out of their rooms in a panic. Had she done that? She must have, but how?

A glance at her transparent bracelet told her that it was only three in the afternoon. Keith's thoughts were buzzing in colors so he must be taking a nap after his training session. Shiro and Allura were probably on the deck while Coran was out cleaning some of the healing pods.

Maybe it was a fluke she thought. She'd quickly left the hall and made her way to her room where she stayed for the rest of the day. Hunk and Pidge woke up a few hours later with no memory of what had transpired and were back to their normal selves that she'd released a sigh of relief.

Since then she hadn't tried using her powers and prying much into her friends minds was a big fat no. When Shiro and Allura asked her to practice on them she pretended that it hadn't worked but in reality she hadn't even tried.

Ulaz's body tensed and Lance's thoughts drifted back to the present as he hissed through his teeth. Ulaz made as if to move away but Lance gripped his face harder, "Don't try to resist, it'll hurt if you do. Just focus on me and show me the base."

Lance silently prayed that she didn't hurt him and focused on his thoughts. A warm, fizzling sensation filled her mind, sending her pulse spiking and Lance took a shuddering breath. Keith's intense stare seared the back of her head but she let her mind drift away from him and focused on Ulaz.

An image flooded her mind, spilling in until she thought she might choke. Keith gripped her shoulder in support and Lance took comfort from him. An imagine of Ulaz coming and going to his base by going through the xanthorium chunks flooded her senses until it wasn't Ulaz seated on the cruiser, it was her. She was seeing through his eyes she realized; she steered the ship straight through the xanthorium chunks with no fear or hesitation and that was all Lance needed.

Slowly, as to not hurt him, she left his mind and opened her eyes with a shuddering breath. Ulaz gasped in front of her and opened his eyes to regard her in astonishment.

"Well?" Allura questioned, her tone a little snotty in Lance's opinion.

Keith threw a glare at the Altean princess before bringing his attention back to Lance who was taking slow breaths. "You okay?"

Lance took a while to answer, the need to go back in Ulaz's mind and search through more of his memories making her slow to answer. When she felt that the need was mostly gone, Lance lifted her face from where she had buried it against Keith's shoulder. When had she done that? And got to her feet with Keith's help before she turned to Allura.

Keith's brows drew together, and his lips parted with something he wanted to say. Lance gave him a reassuring smile and after a moment, he only nodded and turned back to the others.

"He's telling the truth. His base is just on the other side. He's alone so there's no need to be alarmed," she added when Allura looked ready to argue.

"All right team," Shiro said with a nod of thanks in Lance's direction, "Get ready. We're going through those xanthorium chunks."

"Princess?" Coran asked over the speakers, "What say you?"

Allura bit her thumb but nodded in defeat as she tilted her head at the camera and nodded, "Do it."

"All right everyone, approaching the xanthorium chunks in five, four, three, two," Coran gasped.

Allura was immediately on her guard, a hand on her whip, "What it is Coran?"

"Putting it on the screens," he replied.

The screen on the right turned on and everyone looked at the imagine before them in awe. Colors of yellow, blue and gray passed them in blurs as the castle went straight ahead.

"Amazing," Pidge mumbled. "They're folding space."

"Like a space taco," Hunk added with a grin.

Lance groaned, "Great, now I'm craving tacos."

Hunk sheepishly scratched his cheek, "Sorry buddy. We'll make some later."

Lance grinned and sent him a wink; "I'm holding you to that."

"Paladins!" Allura snapped at them, "Focus!"

"Sorry," Hunk mumbled.

Lance rolled her eyes and patted Hunk on the back before turning her gaze back on the screen. Finally reaching the end, the scenery changed from the blur of colors to a blue ship with circular rings around it.

"Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon," Ulaz said from his seat. "Now if you'd be so kind to release me from my bonds, I need to send a message to the leadership and inform them that I've made contact with Voltron."

Allura looked at him skeptically but turned to Shiro, "Go with him. Make sure to keep an eye on him. I'll be staying here."

"Oh!" Hunk said as he jumped to his feet, "Can we go too?"

"Yeah!" Pidge exclaimed with a huge grin, her eyes practically shining in her excitement, "Me too! I want to see how they make the space pocket!"

Lance laughed, "You guys go ahead, I'll stay here to protect Allura and Coran."

"My, how dashing lady Lance! You're far too kind!" Coran's chipper voice said through the speakers.

Lance looked up at the camera and gave it a peace sign.

Coran chuckled in amusement.

' _You sure?'_ Keith's voice echoed in her mind.

' _Yeah, I'm still a little tired after that whole mind reading thing,"_ she answered back.

Keith's brows furrowed and he looked at her in concern. _'I can kind of feel it'_ he stated.

Her confusion must have shown because he answered, _'Your fatigue. I can stay if you want.'_ He offered.

Lance shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder, ' _No. You go, I'm sure you have questions for Ulaz. I'll be fine."_

Keith frowned but nodded as his mind left her own. It wasn't until Keith's presence disappeared from her mind that she noticed the silence around them.

Lance turned her head and saw everyone looking at them expectedly. Ulaz looked extremely interested in them both.

"You guys done flirting in your heads now?" Pidge sarcastically asked as she rolled her eyes.

Keith flushed beside her but Lance nodded and sighed dramatically, "Yes. I suppose we are. For now."

Keith spluttered beside her and tried to cast her a glare to which Lance answered with a wink in his direction. Shiro and Pidge shared amused looks before they started making their way to the door with Ulaz hot on their heels, Hunk gave his friend a last wave and followed after them. Keith hesitated at the door so Lance gave him a little push with her powers.

A startled gasp left his lips at the sudden move and he sighed in defeat, "All right, I get it. We'll be back."

And then he was gone.

* * *

The Blade of Marmora base was definitely impressive Keith thought as he looked around. It was much more sleek than any other bases or battle cruisers that they'd seen up to this point.

There were no extra rooms since Ulaz had stated before that this place was only suppose to station one person at a time. Pidge was thrilled to look around and study the layout of the place with Hunk inputting his own comments every now and then. Shiro was talking with Ulaz about a few more things about the Blade of Marmora.

Making sure that Lance was still fine, he continued roaming his eyes over the base.

The glint of Ulaz's sword caught Keith's attention again. It reminded him of his own blade that he had received from his mother, although with a few differences. The bent blade shape looked more efficient, allowing for more force without needing to angle the wrist too much.

"What's that weapon that you carry?" Keith asked as soon as Shiro went to check out whatever Hunk and Pidge were pointing at at the other side of the room.

Ulaz regarded him silently before reaching for the blade at his belt and handed it to him. Keith took the blade in his hands and examined it closely.

"Every member of the Marmora carries a similar weapon. It's a ceremonial dagger, I suppose you could say it's our signature item." Ulaz explained.

The bent blade certainly looked like Keith's own dagger; it even had the same crystal marking at the hilt. Had his mother been part of the Marmora?

"You look dehydrated," Ulaz said, his eyes trying to convey something that Keith didn't understand. Ulaz tipped his head to the door on the side and Keith blinked, as he understood.

"You doing okay Keith?" Shiro asked him as he began to make his way over to them.

"Uh, yeah. Just a little thirsty." He admitted, "Ulaz has some water so we'll be right back."

Ulaz started walking and Keith hastily followed after him with a last wave at his friends. As soon as the door closed behind him, Keith had his hand on his weapon. Better to be ready in case anything happens.

Ulaz led them to a small room that consisted of a counter, two chairs, and a shelf of different items. A few water bottles, some pills, and a few rolls of bandages.

Ulaz made his way to the shelves and opened the glass to draw a water bottle, which he tossed to Keith. The red paladin caught it with ease and regarded it suspiciously.

"What is it?"

"Water." Ulaz answered before making his way to one of the chairs and taking a seat. He looked at Keith expectedly and Keith sighed before taking the other chair.

"You're a Galra." Ulaz stated.

Keith flinched at the statement but nodded in resignation.

"Your teammates do not know." Ulaz continued.

Keith shook his head.

"Everyone but the blue paladin. Your mate."

Keith frowned, "Mate?"

Ulaz's eyes blinked in surprise as he regarded him, "You are not together?"

Keith slowly shook his head, his right hand twisting the cap on the water bottle anxiously.

"Shame. You two are very good together. Excellent chemistry."

Keith flushed and he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "You mentioned mate. What is that?"

Ulaz leaned back on his chair and began to explain, "A mate is a special bond between two people, it is considered to be higher than any bond between two married individuals. We Galra consider mates to be very important, we don't mess with each other's mates. Its wrong. When you have a mate, you are able to sense them no matter how far they are."

Keith looked at Ulaz in awe and he pursed his lips before asking his next question, "How do you know if someone is mated to someone though?"

Ulaz pointed at the spot between his collar bone and neck, "When you choose a mate, we Galra give them a mark right here. We bite our chosen mate with enough force to break skin and your mate does the same to you. It'll leave each other's scent on you both. That's a clear sign to any Galra that that person has a mate and cannot be claimed. No matter what." He gave Keith a look that almost made him fidget but he reined himself in, "You should declare your feelings to the blue paladin before anyone else catches her eye. Or them on her."

Keith's jaw dropped as he tried to think of a response to _that._ He decided to change the subject instead as he cleared his throat and leaned forward, "How did you know I was a Galra?"

"Your scent," Ulaz answered, "Any Galra close enough would be able to tell. It took me a moment longer to notice though, there is another scent underneath."

"Human. My father was human," Keith explained as he looked over his shoulder to make sure his teammates weren't making their way over to them.

Ulaz frowned, "You're appearance is strange though. Even if you are a hybrid, you should still look like a regular Galra."

"Oh that," Keith said with a hint of a smile, "Lance, the blue paladin, helped me out and got me some suppressant pills. She got me a years worth of them." He glanced at his arm and extended his palm as he recalled the changes that had been happening to him just a few weeks ago, "I was already turning. My hands started turning purple and my nails grew to claws. But Lance," Keith smiled softly, "She helped me. If it wasn't for her, I might not be on the team anymore. You've seen how Allura acts around any Galra."

Ulaz's face softened, there was a hint of a smile there, or maybe it was just a trick of the light because when Keith blinked Ulaz had his poker face back, "I see. That was nice of her. Anything else that you've been experiencing?"

Keith thought back and nodded, "Yeah. My appetite has grown exponentially. I have all this pent up energy that I don't know what to with. I've been spending most of my time in the training room just to get rid of it but it doesn't seem to help much. And," Keith hesitated, and unscrewed the water bottle before taking a big sip of water, "Feelings. I've been…having some strong feelings. Over pretty much everything."

Ulaz nodded, his yellow eyes blinking slowly, "That is all normal behavior. There is no need to fear." Keith released a sigh of relief and Ulaz continued, "We Galra feel very deeply. Which is why we must always be careful not to let them take over our senses. Meditating seems to help. Or talking it out with someone else. Everyone has a different way of coping with their feelings, you simply have to find a way that suits you."

Keith clenched his jaw; he already had anger issues before becoming a paladin of Voltron, now they were going to be enhanced? Great. Just what he needed.

A warm hand was pressed to his shoulder and Keith blinked away his thoughts as he regarded Ulaz who was looking at him with all the patience in the world, "Fear not, you have allies to help you out. I'm sure they wouldn't mind knocking you off your high horse if you ever go overboard."

Keith snorted. Isn't that the truth. Lance would probably slam him on the ceiling and leave him there until he calmed down. Shiro would take him to the training room and let him vent out his frustration until he was satisfied.

Ulaz was right. He had people he could depend on if his anger ever got the better of him.

"There's something else I wanted to ask you about," Keith said, his hand going to his belt to pull out the dagger his mom left him all those years ago.

Before he could, the sound of alarms throughout the base had them both shooting to their feet and running out the door where Shiro, Hunk and Pidge were looking around in alarm.

Ulaz ran to the viewport and brought up the big screen before he turned angry yellow eyes at them, "You were followed!"

Shiro looked startled. "What?"

For a second Keith contemplated the thought of Ulaz turning on them but they didn't have time to argue. He turned his attention to the big screen and saw another one of Zarkon's ro-beasts heading their way.

"We have to get back to the ship," Shiro declared.

"Hold on," Ulaz said as he reached into his black body suit and pulled out what looked like a flash drive and handing in to Shiro, "These are instructions on how to reach the Blade of Marmora headquarters." Shiro took the flash drive in his hand and closed his palm over it, "Before you go there, find out how Zarkon has been tracking you. If you lead him there, everything that we have worked for will be lost."

Shiro nodded and started making his way to where they had stationed the red lion. Keith and the others followed after him before Keith took his seat inside Red and his three friends huddled around him. Keith pushed a few buttons, took hold of the two thrusters, and steered Red back to the castle.

* * *

"I knew we couldn't trust a Galra!" were Allura's first ones to them when they brought up the video feed inside Red.

"It wasn't him," Shiro said frowning.

Allura scoffed, "How can you be so sure?"

"Enough you two," Lance snapped at them as she walked over to Allura's side so she could see the rest of her friends through the video feed. "That doesn't matter right now. What are we going to do?"

"Why don't we just wait patiently for it to go away? Hunk asked them, "It shouldn't be able to see us because of the xanthorium chunks right?"

Shiro let his eyes roam over Hunk before replying, "Everyone get to your lions but don't launch. I don't want to risk fighting it unless we have to. We'll wait and see what it does for now."

Everyone nodded before the screen turned black and Lance started making her way to Blue's hanger, Allura's bad mouthing of Ulaz following her most of the way. Lance grit her teeth, if Allura kept this up, the Amazon princess wasn't going to care how cute Allura was, she was going to smack her across the face.

Blue's roaring laughter echoed in her mind and Lance grinned. At least she wasn't the only one who thought Allura needed a good smack to the face.

Finally reaching Blue, she waited patiently as the blue lion lowered her head before she opened her jaw and Lance climbed in and made her way to the cockpit where she took her seat and put both hands on the thrusters. As soon as she was settled, Blue closed her jaw and lifted her head and both paladin and lion waited patiently for further instructions.

The sound of footsteps brought Lance's gaze to Blue's screen to see Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk making their way to their own respected lions.

One of the hanger doors opened and the red lion flew right in before settling itself next to Blue.

Keith's face appeared at the corner of her screen and Lance turned her blue eyes to him, "Did you get the answers you were looking for?"

Keith's mouth twisted to the side, "Some. But not the most important one. The alarm sounded just as I began to ask him about the dagger my mom left behind."

Lance nodded slowly and shrugged, "I see. You'll just have to ask next time."

Keith snorted and slouched in his seat, "Yeah right. As if Allura will want us making anymore contact with Ulaz."

Lance rolled her eyes, "Then we can just go in a cruiser ourselves in the middle of the night and go to him if the need calls for it."

Keith's lips twitched upwards, his eyes twinkling in amusement, "Yeah? You'd disobey your beautiful Allura?"

Lance grinned and gave him a flirtatious wink, "For you? Anytime."

Keith fell off his seat in shock and Lance and Blue laughed in amusement. Keith's hand came back on the screen as he gripped the back of his chair for help as he struggled back to his seat. Lance took great joy in seeing that dark blush on her friends face, "Y-you c-can't just s-say that!" he stammered out.

Lance tilted her head, the glare of her helmet making her squint, "Why?"

"Because!"

"Because is not answer Keith. Come one. Use your words. I got you a dictionary for a reason."

"J-just because!" he insisted.

Lance huffed and crossed her arms, "Well, its true. I'll always be on your side, no beautiful Altean princess will change that."

"Lance," Keith choked out.

"What are you guys talking about?" Hunk asked curiously as his face popped up on the left side of her screen. Pidge and Shiro appeared on the bottom of the screen after him. Pidge was looking at them suspiciously while Shiro looked a little concerned over Keith's red face.

"Are you guys flirting again?" Pidge asked with a grin.

Keith immediately denied it, which only made the green paladin more suspicious as she looked between the two.

"Keith? You doing okay?" Shiro asked the red paladin whose blush was just beginning to recede.

"Yeah," his voice came out muffled so he cleared it, "Yeah, just Lance teasing me again."

"Aww man," Pidge whined as she threw her head back, "And I missed it? No fair. Lance makes Keith do the most interesting expressions."

"Pidge," Shiro warned, though the crinkles at the corner of his eyes gave away his amusement.

"Paladins!" Allura barked at them. "Pay attention to the robeast!"

Shiro cleared his throat, "Right. Sorry about that princess, guys focus."

All eyes turned to their own screens to see the gray robeast flying just outside the xanthorium chunks in search of the castle of lions.

"We should be safe as long as we're hidden behind the space pocket," Pidge commented, her brown eyes tracking the Robeasts movements.

The robeast stopped and opened its mouth before a purple light glowed out of it and it aimed the purple glow at the xanthorium crystals. The paladins watched in bewilderment as the crystals started getting sucked inside its mouth.

The robeast closed its jaw and opened it again to shoot a purple laser along the cluster of xanthorium crystals causing them to explode.

"Guys?" Hunk nervously said, "I think it knows we're here."

Shiro narrowed his eyes, "Hold…"

The robeast moved to the center before it opened its mouth again and launched another beam of purple light straight at the castle.

Everyone grunted at the sudden impact.

"Direct hit!" Coran shouted over the speakers. "It definitely knows we're here!"

"Coran!" Allura shouted, "Put the particle barrier up!"

"I'm on it princess!" the advisor replied. A moment later, the particle barrier surrounded the castle and the shots that were aimed at them didn't cause as much impact as the previous shot.

The robeast opened its mouth wider and began to suck in more crystals, everyone let out shouts of surprise as the castle began to get sucked in as well.

"Paladins!" Allura shouted over the speakers, "I think its time to launch!"

"Right!" Shiro answered before he turned his attention to his fellow paladins on his screen, "Guys, form Voltron!"

"Right!" four voices answered back.

The hanger doors opened and as one they all flew upward in sync before the usual pull they always felt when they formed Voltron pulled at them and the lions started aligning themselves until they formed Voltron.

The robeast began to open its mouth before Shiro steered Voltron out of the xanthorium crystals and landed a solid punch to the robeast, sending the purple beam upwards when it was sent flying a feet away.

The space fold suddenly disappeared and Ulaz's ship flew away from the battlefield.

Allura glared at the ship, her eyes burning a mark at the back of it, "I knew we should never trust a Galra!"

The paladins didn't have time to look back at Ulaz's ship as they landed more punches to the robeast.

The robeast shook its head and started flying towards them again. Shiro grit his teeth, "Let's light that thing! Fire lasers!"

"Right!" Keith and Pidge answered before they started shooting lasers from the arms they had control of. The lasers hit the robeast dead on and the paladins grinned before the robeast opened its mouth and started sucking in more crystals.

"Guys, it's gathering more ammo!" Lance shouted.

The robeast opened its mouth and a red light was shot their way. "Move, move move!" Shiro shouted.

Voltron barely managed to dodge the attack but the robeast kept firing at the crystals around them causing them to explode which in turn had Voltron flown a feet away.

The paladins grunted at the impact as they tried to steady themselves. The robeast wasted no time and flew straight for them just as they were beginning to regain their balance, "Hunk, Lance, give me full reverse boosters!"

"On it!" Hunk and Lance shouted and a moment later the boosters came out and they steered Voltron backwards. A purple light suddenly engulfed them and everyone grunted in surprise as they began to be pulled towards the robeast.

Shiro grunted and tried steering them away to no avail. "I can't break free," he gritted out.

Keith narrowed his eyes, "I'll make him let go."

A small dagger formed on the left arm that Keith piloted and as they began to near the robeast, Keith made the arm plunge the dagger on the machine.

The robeast let them go and Voltron threw a punch that sent the thing away from them before they flew themselves away, hiding themselves within the clusters.

"We have to maintain some distance. It keeps trying to suck us in." Shiro stated.

Pidge frowned and turned to Lance, "What about crushing it? Like you did back in Cloyetera? Think you can do it?"

All eyes turned to the Amazon princess and Lance gnawed at her bottom lip as she considered it, "Maybe," she finally said, "But I'd need some time. Last time I had my mothers help, but I'll do my best."

"All right then," Shiro said, his gaze on Lance firm, "We believe in you Lance. Try your best."

"Don't overexert yourself," Keith added with a frown, "We'll try our best to cause it some damage."

Lance gave them a two-finger salute. "Understood."

"Coran and I can offer you some cover fire so you can concentrate," Allura added as her face appeared on their screens. Her blue eyes were set in steely resolve and Lance gripped the thrusters in her hands. "Good luck paladins."

Lance snorted. No pressure.

* * *

"All right team, here we go!" was all the warning Shiro gave before he steered them towards the robeast who was still looking around for them.

Once they were within a few feet of it, Shiro steered Voltron behind a cluster of crystals just as Allura and Coran started firing from the castle. Thoroughly distracted, the robeast went after them and Lance lifted her hand towards the machine and felt within herself for her powers and concentrated.

The sheer force that she drew out of herself almost made her smile, she was suddenly giddy with excitement. She could do this.

"Lance!" Allura shouted over the speakers, "Hurry!"

Shiro steered them behind the robeast and had Keith and Pidge throw laser beams at its back. The robeast turned away from the castle of lions and focused its attention on them. It opened its giant mouth but Lance gripped her palm and the thing froze mid-motion.

Lance grunted. This thing was strong. Feelings of doubt began to seep into her and with a gasp she lost her grip on the thing and the robeast threw a purple beam at them.

If it weren't for Pidge bringing up the shield and taking the hit, they would have been obliterated.

She could hear the muffled shouts of her teammates echoing at the back of her head when she heard it. It was faint but coming closer. Lance frowned. This voice…her eyes widened as she realized Ulaz was coming back with a suicidal plan forming. She could read his thoughts and she let out an annoyed grunt before she looked back at the screen and searched for his ship.

There!

"Ulaz?" Shiro asked in shock as he finally noticed his friend, "What are you doing?"

Images of Ulaz flying his ship straight into the Robeasts mouth and then opening a space pocket inside the thing appeared in her mind and Lance rolled her eyes.

Men.

Honestly.

Ulaz's face appeared on their screens with a forlorn on his face. "I'm sorry team Voltron, but the universe needs you more than you know. You cannot perish here." His face took on a determined edge and Shiro's eyes widened as he realized what his friend was about to do as he slowly shook his head at him. "No," he whispered, his voice pleading, "Ulaz please!"

Ulaz closed his eyes and steered his ship towards the robeast, "I'm sorry."

An overwhelming need to protect surfaced within her and Lance turned her steely blue eyes to Ulaz's ship and made it stop its descent.

"Oh no you don't," Lance said with a scowl, "You're not dying on my watch."

Ulaz's wide yellow eyes looked at her in shock but Lance focused her attention back to the robeast and willed it to stop as well. She wasn't aware that her eyes were glowing a bright blue as she tilted her head and brought her arms up in front of her, curled them into fists and began to spread them apart.

The temperature inside Blue's cockpit dropped and Lance was stunned to see a puff of air where she released a sigh. Was Blue helping her? The following purr after her statement answered for her.

Yes. Blue was helping her by sending Lance a bit of her energy to help stabilize her. Sparks of electricity lit the tips of her fingers and she wolfishly grinned.

Lance felt a bubble of hysterical laughter at the back of her throat but willed herself not to let it out.

Her friends already thought she was weird; no need to add breaks into psychotic laughter in the middle of a battle to that list.

There was a creaking sound as the metal began to stretch out from the robeast, Allura and Coran fired beams at the back of the Robeasts head and that had everyone else jumping back to the fray. Pidge and Keith fired beam after beam at the robeast who was starting to twitch.

"Holy shit," Keith breathed as he looked to Lance to the robeast in a daze. The sight of her in this state had his heart tugging with an overwhelming string of emotions and Keith knew that part of the reason that he'd fallen head over heels for the Amazon princess was because of this. People tended to underestimate her because of the way she always cracked jokes even on the most dire of situations, but then she showed her strong size and left everyone speechless. Much like Ulaz was staring at her now Keith realized with a grin.

"Language," she scolded him through clenched teeth and Keith felt the urge to laugh.

Really? She was scolding him for his use of words now? In the middle of a fight?

Damn. Keith really loved this girl he thought ruefully.

"Holy fuck," Pidge said in awe, and even though Shiro _and_ Lance scolded her for the comment, the black paladin couldn't help but silently agree with the statement.

"Come on, buddy!" Hunk silently cheered, "You got this."

Almost there. Just a little more Lance thought with a grunt. Her hands were already shaking with the effort it was taking to hold off both Ulaz's ship _and_ the robeast.

"A little help would be much appreciated," She snapped at the screen where Ulaz's face was still looking at her in astonishment.

That seemed to finally startle him out of his stupor as he sent her a firm nod and fired his own ships lasers at the robeast as well.

The robeast began to shake, as if it was glitching inside a video game. Lance let out a roar and spread her arms apart as the robeast suddenly split in half before Shiro steered Voltron towards it and gave it two solid kicks towards a cluster of xanthorium clusters with the help of both her and Hunk and everyone watched as the robeast exploded until there was nothing left.

The cheers that followed were lost to her as Lance slumped in her seat. Too much. She'd used too much energy. She numbly wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead; she ignored the shaking of her arms, and let go of her hold on Ulaz's ship. As soon as she did, fatigue began to take over and she closed her eyes.

Just for a few seconds...she just had to rest her eyes…

* * *

The minute Lance's presence disappeared from the back of his mind, Keith realized something was wrong.

The red paladin brought his gaze to the right corner od Red's screen to where Lance's image was still being projected and he gasped.

Lance had passed out in her seat, her head lulling to the side.

"Lance!" he shouted. "Are you okay?"

Lance didn't even stir.

Keith tore his eyes away from the unconscious princess with some effort and looked to Shiro who was looking at the blue paladin in worry.

"Shiro!" he yelled to his friend, "We have to get back to the castle!"

The black paladin nodded and gave the order to head back to the castle, which took a little too long in his opinion. Then again, they only had one functioning leg at the moment but whatever. Shiro convinced Ulaz to follow them back, the Blade hesitated but in the end he agreed and followed behind them to Allura's displeasure.

As soon as they were within distance of the castle, they all split up into their individuals lions and Keith steered Red over to the Blue lion before clamping Red's paws around her fellow pride mate. Everyone else was already patiently waiting for both paladins as Keith made Red place the blue lion beside them before Keith shot to his feet and all but ran out of the red lion.

Blue already had her jaw opened for him and Keith sent her a small thank you before he dove right in.

Lance was still slumped over her seat when he reached her and Keith placed a hand on her forehead before letting out a frown. She was a little too warm for his taste, but she was breathing and that was enough to make some of the worry he was feeling die down just a smidge.

Keith removed each other's helmets and placed it on the floor. Carefully gathering her in his arms, Keith made his way out of the Blue lions mouth were he was met with seven worried faces.

"How is she?" Coran anxiously asked, his mustache twitching.

"Is she breathing? Oh man, please tell me she's breathing!" Hunk wailed.

"This all happened because she wasted precious energy on saving a Galra!" Allura hissed as she glared at Ulaz who was standing a few feet away.

If he heard her, he didn't show it.

"Princess!" Shiro snapped at her, "Enough! What Lance did was very heroic, this is no one's fault."

Allura rolled her eyes but didn't say anything more.

Pidge got to her tiptoes as she tried to get a view of her friend; "Is she going to be okay?" the worry in her voice was evident.

"I-I'm not sure," Keith mumbled as he looked down at Lance's sleeping form. Her tan skin looked pale and beads of sweat still lingered on her cheeks. Her hair lacked its usual shine and Keith frowned.

Coran placed a hand on the Amazon's forehead and frowned, "Hmm, she feels a bit warm but other than that I think she'll be fine."

"Are you sure there's no need to put her in a healing pod?" Hunk asked as he brushed a lock of hair away from her face.

Coran smiled lightly at the gathered faces etched in worry and nodded, "Yes, I'm quite positive. A good nights sleep will do her wonders. She might sleep for a few days to replenish her energy but she'll be all right."

Everyone let out a relieved sigh before Keith adjusted his hold on her and started making his way to the blue paladins room.

He was almost out the door when a warm hand on his shoulder had him pausing. Ulaz lifted his hand from Keith's shoulder as soon as he had the red paladins attention.

Allura made as if to intervene but Shiro's arm blocked her path.

The Blade's gaze drifted to Lance's sleeping face and his gaze softened, "When she wakes up, will you thank her for me?"

"You can thank her yourself," Keith replied instead, "We both intend to keep in touch. I have many questions left to ask, and in case you don't feel like answering," he smirked, "You'll be dealing with her. And trust me, she's not the nice one."

Ulaz blinked at him slowly before his features contorted into a very small smile, but a smile nonetheless, "Very well," he said, and reached for a piece of paper from his belt and placed it on top of Lance's stomach, "That's my personal code of numbers if you ever need to reach me. We Blades of Marmora hardly give out our information, but I suppose I can make an exception this time."

Keith sent him a grateful smile before the voice of Shiro had Ulaz leaving his side to talk to the black paladin.

As soon as the doors whooshed open Keith walked through them and made his way to Lance's room. After passing a few hallways, Keith came upon a white door that swooshed opened when he put his palm against the scanner. The lights in Lance's room lit up as soon as he stepped inside.

His friends' room looked completely different from his own bare room. Her sheets were blue unlike his own plain whites in his room. On the far right side of the wall was a well-known poster of J. Howard Miller's 'We Can Do It', where she'd found that poster Keith had no idea.

Her iPod was on the desk with Pidge's headphones still plugged into them. A few books were in a neat pile next to the device.

His gaze went to the three creatures in the room and the red paladin widened his eyes.

Crouched in the middle of the room was Nyx in her cat like size and Kaltenecker the cow standing a few feet away with the double-headed snake that Lance had given Shiro as a gift but had refused to take, perched on Kaltenecker head. Keith raised an eyebrow at them, how the heck had they gotten inside?

There was a knock on the door before the doors opened to reveal Allura and Pidge out of their armors and back to their regular clothes.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked suspiciously.

Pidge rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "To help you take off her armor," she answered as if it was obvious.

Allura gave him a teasing look, "You weren't planning on undressing her yourself were you?" the Altean princess faked a gasp and covered her mouth, "How scandalous."

Keith glared at them both and reined in his embarrassment as Allura opened her arms for the blue paladin. Keith handed her over and turned his back as Allura and Pidge began to remove Lance's armor.

Keith busied himself by having a stare down with Lance's cow. The red paladin had to admit; Kaltenecker had a damn good poker face.

"Okay we're done," Allura called over his shoulder, "She's all yours."

Keith turned around just in time to catch Lance's limp form from Allura as she all but tossed her to him and scowled as the princess and Pidge gave him a sheepish grin.

Shaking his head, Keith moved the sheets away and gently lowered Lance to the bed before bringing the blankets up to her chin. Lance let out a sigh and tucked herself deeper into the blankets. Keith snorted and reached forward to move a few strands from her face.

"Idiot," he mumbled as he sat on the edge of the bed, "Stop making me worry."

Allura and Pidge shared a look and slowly left the room to give him some privacy.

Nyx flew herself to her owner and lay down beside Lance's head. Kaltenecker and the two-headed snake gave him a dirty look and shuffled closer to his friend.

If the obvious worry they were projecting wasn't evident, Keith might have flipped off that damn cow.

Satisfied that Lance was in good company Keith reluctantly left the room and went to look for Shiro.

* * *

Keith found his friend up on the deck, his gaze on the screens were Ulaz's ship was currently flying away.

"Ulaz left?" Keith asked as he moved to stand beside his friend.

Shiro nodded, his gaze still on the screen where Ulaz's ship was still visible, "Yeah, he went back to the Blade of Marmora Headquarters to report back. He says he'll meet us there once we find out how Zarkon is tracking us."

Keith nodded absently and followed his friends' gaze, "I see."

His friend turned his gaze to him, "How's Lance?"

"She's out like a baby. She's completely exhausted," he bit the inside of his cheek and tapped his head, "I can hardly feel her presence in my head. Its weird."

Shiro gave him a smile and patted his shoulder reassuringly, "She'll be all right. Lance is strong, if it wasn't for her, Ulaz might not be here with us anymore." Shiro's eyes turned teasing, "Once she wakes up, I'm sure she'll sing to you telepathically in no time."

Keith flushed and groaned, "I really wish I hadn't told you to that."

Shiro just laughed and Keith joined in after a minute.

"Do you really think Zarkon is tracking us?" Keith asked his friend.

The doors to the deck opened and Allura walked over to them in three quick strides. "We cannot know for sure," Allura, said quietly as she regarded Shiro with a frown, "Only Ulaz knew our whereabouts."

Shiro turned to look at her in disbelief, "You don't really still think Ulaz gave us up do you?"

Keith stood defensively next to his friend as he turned to Allura, "Yeah, he's right! For all we know Zarkon has been looking for the Blade of Marmora and we just happened to be there when he got a lead on one of its members."

Allura's mouth turned into a thin line before she answered, "Regardless, we cannot stay here anymore. It's time to move on."

"We should go meet up with the rest of the Blade of Marmora members," Keith suggested.

Shiro shook his head, his face set in determination, "No. Not yet. Not until we find out how Zarkon found us. We can't risk losing the allies we have in this war."

Keith and Allura nodded.

"Until then, we'll wormhole somewhere new and wait for Lance to wake up in case we need her help."

"Understood."

* * *

Later that night, as everyone was already sleeping Keith found himself in Lance's room. His friend was still sleeping soundly, her slight fever mostly gone as she dozed on. The three animals in the room gave him a weary look but when he just leaned back on Lance's bed they left him alone.

Keith slowly took out the dagger that his mom had left him and took of the bandages wrapped around the hilt to reveal the purple crystal marking and frowned.

What if the reason Zarkon was able to track them was because of his dagger?

Keith couldn't shake off the bad feeling that this was somehow related to his dagger.

If that were true, what would he do?

He'd have to leave wouldn't he?

He would he thought firmly.

If it would keep his teammates safe, he'd leave.

A soft sigh had him turning his attention back to Lance who had turned over and curled herself into a fetal position.

Keith reached over and placed the stray lock behind her ear and watched her silently.

He'd leave the team if Zarkon was tracking them through his dagger, but he seriously hoped he was wrong.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! They make me smile :)_


	13. Chapter 13

"I'd be staring at you and thinking, I should ask, I should ask, I should ask; do you want to be in a stable monogamous relationship for the rest of your life?"  
― **Sachin Kundalkar** , **Cobalt Blue**

Chapter 13

Pidge realized that following week that a worrying Keith was an annoying Keith. She knew he was worried about Lance, heck all of them were, but Coran had already told them more than _twice_ that Lance was just sleeping and she would wake when she was well and ready.

Pidge understood that. Even Hunk who tended to worry the most out of everyone understood that. Keith…did not seem to understand though. Apparently he had spent the night in Lance's room watching over her. Creepy right? Pidge thought so.

Pidge only knew because she caught him coming out of her room on the second day. He had black circles under his eyes and his clothes looked wrinkled, he hadn't even changed them from the day before!

Then during breakfast, he'd simply picked up his food and taken it back to Lance's room where he spend the rest of the day there, only coming out during dinner time to retrieve his portion of food and disappearing inside the blue paladins room once again.

When Shiro found out his friend was going to stay inside the Amazon's room _again_ he decided to stay in there as well. To watch over them he said, a guy and a girl should not be in a room by themselves he insisted. Regardless of the fact that the girl was unconscious, actually no, all the more reason not to leave them alone.

When Hunk had found out that both Keith _and_ Shiro were having a sleepover at his best friends room, he whined and thrown what Pidge could only describe as a small tantrum and changed into his pj's and showed up at the blue paladins room that night, teddy bear and blanket in tow.

Things had only escalated when Allura found out. The Altean princess had thrown a fit and stated that three males in an unconscious girls room by themselves was not something she would abide in. She'd shown up in her nightdress and a mug in one hand on the third day. Coran had shown up a few minutes afterward in an orange onesie, butt flap and all, stating that he didn't want to be left out.

Pidge herself had been unceremoniously dragged out of her room by Hunk, tablet and all, kicking and screaming against her will. The yellow paladin had simply told her that this was a good bonding moment and refused to budge.

And that's how Pidge found herself on the fourth night, squished between Hunk and Allura on the carpeted floor in Lance's room. Keith had not been happy with all the extra bodies in the room if the glare he gave them all was any indication. The green paladin threw her hands up, it wasn't _her_ fault they were all crammed inside Lance's room.

She'd been dragged against her will thank you very much. It was already a tight fit what with Kaltenecker the cow taking half the room; in truth they could all probably fit just fine if Shiro would just grow some balls and scoot over to where Nagini and Nagg, the two headed snake that Pidge had taken the liberty of naming, was curled up on the floor watching them.

She didn't know what his problem was with the two headed snake, sure it'd launched itself at him upon first meeting him but that was no excuse. It was probably just excited to meet him, or he was probably tired due to the fact that Zarkon and his army kept finding them. They hadnt had much time to sleep with the entire running they'd done over the past few days. Pidge was used to getting little sleep but even she was starting to run on fumes.

* * *

The previous day they'd gotten a distress call from the Olkarion planet after Pidge had done a scan of some spores that she and the rest of the team had found while they were fixing parts of the ship. The green paladin smiled, she still thought it was pretty cool that they'd managed to send out a distress signal through _spores!_

After a lengthy discussion it was decided that they would go check out the planet where the distress signal was coming from and hope they didn't have to form Voltron because Lance was still out of commission.

Apparently, the planet was full of insect-like humanoids that according to Allura and Coran were a proud class of engineers, builders of vast cities that could change shape at their own whim. Pidge instantly loved it, the technology they had was amazing!

When they got there, they were surprised that the signal wasn't coming from the city but the forest instead. Keith seemed to like it; he had a thing for nature apparently. At least a new mission seemed to distract him from worrying over Lance too much.

Pidge shook her head, honestly, why the red paladin hadn't confessed his feelings to Lance yet was a complete mystery to her. It was obvious to anyone that Lance clearly felt the same, heck even Hunk and Coran admitted that all Lance seemed to talk about was Keith this and Keith that whenever she hung out with them.

Pidge's favorite quote from Lance that she learned from Hunk was _'Did you see him? He was all sweaty and his shirt was clinging to his body just right. I HAD to leave! For sanity's sake!"_

Not to mention the googly eyes she made whenever she looked at Keith. Pidge was pretty sure everyone _but_ Keith had noticed her longing looks.

Pidge seriously hoped that if she ever had a crush on someone she wouldn't be this obtuse about it and just tell the person instead of just dragging it out like her two friends.

If those two didn't do anything about it, Pidge was going to take matters into her own hands, for sanity's sake.

* * *

Anyway, once they met the Olkari people who were hiding in the forest, they were soon informed that the Galra had taken their leader Lubos captive. Team Voltron was able to sneak inside where he was being held captive only to find out that Lubos had actually betrayed his people by providing weapon designs to the Galra Commander.

They'd taken the little asshole back to his people where Shiro ratted him out to Pidge's sheer pleasure. The Olkari people had not been pleased, but at least that seemed to spur them on in rebelling against the Galra.

Unfortunately, the Galra had also finished making their weapon and wasted no time in using it. Pidge and the rest of the paladins engaged the new weapon that looked like a giant black cube while the rest of the Olkari were busy taking back their city from the rest of the Galra.

The giant cube seemed to be tougher than they realized though. Whenever they cut it in half with their lasers the thing only seemed to multiply into smaller cubes. Pidge and her green lion had been knocked out and thrown back into the forest, if it wasn't for Ryner, the new leader of the Olkari giving her advice Pidge would have never figured out how to make the bond between herself and her lion stronger.

Finally knowing what to do, Pidge had rejoined the battle and beaten those cubes by firing shots that shot out vines that wrapped around the cubes, making them unusable.

Fucking awesome right?

The Olkari people had managed to take back their city and the rest of the Galra had fled bringing the battle to a close. Upon returning to the castle, Coran had sadly informed them that Lance had not woken up yet.

Keith had deflated and started heading out of the room when the alarms had gone off. Zarkon had found them _again._

Pidge was too tired for this shit. Allura had been able to make a wormhole and gotten them out just in time but Zarkon had found them four more times after that. Pidge was ready to slam her face on the wall. How the hell did that guy keep finding them?

Was it a tracker? Shiro asked the same thing but Allura just shook her head, she looked drained, if there were any trackers on the ship they would have known. At least they'd gotten some reprieve at night; everyone huddled up in Lance's room but they were too wound up to go to sleep. Keith looked jumpy, probably all that coffee he'd drank earlier, and had taken the position of leaning against Lance's bed. Nyx had settled herself on the red paladins lap and made a cooing sound whenever he stroked her head.

He didn't sleep in pajamas apparently, only slept in whatever he was wearing which consisted of a black t-shirt and some gray pants. Hunk who sat beside him was wearing a yellow oversized shirt and some white loose pants, had his legs stretched out before him, his teddy bear on his lap with the blanket draped over his shoulders.

Allura who was wearing a long purple nightdress had her feet curled under her, sipping her tea every few minutes. Coran was watching them all with a wide smile that was bordering on creepy. Shiro was casting glances at Allura but no one but Pidge seemed to have noticed.

Man, if Lance were awake she would have given Pidge a look and the green paladin would have understood the meaning behind it immediately. It seems no one else had noticed the growing attraction between those two either. Pidge shook her head, two more idiots who refused to tell each other how they feel.

"So," Hunk cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him, "Did you guys know Lance talks in her sleep?"

Everyone looked surprised at the comment, even Keith.

Pidge looked up from her tablet and quirked an eyebrow, "Like she mumbles in her sleep?"

Hunk shook his head, "Nope. I mean she literally speaks in complete sentences. All you have to is ask her a question and she'll answer."

Pidge's eyes widened and Shiro cast her a weary look, "Really? Very interesting."

"Shall we test it out?" Coran asked the group in excitement.

"What should we ask though?" Allura asked as she swept her long silvery hair over her shoulder.

"Something simple." Shiro suggested as he cast stern eyes in Pidge's direction. The green paladin pretended not to see.

Keith frowned and turned his body around to look at Lance who had curled up in a fetal position, her face facing them. "How are you feeling Lance?"

For a second nothing happened, then Lance sighed and mumbled out, "Tired."

"What's your favorite color?" Shiro asked curiously as he brought his knees to his chest, making the loose black shirt he was wearing wrinkle even more.

"Blue," Lance mumbled.

Pidge turned angry brown eyes to the black paladin, "Those are way too easy, even I knew them! Let me try!" Pidge turned to the blue paladin and tapped her chin thoughtfully before voicing out her question, "What do you think of Shiro?"

Lance snickered and everyone looked at each other with wide eyes, "Space dad," she mumbled, Keith started laughing and Shiro made a face before Lance continued, "Took his whistle."

Allura choked on her tea and started laughing as the rest joined in. Shiro's jaw dropped and he started crawling his way over to the slumbering paladin, "Lance!" did his voice just break or was Pidge hearing things? "Where did you put my whistle? Tell me!"

Lance scrunched up her eyes and mumbled out a small no. Shiro looked like he wanted to cry, which only made the rest of the group start laughing.

Shiro turned his black eyes on Pidge and made a face, "Hey Lance, what do you think of Pidge?"

"Small," she mumbled, Pidge bristled and was ready to throw a pillow at her when she continued, "but feisty. I like her."

Pidge huffed. Well, at least that wasn't too bad.

"What about Hunk?" Coran asked in his chipper voice. How the man could possibly still be in a good mood at this time of night was beyond her.

"Great hugger. Good cook. Best bro."

Hunk cast teary eyes at his friend, "Aww, I love you too buddy!"

"What about Allura?" Hunk asked next.

"Beautiful," Allura giggled into her hand and Keith bristled, "But she needs to chill. Too wound up."

Amen to that.

"What about Coran? What do you think of him?" Shiro asked.

Lance let out a dreamy sigh, "That mustache," Coran looked damned pleased with himself, "So pretty. Good storyteller. Best uncle."

"Why Lady Lance!" Coran beamed as he put a hand to his chest, "I'm quite honored!"

Pidge cast a look at Keith and grinned before voicing out her next question, "What do you think of Keith?"

Keith jumped in his spot on the floor but his eyes turned to look at Lance which such intensity Pidge was afraid he'd set Lance on fire.

After what seemed like forever, Lance smiled sweetly and let out a wistful sigh, "Favorite person in the world."

Keith turned absolutely red at the declaration but everyone else just cooed and wolf whistled at him. Okay, so maybe having this little sleepover hadn't been such a bad idea after all. Not to mention the fact that the blue paladin's room looked pretty cool compared to hers. Pidge especially loved that 'We Can Dot It!' poster hanging on the wall. As discreetly as she could she took a picture of Keith's red face with her tablet and grinned. Lance was going to love this.

"Okay guys," Shiro said after they'd all settled down, "Why don't we all try to get some sleep now, we don't know when Zarkon will find us again, we need all the rest we can get."

Everyone seemed to sober up at that and Hunk passed out a few pillows from Lance's closet and handed one to each of them before they all settled down and got as comfortable as they could get in such a tiny room and tried to sleep.

Nyx settled herself on Keith's chest, Kaltenecker lay down on the floor as Nagini and Nagg slithered over to Lance and curled up.

Lance shifted in her bed and let out a little laugh, "Shiro will never find that whistle."

That had them all cracking up all over again and Shiro audibly whined and crawled his way over to Lance and tried making her talk but the Amazon princess just turned her back on him.

Man, Pidge couldn't wait for Lance to wake up. She brought the comedy relief even when she was sleeping.

* * *

Lance woke up surrounded in warmth, dimly aware of being in her room. The soft fabric of her blue blanket covering her was familiar, Lance let out a sigh and cuddled deeper into her cocoon of warm blankets.

Her body felt strangely sore, like she'd been in a certain position for so long that it made her muscles ache. What had happened? She remembered fighting that Robeast along with the rest of the paladins, Ulaz included, she was pretty sure they'd beaten the thing.

Lance groaned, she'd probably used too much power and passed out again. Awesome. The blue paladin turned so she was facing the ceiling and blew a breath upward sending a few brown strands flying and gingerly got up as she stretched her arms high in the air and let out a groan of appreciation when she got several satisfying pops in her back and shoulders.

Lance cast blue eyes around her room and blinked slowly when she came face to face with Kaltenecker the cow and the two-headed snake that she'd gotten Shiro as a present. The sound of flapping wings was the only warning she got before Nyx perked herself on her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek.

"Aww, were you all worried about me?" she teased as she brought a hand up and scratched Nyx on the top of her head. Kaltenecker let out a sound that sounded like a snort and the snake just hissed but slithered its way to her lap.

Lance frowned and took a delicate sniff around her room. Keith's scent was the strongest but she could clearly smell the rest of the teams' individual scents as well. Had they all spent the night here? How long had she been sleeping anyway?

Lance felt a yawn coming on as she gingerly got to her feet and began to make her bed, the three animals in the room watching her curiously. Its as she was lifting the pillows that she noticed two pictures hidden underneath. Curious, Lance picked them up and a small smile bloomed on her face at the sight of Keith sucking his thumb and the other picture had a blushing Keith. She flipped the first one over and chuckled at Pidge's hastily written message on the back.

' _Thought you might like these. Don't tell Keith! -Pidge'_

Lance was going to definitely frame this she thought with a smile. Lance ran a hand through her short locks and grimaced at how oily it felt. A sniff at her armpits made her wince, okay it was definitely time for a shower.

Her stomach let out a loud growl as she stepped inside the restroom to turn the facet on. Some food would be great as well. Taking the quickest shower of her life, Lance stepped out and wrapped a blue towel around herself before she walked back to her room and bent down to open the drawers and pick out some clothes.

In the end she decided on some firm fitting jeans and a striped black and white v neck t-shirt and her brown boots. Lathering on some lotion, her skin looked dry, she put the red crystal necklace that Keith had given her around her neck and walked out her room.

The three animals exited with her but went the opposite direction from where she was going on. Where the heck was everyone? What time was it anyway? She could still feel Keith's presence at the back of her head but it was subdued. Maybe he was tired?

It seemed everyone was on the ships deck; feeling a little nice Lance rummaged around the cabinets and finding what she wanted she smiled and made seven cups of coffee before placing them on a tray and making her way to the ships deck.

As she began to get closer she could already start to pick out the rest of her teammates voices. It sounded like they were arguing about something. Lance caught snippets of Zarkon and tracking them before she stood before the doors.

Noticing her presence, the doors swooshed open and Lance walked in to see the rest of her teammates scattered around and talking amongst themselves.

"It has to be the black lion," Pidge insisted as she cast weary eyes at Shiro, "You always have to reign her in and try to get control whenever Zarkon is around."

"There's no point in debating this further," Allura said in a tired voice, "Zarkon is clearly tracking us through me."

There were a few shouts of disagreements at this but Allura cut them all off as she took a seat on the podium and turned angry blue eyes at them all, "Why would that be so hard to believe? Zarkon's forces showed up on Aron only after I awoke." Allura sighed wearily and Coran put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's clearly me."

Keith sighed from where he was leaning on a chair and spoke, his voice oddly quiet, "It's not you princess. It's me."

Everyone cast him weird glances.

"Because?" Hunk asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Keith looked to the side and cleared his throat as he stammered out his answer, "W-well, I just think Zarkon must have imprinted on me or something during our fight."

Yeah frickin right Lance thought as she leaned back next to the doorway and watched them all with narrowed eyes. Keith probably thought it was because of his dagger. Lance didn't think that was it though. She couldn't help but silently agree with Pidge about it being the black lion.

Pidge crossed her arms and yawned, "I still think it's because of the black lion." She mumbled under her breath.

Coran tapped his chin as he regarded her, "But that's only when Zarkon is nearby. No paladin has ever been able to connect with a lion from that vast of a distance."

"I have to agree with Pidge on this one," Lance said from her position, "It's definitely the black lion."

Everyone jumped as all eyes turned to her

"Y-you're awake?" Keith gasped, his eyes bright and happy as he practically flew to her side.

"Buddy! You're awake!" Hunk cried as he ran over to give her a hug only to stop when he realized she was carrying precious cargo.

"Oh man," Pidge groaned, her eyes widening with happy tears, "Please tell me that's coffee."

Lance released a small yawn and nodded, "Thought you all might need this." She said as she lifted the tray and handed a mug to everyone.

"You're okay? Does anything hurt? What's my name?" Keith asked as he hovered around her.

Lance giggled and pushed his mug towards him, which he eventually took at her prodding. "Yes, I'm okay. Nothing hurts, just sore muscles. And your name is Keith. Are we good?"

Keith made a face but nodded reluctantly as he took a sip of his coffee. A hand clamped on her shoulder and Lance turned to see Shiro giving her a warm smile. "Glad to have you back Lance. We missed you."

Coran and Hunk wrapped her in a tight hug that had her crying uncle.

Pidge punched her lightly on the shoulder and gave her a wicked grin before she leaned in to whisper, "Did you enjoy my present?"

Lance snickered and pinched the green paladins cheeks to her dismay, "Loved it."

Keith looked back and forth between them and cast them a suspicious look but remained silent. He had black circles under his eyes like the rest of her teammates. Had these guys not slept at all?

Lance smiled as she took a sip of her own coffee and placed the tray on one of the consoles, "Is it weird that I want to go back to bed?"

Keith blinked and scowled, "You're not going back to bed. Do you have any idea how long you were out?"

"Not really," she admitted quietly. She shivered and rubbed her hands up and down in an effort to warm up, "How long _was_ I out?"

"Almost five days," Keith said with a grim expression. He handed his mug to Shiro who took it with a confused frown before he quickly took off his jacket and handed it over to a startled Lance. "You're cold," he stated quietly, "Put it on."

"Oh." Lance blinked slowly and took the offered item in her hands before she put it on. It was a little big on her but it was still warm so she wasn't complaining, "Thanks Keith."

Keith cleared his throat awkwardly and mumbled a small 'no problem' before taking his mug back from Shiro who discreetly gave him a thumps up. Keith pretended not to see that as he moved closer to Lance and tucked a gloved hand in his back pocket.

"Anyway," Keith said with a huff, "I'm glad you're awake. We were all worried about you."

"Keith more than anyone," Pidge mumbled under her breath.

Lance smirked.

As soon as Keith moved closer to her his presence in her mind flared up with a happy feeling and she became overly conscious of him. The sound of his heartbeat seemed to echo in her head and his smell flared up. Lance leaned in close and took a good whiff, Keith always gave off this woodsy and musky scent, if she focused she could barely smell a hint of black pepper which was weird but she really _really_ liked it.

Keith's heart quickened and Lance grinned, "Keith," she made sure her voice was a little husky, "You smell fantastic."

Keith made a strangled noise and someone awkwardly cleared their throat as Pidge began to laugh. Lance cast her eyes to the rest of her teammates and gave them all a wink that had them all smiling widely.

"Allura," Lance exclaimed upon seeing her sweaty complexion as she briskly walked over to her side, "You don't look so good."

Allura cast her a tired smiled but turned her body slightly as Lance put her hands on her shoulders and sent the Altean princess a bit of energy. Allura released a sigh of gratitude and moved her long hair to the side to give Lance a better vantage view. "Thank you Lance. Unfortunately, since the fight with the robeast Zarkon has been finding us again and again," the princess twiddled her thumbs and released another sigh, "I've used up quite a bit of energy making wormholes but I'm sure that _I'm_ the reason Zarkon has been finding us."

Lance gave her shoulders a light squeeze and shook her head as the rest of the paladins crowded around them, "I don't think it's you. It's probably the black lion," Allura furrowed her eyebrows and looked ready to argue but Lance cut her off and sent another ripple of energy to her, "Zarkon has been alive for more than a thousand years right?"

Coran nodded slowly, "Then isnt it possible for his bond with the black lion to still be strong?"

The others frowned but slowly nodded as they thought it over. Lance looked around her teammates and frowned, they all looked completely drained. She'd been out for almost five days! Had they been running away from Zarkon that long? When had they even slept? All of them seemed to have circles under their eyes.

"You all look like crap," she stated.

Pidge rolled her eyes and huffed, "Well excuse us for not having time to sleep like someone we know," she cast an accusing glare at Lance who simply grinned in return.

"You should all head to bed," Lance insisted, as she looked them over, "Especially you Allura."

Shiro sighed and ran a hand through his white bangs, "Lance is right. We should all head to bed, when we're all rested we're going to take the fight to the Galra. They've been chasing us from Galaxy to Galaxy. Us coming after them will be the least thing they'll expect."

Lance grinned and clapped her hands in delight, "So the hunter becomes the hunted? Nice."

Pidge walked over to her seat and waited for the screens to pop up before she started tapping away, "As it happens I took our list of our current Galra attacks and analyzed it both for commonalities and abnormalities among the attack sites. I was hoping to create an algorithm that would, within a statistically acceptable margin of error provide a target-rich Galra environment, color-coded, of course because what are we animals?"

Lance glanced at the rest of her teammates and was glad to find that she wasn't the only one wearing a confused expression.

Pidge typed a few more things before she brought a giant picture of the solar system on the screen for them to see.

"So…"Lance said slowly, "It's a Galra finder?"

Pidge turned to look at her and pushed her glasses up as she began to explain, "Well "finder" would indicate that it locates Galra, whereas it would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest-"

At everyone's still confused expression Pidge huffed and threw her hands up, "Fine. It's a Galra finder."

Hunk nodded, "Now that makes more sense."

Keith moved his gaze to the solar system on the screen and frowned, "So, where are the Galra?"

Pidge looked through the picture and pointed at a planet on the upper right, "The closest ones appear to be in a planet called Taujeer."

Shiro nodded and turned his gaze to the rest of them, "Then that's where we're headed. Everyone should get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll find that Galra fleet and take it out."

Everyone nodded back and began to head out.

"By the way Lance, where's my whistle?"

Lance almost tripped on her feet as all eyes turned to her. The blue paladin looked to the side and cleared her throat, the color seemed to have drained from her face, "Uh, what whistle?"

Shiro cast her a look and Lance looked away, "You know what whistle."

"Never heard of it."

"Lance."

The blue paladin made a face and turned to face her leader, "It's lost forever."

Hunk looked to the heavens and mumbled a small 'thank you.'

Pidge snickered beside the yellow paladin.

Keith's lips quirked up just a bit from his position of leaning against a chair and Allura and Coran exchanged amused smiles.

Shiro pouted but let it go as he turned to the red paladin.

Lance released a relieved breath and waited patiently at the door for Keith to finish his conversation with Shiro.

The others exited with a last wave in their direction.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked the red paladin, his voice concerned.

Keith avoided his eyes and shrugged, "Yeah, just tired."

Shiro opened his mouth to say more but Keith walked past him and started heading towards her. The black paladin cast her a look and Lance gave a subtle nod. Shiro's shoulders relaxed and he gave her a grateful smile before Keith stood next to her and Lance turned on her heels and walked out as soon as the doors opened.

"You okay?" Keith asked, he was trying to watch both her and the path ahead so he wouldn't trip. Lance didn't need to look at his face to know soft concern would be there. The red paladin was great at many things, mysterious and unpredictable being one of them but Lance had learned to read his expressions over time and right now he was trying very hard to distract her from asking him questions about his behavior.

It's a good thing Lance didn't know when to take a hint.

"Are _you_ okay?" she countered.

The hall was quiet enough for her to hear his fingers tapping anxiously over his leg. "Just tired I think." Then, after a moment he sighed, "Ok, truth is I'm worried."

Bingo.

"About your dagger?"

"Yeah. I really think Zarkon is tracking us because of me."

"And what makes you think that?"

Keith let out a frustrated noise before answering, "It's something he said when I fought him. He said 'You fight like my Galra soldiers.' What if he tracks his soldiers through their weapons? I could be leading him right to us because of the dagger my mom left behind for me."

"Not likely. But I suppose we can't rule anything out."

"Exactly. If I'm the reason Zarkon keeps coming up after us…"

Lance narrowed her eyes at him when he didn't continue. She delved into his mind and stumbled back in shock when he conjured up a wall to keep her out of his thoughts. Keith _never_ hid anything from her. Why start now?

Keith looked up at her, his expression guilty but determined and tried to walk past her but Lance shot an arm out and held onto it tightly, "What are you planning Keith?"

Keith opened his mouth to answer, but decided against it as he shook her hold on him and took a few steps back. "Nothing. I'm sorry; maybe I'm just tired. I'm going to go to bed, maybe that will clear my mind." He turned on his heel and started heading to the elevator that would lead to the halls where the rooms were located when he turned back, "I really am glad you're awake Lance. I missed you." And then he was gone.

Lance wanted to desperately follow after him but maybe that would push him farther away. She raked a hand through her hair and sighed before she turned in the opposite direction and went to make herself some food.

When Keith was ready to talk, he'd come looking for her.

For now, she'd give him space.

* * *

It took her several long seconds to realize Keith was up to something. She was hovering around the milky edges of sleep once again when she felt an itch at the back of her mind. A part of her had been expecting it, even though her body had settled down on the bed with a book settled on her chest, her brain was still active, curled around Keith's mind without his knowing.

Slowly, so as to not alarm him, she edged closer so she could see through his eyes and gasped. He was packing she realized. His thoughts swirled around in a frenzy as he began to pack his meager belongings in a white duffel bag.

Uncertainty.

Determination.

Sadness.

Firm Resolve.

And then he strapped the duffel bag to his armored shouldered, looked back one last time, and exited the room.

Lance was on her feet seconds after; she quickly shoved her feet in her boots and all but ran to the hanger doors where they kept the lions and the small cruisers in case they didn't need their lions. It's a good thing she hadnt changed her clothes or else she would have taken longer.

The sounds of her footsteps were the only noise heard, everyone else remained blissfully asleep. Last she checked, it was almost nearing three in the morning, she's slept another five extra hours after waking from her five-day nap.

Finally reaching the elevator, Lance pushed the button repeatedly and tapped her leg anxiously as she waited for the darn thing to show up. When it finally did she all but flew inside before pressing the button for the hanger doors, the last floor inside the castle.

As she waited Lance delved inside Keith's mind again and looked through his eyes to see…Allura?

Well well well.

Looks like the princess had the same idea as Keith.

Idiots the both of them.

The elevator doors opened and Keith let out a surprised gasp as he finally noticed her in his mind. He tried to put a shield on his thoughts but it was too late.

She was already here.

Lance walked through those doors in a brisk walk and cast a glare at both her friends who at least had the good fortune of looking guilty.

Keith stood frozen, his duffel bag in his arms, as he took her in.

Allura's eyes widened as she took a step back.

Both of them were in their armor, dark circles under their eyes. Keith's face was drawn in thought, his mouth set in a grim line as Lance stopped a few feet away from them.

Keith brought his hands up slowly, his tone placating "Lance-"

"So you were just planning on leaving without telling anyone?" she cast a glare at Allura before turning to Keith, "Without telling _me_?"

Keith closed his mouth as his eyes flickered to her as he tried to think of something to say. Lance opened up her mind to him and let her emotions blast through to him.

Hurt.

Betrayal.

Sadness.

Keith flinched as if struck and Allura cast him a worried glance as she turned back to Lance, her voice oddly quiet, "We just want to make sure," she began to explain, "If Keith and I are the reason that Zarkon is tracking us then we have to leave."

Lance turned her blue eyes from Keith to Allura and glared, "And you didn't think about telling us?"

Allura opened her mouth but Lance shook her head, "We're a team. We're supposed to do things together, if something like this is bothering you, we would have gladly tested it out. Sure, Shiro might have needed a bit of convincing but he would have agreed eventually."

Allura bit her cheek and looked down on the floor. Lance wasn't done yet. "What if it is true? What if Zarkon is tracking you both? Were you planning on dealing with him and his army on your own?"

Keith rubbed the back of his neck as he looked back at her. "It's not a solid plan Lance," he started as she turned her gaze to him, "I'm sorry I hid this from you, but we need to do this."

Lance looked back and forth between her two friends and pinched her nose in annoyance before throwing her hands up in frustration, "Fine!" Keith and Allura relaxed, "But I'm giving you twelve hours," Keith furrowed his eyebrows and looked ready to argue so she flicked his nose, " _Twelve hours,_ and if you're both not back by then I'm coming over there myself and dragging you both back kicking and screaming if I have to, got it?"

The two shared a look but nodded.

Lance closed her eyes and released a breath, "Okay. I'll keep the others from going after you, but please," she cast them both worried eyes, "please be careful."

Allura took her hands in her own and gave them a squeeze, "Thank you Lance. We'll be careful."

Keith threw his duffel bag inside the battlecruiser before he walked back to her. Allura looked at them both before declaring that she would be waiting inside for Keith when they were done. "I'm sorry," he said, Lance crossed her arms over her chest, "For not telling you. And I'm sorry about blocking you from my mind earlier-I was scared you'd tell Shiro," he said quietly, his hand reaching for hers before deciding against it and letting it fall to his side again. "But we'll be back. And we'll be careful. I promise."

Lance looked him over, her gaze assessing before she nodded. "Okay. Just don't hide things from me again. Please."

His hand reached for her own and Lance unwound her hands from her chest and let him give her hand a slight squeeze. "I promise."

Keith turned back to the battlecruiser and before Lance could stop and overthink her decision, she locked an arm around Keith's neck, turned him back to her and pulled him into the most long-awaited kiss of his life.

Keith let out a gasp in surprise before Lance plunged her tongue into his mouth and showed him how well she could kiss.

Keith let out a moan and put his arms around her neck.

Before he could try and reciprocate, she pulled back and had to hide a grin as Keith's lips followed after her with a whine. She placed a hand on his lips to keep him from kissing her again, "You better come back, because I'm not done with you yet."

Keith's eyes fluttered open, dazed, and blinked slowly until they settled on Lance. "What?" he mumbled.

Lance grinned impishly and gave him a slight push towards the battlecruiser where Allura was currently watching them with a huge grin. She looked like she wanted to squeal. Lance winced; she seriously hoped the princess didn't let out a squeal. Not _that_ would be embarrassing.

Keith all but fell inside the cruiser and Allura had to help him right himself in his seat and put his seatbelt on for him before Lance backed a few steps.

Keith shook his head and opened his mouth to say something before deciding against it and gave her a firm nod, "When I come back, there's something I need to tell you."

"I can't wait," Lance said, her hands clasped behind her back.

Keith looked down, and when he looked back at her, his lips were pressed tight together. It made her feel boneless and giddy at the same time. His mind was a blur of colors and lights as images fluttered through his mind, too fast for her to follow.

And then she was seeing herself.

She was seeing herself with the lights in the hanger room reflecting off her chestnut hair, her face flushed and glowing. Her breath hitched, she didn't know she could look like that. She was beautiful. Was this how Keith looked at her?

' _Yes'_ he answered in his mind. _'You always look beautiful.'_

Keith grinned and Lance blushed.

"I'll see you around, Princess Leah."

"See you around, mullet."

And then the hanger doors opened and they were gone.

* * *

"Holy fuck."

"Keith."

"That was- _Jesus_."

"Keith."

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming."

"Keith."

"Jesus fucking Christ! Allura, pinch me."

Allura did something better, she slapped him across the face.

Keith yelped and put a hand on his throbbing cheek.

Allura cleared her throat delicately and cast a teasing grin at the red paladin who was still looking wide-eyed, "So," she started, Keith tensed beside her, "How was that kiss?"

For a while they both sat there in uncomfortable silence before Keith finally huffed and tried to speak, "It was-Lance was- holy fuck."

Allura giggled beside him and patted his knee, "Well, at least now you can tell her how you feel instead of just looking at her longingly like an idiot."

Keith spluttered beside her, his face turning red all the way to the tips of his ears, "No I wasn't." he protested.

Allura snorted beside him and grinned, "Please. Everyone's seen the way you look at her, figures Lance would be the first to do anything about it."

Keith turned to glare at her and she grinned.

"I can't wait to tell the others," she mumbled under her breath. "I _so_ won that bet."

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing. Just mumbling to myself."

Keith looked at her suspiciously and turned his eyes back to the front and slowly started to grin.

Lance had _kissed_ him.

And it wasn't a dream!

Calm down heart.

Don't break into dance he chided himself. You're terrible at it.

He hoped this little side mission of theirs wouldn't take too long, he already missed the blue paladin. Her presence was still at the back of his head but the farther away they got, the more it disappeared.

He didn't like it.

 _Just wait till I get back Lance. I'm going to kiss you back like there's no tomorrow_ he promised.

* * *

It was almost nine in the morning when Shiro called them up to the ships deck. Pidge and Hunk still looked tired but the dark circles under their eyes had lessened.

Coran was wearing his usual purple and gray uniform as he waited for them on the ships helm, upon noticing their arrival he turned over to them and tapped a few things on the screen before him, "We should be reaching Taujeer's orbit soon."

"Good," Shiro said taking his usual seat at the front, "Raise the particle barrier up. Scan for Galra." Coran nodded and Shiro looked around the gathered faces before frowning, "Where are Keith and Allura?"

"It appears one of the pods launched in the middle of the night," Coran announced as he cast them a suspicious glance.

Hunk frowned, "Keith and Allura? That's surprising."

"They'll be back," Lance mumbled from her seat.

All eyes turned to her and Shiro narrowed his eyes at her, "You knew?"

"I kind of found out but yeah. I already talked to them."

Shiro frowned and turned back to Coran, "Contact that pod."

Coran nodded and pressed a few buttons on the screen hovering over him, "Princess, Keith where are you?"

After a minute, Allura's voice answered back, "Exactly where we should be, far away from the castle."

Shiro gripped the armrests of his seat, "What? Why?"

"We must know if we are the ones Zarkon is tracking," the Altean princess replied.

Pidge nodded to herself from her seat, "They're isolating the variables. Well, two variables in this case."

"Pidge is right," Allura said through the speaker, "If Zarkon finds you despite my absence, then we will know with perfect certainty that we are not the one's he's tracking."

Shiro raked a hand through his hair in frustration and shot a glare at Lance, the blue paladin waved, "Splitting up the group will only make us far more vulnerable. Come back to the castle immediately."

For a few seconds there was no answer, then Allura's sad voice cut through the speakers, "I'm sorry Shiro but I cannot do that."

Keith spoke up after the princess and Lance straightened in her seat, "If Zarkon does find us, I can pilot us to safety. We're in wide-open space with plenty of room to maneuver." The four paladins exchanged a look before Keith continued, "Plus we'd be able to outrun him. Pidge did add that booster rocket."

Coran's orange eyebrow shot up, "That things still on there?"

Pidge grinned mischievously from her seat.

Shiro shot up from his seat and slammed his fists on his chair, "We need both of you back here now!"

Something suddenly slammed into the castle and everyone screamed as the castle alarms started ringing. Lance cast her eyes around to make sure her friends were all right before she turned her gaze to the castle advisor.

Shiro took hold of his chair to steady himself and looked to Coran, "What's going on?"

Hunk looked up at the screen that Coran just displayed and gasped, "We're in some sort of debris field."

Coran let out a grunt and steadied himself before he looked back on the small screen displayed before him, "I believe it's coming from Taujeer."

Allura's voice cut through, her voice frantic, "Coran what's going-" and then her voice cut off and all they heard was static.

Coran turned his eyes to them, "Some kind of radiation from the planet is interfering with the communications!"

Lance shot to her feet, "But Keith and Allura are fine right?"

Coran bit his lip before Shiro cut in, "Move the castle away from the planet and reestablish the link. Everyone else get to your lions."

Everyone nodded and shot to their feet as they started making their way to the hangers.

About five minutes later, all four lions exited the castle and started maneuvering around the scattered debris from the planet Taujeer.

"Look!" Hunk shouted, "There's some kind of insect ship over there!"

"I see it," Shiro answered, "Everyone, make you're way over there."

Three voices answered back. "Understood."

* * *

As all four lions began to descend on the planet, a large grub-like humanoid alien started heading in their direction. It had four arms; a pale greenish-skinned body that looked a lot like those sumo wrestlers that Lance had seen on TV before.

"I don't see any Galra," Hunk said as he looked around the crumbling planet.

Lance sent a smug look at Pidge from her screen, "Looks like that fancy Galra finder doesn't work. Nice try Pidge."

The green paladin growled but didn't say anything.

Shiro landed on the planet first and exited the black lion to meet up with the Taujeerian.

"Thank god you're here," it said once Shiro was a few feet from him, its voice sounded oddly robotic, "I am Baujal, the leader of the Taujeerians. The Galra just destroyed our ships engine and left."

"Rude." Lance scoffed from inside her lion where she was listening.

Pidge turned a smug look to the blue paladin. "So the Galra _were_ here. Lance."

Lance made a face but said nothing. Hunk and Pidge snickered from inside their own lions.

"They've taken everything," Baujal continued, oblivious to the three paladins' conversation, his singular 'eye' flashing whenever he spoke, "We must evacuate everyone from the planet before it dissolves completely."

"How long do we have?" Shiro asked.

As if in answer, the planet let out a rumble and a few pieces broke off before they started floating upward.

"Not long," Hunk anxiously answered.

"We've known for years that our planet would lose its outer layer. We've constructed a small colony in a nearby moon to wait out the shedding process." It gestured to the insect like ship behind it with one of its arms, "But then the Galra attacked and they robbed us of our vital resources. They only left us one working engine, stranding us here."

"Not anymore," Shiro declared. "We'll save your people."

Baujal looked back at the black paladin then at the lions behind him, "I have heard of the legend and valor of Voltron." It spread two of its arms out and lifted its head at the lions, "Five brave paladins dedicated to-wait. I count only four lions here. Are you not Voltron?"

"Umm, almost." Lance answered uneasily from inside the blue lion.

Baujal turned back to Shiro, "Where is the red paladin?"

Shiro bit his cheek, "He's not here, but we can still help you."

Baujal turned his face to the ground, his robotic voice sounding almost sad, "I would feel better if all five paladins were gathered."

Shiro arched an eyebrow and started turning his body towards the black lion, "Dully noted. Pidge, Hunk take a look at the engine and see if you can get it to work."

"Piece of cake," Hunk happily said, "We'll get it working in no time."

There was another loud rumble before a piece holding the Taujeerians ship in place broke off and two of the legs from the ship broke off from the ship making it tilt to the side.

Lance and Pidge's jaw dropped.

Shiro winced.

Hunk looked at the ship with wide eyes before he said in a small voice, "Would you settle for upright?"

* * *

Well this was awkward.

Don't get him wrong, Keith was glad for the company but after Allura was done teasing him over the kiss that Lance had planted on him before they left (still couldn't believe that actually happened) the both of them had dissolved into silence.

Allura kept braiding and unbraiding her hair anxiously beside him while Keith desperately tried to think of anything else _besides_ the blue paladin. It was a bit of a struggle really.

He tried looking outside but there was nothing but the blackness of space around them and staring at it got boring all too quickly.

Then he'd let his eyes wander and his eyes would zero in on the mood and transparent bracelet latched on his arms and his thoughts would go back to Lance.

Not to mention the blue crystal necklace around his neck that Lance had given him as well.

Everything seemed to remind him of the Amazon princess and Keith wanted to bash his head in.

He had to stay focused in case Zarkon came after them.

If he were anyone else, he'd probably be rolling around in bed and letting out the biggest squeal of his life over what transpired between him and Lance but he was Keith Kogane. Red paladin of Voltron and pilot of the red lion. Keith would never act like a schoolgirl mulling over his first crush so he settled for doing a little victory dance in his head. Summersaults and all.

At least that was done in the privacy of his mind.

Wanting to break the silence, he turned toward Allura who was braiding her hair for the sixth time, "We've been here for hours," he said as he looked at the time, "Still no sign of Zarkon."

Allura crossed her arms and sighed, "At least I don't have to wait alone," she mused silently, "You have to understand. I would never forgive myself if I'm the reason Zarkon is tracking us. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I led him straight to you and the rest of the paladins. We face such a dire threat from the Galra. "

Keith frowned, "Well not all of them seem bad, it seems some of them are actually willing to help," Allura glared at him but Keith continued, "We need all the help we can get."

"I don't believe that. All Galra are evil, and any who try to offer help are probably just luring us into a trap."

Keith silently fumed in his seat; he wanted so desperately to tell her that _he's_ a Galra. Half-Galra but still. He's here, and he's fighting _against_ Zarkon and his army. Instead he bit the inside of his cheek and took a deep breath. Patience yields focus. If he were to tell her now it would only make things worse and Keith didn't feel like spending however long it takes to test their theory with the both of them yelling at each other.

After a steadying breath Keith turned back to Allura who was frowning in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest defensively, "It just seems crazy to lump everyone together."

Allura didn't say anything more and they dissolved into another awkward silence. Allura stubbornly looking outside and Keith playing with the blue crystal around his neck.

It'd only been a few hours but already he wanted to see Lance.

To hear her laugh.

To have her sing to him in his mind whenever she was in a good mood, which was pretty much all the time.

To see her pouting at him whenever he refused to tell her how he guessed the right card from the stack of cards they had found in one of the stalls at the swamp moon.

Keith found himself smiling in his seat, his hand clasped tightly around the blue crystal, unaware of Allura's piercing gaze.

He hoped this experiment ended soon so he could go back to Lance and the others soon.

He hoped they were all right.

* * *

"Assuming we can get the ship back up, the repairs will still take some time." Pidge announced a few minutes later as she and the other three lions hovered above the Taujeerians ship.

"Which is something we don't seem to have much of," Lance muttered darkly.

"We need to slow down the shedding," Shiro muttered, "But how?"

"Maybe we could stitch it together?" Hunk slowly suggested.

The others frowned at him from their respective screens. "What do you mean?" Shiro asked patiently.

"That new green lion weapon causes vegetation to grow right?" At Pidge's nod, the yellow paladin grinned, "Well, what if we aim it at the cracks on the planet? The vines could act like stitches."

Understanding began to dawn on them and Pidge eagerly leaned forward, "The stitches might hold longer-"

"-If we freeze them." Lance finished with a grin. Pidge smirked back at her and nodded eagerly.

Shiro looked between his teammates and smiled, "Sounds like a plan guys. Pidge, you and Lance buy us some time while Hunk and I will try to lift this ship upright."

"You got it!" Lance said with a grin.

"No problem." Pidge said as she cracked her knuckles.

"We got this dude!" Hunk exclaimed.

The four of them split up, the blue and green lion heading over to the worst cracks in the crumbling planet while Hunk and Shiro placed their lions under the Taujeerians ship and began to slowly lift it up.

They worked in silence for a few minutes, Pidge releasing vines into the cracks before Lance showed up with the blue lion and froze the vines to keep it in place.

Shiro and Hunk's grunts could be heard over the speakers just as the ground where the yellow and black paladin stood began to crumble. Pidge and Lance flew their lions over and fired vines at the cracks before freezing them over.

"Thanks guys!" Shiro grunted out as the ship began to slowly lift from his side.

"We're doing it!" Hunk cried.

The Taujeerians released mighty cheers from inside their ship as soon as it stood upright once again.

Shiro wiped his forehead from inside his helmet before turning his black eyes to Hunk's own black eyes, "All right Hunk, time to work on those engines."

About ten minutes later, Hunk put down his Bayard, the big energy cannon, to his side and released a tired sigh. "All right, it's not pretty but it should hold."

Lance looked back at the Taujeerian ship where Hunk had used his Bayard to seal the damaged areas from inside the blue lion. Two red lines curved around the ship where Hunk had melted the damaged areas together making them hold.

There was another rumble that sent Hunk and Shiro to the floor and Lance turned her blue eyes to see a Galra ship firing at them. The Taujeerians ship began to ascend slowly just as the Galra ship threw another purple laser at the ground scattering debris in the air.

Lance let out an annoyed grunt, "The Galra are here."

"Hunk," Shiro said once he was back inside the black lion, "Take the yellow lion and hold up the ark. If it falls into the acid, the Taujeerians are doomed."

Hunk flew the yellow lion to the side of the ship that was tilting dangerously close to the acid and let out a grunt, "Not to mention the guy beneath them," Hunk said as he made the yellow lion plant its claws into the ground, "Which would be _me_ in this particular scenario."

"Lance, Pidge we need to draw the Galra's attention to us. Fire your lasers at it," Lance and Pidge nodded and flew their lions towards the giant Galra ship, "Coran, I need you to fire back at the Galra ship with the castle weapons."

"I'm on my way!" Coran shouted through the speakers.

* * *

Keith was just beginning to turn and ask the princess if he wanted to play a game of tic-tac-toe to relieve some of their boredom when Coran's loud voice spoke through the speakers, startling them both, "Keith, Allura are you there?"

Allura scrambled forward, "We're here Coran. What is it?"

"Zarkon is definitely not tracking us through either of you." Coran replied.

Keith and Allura exchanged hopeful looks.

"How do you know?" Allura asked.

There was a bit of static before Coran's voice was heard again, "Because you're out there, and a Galra fleet just showed up here!" the advisors voice turned urgent, "We need you here now!"

Keith didn't need to hear more and leaned forward to steer the ship around.

"We'll be there in two dobashes." Allura announced.

Keith grinned and pushed a few buttons on the screen, "Even faster than that."

Allura leaned forward, her expression curious, "What is that?"

"It's a booster fuel Pidge added to this pod," Keith answered before he clicked the button. As soon as he did the pod grew warm and they were ejected from the pod with a scream as the ship blew up.

Keith and Allura screamed as they were thrown in opposite directions. The red paladin turned on the jets on his back on and tried to slow himself before he hastily looked in all directions for the Altean princess.

A scream was heard to the right of him and Keith made the jets on his back head in that direction.

"Allura!" he screamed as he began to near her, "Take my hand!"

Allura stretched out her arm and after a bit of maneuvering, Keith managed to clasp her hand and pull her close to him as they finally came to a stop.

The two exchanged a look and said at the same time, "We cannot tell Lance."

"Oh, good," Allura smiled, "You agree."

Keith snorted and looked back the remains of the pod they were just in and grimaced, "Yeah, I don't think she'd be too happy with us."

Allura followed his gaze, her mouth set in a thin line, "Does your radio still work?"

Keith released one hand from around the princess waist and tapped his helmet but all he got was static, "Now what?"

The two exchanged a look and nervously looked around but all they saw was the blackness of space. After a few seconds Allura turned back to him, "Perhaps you should try calling for the red lion."

Keith frowned, "But we're so far away from the castle!" he protested, "It won't be able to hear me."

Allura's gaze turned firm, "It wouldn't hurt to try," she insisted.

He had to admit, she had a point.

Keith blew out a breath and closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might.

 _Red? If you can hear me, we can really use some help._

Nothing.

 _Come on girl. I really need you to answer me. The others are in trouble. Lance…is in trouble. Please._

For a minute there was nothing, but then a purr answered his call and Keith's eyes snapped open.

"Red!" he shouted.

Allura startled in his arms, "Did it work?"

Keith was about to answer when a loud roar startled them both in place.

Keith turned his eyes where the noise had come from and slowly grinned at the red spot he could see coming closer and closer.

Red was coming!

* * *

"They're aiming the ion cannon at the ship!" Shiro shouted over the speakers, "Pidge, Lance attack the Galra ship with your lions jaw blades!"

Lance and Pidge nodded and split up, the green lion went to the right and the blue lion went to the left, as they neared the giant Galra ship they activated the blades on their lions jaw and stabbed a line on both sides of the ship.

Shiro and the black lion headed straight for the ion cannon and released their own blades before striking the platform that was holding the cannon. The ion cannon tilted to the side and instead of firing the ship, it fired at one of the frozen cracks that Lance and Pidge had stitched together.

The crack reopened and large pieces of rock went flying straight at the yellow lion that was holding the Taujeerian ship.

Hunk's eyes widened, "Rocks!" he grunted out, "Big big rocks heading my way!"

Lance threw them to the side with swipe of her hand, "I got you buddy!"

Hunk released a sigh of relief and gave her a thumbs-up.

The Galra ship started firing more beams at the black lion when Coran finally appeared and started returning fire with the castle weapons.

Lance let out a shout, "Way to go Coran!"

"Perfect timing Coran!" Shiro shouted in relief, "Hunk, what's your status?"

The yellow paladin looked around anxiously before answering, "Just trying not fall into a pit of acid!"

"By the way," Coran shouted over the noise, "The red lion kind of ran away?"

"What?" four voices exclaimed.

"It's fine!" Coran replied, "Probably…"

The Galra ship released even more beams and aimed both at the Taujeerian ship and the castle of lions.

"We're being overwhelmed!" Pidge shouted over the chaos.

"I can't hold it any longer!" Hunk shouted.

"Hunk, you have to! If you let go, the Taujeerians will die!" Shiro yelled as he and the black lion ducked under the laser beams firing in their directions.

Hunk let out a groan as the yellow lion began to slide towards the acid, the Taujeerian ship tilting with it. "Come on, come on!" he cried. The Taujeerians could be heard crying and screaming from inside the ship and Hunk let out a fierce yell as he tried to keep the ship from falling.

And then the strangest thing happened, the yellow lion's eyes glowed and it let out a roar before new armor appeared and covered the yellow lion.

"Whoa!" Hunk happily cried as he looked to one of the screens on his side where it was showing a full display of the yellow lions. "Armor claws! Awesome!"

The yellow lion turned on its blasters from the top and further lifted the Taujeerian ship. "Okay, guys I can keep this thing from falling, but I need your help to get it back up!"

"We're on our way!" Shiro answered.

The three lions maneuvered around the laser beams still being fired by the Galra ship before taking up positions around the yellow lion and pushed the Taujeerian ship upward in an effort to get it upright once again.

The ion cannon turned on once again and Lance shouted in warning, "The ion cannon looks to be back online!"

"Shit!" Pidge grunted out, "Its aiming right at us!"

"Language," Shiro grunted out, "We have no choice but to hold our positions, we're almost there!"

"Oh man," Hunk cried as he looked back and forth between the Taujeerian ship and the ion cannon that was now aimed at them.

Coran was firing back with castle weapons but they didn't seem to be doing much damage.

Lance suddenly gasped and whipped her head to the side, her mouth contorting into a wide smile, "Keith!" she cried.

"What?" the three paladins shouted back as they looked around.

The red lion appeared from the right before releasing its jaw blade. Keith avoided the beams fired his way and headed straight for the ion cannon. Just as the ion cannon was about to fire, the red lion's jaw blade completely snapped it off and it went crumbling down into the acid pond.

Lance and the other paladins released mighty cheers before Shiro's voice cut over them, "Good to have you back Keith."

Keith's voice was heard over the speakers, "Its good to be back."

"Is the princess with you?" Pidge asked.

"Are you guys okay?" Lance asked.

"Uh, Keith?" Hunk asked, "A little help over here?"

"You got it." Keith replied, "On my way guys!"

The red lion flew over to where the other lions were waiting and Shiro grinned, "All right guys, no time to get comfortable. Form Voltron!"

"Right!" four voices answered back.

The four lions shot to the sky as one and before the knew it, Voltron was formed.

The Galra ship started turning its weapons to the Taujeerian ship before Shiro spoke up, "Looks like we'll have to meet it head on guys! Form sword!"

Pidge and Keith brought the arms they were piloting together and formed the red sword.

"Wait," Lance said through the screens, "Will the sword be able to cut through an entire battle cruiser?"

"It'll have to!" Shiro shouted back.

"Wait," Keith said slowly, "I think my lion is trying to tell me something."

"Yeah, mine too," Lance said as she looked around.

"I can feel it too," Pidge replied.

"Same here," Hunk said.

"Then do it!" Shiro shouted.

The four paladins grabbed the hilt of their Bayard's and turned it to the side, as if they were turning a key.

There was a glowing light and suddenly the sword that Voltron was brandishing doubled in size and turned blue.

The five paladins grinned viciously and lifted the sword high up in the air just as the giant Galra ship headed for them. Together, they brought the sword down and cut the ship all the way down the middle, as if they were cutting butter. It was so easy.

The Galra ship blew up behind them in a mighty explosion and everyone started cheering.

And then Shiro gasped, "The Taujeerians!"

Hunk looked for their ship through their screens and let out a shout when he found them, "They're starting to fall!"

"How the fuck are we going to help them? They're engines are shot!" Pidge exclaimed.

Lance threw her an angry glare, "Language young lady!"

Pidge threw her an angry glare and Keith chuckled in amusement.

"I have an idea guys. Follow me," Shiro said as he started turning them back to the Taujeerian ship, "And Pidge," the green paladin turned curious brown eyes to her leader, "Language."

Pidge growled low in her throat and Lance laughed.

Together they flew Voltron over to the Taujeerian ship and slowly started to lift it up in the air. The Taujeerians screams turned to cheers as Voltron started flying them towards the moon they had readied in case their home planet ever started shedding.

"We did it!" Hunk cried as he threw his hands in the air.

"Good work everyone!" Shiro happily said as they reached their destination and started heading back to the castle of lions.

* * *

"I'm so sorry for leaving." Allura said when they all arrived. The princess had her hands clasped in front of her and was looking down on the floor.

"Me too," Keith said from beside her, his tone apologetic, "We thought we were doing the right thing."

Allura glanced up at them and turned her eyes to Shiro who was listening with arms crossed, "But clearly you were correct, Shiro. We are always stronger together."

Shiro's lips turned into a thin line before he turned to look at Lance who was watching from behind him, "It's all right. I suppose Lance was right, you had to test it out. You had to know."

Lance took a step forward and crossed her arms over her chest; "At least we know that Zarkon isnt tracking us through you two." She arched an eyebrow and looked at Allura and Keith in suspicion, "Although, I do wonder what happened to the pod you two took."

Allura and Keith avoided her stare.

Suspicious.

"The fact that the red lion came to help Keith from so far away is a vital piece of information." Shiro said as he tapped his chin in thought. "We now have proof that a paladin and it's lion, can in fact, connect over a far greater distance than we realized." Shiro cast his eyes downward, his expression a little sad, "Which means we finally know how Zarkon is tracking us. It's through the black lion."

There was absolute silence as they all took that in.

Lance clamped a comforting hand on Shiro's shoulders and gave it a squeeze, "Which means we know how to solve the problem. You simply have to strengthen your bond with your lion Shiro." Lance grinned and cast him a teasing smirk, "You'll be fine, you're pretty cool when you want to be. Just be yourself. The bond between you and the black lion is going to be fine."

Shiro's mouth twisted into a small smile and he gave the hand on his shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks Lance."

The blue paladin shrugged, "Although, the bond between you and your lion is _nothing_ compared to mine and blue's though."

Pidge huffed and rolled her eyes, "Please, you and the blue lion have nothing on us."

"Uh, hello?" Hunk piped in, "My lion grew armor for me! _Clearly_ we have a stronger bond than all of you."

Keith snorted and crossed his arms, "Please, my lion went looking for me a whole galaxy away. _Clearly_ we have a stronger bond than all of you combined."

That started a whole new argument as everyone spoke over each other as each of them listed examples of why their bond was stronger than the others.

Shiro looked over his fellow paladins and smiled. He sent the blue paladin a grateful nod and Lance beamed. Shiro was feeling much better. Lance was right, all he had to do was strengthen his bond with his lion and they'd be fine. He was confident he could do it, like the Amazon princess said, he could be pretty cool when he wanted to be.

* * *

With the others distracted with their argument, Keith took the chance to grasp Lance's hand in his own and pulled her towards the doors so they could get some privacy.

Allura watched them go with a smile and waited a good thirty seconds before quickly making her way to the center and bringing up the castle monitors until she found the blue and red paladin heading to the kitchen.

Noticing her absence, the other paladins plus Coran curiously made their way over and watched as the princess made the screen showing the blue and red paladin bigger before anxiously looking up at the screen.

"Princess?" Shiro asked in confusion, his gaze going from Allura to the screen where and Lance Keith were being shown. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" the princess hissed.

Pidge's eyes widened in realization, "Oh my god." She breathed as the others cast her worried glances. "It's finally happening isnt it?"

Allura nodded eagerly, her eyes never leaving the screen.

Pidge started dancing on the tips of her toes as she looked back at the screen with a wide smile, "Oh my god! This is going to be good!"

The three males in the room looked at both women in confusion before Hunk's eyes widened and he started trembling. "Oh man," he groaned out, "Is Keith going to?"

Allura and Pidge nodded.

Hunk let out a squeal that had Shiro wincing before he too started dancing on his feet. "Oh my go. Oh my god. It's happening!"

Coran finally seemed to understand what was happening because he clapped his hands in excitement and cast eager eyes on the screen.

"Guys?" Shiro asked, a worried note on his voice, "What's happening?"

"Shh!" his four friends hissed at him.

"Shiro, just shut up and watch!" Pidge scolded him as she took his hand and steered him closer to the screen.

Shiro was so confused.

* * *

Twelve hours was a short period of time to be apart, but it wasn't short enough for Keith not to feel as though he wasn't missing a vital part of himself at the sight of Lance when they made it back to the castle. As soon as his friends were distracted, he had taken a hold of Lance's hand and, ignoring the warmth he felt at the touch, guided her away from the others and to the kitchen where they could talk.

"H-hey," Keith said once he let go of Lance's hand and she looked up at him in curiosity. The blue paladin opened up her mind for him and let the flow of emotions flow freely towards him: relief, joy, and a longing so deep that it had Keith's arms trembling at his sides.

"Hey," Lance said softly. She looked a bit tired after their battle and Keith fought the urge to embrace her tightly. He missed her but he needed to talk to her.

Taking a deep breath, Keith took a cautious step forward and smiled when she didn't pull away. He wound his mind with hers, the colors blue and red mixing together until they turned into a very beautiful purple. Lance's breath hitched as he slowly showed her his own emotions: relief, longing, love, and a hint of uncertainty.

He wanted to touch her. Press her against him. He'd missed her. He'd missed Lance so much.

Cautiously, he lifted a hand and Lance's blue eyes followed it before closing when they settled on her cheek.

A spark of electricity shot around them and Lance's eyes shot open wide. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered and began to pull away but Keith wasn't having it, he brought his other hand to her cheek and pressed their foreheads together. Lance blinked at him in surprise and almost whispered out her next words, "It doesn't hurt?"

Keith shook his head and smiled at her. Lance slowly smiled and placed her own hands on both sides of his face and Keith's breath hitched. His heart quickened and he bit his lip as he stole a glance at her.

Lance was eyeing him with such love in her eyes that Keith started trembling.

' _Let me touch you. Please, please let me touch you-_

Could he? Could Lance hear his thoughts right now? Would she reciprocate? Or would she pull away? His body strained with the effort it took to hold back and he glanced at Lance one more time. Her hair was floating with the static from the electricity that was wrapped around them, her face looked flushed and her eyes were beginning to glow a warm blue.

Keith licked his suddenly dry lips before he finally spoke, "Marry me."

Lance startled in his grasp but didn't pull away.

"I can't make flowery speeches," he continued, "And I wouldn't even if I could. I have a bit of a temper and my manners aren't all that good, I doubt that will ever really change honestly. I'm not the most attractive guy out there and I'm certainly no prince, but if you'll have me, I promise you, I'll make you happy. I'll always have your back, and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be there. And if anyone ever hurts you, then I'll go fuck him up myself," Lance let out surprised laugh at that and Keith grinned, "After you're done with him first of course. I love you Lance. And I'd really, really like you to marry me. What do you say?"

The silence that followed made him nervous but his eyes never strayed from Lance's own beautiful blue, as she looked him over, her eyes a little misty.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I don't like flowery speeches, and if you ever make one to me I'll just laugh at you for it. If your temper ever gets out of control I'll leave you floating in the ceiling while I watch and laugh at you. You drive me insane Keith. You're the bravest, most oblivious, and bravest person I know and sometimes I can't seem to catch my breath when I look at you because _god_ you're amazing. I don't care if you're a prince, I don't need a prince," she squeezed his face in her hands and Keith took a shuddering breath as she continued, her voice determined, "You're all I need. I've met hundreds of people and aliens in my life, but none of them could ever compare to you. I love you Keith." She grinned and pulled at a stray lock of his hair, "Mullet and all. Of course I'll marry you."

And then Keith surged forward and planted his lips on Lance with such urgency that the electricity around them grew brighter.

Keith had spent weeks, months really, agonizing over all the time he'd spent _not_ kissing Lance. Their bond ignited, surging with renewed strength. Lance trailed her fingertips softly over the red paladins knuckles, her touch soft and warm.

A cascade of emotions drifted back and forth between them and Keith trembled as he cradled Lance's head and pulled her closer to him.

Only when the need for air became evident did they part, their breaths heavy as they looked at each other. Lance's face was flushed, her lips looking a little swollen and Keith surged forward and planted his lips to hers once again. He couldn't help it. The way she looked…she was asking to get kissed.

Lance laughed through the kiss as the thought drifted to her mind and Keith growled and sucked on her lower lip, grinning victoriously when Lance released a moan.

Of course, Lance got him back a second later when she sucked on his tongue gently and Keith's eyes shot open. Lance opened her eyes after him, her eyes teasing as she sucked a little harder.

' _I really hope that you haven't kissed anyone else like this' he thought with a pout._

Lance laughed in his mind but remained quiet.

Keith did not appreciate the lack of answer as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Someone coughed loudly but they didn't seem to notice as they continued to kiss. The coughing grew more frantic and Keith and Lance slowly parted to turn and glare at Shiro who was looking a little embarrassed.

Behind him stood Allura, who had taken out a camera and was snapping pictures at them.

Pidge tried to look exasperated but her lips kept twitching into a smile.

Hunk and Coran had tears running down their face and were looking at them happily. Coran even took out a tissue and blew his nose loudly before sniffling a little more.

Noticing that he had their attention, Shiro cleared his throat once again and began to speak, his face a little red, "While I'm very happy for you two, if you could umm, tone it down a little that would be great."

Keith cast him a glare, "Do you know how long I've waited to kiss her?" he demanded.

Shiro jumped in place.

"I'm not stopping now," Keith declared as Lance started laughing beside him and pecked him on the cheek.

Allura squealed and started jumping up and down, "Congratulations!"

Pidge snorted and grinned cheekily, "About time. Now if you could tell us which one of you made the first move that would be great."

Lance and Keith exchanged looks before Lance lifted her hand in the air, "I kissed him first."

Pidge and Allura cheered and Coran and Hunk whined. "Pay up!" the two women declared.

Shiro looked at his teammates in shock, "You guys bet on them?"

Allura snorted as Coran all but shoved a few coins on her palm, "Of course we did."

Pidge snatched the coins from Hunk's palm and grinned, "We knew our Lance had more balls than Keith here."

Lance snorted and started laughing as Keith started spluttering in place.

"I hope you two intend to share your winnings," Lance said with a teasing grin.

The two women shared a look and shrugged, "Eh, why not? It's thanks to you we won anyway."

Lance beamed as Coran swept her in a hug, "Oh congratulations my dear! We must plan for a wedding immediately!"

Shiro balked, "They're too young!"

"Says you," Lance said as she stuck her tongue out at him, "I turned eighteen a week ago."

"What?" six voices exclaimed.

"It's no biggie, just another year older," Lance said with a shrug.

Hunk barreled his way over to her and gripped her shoulders hard, "No way dude! We're throwing you a party! And I," he said with a huge smile, "Will be making you cake! No arguments!"

"We must plan for a wedding _and_ a birthday!" Allura said excitably.

"We need decorations!" Coran added.

As the rest of the team started talking amongst themselves, Keith stepped beside Lance and took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

"I love you," he whispered lowly.

Lance intertwined their hands together and leaned closer to him, "I love you too, mullet brain."

* * *

 _Thanks so much for the reviews guys! I love them! And thanks for reminding me about Nyx, i almost forgot about her o.o_

 _anyway, tell me what you guys think about the confession scene, i was pondering over it for days! i think it turned out all right though ;)_


	14. Chapter 14

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping." **-Bo Derek**

Chapter 14

Shiro did not get paid enough for this. In fact, he didn't get paid _at all._ He did his job for free.

Waking up the rest of the paladins every morning at seven a.m. sharp for morning breakfast and training regimens after?

Free.

Making sure Coran and Lance didn't poison them with their food experiments?

Free.

But also necessary.

Checking up on his teammates and see how they were doing?

Also free.

Giving Keith and Lance "The Talk?"

Not something he wanted to do. In fact, he really _really_ didn't want to. But it was a necessary evil that must be done as soon as possible because the looks the red and blue paladin kept giving each other spoke volumes.

When Shiro had pulled them both aside and sat them down on the kitchen table and told them what he wanted to talk about, it did not go well.

Keith looked absolutely horrified.

Shiro was partly horrified himself as well.

He didn't want to do this either.

It was awkward for both parties.

And no one was comfortable.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Pidge and Hunk had all but bolted from the kitchen so fast it astounded him.

Now if they could run like that during training, that would be great.

Coran had started laughing and had run off to get some educational videos that he had stashed somewhere.

Allura turned a little red and discreetly left the room with her mice.

And Lance…

The second the words left his mouth, a wide grin spread across her features and she looked ready to make someone's life miserable.

In this case, it was Shiro's life.

The black paladin wasn't going to lie. As soon as he saw that devilish smirk, he'd wanted to bolt from the table and hide in his room.

Don't get him wrong; Shiro liked Lance.

He really did.

And she made Keith happy, which made her all the more likeable in his opinion.

Shiro hadn't seen Keith this happy since the day his friend got chosen to play Peter Pan in his school play and gotten to fly around the room via wires.

But among all the other paladins, Lance was…eccentric.

Not that it was a bad trait.

Honest.

But it did make him want to pull at his hair in frustration sometimes.

Not to mention the fact that Lance loved to endlessly tease him.

Shiro had yet to forgive her about his whistle.

He'd found that whistle on one of the first planets that they'd saved during one of their missions and he had treasured that thing as if it were his child.

It made him feel important, like a true leader (or coach) and it made getting the attention of the other paladins much easier.

Lance had refused to tell him about its whereabouts.

In truth, giving Keith and Lance 'The Talk' might have secretly been a way to get back at the blue paladin, Keith being an unfortunate sacrifice, but now it looked like the tables had turned.

His unease only grew when Lance took out a notepad and pencil and leaned back on her chair to get comfortable.

"What's that for?" Shiro asked her with a frown as he took a seat across from the red and blue paladin.

Lance gave him a sweet smile that had him break out into a nervous sweat before replying, "There's just so much information you know. I don't want to miss a _thing."_

That was bullshit.

Shiro had learned early on that when Lance smiled like that it only meant trouble.

Beside her, Keith smashed his head onto the table and let out a whine before throwing Shiro an angry glare.

"I already know all about sex Shiro! I got the talk back in middle school, I don't need a reminder." The red paladin cast him pleading eyes and Shiro almost, _almost_ , gave in. He'd always been weak when it came to Keith.

The two had known each other since they were young. Both of their parents had known each other for years and eventually Keith and Shiro had become friends. Shiro liked to think of Keith as the little brother he always wanted but never got. After Keith's dad died, Shiro had been looking after him like his own son. The both of them entered the Garrison together to become pilots and even though Keith's only friend in the whole place was him, he'd been proud of Keith.

Now, not only was Keith the red paladin of Voltron, the Galaxy's greatest defender, but had also gotten engaged?

Shiro couldn't be any prouder.

This was _Keith;_ the kid who thought hitting people in the face with a ball was how you made friends only to be disappointed when he was later avoided like the plague. He'd come a long way since those awkward teenage years.

Shiro shook his head at his friend, "This is just a reminder, and for all you know Lance doesn't know a thing about sex."

Someone snorted.

Shiro turned to regard the blue paladin and almost bristled at the 'poor you' look she was giving him.

The black paladin arched a brow, "Something to say Lance?"

Lance dedicatedly cleared her throat and shook her head, a Cheshire smile aimed at him, "Nope. Go on, tell us all about sex Shiro."

Keith groaned.

Shiro straightened in his chair. Right. Best to get this over with. He reached a hand under the table and took out a pickle and a box of condoms.

Keith's groan got louder.

Lance leaned forward, her blue eyes impossibly wide. Almost innocent.

It didn't fool the black paladin for a minute.

Shiro cleared his throat and began to speak, his voice clear, "Now then, when a man and a woman get certain _urges-"_

"They start bumping uglies!" Lance shouted from her seat with a wide smile.

Keith choked on his own spit.

"Lance."

"Yes, Shiro?"

"Please let me finish."

Lance nodded her head and leaned forward, her hands under her chin and beckoned for him to continue.

"Anyway, when a man a woman get certain urges, they decide to have sex. The way that happens is for the male to put his penis in the woman's vagina."

Lance nodded sagely and started writing down notes on her notepad.

Keith leaned in to take a closer look and snorted.

Shiro felt his eye twitch.

"Okay," Lance said as she placed her pencil beside her, "Go on."

Shiro picked up the pickle and took a condom from the box and began to demonstrate how to put it on. Demonstrating how to do this would end this conversation and so Shiro was eager to get it over with. What should have taken no less than five minutes lasted a whole hour.

Keith looked like he stopped breathing at some point and Shiro had to double check his pulse just to be sure his friend was still alive.

Lance was a force to be reckoned with.

She just kept asking question after question that had both males in the room turning red. Shiro had no idea what the blue paladin was writing in her notepad but she hadn't stopped since he began his talk.

Shiro answered to the best of his ability, he wasn't going to back down and let the blue paladin win.

Lance smiled wider, had she read his mind he idly wondered, and began to ask about certain scenarios.

Eventually, she started talking about positions and Shiro almost fled to the safety of his room once again when she asked _him_ what his favorite positions were.

Keith was looking up at the ceiling with a dull gaze; probably praying to every deity there was for the table to swallow him whole.

When it was finally over, Lance got up and stretched her hands high in the air; a satisfied smirk on her face as she looked over both males slumped over the table.

"That was very educational, Shiro. I learned so much today."

And then she patted him on the head and Shiro felt like crying.

She'd so won the battle and she knew it.

Lance ripped off the piece of paper she was writing on, folded it in two, and tucked it under his arms before she pecked Keith on the cheek and started to leave the room.

"I'm going to go hang out with Hunk, see you both later!" And then she was gone.

Slowly, Shiro got up from his slumped position and curiously opened the paper only to bristle.

Lance had drawn a picture of both he and Keith slumped over their chairs with Lance herself standing triumphantly on the table, flashing a piece sign in victory. On the bottom she'd scribbled down something else and Shiro squinted as he tried to read what she wrote.

' _Nice try Shiro. This was fun, anytime you want to challenge me to something just let me know! I might just give you that whistle back!- Love, Lance._

That little vixen had won.

"Your fiancé is terrible." Shiro blurted out.

Keith snorted and slowly sat up, his blue-gray eyes looking at him in amusement, "You're just mad she turned the tables on you."

Shiro got to his feet and tucked the drawn picture in his back pocket, it was a good drawing, and started heading to his room.

"Let me know when we arrive at our destination," he said with a tired sigh. Keith gave him a last wave before Shiro disappeared into his room.

As soon as he was inside, he took off his clothes until he was just in his black boxers, took out the secret stash of coco puffs that he'd hidden from the others, opened it up and laid on his bed and started eating.

He was going to get the blue paladin back for this he swore silently, just you wait Lance.

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman, we've arrived at our destination!" Coran announced over the speakers a few hours later. Within minutes the rest of the team had arrived at the bridge where Coran had brought up a screen with various pictures.

Shiro shot Lance an angry glare that only had her smirking before he made his way to the front to get a better look at the screen.

One of the pictures had a younger version of the castle advisor with somewhat longer hair while he grinned at the camera, a few stalls behind him.

The other three pictures had some aliens with four arms looking quite devious.

"Coran," Allura said with a huff, "You're not suggesting going into one of those disgusting swap moons. The last time you went, those space pirates took you for everything you had!"

"Space pirates?" Pidge asked with a grin.

Lance shared a look with Keith, "Did we see any space pirates on our last trip?"

Keith shook his head beside her, "Not that I saw."

"Shame," Lance with a pout. Hunk patted her shoulder.

Coran's eye twitched at the interruption and cleared his throat to get their attention again, "Anyway, the Unilu were traders and pirates that roamed the galaxies and dealt in black market goods."

The castle advisor brought up a few items on the screen as examples before continuing, "Of course, you have to bargain with an Unilu. And boy did they know how to bargain!"

"So we need to stop by and find some Teleduv lenses for the ship?" Hunk asked curiously.

Coran nodded, "While Shiro is busy bonding with the black lion, the rest of us will go down the swamp moon and look for the Teleduv lenses."

Lance leaned close to Allura and grinned, "So while you guys go look for the lenses, I'll take Allura shopping for something sparkly."

Coran cut between them and cast the blue paladin a glare, "This isn't shopping! I can't allow Allura anywhere near those filthy, lowballing Unilu hoodlums!" he finished with a cross of his hands over his chest.

Allura turned pleading eyes to Coran, "But I'd love something sparkly."

Coran turned away, "Look, you're the only one who can operate the castle and besides you should be resting."

Lance turned pleading eyes to Coran, "Oh please, can she go? I promise I'll protect her."

Allura saddled next to Lance and gave Coran her best puppy dog eyes, "Oh please Coran? Lance will watch over me!"

Coran seemed to consider it and after a while he sighed and nodded. "Fine, but make sure to stick close to Lady Lance."

Allura squealed and wrapped Coran in a hug, "Oh thank you!"

Lance turned her blue eyes to Shiro and slowly smiled.

Shiro almost took a step back. Almost.

The Amazon princess clasped her hands behind her back and leaned in close to the black paladin, "And just to make sure nothing happens to our fearless leader, I'll have my pets keep watch over him."

Shiro paled.

Pidge scrunched up her face, "How will a griffon, a cow, and a two-headed snake keep him safe?"

Lance tapped the green paladin's nose and expertly dodged the punch aimed in her direction, "You mean Nyx who can shoot lightning bolts, Kaltenecker that can fly-"

Keith whipped his head around to look at his fiancée so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash, "She can fly?"

Hunk frowned at him and gave him a nod. "Uh, yeah. Lance and I go flying on her sometimes."

Pidge turned accusing eyes at the yellow and blue paladins, "Why wasn't I invited to this?"

Hunk shrugged, "You were busy?"

Pidge huffed and crossed her arms over her green shirt.

"Anyway," Lance said with a glare, "We also have Nagini and Nagg who are not only poisonous but can grow at any size they want."

"What, what?" Shiro screeched.

Lance winked at Shiro and shot him with a finger gun. Keith stood next to her trying not to laugh. He wore a red jacket over his black shirt, his black hair partly mused as if someone had run their hands over it repeatedly, probably Lance.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder and Shiro jumped in place, "So don't worry Shiro, you'll be in good hands."

The smile she gave him was innocent, but to Shiro's eyes it looked like Armageddon had come early.

Hunk whispered to Pidge, "Are Shiro's legs shaking?"

Pidge snickered and whispered back, "Big time."

Hunk smiled a little, "Awesome."

Coran stomped his foot on the ground repeatedly and the others fell silent. "Now then, we must ready a pod for this mission. We need to find the scaultrite lenses, and just get out."

Lance started running ahead, "Shotgun!"

Hunk screeched and started running after her, "What? No, you have to be in the pod bay to call shotgun!"

"Since when?"

"Since forever! That's shotgun etiquette. I wrote the book."

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, the rest of team Voltron was squished inside one of the small pods heading for the swamp moon. Lance and Coran were at the front seats while the rest of the team members were grumbling at the back at the lack of space they had.

Hunk had a pout on his face and was glaring at the wall in front of him. Keith and Allura were squished together and looking uncomfortable.

Pidge looked ready to strangle someone where she sat squished next to Hunk.

"Hello? Back passengers?"" Coran said through the speakers, "Can you hear me?"

"Oh, its so comfy up here!" Lance said with a laugh, "Extra leg room, heated seats, oh man!"

"Stupid Lance. Stupid Shotgun." Hunk mumbled under his breath.

Keith snorted and smiled.

"Oh, its not too bad," Allura said with a wince as she tried to move her arm to her lap, only to elbow Keith in the face in the process.

Keith let out a whine and glared at her and Pidge just snorted.

"You were saying?" the green paladin said sarcastically.

"Now, these swap moons are very dangerous environments. So be on your toes." Coran continued through the speakers, "No weapons or communication devices of any kind! Also, I've brought along some disguises."

Everyone's eyes shot up at that and they looked at each other with a wince.

* * *

"Uh, Coran?" came Pidge's muffled voice through the gas mask she was wearing, "These Unilu swap meets look an awful lot like a regular mall."

Coran tapped his chin and turned to look at them with his one eye. An eye patch covered his other eye, his normally smoothed orange hair was spiked up and he was wearing a black and gray trench coat. "It does seem to be a little cleaner than I last remembered."

He cast an eye over the rest of them and appraised their outfits.

Hunk had shoulder blades with spikes on it, his face covered by hockey mask, and wearing kneepads with spikes on them as well.

Pidge had a gas mask covering her whole face and a bandana wrapped around her head, covering her brown hair. She was wearing shorts while her legs were wrapped in bandages.

Keith was wearing half a mask that covered his eyes, a brown cloak and spiky shoulder pads.

Lance and Allura had been given some fake glasses and some black cloaks covering their whole bodies. An orange bandana was wrapped around their head, obscuring their hair from everyone.

"Still, be vigilant. The Unilu are cutthroat wheeler-dealers. So keep your hands on your coin satchels."

Hunk lifted his hands and turned his body around to look at the satchels attached to his hips, "Uh, my satchels are empty."

"Good, "Coran said.

Keith let out a dramatic sigh, "Let's just get this over with."

"Yes, right." Coran said with a nod, "Everyone, fan out and search the area for any Teleduv lenses." He turned his head and pointed at an object in the distance, "We'll meet by the giant ticking clock here in one verga. And princess, stay close to Lady Lance!"

Allura nodded her head and Coran stepped away and made his way to the farthest stores in the mall. As soon as he was gone, the four paladins plus Allura shared a glance and slowly began to rid themselves of their disguises and dumped them into the closest trashcan.

Keith turned to Lance to ask her if she wanted to look together when Pidge made her way over and clutched the blue paladin's left hand and cast him a glare.

"Oh, no," Pidge said as she adjusted her glasses, "You had her all to yourself for the last few hours, its' my turn to hang out with Lance."

Keith frowned and opened his mouth to protest only for Allura to saddle up to Lance and clutch his fiancé's right hand in her own. The Altean princess cast him an apologetic smile and clung tighter, "Coran said I should stick close to Lance, so that's what I plan to do."

Lance looked at both girls clutching her arms with a grimace and turned apologetic eyes to Keith. "Sorry Keith looks like I have my hands full. I'll see you guys later."

Keith sighed and tucked a stray hair from his fiancé's face behind her ear before giving her a small smile, "Stay out of trouble," he mumbled.

Lance gave him a grin but promised nothing before Pidge and Allura started herding her in a random direction.

Hunk and he shared a look before shrugging and started heading together to a random location.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, the women of team Voltron had found no sign of any Teleduv lenses whatsoever. Pidge was starting to get irritated, they hadn't found what they came for yet and she desperately wanted to go to the bathroom.

Only problem was that she didn't read alien and didn't know which room to go into. The aliens coming out were no help either. What sex was a slug anyway? In the end she just decided to hold it in.

Lance and Allura kept stopping whenever they saw something shiny and weren't even trying to look for the Teleduv lenses.

Pidge looked around with narrowed eyes and started searching for her companions when she spotted a familiar brunette doing finger guns at a couple of alien girls who giggled. Pidge rolled her eyes and marched over there in a huff.

"Can I interest you in the latest Earth fashions? I have a new selection since you're last visit." An alien with light gray skin who was wearing some rapper clothes, an area fifty-one hat, and some bling on his neck and shoulders asked as he looked over at the Amazon princess with a leer.

Pidge picked up her pace until she was right beside her friend and started pulling on her red long sleeve, "Lance, come on! We have to get back at the ticking clock in a forty-five minutes."

Lance gave her a smile and gestured at the store, "But Pidge, wait, look at all this crazy Earth stuff this alien is selling!"

Pidge scoffed as she looked inside the store, "We're suppose to be looking for the Teleduv lenses, and you're looking into the one store we know for certain won't have-" Pidge's eyes widened and she let out a gasp, "Oh, my gosh! Is that the Killbot Plasm one? The first journey into to the depths of the demon sphere?" Pidge's brown eyes grew even brighter as she let out another gasp and picked up another box as Lance looked at her in amusement, "Oh! Mercury Gameflux Two! With the original power glove that gives you infinite lives if you touch the index finger to the pinky!" Pidge hugged the box to her chest and gave it a squeeze, "We _have_ to get this! How much is this?" she asked the alien.

"Twelve hundred GAC." The alien said blandly.

Pidge scrunched her brows together and turned to Lance, "Is that a lot?"

Lance crossed a hand over her chest and tapped her chin with her free hand, "Well, compared to what we have, which is none. Yes, it's a lot."

Pidge muttered a curse, "What happened to the money we won from that bet?"

Lance gave her a weird look; "I bought some customized shirts for everyone. They should be ready in half an hour."

Pidge felt like pulling at her hair and took hold of the Amazon's hand and started dragging her away, "We have to find some money! Come on!" she looked back at the alien watching them in boredom and shot a finger at him, "Don't sell that game!"

"By the way," Lance said as she let Pidge drag her, "Where's Allura?"

Pidge stopped in her tracks so suddenly that Lance bumped into her. Pidge rolled her eyes and shot her a look, "I thought _you_ were suppose to be watching her!"

Lance huffed and took her arm back from Pidge's death grip, "Relax. I can smell her. She's close."

The two paladins walked from store to store, Lance stopping and sniffing the air a few times before nodding to herself and making a beeline to a store that was selling jewelry. The Altean princess was inside, her face plastered to one of the glass cases looking over at a golden necklace with such longing, it made Pidge roll her eyes.

"Come on Allura," Pidge said as she started tugging the Altean princess's white and purple dress, "We have to find some money. There's a game I want to get."

The Altean princess's pointy ears perked up at the word 'money' and she looked at her with a wide smile, "Yes. I agree. We should find some money because I'm not leaving this place without that necklace!"

Pidge made a face, "Where do we find money though?"

Allura tapped her chin in thought before sighing, "I am not sure. Lance, what do-"

Lance was nowhere inside the store. Pidge sighed deeply and rested both hands against her cheeks, dragging the skin down and let out an exasperated sigh. Is this how her mom felt whenever Pidge disappeared from her sight whenever they entered a store?

The green paladin took hold of Allura's hand lest she disappear on them again, and started marching them both outside the stall to look for Lance who had disappeared.

 _Again_.

Weren't these two the adults in this situation?

Pidge should not be looking after them. It should be the other way around.

Fortunately, the Amazon princess had not gotten very far. She was standing a few feet away, her arms crossed over her red long sleeved shirt before tucking both hands in the inside back pockets of her black jeans.

Pidge marched over to her in a brisk walk; Allura almost tripped on her lilac heels, and punched her in the back. Lance didn't even flinch. Curse her thick skin.

"Lance!" Pidge practically screamed at her, "What are you doing? We need to find some money fast!"

Lance didn't even budge, only continued to stare.

The green paladin followed her gaze and frowned, what was so interesting about a dirty looking bar? The place looked like trouble and the occupants inside looked even worse. Some of the aliens looked like they were ready to throw a punch if someone so much as talked to them.

Others were playing what looked like pool and others were playing in a corner playing darts.

Pidge didn't see what was so interesting about that.

"Hey Pidge," Lance said, a mischievous grin starting to form on her lips, "Ever heard of a hustle?"

And just like that, Pidge remembered why she loved the blue paladin so much.

* * *

How had it come to this Keith thought with a frown. He gave the chain wrapped around his ankle another experimental tug and growled when it didn't come off.

This wouldn't have happened if Hunk hadn't felt the need to taste every dish they had on this goddamn stink fess that called itself a restaurant.

Honestly, Keith had thought the dishes on display were free samples as well so he had kept quiet as his friend sampled everything in sight.

Unfortunately, just as they were about to leave an older looking Galra with a scowl on his face and a dirty apron wrapped around his waist had come up to them with a bill demanding they pay for the food they ate.

Hunk had apologized and admitted that he thought they were just free samples only for Sal, the owner, to narrow his eyes at them before taking hold of both the yellow and red paladins collars and dragging them to the kitchen inside his restaurant where he chained them both to the nailed down stations inside to pay off what they owe.

Keith pouted, he hadn't even done anything.

Hunk let out a sigh where he was standing in his own station still washing dishes, "Already tried that dude. Doesn't want to come off."

Keith threw his hands up in frustration and dropped the plate he had been washing onto the ground in the process. The plate smashed onto the floor with a deafening crack and both paladins winced as a purple-headed Galra popped his head in, took a look at the smashed plate, and glowered at both paladins.

"You just added to your sentence," Sal grumbled before disappearing back outside.

"You can't do this to us you asshole!" Keith screamed at the owner of Vrepit Sal's only for his scream to be ignored.

Keith kicked the robot chef at the front in frustration.

Hunk turned to look at the elderly blue lady with the long beard who was washing dishes on the ground with a bucket, "So, how long have you been working here?"

The elderly lady looked up at him, her hands slightly trembling as she continued to do her job, "Sal brought me here when I was a little girl."

Hunk and Keith looked at each other with wide eyes. "Oh boy," Hunk mumbled nervously. "Are you sure Lance can't come and help us out?"

Keith sighed and leaned back on the sink before crossing his ankles, the chain rattling at the movement, "Already tried. Whatever she's doing, it's keeping her busy. Mostly she's laughing too much in her head to even notice my voice." Keith frowned and looked to the side as he tried to hide a smile, "Probably causing some trouble."

Hunk grinned as he wiped his hands with a yellow rag, "Lance? Oh most definitely. But remember, Pidge and Allura are with her too."

Keith paled as his eyes grew impossibly wide, "Oh my god. Pidge and Lance together? They're probably destroying public property."

Hunks own eyes grew wide and he turned a little green, "Oh my god, you're so right. Those two combined only means trouble." The yellow paladin suddenly gripped Keith's shoulders and shook him, "We have to get out of here! Who knows what those two are destroying!"

"Maybe Allura will keep them in line?"

Hunk looked at him like he was an idiot, "Dude, Coran's not with her to tell her what to do. Her only companions are Lance and Pidge, and trust me, those two can rope anyone into doing whatever they want."

Keith could not deny that fact.

Allura had probably already been converted.

Poor thing.

Keith gripped the yellow paladins hands and gently pried them off his shoulders before heaving out a sigh, "Okay, but how do we get out of here? I still say we should just battle our way out of here, I don't mind punching a few aliens here and there."

Hunk looked at the red paladin like he'd lost his mind and Keith bristled and huffed, "Well, what's your idea then?"

Hunk tapped his chin and looked at the sponge he was using to wash dishes, "Maybe we can scrub our way out of here?"

Keith gave him a droll stare and Hunk's cheeks turned red, "Well it was just a thought," he mumbled under his breath.

The robot chef at the front started shooting out lightning and twitching before it collapsed on the floor with a thud, smoke coming out of it.

Sal leaned in to check what that noise had been only to let out an annoyed shout at the crumbled chef on the floor. "Oh great, _now_ who will be my sustenance preparer?"

Hunk perked up and spoke, "Un-cuff us Sal. We got this."

Sal let out a snarky laugh as he looked them over, "You two?"

"Trust me. I'm an enthusiastic gourmand with an incredible palate and my friend here knows how to follow my exact orders." He gestured to the robot on the floor with a grimace, "Also, your robot is dead on the floor."

Sal rubbed the small purple beard on his chin, "Hmm. That last part is true."

With another annoyed grumble, the Galra owner un-cuffed both paladins before cuffing them to the crumpled robot on the floor to Keith's annoyance, "All right, work."

Hunk cracked his knuckles and patted an uncomfortable looking Keith on the back, "We got this buddy." A blue machine on the wall popped out a new order and Hunk took the scrap of paper with a grin, "Ok, now watch this!" the yellow paladin frowned and Keith leaned in to get a closer look only to make a face at the scribbles written there in another language, "I can't read this." He turned to Keith and the red paladin shook his head. Hunk shrugged his shoulders and tossed the note to the side, "Oh well, we'll improvise!"

Keith quickly gathered the knives and some spices that his friend pointed to and hastily passed them to him.

The red paladin watched in amazement as Hunk quickly chopped a few vegetables, fried some weird looking meat and tossed it into the air expertly, before cutting the meat in small portions and placing it on the plate that Keith passed him.

Sal leaned in to peer at the completed dish with a scowl as Hunk began to sprinkle something on the dish, "Do you smell how the tanginess of tuber masture really brings out the charred flavor of the palmogoren fillet?"

Sal still looked dubious but straightened up from his slouch and lifted his hand to pull at the pull chain attached to the ceiling to call in the order only for Hunk to smack his hand away. "No, no we won't be using that," thank god Keith silently thought, that thing released a loud horn like noise that was really irritating, "Let's just say, number forty-four your order is up."

A petite blue alien lady with pink ears glanced up from her seat before smiling and making her way to the front to pick up her meal and taking it back to her seat. "Enjoy your meal!" Hunk yelled at her.

All three males curiously looked on as the blue alien lady cut the meat in a smaller portion before picking it up with a fork and placing it in her mouth.

The alien let out a moan and brought her hands to her cheeks before smiling widely.

Sal looked on in astonishment and pointed a purple-fingered claw at her, "What did you do to her face? It's cracking."

Keith snorted and rolled his eyes.

Hunk jabbed him on the ribs before answering, "She's smiling! She's enjoying her meal."

And then Sal did one of the strangest things Keith had ever seen; he smiled. The Galra gave Hunk the next order and the yellow paladin grinned before pulling Keith close to him. "Okay buddy, let's provide some sustenance!"

* * *

"Man, you ladies suck." An alien male with green skin and three eyes said as it slung an arm around Lance's shoulder and pulled her close. The green paladin bristled and cut between them before Lance punched the shit out of this guy. Not that she could blame her; the little sleaze ball kept eyeing the Amazon princess with a look that had the green paladin on edge.

The green alien male backed away and threw a glare at Pidge as she stood protectively beside Lance but made no other move besides that.

Allura was leaned over the pool table, her tongue sticking out in concentration as she hit the balls with one of the cues she was holding and let out a disappointed sigh when none of the balls went inside the holes.

"Looks like we're winning ladies," a red snake-like humanoid alien said, its yellow eyes looking them over with a grin.

Lance grinned, as if she were waiting for an opportunity to play her trump card, which she had. "Let's do double or nothing." She pointed at the green skinned alien and then at Pidge with a grin, "You versus her."

Pidge looked up sharply, "Lance, I've never played this before. Are you sure?"

The blue paladin gave her a secret look and Pidge furrowed her brows as she tried to decipher the meaning behind the look her friend was giving her. Lance clamped a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "You'll be fine Pidge. Trust me."

Pidge still looked dubious but she picked up a pool cue as the red snake alien, Ulavi, racked the balls. The third alien that looked more like an oversized orange slug with an eye patch broke the balls and Pidge watched as the balls ricochet off each other and rolled to a stop.

Across the table, Allura gave her a thumps up, Lance smiling encouragingly beside her, and suddenly Pidge understood the Amazon's plan.

The green paladin grinned and circled the table before leaning forward with her cue and struck. Three striped balls flew across the table in different directions, far away from the holes before they mysteriously rolled to the closest hole and sunk.

The three males' eyes bugged out of their heads.

"Was that okay?" Pidge asked innocently.

Ulavi rubbed his eyes, "Yeah," he croaked. "That's fine."

Lance was grinning, the proud grin of a woman who'd gotten exactly what she wanted while Allura was trying to muffle her laughter with her hand. Lance must have clued her in on the plan.

The game continued for the next few minutes, Pidge's shots mysteriously making their way into the holes thanks to Lance turning them in the right direction with her powers. Every now and then, Lance let some of the green paladins shots miss their marks as to not arouse suspicion.

In the end, Pidge pocketed ninety-five GAC, which wasn't nearly enough for what they needed so Lance suggested they play darts.

The males, wanting to win back their money, agreed immediately.

Not surprisingly, Lance dominated the game and pocketed another ninety GAC.

By then, most of the bar occupants had wandered over and had challenged them to various other games.

Allura and Lance wholeheartedly agreed, a couple of drinks in their hands, and Pidge grinned viciously as they kept winning game after game. They didn't even have to cheat on some.

Ulavi made a rumbling noise deep in his throat but challenged them to another game.

They only had ten minutes left until they had to meet back with the others back at the ticking clock and get the game and necklace that Allura and Pidge wanted.

Pidge turned in her stool so she could get a better view of her friends who were playing a board game with six other aliens a few tables away. There was a crowd surrounding them, some of them taking bets on the side to see who won in the end. Pidge took a drink of her cold milk, she'd asked for a cold one and they'd given her _milk_ , Lance almost bust a gut when she saw what they'd given the green paladin to drink.

Apparently you had to be a certain height in order to order any kind of alcohol. Pidge was off by a few inches! It didn't help that Lance and Allura refused to share their own drinks with her as well. The Amazon princess had gotten a blue drink with smoke coming out and it smelled really sweet. Allura got some red drink that had her staggering; it smelled of pineapple and lemonade.

The sound of numerous gasps had the green paladin making her way over to the gathered crowd to see what the big fuzz was about.

All eyes were on Lance; mixtures of horror and surprise aimed her way. All eight players had a few cards in their hands, another deck with facedown cards sitting next to them. Pidge turned to Lance to see her with a mischievous grin on her lips; two rolls of dice in one hand while the other hand carried her five cards.

"You're not serious!" Ulavi said, his cards trembling in his grip, "If you play Chitzoni there's a fifty-fifty chance that he'll attack all the opposing armies and bring you victory in one fell swoop sure, but if you roll an eight or lower, he'll turn on you instead and obliterate your army."

An octopus looking alien slammed one of its tentacles on the table, his red eyes raking over Lance with a leer, "She's bluffing!"

From across the table, a buff alien that looked a lot like a magickarp on steroids shook his head back and forth, "She wouldn't dare…"

The other aliens in the gathered crowd-about a dozen of them-smirked and snickered at the discomfort the other players were feeling.

Allura just watched their friend, a stunned expression on her face, and watched in silence.

Perhaps she knew the rules to this game Pidge thought.

Lance looked she was enjoying the attention, it looked like she was trying her best not to start laughing maniacally and freak everyone out. Instead, the blue paladin leaned forward and shot them all a broad smile, "That's just a risk I'm willing to take."

The gathered crowd gasped and the other players in the table started shaking in their seats.

Ulavi licked his mouth and narrowed his yellow eyes at her, "Do it then. If you dare."

Lance's smile turned wicked and she raised a fisted hand in the air before opening her palm and dropping the two rolls of dice on the table.

The only sound heard was the melancholy song playing through the speakers, as the crowd grew quiet.

Everyone surged forward and watched with a burning look as the dice continued to roll. Some of the other players looked like they were praying, Allura had a death grip on her drink, Pidge tightened her grip on her glass of milk before deciding to chug it down in one go.

The dice rolled one, twice, and stopped.

Everyone leaned forward and Lance started laughing like an evil villain from a Disney movie as the players threw down their cards with a curse.

Some of them even started crying in their seats.

Allura let out a sigh of relief and gave a still laughing Lance a tight hug. Pidge let out a whoop of joy and ran to her friends' side.

"So how much did we win?" the green paladin breathlessly asked when she made it to their side.

Lance looked back at Ulavi who was staring at his deck like it had offended him and gave him a sly smirk, "Tell her. How much did I win?"

The red alien gritted his teeth and mumbled something under his breath that Pidge couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry," Lance said, not looking sorry at all, "What was that?"

Ulavi slammed his hands on the table before rising to his feet and shouting, "Eighteen thousand GAC!"

Pidge's eyes almost bugged out of her head as she stared in shock. Holy Shit.

Someone suddenly slammed into her and Pidge lost her grip on her now empty glass of milk and gave a shout only to stop midway as the glass stopped its decent and hovered in the air a few inches away from smashing into the floor.

"Here you go Pidge," Lance said as she returned her glass to her with her powers.

The crowd gasped.

Ulavi shot to his feet again and pointed an accusing finger at the blue paladin, "You cheated!"

Lance blanched and the color seemed to drain from her face. Oh crap.

This wasn't good.

This wasn't good at all.

The rest of the players shot to their feet as well and began to surround Pidge and her friends as they threw shouted insults at them.

The three women from Voltron shared a look before nodding. Time to go.

Lance shot to her feet, gripped the edge off the table and threw it at the crowd.

"Run!" she shouted.

Pidge didn't need to be told twice.

A fight soon broke out, the other patrons of the bar wisely taking cover, while the bartender tried to stop all the nonsense. Pidge could have sworn she saw him take out a shotgun and aimed it anyone who came close to him.

In the chaos, Lance managed to swipe the bag of money from the floor and pulled Pidge and Allura to the closest exit.

Someone grabbed hold of Pidge's collar and the green paladin let out a yelp as she was ripped away from her friends. Lance and Allura stopped in their tracks, dodged the punches and chairs aimed their way, and punched the tentacle alien holding onto Pidge so hard she swore she heard something snap.

Despite the chaos, Lance was laughing her head off. The Amazon princess looked like she was having a grand time slamming bottles onto people heads, knocking a few aliens with a stool, at some point she even grabbed Ulavi and swung him around like a sword.

The phrase ' _Hit a motherfucker with another motherfucker'_ came up in her head when she saw her friends throwing bodies around.

Pidge couldn't help but laugh alongside her; Allura was punching anyone who came within three feet of them but she was laughing hard too.

Man, Pidge thought with a sly grin, if Lance ever had a bachelorette party she hoped it went just like this.

At one point, someone slammed a chair over the Amazon's head and everyone gasped.

Lance just turned around and glared before throwing out a punch that sent the alien through a few walls.

Pidge winced. Best to not tell Keith that.

Finally finding the exit, all three women surged forward and closed the door on the still furious crowd and took a few deep breaths.

The crowd was still pounding their fists at the door but Lance seemed to have no trouble keeping it close with one hand.

Her short brown hair looked like a rats nest, her red long sleeve shirt had a few cuts but she wasn't even sweating. She was still smiling widely as he gripped the bag of coins in her hands.

Allura's long silver hair looked no better, her dress had been cut to make running away easier and her bare tan legs were showing but she too looked giddy with excitement.

Pidge straightened up her askew glasses and winced when she saw that the sleeve of her yellow and green shirt had been ripped. Her short brown hair felt a little wet but she'd had a great time.

"So," Lance said with a smile, "Shall we go finish our shopping?"

Pidge seriously loved the blue paladin she thought with a grin.

* * *

"I said over medium!" Hunk shouted as he shoved a piece of meat to Sal's face and shook it, "Does this look over medium to you?"

Sal was standing ram rod straight, his eyes looking up at the ceiling to avoid the angry glare that the yellow paladin was directing at him, "No chef."

Hunk threw the meat onto the floor and Keith let out a laugh before Hunk's black eyes zeroed in on him. Oh crap.

"If it ain't perfect, it's not coming out of this kitchen! Keith, on your feet and get to work!"

Keith straightened up and gave the yellow paladin a salute before rushing to get the plates and spices for his friend. The blue bearded alien lady was going back and forth with piles of dirty dishes in her hands.

Sal was rushing back and forth and taking orders from the huge crowd they'd gathered. Keith felt a spark of amusement from Lance and he tried to zoom in and get a visual to find out what the fuck had her in such a good mood before Hunks eyes met his again and Keith surged forward to place the finished items on the plate.

Sal had un-cuffed both of them quite a while ago but Hunk refused to leave just yet.

The yellow paladin gave the finished products an assessing eye before declaring that they were good to go.

"Sauce me!" Hunk yelled and Sal appeared beside him in a flash, a yellow bottle in his hands that he handed over to Hunk.

"Now you're getting it!" Hunk yelled as he threw the bottle behind his back and easily caught it without looking back before he smeared a good portion on the plates before him. "Bon appetite!"

The crowd let out a round of applause at the show and Keith silently clapped along. Was cooking always this fun? No wonder Lance and Hunk liked to do it together. That also explained all the laughing those two did whenever they were in the kitchen by themselves.

Perhaps he and Lance could try cooking something together sometime…

A fat blue alien male with dark blue ears seated on one of those scooters old people use to get to their destinations, this one hovered, appeared and got in the yellow paladins face as he narrowed his eyes at him, "I got you pirates!" he declared as he cast a glare at Keith as well, "Where are your friends?"

Oh crap.

A mall cop.

Hunk let out a yelp and stumbled back before turning to Sal, "Don't forget what I thought you! Those are the fundamentals of cooking!"

And then he leaped forward so high he stepped on the blue aliens face before he was on his feet and running.

Keith let out a startled laugh and stepped on the mall cop as he was getting to his feet and tried to catch up to the yellow paladin.

The mall cop let out a yelp and tried to get on his feet.

Time to find the others and get the fuck out of here.

* * *

"Look!" Keith shouted as he pointed ahead, "There are the girls!"

Hunk turned to look ahead of them and sure enough all three women from their team were there coming out of a store with bags of merchandise in their hands.

"How come it looks like they got in a fight?" Hunk yelled to him as they began to get closer. Keith narrowed his eyes, he didn't know but he was going to find out.

The sound of shouting had both paladins turning their heads to see about a dozen burly aliens with bruises all over their bodies come running. One of the aliens looked around before pointing an orange finger at Lance and the girls.

"There they are!" he screamed.

The crowd surged forward and Lance laughed as she put both hands on her hips. "You'll never take us alive!"

And then Pidge gripped the Amazon's wrist and started dragging her away, Allura hot on their heels as the crowd began to chase after them.

Hunk and he shared a look before picking up speed and catching up to his fiancé who was still laughing, and the rest of their friends.

"What did you guys do?" Hunk yelled in accusation once he caught up to Allura.

The Altean princess gave a small shrug and refused to say anything.

Suspicious.

Keith picked up his pace before he took one of the bags that Lance was holding and intertwining his hand with her now free hand.

"What did you do?" the red paladin asked as they turned a corner in an attempt to lose the crowd.

Lance sent him a pout that didn't fool him for a minute, "What makes you think I did anything?"

Keith opened his mouth to answer but someone shouted over him.

"It's the brunette! She cheated!"

Keith gave his fiancée a droll stare and Lance's lips twitched.

Pidge let out a shout of laughter where she was running on Lance's other side. The green paladin was gripping two boxes to her chest, one of her sleeves in tatters.

Allura's dress was cut showing her bare legs and Lance looked no better.

"Get back here you pirates!"

Lance turned around to see a blue alien in a flying scooter yelling after them and shot Keith a grin.

"What did _you_ guys do?"

Keith shut his mouth with an audible click.

"Guys!" Allura shouted frantically, "It's a dead end!"

The rest of the paladins turned to look ahead of them only to see that she was right. The escalators were in the opposite direction, right where the crowd of burly aliens with bruises on them was waiting for them.

Lance grinned and surged forward as she pulled Keith along.

"Everyone jump!" she shouted.

"What?" they screeched.

"Trust me, I won't let us fall!" Lance shouted over her shoulder.

The other four shared a look before picking up there pace and jumped over the railing with a shout.

The crowd of burly aliens slid to a stop and threw them a vulgar gesture that had them grinning.

Lance spread her arms out wide and was laughing up a storm as the rest of her teammates screamed.

"Lance!" Keith screamed as he shook the arm he was gripping in his own hand.

Hunk covered his eyes as they neared the ground and screamed.

Allura put her hands around her dress and followed his example.

Pidge gripped the boxes in her hands tightly before shooting a glare at the blue paladin.

"Lance!" Pidge screamed as she tried to maneuver in the air to get closer to her and Keith. "Do something!"

They were almost about to be turned into pancakes when a force suddenly slowed their descent and they landed on their feet.

Hunk kissed the ground and mumbled a small thank you to the heavens.

Allura let out a warning shout that had them all turning to see the mall cop hot on their heels.

With a scream, they resumed their running.

"Hey look!" Pidge screamed breathlessly, "It's Coran!"

Sure enough, the Altean advisor was just coming out of a store, a bag cradled to his chest when he finally spotted them.

"Dude!" Hunk shouted at him, "We have to go!"

Allura gripped his hand when he stretched it towards her and all six of them picked up their pace as they shoved aliens to the ground in their haste to get away.

"Look!" Keith shouted as he pointed ahead, "There's the exit!"

As one they all neared the gate and looked back to see the mall cop slid to a stop in his scooter.

"That's right you pirates! And don't let me catch you in my jurisdiction again!"

* * *

"We got the lenses!" Coran shouted once they made it back to the castle of lions.

"Where's Shiro?" Keith asked as he looked around.

The doors to the bridge opened up and in came Shiro with Nyx, Kaltenecker and Nagini and Nagg hot on his heels.

The black paladin threw a smirk at Lance before reaching down and cradling Nagini and Nagg to his chest.

Lance narrowed her eyes and huffed.

Keith let out a laugh before turning to his long time friend, "So did you find a way to bond with your lion?"

"Yes," Shiro said as he rubbed Nagini on the head, "And we should get moving. We're headed for the blade of Marmora headquarters."

"I'll plot a course!" Coran announced and quickly left.

"By the way," Shiro said as he looked over the women in the team, "What happened to you guys? You look like you got into a fight."

Lance smiled at him so wide her white teeth showed, Allura and Pidge quickly placed their hands over the Amazons mouth to keep her from talking.

"Nothing." Pidge and Allura said.

Shiro gave them a droll stare before pinching his nose and letting out a long-suffering sigh, "Was it illegal?"

The women shared a look, silently having a conversation with each other before finally shaking their heads.

Keith leaned in close and took out a piece of…wood? From his fiancé's hair and raised a brow at her.

Lance blinked her eyes innocently and took the piece in her hands, "Now how did that get in there?"

Allura and Pidge covered their mouths to hide their snickers.

Shiro opened his mouth to question them again before the Amazon shoved a black shirt at him. Shiro caught it with one hand before spreading it wide and let out a scowl. "Really Lance?" he turned the shirt over and everyone laughed at the words ' _Space Dad'_ written there.

"It suits you." Lance said with a smile.

Shiro looked up at the heavens as if asking what he did to deserve such teasing from the blue paladin. Lance handed the rest of the team a shirt and everyone laughed at the words written there.

Keith's shirt said _'Mullet.'_

Pidge's shirt said _'Tech Expert.'_

Hunk's shirt said ' _Best Bro.'_

Allura's shirt said ' _Princess.'_

Coran's shirt said ' _Best Uncle.'_

And Lance's shirt said ' _Sharpshooter.'_

"I guess we better put the rest of the bags away," Allura said as she gripped the golden necklace around her neck with a smile.

"While you're doing that, I'm gonna hook up the game Lance and I bought!" Pidge said as she looked around in excitement.

"Yeah!" Lance exclaimed with a fist in the air, "Let's get this baby set up!"

Pidge took out the cables and looked around the room to see where they could plug the game in, "Where can we…How do…"

Pidge and Lance's eye twitched.

There was nowhere for them to set up their game.

Pidge let out a blood-curling scream, "No!"

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! They make me happy and trust me y'all want me to be happy._

 _Makes me write faster ;)_


	15. Chapter 15

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."  
― **J.K. Rowling** , **Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

Chapter 15

"Coran, how soon until we reach the Blade of Marmora base?" Shiro asked from behind the castle advisor.

Coran let out a hum as he tapped a few things in the monitor before him. Allura was standing at the center, both arms stretched at her sides as she guided the ship. Pidge and Hunk were standing beside her, expressions curious.

Keith himself was seated on one of the chairs to the right of the Altean princess, his expression serious.

"Based on the coordinates that Ulaz gave us," Coran began, "We should be there in fifteen dobashes."

Pidge shook her fisted hands up and down in excitement as she turned to Hunk, "I can't wait to see it! I mean, they were able to fold space-time and that was just at an outpost!"

Hunk let out a moan as he put a hand over his stomach, "Mmm, the space taco. It left us too soon."

Pidge made a face at him, "Well, sure, but my point is, imagine how amazing their home base will be!"

Hunk grinned at her, "Exactly! It could take on any shape. Like a space jelly donut!"

Keith shot them a glare from his seat, "Guys! This is a serious mission. Focus!"

Hunk and Pidge jumped in place and shot him a nervous look.

Shiro turned to look at his friend, his eyes narrowed, "Keith. Why don't you go and get Lance, we'll be reaching our destination soon. She should be here."

Keith furrowed his brows but got to his feet and started heading to the doors. From what he could sense, Lance was at the training room so it shouldn't take too long.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder just as he reached the door and Keith turned to see Shiro eyeing him in concern. "Hey, are you okay? You've been a little on edge since we started making our way to the Marmora base."

Keith sighed and raked a hand through his black hair, "Sorry. Just a lot on my mind I guess."

Shiro didn't look convinced but nodded, "Go check on Lance," his eyes turned teasing, "I'm sure that will make you feel better."

Keith shot him a glare but didn't deny it.

* * *

Lance was hovering cross-legged in the middle of the training room, about twenty steel plates that weighed more than sixty pounds hovering around her in midair. Her hands were on her knees, her eyes closed and her short chestnut hair floating around her. Every now and then blue sparks of electricity shot from her fingertips.

She was wearing black leggings and a blue strappy back sports bra that Keith immediately liked.

"Lance."

His fiancée tilted her head in his direction but didn't open her eyes.

"Coran says we'll be reaching the base in fifteen minutes. You'd better come to the bridge."

This time, Lance did open her eyes and the red paladin got his first look at those beautiful blue eyes that he loved so much look over him with a frown.

Her mind curled around his in question; Keith tried to hide his anxiousness from her but he probably didn't succeed if the frown she gave him was any indication.

"Don't freak out."

Before Keith could question her on what she meant, he let out a surprised yelp as Lance began to raise him up in the air until he was hovering next to her.

"Just relax," she said to him as he flayed his arms around in a panic, "I won't let you fall."

It took a bit of doing, but in the end Keith managed to sit cross-legged in front of Lance who was looking at him with a grin.

The red paladin let out a huff, "A little warning next time."

Lance had the audacity to laugh at him and Keith felt his lips twitch in amusement. Okay, so maybe it was a little funny.

"You're agitated," Lance stated as she looked at him curiously.

Keith couldn't help but deny it; Lance rolled her eyes and leaned forward to place her index finger between his eyes. "This little frown always gives you away."

Keith sighed and took hold of her hand to give it a squeeze. "Just a little anxious about reaching the base," he admitted as he ran his fingers over her knuckles, "Maybe this time I'll actually get answers about this blade that mom left me. Maybe she was part of the Blades."

"Maybe Ulaz will be there," Lance added helpfully, "Or maybe their leader knows something about it. It can't hurt to ask."

Keith gnawed on his lip. "Yeah, hopefully someone knows something." He glanced around the still hovering steel plates and turned back to Lance who was peering down at a big book. The red paladin squinted and upon closer inspection, noticed that it was the book that Lance's mom, the queen of Cloyetera, had given to her before they departed all those months ago. "So, what are you doing?"

Lance gestured to the steel plates with her left hand, "Training."

Keith nodded absently and poked at one of the steel plates hovering a little too close to him. The thing didn't even budge.

His fiancée placed the thick book in her lap and flipped a few pages before pointing at something. Keith leaned forward to get a closer look but frowned at the scribbles written there in another language. "According to this book, my great-great grandmother had the ability to put a protective shield around her body that would put the user in a deep sleep."

"A deep sleep?" Keith asked with a tilt of his head, "Like snow white kind of sleep?"

"What's a snow white?"

Keith waved his hand, "You know like in the Disney movie where this evil witch gave this girl a poisoned apple that put her in a deep sleep with the condition that only her true love would be able to wake her up."

Lance looked quite interested, "Really? Fascinating. Sounds romantic."

Keith frowned, "I don't think the girl appreciated eating a poisoned apple that put her in a deep sleep."

"Details."

Keith snorted, "So is it like that?"

Lance tapped her chin and flipped to the next page, "Kind of? This protective shield covers the users whole body. It starts from the tips of their toes all the way to the top of their head. The user has to set a condition that will wake them up though."

Interesting. "What kind of condition?"

"It can be anything really. For example, the user can put the condition that once they're in a safe place they'll be able to wake up. Or the presence of a certain someone will wake them from their deep sleep. Look see?"

Keith leaned forward to look at the pictures and saw a picture of a woman slightly glowing with her eyes closed. There were a few words written next to the picture and Lance flipped the page and began to read. "According to this, my great-great grandmother was a spy on the run that knew she was going to get caught sooner than she expected. Just as her enemies were closing in on her, she hid herself in a shed and started putting the shield around herself. It uses all your energy; just as the doors were ripped open, my great-great grandmother collapsed in a deep sleep." Lance flipped the page again and Keith eagerly leaned forward to hear more, "Her enemies tried everything to wake her up. Burning her, stabbing her, drowning her…at some point they tried to just bury her alive but nothing worked. And what was more surprising was the fact that no harm came upon her. The shield perfectly protected her. She just slept on, oblivious of what was happening around her."

Keith's eyes widened, "Whoa. Pretty cool. How long did she stay like that?"

Lance skimmed ahead, mumbling under her breath as she read ahead, "It says here that she stayed like that for three years!" Lance and he shared a wide look, "At some point, her husband's people found her and brought her body back to him. As soon as he came within a few feet of her, she opened her eyes and embraced him."

"Holy shit," Keith expertly avoided the punch aimed his way as he looked Lance over with a quizzical look, "Can _you_ do that too?"

His fiancée tapped her chin, "My mother seems to think so. I'd have to try it at some point just to be sure though."

"I'll gladly help out."

Lance snorted and tapped his nose to his annoyance, "You're just hoping I put the condition of you kissing me to wake me up."

Busted.

He shrugged good naturedly, "Can't blame a guy for trying."

Lance laughed and smiled, "Want to see something cool?"

Keith gestured to the floating steel plates, "Cooler than this?"

"Definitely."

Lance took her hand from his grip and hovered her two hands in front of her lap. At first nothing happened, but as he continued to stare, something began to form between her palms.

"Come on, come on," Lance muttered under her breath.

It was a sphere Keith realized with a jolt. A blue transparent sphere, the size of a snow globe really, that had appeared.

Lance wiped the small bead of sweat from her forehead and gave him a cheeky grin. "Pretty cool, right?"

Keith clapped his gloved hands together and Lance laughed, "I'll say. What is it?"

The blue paladin tilted her head as she considered her answer, "I think it's a shield."

"A shield?"

"Yeah, I can make it bigger." She scratched her nose and let out a nervous laugh, "Well, this is as big as I can get it so far. It used to be the size of a marble. Anyway, I tried punching it, stabbing it, even hit it with one of my lightning bolts but it didn't even crack." His fiancée leaned forward eagerly, her expression excited, "Imagine if I can make it bigger! I could shield the whole team from any incoming attacks!"

Keith found himself smiling, her joy was contagious. He was already feeling better, just like Shiro knew he'd be once he saw Lance.

Speaking of Lance, she was still talking and making wild gestures with her hands as she pointed at things from the book. Noticing his intense stare, his fiancée stopped abruptly and gave an embarrassed laugh. "I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry, I must have gotten carried away. It's annoying right? I'll stop now."

Keith placed his elbow on his knee and put his chin on his fisted palm, his face serious but his eyes teasing, "Well, I think you're purr-fect."

Lance's jaw dropped.

"Are you an astronaut? Because I can see stars in your eyes."

Lance's lips twitched.

Keith fluttered his eyelashes and gave her a coy smile, willing himself not to break character, "Are you an omelette? Because you're making me eggcited."

Lance threw her head back and started laughing, the steel plates around them twitching. Keith grinned, even as Lance lightly punched him in the shoulder. The small blue sphere that she had created dissolved into dust just as her concentration broke. "Keep that up and I might drop us both by accident."

Keith gave a one handed shrug, "I'll catch you in my arms."

A blush crept down her neck and she cleared her throat.

Keith was getting good at this flirting thing he realized with a grin. Before he'd met Lance, he would have never talked like this to anyone. He would have died from embarrassment at just the mere thought of it. But now, after meeting the Amazon, he didn't mind it so much.

Although he only did it in front of Lance, he didn't think he'd ever be ready (or willing) to do it in public in front of other people.

And if he ever did it in front of Pidge…he'd never live it down.

And if he did it in front of Shiro…forget about it.

"So are you done with your training?" Keith asked as he leaned his arms back only to remember that he was hovering in the air and the action might make him fall. Luckily for him, Lance didn't let him fall to what would have been a pretty embarrassing drop.

The blue paladin hummed to herself before pointing a finger to one of the stools in the left corner of the room where a stopwatch sat on top of it. Lance made a beckoning motion and the stopwatch flew to her hand.

"I've been at this for almost forty-five minutes. I suppose I can call it a day."

His eyebrows shot up, "Forty-five minutes? Lance, that's awesome!" he reached forward and ruffled her hair. The action had her smiling widely; he'd learned back in Cloyetera that Lance liked to be praised, add in a pat to the head or a slight ruffling of her hair and you'd get a wide smile in return.

Keith leaned forward and Lance met him halfway, their lips connecting softly.

With a gentle tug, he pulled her closer. Her right arm went around him. Keith eagerly leaned in more and felt his thoughts slide away.

He was suddenly too warm, too everything.

Her breath was a soft murmur against his skin.

Sparks of electricity shot forward as Lance trailed her hands through his hair. Despite how much she teased him for having a mullet, the Amazon couldn't seem to stop herself from running her hands over his black hair.

Keith didn't mind, a little hair pulling never hurt anyone.

The Amazon princess seemed to love it when he did it to her after all. Now if she could grow her hair a little more…

The blue paladin laughed in his mind as the thought drifted to her. In retaliation, Keith nibbled on her lower lip and Lance released a needy moan that had him smiling.

Kissing Lance never got old. In fact, it was one of his favorite past times, he could kiss her all day and never get tired of it.

Unfortunately for him, his teammates did not seem to appreciate it (except for the Alteans, they seemed to love it) and let out loud groans whenever the two of them started a make-out session.

Lance insisted that they were just jealous.

Pidge assured them with a roll of her eyes that they weren't.

Lance insisted they were in denial.

If it lasted too long or got a little loud, Shiro would come and break it up to Keith's annoyance. The black paladin could be such a prude.

Lance pulled away first and Keith almost whined at the action. "We have to get to the bridge, I think our fifteen minutes are up."

It took a pathetically long time for his thinking to change directions, from the make-out session that he and Lance just had, to the mission they were about to start once they reached the Blade of Marmora base.

Keith let out a loud groan but sighed in defeat. "Fine."

He was not pouting like a five year old, he swears it.

Lance began to slowly lower them to the ground, the steel plates and the book included, until their feet touched the ground.

The blue paladin stumbled and the steel plates fell with a resounding thud as Keith caught his fiancée in his arms before she could fall to the floor.

"Sorry," she mumbled onto his black shirt, "Guess I used a little too much energy."

Keith gripped her shoulders and looked at her in amusement, "Piggy back ride?"

Lance blinked at him, the corners of her mouth tilting up, "Oh, my god yes."

The red paladin released a small laugh and turned around before crouching, "Climb on."

Lance didn't need to be told twice. With an eagerness that didn't surprise him, Lance hastily clamored onto his back and placed her hands around his neck. "Giddy up horsey!" she lightly hit him on the sides with her legs and Keith rolled his eyes but complied.

"Stop squirming Lance! If you fall I won't be carrying your carcass back."

Lance snorted and lightly bit him on the shoulder, "Please, you _so_ would." She poked his cheek and Keith turned his head in an attempt to bite her finger only to miss, "Because you love me," she sang as she leaned a little closer.

Keith suppressed a shiver and tilted his head to the side so he could cast an annoyed brow at her.

Lance's chin was perched on his shoulder, her blue eyes shining in the light as her chestnut hair fell to the side. She was looking at him with a sweet smile and his irritation melted into fond exasperation.

They passed the kitchen and walked along the white hallway, the lights bright as they made their way to the bridge where the rest of their teammates were waiting for them.

"And know how it rains, and know how it pours," Lance softly sang against his shoulder, "I never could feel this way, for anyone but you..."

Keith laughed even as Lance bit his shoulder in an attempt to make him sing along. "Moby?"

"Yes," Lance said, humming under her breath. "It's a good song."

"I know," he grinned, his face lightning up at the sight of Lance's face nestled into his neck, still singing softly under her breath.

If only it could always be like this he thought. But they both had responsibilities, they were paladins of Voltron and they had been given the task of taking down Zarkon and his army.

Plus, Lance would one day become queen back in Cloyetera and lead the Amazons.

Still…having moments like this was nice. Before Lance had joined their team, everyone had been pretty wired up. Keith most of all. He'd always be off in the training room, always tense and serious, hardly talking to his teammates.

All he would think about was the mission.

It was his sole purpose.

He didn't have anything back on Earth.

His father had died when he was in middle school and didn't have any relatives for Keith to be handed over to.

He'd been in foster care for a while but it never really worked out.

They'd always return him.

If it wasn't for Shiro and his family adopting him in high school he might have gone crazy.

He and Shiro had joined the Garrison during their last years of high school and sure he hadn't made any friends there but he was okay with that. He still had Shiro and that was enough.

But then Shiro had disappeared in a mission and presumed dead.

His whole world turned apart right then and there and eventually he got himself kicked out of the Garrison.

To distract himself from the loss of his friend, Keith had focused on the strange frequency that he had accidentally intercepted.

That's when a small cruiser crash-landed on Earth and Keith had found Shiro again. That's how he met Pidge and Hunk; they had seen the crash as well and had gone to investigate.

Once they'd gotten Shiro to a safe place, Keith had been overjoyed, his friend was back!

His friend had told them about the Galra and how they wanted something that was located on Earth.

Keith told them about the frequency and that's how they found the yellow lion inside one of the caves.

Hunk had been the only one able to turn it on and that's how all of them found themselves taken to space where they found Allura and Coran in a healing chamber.

With the Alteans awake, Keith was given a new mission, a new purpose and he dove right into it.

Thinking back on it, he couldn't help but wince at how he used to act. He was always so serious, he'd get so angry at his teammates whenever they joked around while on a mission but now he realized that it was just their way of coping.

Meeting Lance changed him.

She'd been able to make him smile, and _laugh._

God, it had been such a long time since he'd laughed. It was nice. Everyday he was thankful for meeting the Amazon princess and even more thankful that she'd agreed to marry him.

Keith knew he wasn't the most attractive guy out there, and he didn't get jokes all that well but Lance seemed to love him despite all his little flaws.

Everyone on the team seemed to love her as well.

With her around, his teammates were openly smiling more often.

Even Shiro was smiling, despite all the teasing Lance did to him.

He loved Lance.

And she loved him.

When they finished their mission and they defeated Zarkon, he was going to take her with him and travel the universe and show her everyday how loved she was.

"Oh Keith…" Lance murmured, her voice breaking a little.

Keith stopped in his tracks and blushed. Had she heard all that?

Lance kissed him on the cheek and clung tighter, "Oh yes. I definitely heard."

Great. Now he was feeling embarrassed. He was such a sap.

Lance laughed, "Well I happen to love this sap."

Keith smiled and stopped before the two metal doors leading to the bridge. "Looks like we're here."

"So it seems, perhaps after this you and I could have some alone time?"

Keith's heart stopped. Was she insinuating…

The doors to the bridge swooshed open and Keith practically staggered inside. The rest of their teammates turned to greet them and frowned.

"Keith?" Shiro asked, taking a step forward in his direction, "Are you okay? You're looking a little red."

"Umm," was all he could manage.

Lance jostled him and he crouched down so she could get off.

Pidge snorted, her brown eyes teasing, "It was probably Lance's fault."

The blue paladin grinned and shot a finger gun at her, "Bingo."

Hunk and Allura chuckled in amusement and Coran wiggled his eyebrows in Keith's direction that only had him turning redder.

"Lance," Shiro slightly scolded, his body turning to the Amazon, "Stop teasing him. He can't handle it."

Keith bristled even as the rest of his teammates gave confirmations of their own. A tap to his mind had him turning to look at his fiancée.

' _We'll talk later_ '

Damn straight they will.

* * *

"The base is in range." Coran announced.

All eyes turned to the castle advisor at the front.

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, "Take us in slowly."

"Umm," Coran nervously mumbled, "That might prove a tad difficult."

Hunk gasped beside Pidge, "Is that a black hole?"

"No, no no no," Coran said with a shake of his head, "It's _two_ blacks holes. And a giant blue star."

Before them were two black holes with a giant blue star in the middle. The sheer brightness of it had all of them shielding their eyes.

Hunk made a face, "That's not better."

Pidge stepped forward, her eyes on the two black holes, her expression serious, "No kidding. Just inside one black hole the temperature is one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. But, just outside of that, its hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius."

Hunk made a sound of understanding beside the green paladin, "I get it. So it's like when you try to nuke a frozen burrito in the microwave, and it comes out scorching hot on the outside, but it's still frozen in the middle."

Lance released a moan, "Great. Now I'm hungry."

"Guys," Keith warned them, "Focus." The red paladin turned to the castle advisor, "Coran, where's the base located?"

Coran looked back on the blue screen before him before tapping a few buttons and zooming in on the giant blue star. "There," he pointed at three black spots, "In between those three deadly celestial objects."

Pidge made a face, "The perfect defensive position."

"Or the perfect trap," Allura added with a scowl. Her blue turquoise eyes were narrowed as she looked at the screen. She'd changed into her pink and white armor, her long silver hair tied in a tight bun so she could be ready for anything.

The yellow paladin shot a nervous look around his teammates, the orange cloth wrapped around his forehead slightly tilting at the side, "Yeah, I'm with Allura on this one. Maybe we shouldn't like, go in there at all?" he suggested nervously as he played with his fingerless black gloves.

"What?" Keith snapped, his black eyes turned to slits as he glared at Hunk, "This is the whole reason we came out here! We have to go!"

Lance placed a comforting hand on her fiancée's shoulder and Keith took a deep breath. "Calm down. They get that, they're just being cautious."

Keith slumped and sighed, "Right. Sorry. But we have to go," he insisted with a pout.

Hunk waved away his apology and offered him a big smile, "No worries dude. We should be careful though."

"Right." Keith offered him a small smile before turning to look at Shiro who was watching everyone, "So, what do we do?"

Before the black paladin could say anything a strange purple symbol appeared on the screen and a robotic female voice spoke, " _Identify yourself."_

Shiro narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his black jacket, "Open a hailing frequency, Coran."

The castle advisor nodded and leaned forward to do what their leader said. After a few more taps, Coran turned to Shiro and nodded.

Shiro nodded back and turned to the screen before him, "We are the Paladins of Voltron, sent here by Ulaz."

Everyone waited with baited breath to see how the Blades of Marmora would respond. After what felt like an eternity, the symbol on the screen changed and the robotic female voice was back, " _Two may enter. Come unarmed."_ And then the screen turned back to the giant blue star sitting between the two black holes.

Allura narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her armor, "Why would they insist we come unarmed?" She turned to look at the black paladin at the front, "Shiro, this doesn't feel right."

Shiro frowned but turned back to the screen, "I know. But we've come too far to turn back now."

"Besides," Hunk added helpfully, "If they try to do anything to us, Lance should be able to see it coming." He nudged the blue paladin on the ribs, "Right buddy?"

Lance tapped her chin, "If they're within a certain distance yeah. I should be able to read their thoughts and if they come aboard the ship, I'll definitely know."

"They've sent us a route to the base," Coran announced from where he was peering down at his screen, "We'll have to move fast though, because of the solar flares it'll only be open for another varga. After that, the entrance will close for two quintants."

Hunk gasped, "They're going to close it for two years?"

Lance giggled as the green paladin gave Hunk a droll stare, "Two days."

Shiro nodded and walked up to his longtime friend, "Keith you're with me. The rest of you will stay here and guard the ship while Keith and I take the red lion down."

Lance gave him a mock salute, "Don't worry Shiro. The ship is in good hands."

Shiro gave her a reassured smile, "Thanks Lance. And while we're gone, no food experiments with Coran."

Coran's shoulders drooped and he kicked the ground with a pout as Lance turned indignant eyes at the black paladin, "But dad!"

Shiro's eye twitched at the name, "No Lance. Don't make me send you to your room."

Lance's jaw dropped even as Pidge started laughing and she turned to glare at Allura whose lips were twitching, "Mom! Do something!"

Shiro choked on his own spit and Keith had to fight the urge to start laughing as Allura simply shrugged her shoulders and shot the black paladin a grin, "Sorry Lance. Listen to your father."

Shiro shot accusing eyes at the Altean princess as everyone began to laugh at his expanse. The black paladin pinched his nose and prayed for patience, "You guys are terrible."

Pidge and Hunk grinned. "Please. You love us."

"Unfortunately," said Shiro, exchanging looks with Keith who shrugged his shoulders, "Anyway, you ready to go?"

"Ready when you are." Keith said.

"Then let's go." Shiro said, and began to walk to the metal door before turning back to Lance who was giving Keith a goodbye hug, "And Lance," the blue paladin turned curious blue eyes at him, "Put a shirt on."

Lance rolled her eyes, "Goodbye Shiro."

* * *

Minutes later, Shiro and Keith were both boarding the Red lion and making their way to the Marmora base. Both of them had changed into their paladin armor, Keith was in the pilot seat while Shiro stood beside him leaning forward.

So far so good Keith thought as he maneuvered Red on the route they've been given.

"Keith, is everything all right?" Shiro asked as he turned to regard him.

Keith didn't even turn to him, his eyes trained on the monitor before him. "I'm fine."

"You almost blew up at everyone over there. You'll have to control your emotions if you're going to lead this team today."

Keith let out a nervous laugh, his eyes briefly looking at Shiro before turning back to the screen, "You're joking right?"

Shiro shook his head, "if anything ever happens to me, I want you to take over and lead Voltron."

Keith made a face and he gripped the controls in his grip a little tighter, "You and I both know that Lance would be much better suited for that role. She's a princess, she's been trained to lead people."

Shiro frowned as he looked him over, "While I agree with that, Lance has already turned me down."

Keith whipped his head to look at his friend, "She did what?"

"She thinks _you_ should do it. Lance and I both agree that you have lot of potential, so if anything ever happens to me, you'll take over and Lance will be more than willing to help you out."

Keith scowled. A part of him wanted to bash his head in. He didn't want to be a leader. He wasn't cut out for that. That role should go to Lance, at least the Amazon princess already how to lead with all the training she's had to do in order to take over the crown and rule the Amazons back in Cloyetera.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Keith asked as he tried to change topics, "Nothing's going to happen to you."

Shiro clamped a hand on his shoulder and Keith turned to look at his long time friend with a pout, "It's just in case. I need you to get focus. When you and Allura ran off, you put us all in jeopardy so if you're going to be a leader someday, you need to put your head on straight."

Keith sighed; it was no use arguing against Shiro when he got all serious like this, "Sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind." He allowed himself a small smile, "Lance helps though."

"So I noticed," Shiro said, a teasing smile forming and Keith let out a relieved smile, thankful that the topic had been successfully diverted. He wasn't going to become leader. Nothing was going to happen to Shiro and if something did, gods forbid, he'd make sure that Lance took over the position.

His fiancée was a goofball but she knew when to get serious. Lance was strong, everyone on the team already loved her, and she'd make a fine leader.

Better than he ever could.

"I'm glad she makes you happy," Shiro continued, oblivious to his inner musing, "But could you tell her to give me back my whistle already?"

Keith smirked, "Not a chance."

Shiro pouted, his bottom lip wobbling, "Oh great. She's converted you too."

Keith laughed.

The Red lion suddenly started shaking and both paladins let out shouts of surprise. Shiro took hold of the back of the chair and gripped it tightly as to not lose his balance. "What's happening?"

Keith let out a grunt and tried to steer the Red lion, "It's one of the black holes! It's pulling us in!"

The Red lions alarms were blaring in warning from the inside and Keith let out a frustrated growl as he tried to get control back. He turned on the boosters on the Red lions back hind legs and used the floating rocks as leverage and jumped from rock to rock until they successfully managed to get away from the black hole that had been steering them in.

Keith let out a relieved sigh and wiped the small bead of sweat on his forehead and willed his wildly beating heart to calm down, "We did it. We're out."

Shiro let out a relieved sigh of his own and smiled at him, "Good job Keith."

Keith beamed at the praise.

* * *

"Over there!" Shiro pointed with an armored hand. Keith followed his gaze to see a particularly giant black asteroid shaped like a curved animal tooth that was floating around. It had spiky edges at the top and from he could see, purple lights flashing out from what he assumed were windows.

The red paladin steered Red towards it and landed safely on top of the giant rock. Shiro and he exited and frowned upon seeing nothing but a flat black surface.

Keith exchanged a confused frown with the black paladin, "Is this it? It looks like a plain asteroid."

The ground a few feet from them started rumbling before the ground began to part. Keith and Shiro both took defensive stances only to relax once they saw two Blade of Marmora members appear from the parted ground.

Both Galra were dressed in nothing but black body suit armor, a black cloak around their heads, and a black mask with three glowing circles, two where the eyes would be and a third purple glowing circle where their nose would be.

One of the Blades was tall and lean, the ceremonial sword strapped to his thigh while his partner looked pretty bulgy, two daggers on his back and the ceremonial dagger strapped to his right hip.

Keith and Shiro exchanged another look before they started walking towards the two Blade members.

* * *

All four of them stepped inside what Keith could only describe as an elevator and waited in silence as they began to descend. Keith had his arms crossed over his shoulders while his friend tried to look less threatening.

Keith couldn't see it because of their masks but he was pretty sure the two Blade members were looking at them. He could practically feel the intense mistrust they were emanating from where he stood.

The elevator stopped and everyone waited as the giant metal door slid open and Keith's eyes widened at what he saw. There were about twelve Blade members in front of them, all of them wearing the same dark body armor, black cloak, and black mask with the three purple glowing circles. At the sight of them, all twelve members formed two lines and parted so Keith and Shiro could walk in the middle to make their way to another Blade member that was standing on a podium, his arms clasped at his back.

When Keith and Shiro were within a few feet of the Blade member standing at the podium, he began to speak.

"I am Kolivan." He said, with a slight tilt of his head in their direction, "Leader of the Blade of Marmora."

Shiro stepped forward, his black and white armor glinting from the lights hanging overhead. Above them was that strange purple symbol that looked a little curved that had appeared back on the ships monitors.

"I am Shiro, leader of the Voltron and the black paladin," he gestured a hand to Keith who inclined his head, "And this is Keith, the red paladin."

Kolivan didn't move and Keith couldn't tell what expression he was wearing because of that mask but Keith was starting to get annoyed at all the stares he could feel at his back from the rest of the Blades.

"I know who you are," Kolivan said, his voice a little deep and muffled under the mask. Kolivan stretched an arm out and another Blade climbed the three steps before stopping at his side. "Ulaz has informed us."

"Ulaz?" Shiro asked, his eyes lightning up.

The Blade at his side removed his mask and some of the tension seeped from both paladins at the sight of a familiar face. Light purple skin, yellow eyes, and a small patch of white hair in the middle of his head, Ulaz looked a little skinnier but still the same.

Ulaz inclined his head at them both, "I'm glad you could make it," his head tilted to the side, face curious, "I assume you found out how Zarkon was tracking you?"

"Yes," Shiro answered, "We've dealt with the problem. There is no need to worry."

Kolivan moved his head from Ulaz to both paladins before turning his head forward, "You were told to come unarmed."

Keith glared and stepped forward, "You also told us to ID ourselves. The lions are about as close as we come to an ID."

Shiro spoke up after him, his voice a little angry, "If anything happens, believe me you'll be happy to have the Red lion on your side."

"I imagine we would. However, I wasn't referring to your beast," Kolivan replied, his head lowered.

Before Keith even noticed, a Blade member ran up to him, lifted his right arm and twisted it before hitting him on the back of the knee and sending him to the ground. The Blade twisted his arm behind his back, put a knee on his back and snatched the small dagger that was left to him by his mother.

Shiro yelled out his name and tried to help but another Blade stepped in front of him and blocked his view.

"He has one of our daggers," the Blade pinning him down reported. The Blade pressed his knee harder into his back and Keith suppressed a groan as the blade leaned close to her and hissed at him, "Whom did you steal this from?"

Ulaz took three steps forward, his face anxious, "Wait! You don't understand!"

Kolivan lifted a hand and Ulaz shut his mouth.

Keith turned his head to the side, his voice angry, "I didn't!" he snapped at him, "I've had this all my life!"

The Blade holding him down scoffed "Lies!"

"Can you corroborate your friends statement?" Kolivan asked Shiro, "Does this blade really belong to him?"

Shiro looked confused as he looked back at his friend, "I-I'm not sure."

Keith tried to move his face to look at his friend but the Blade holding him down refused to budge, "Shiro, you know me. You know I would never steal it. I've had this knife as long as I can remember." His black eyes turned pleading, "I'm not lying."

The Blade at his back tightened his hold on Keith's arm, "We can't trust anything he says."

Kolivan lifted his head, his voice determined, "Our organization is built on secrecy and trust. You two should leave. Now." His voice left no room for argument.

The Blade holding Keith down loosened his hold and got to his feet. The red paladin threw a glare at him and rubbed his now sore arm as Shiro stepped beside him to inspect if he was okay.

Satisfied that his friend was all right, the black paladin threw an angry glare at the leader of the Marmora, "We came her to form an alliance, but clearly we're not welcome here." Shiro threw one last glare at Kolivan before turning his back to him, "Come on Keith, we're leaving."

"Not without some answers," Keith said, not budging from his spot as he turned back to look at Kolivan. "This blade belonged to my mom. I need to know, was she a member of the Blade of Marmora."

"Your friend is right," Kolivan said, completely dismissing the red paladin, "It's time for you to go."

"Answer me!" Keith yelled taking a step forward.

The other Blades tensed and reached for their weapons. Shiro stood closer to his friend and eyed the rest of the Blades wearily.

For a moment Kolivan just stood there in silence and Keith let out a growl and took another step forward before Kolivan spoke, "You seek knowledge? There's only one way to acquire knowledge here." He waited for dramatic affect, "the trials of Marmora. If you are successful, you may keep the blade and I will answer all your questions to the best of my ability."

"Survive?" Shiro exclaimed walking back to Keith's side to grip his shoulders, "Keith, this is crazy. If they're not going to help us, then we're leaving."

Keith turned narrowed eyes at his friend, "I'm not going anywhere. I _have_ to do this."

He needs to know about his mother. Was she a Blade? Why did she leave her weapon behind? Did she intend for him to follow in her footsteps? He doesn't know, but he's so close to learning the truth. If he has to go through these trials to find out then so be it. Keith wasn't leaving.

Kolivan tilted his head to the Blade that had been holding Keith, "Antok, give the boy a blade."

Keith turned around to see a big boned Blade a good feet taller with a tail handing him a weapon, Keith reached forward to take it but the Blade tightened his grip on the blade and leaned closer to hiss at him, "We shall meet again."

Keith glared at him, "Can't wait."

"There are two things that could happen at these trials," Kolivan said and Keith turned his attention back to the Marmora leader, "Knowledge or death."

* * *

Okay, so perhaps Keith wasn't as skilled as he thought he was.

After making him change into a full black body suit similar to what the Blades wore, Keith was taken to a room with black metal walls with bright lights and only one door at the far end.

Keith only had to wait seconds before a Blade member appeared from the ground where the floor split up. The Blade had launched himself at the red paladin and despite landing a few good hits, Keith was clearly outmatched.

"Forfeit the blade and this will all be over." The Blade said to him as he twisted Keith's arm behind his back.

"I refuse," Keith hissed back.

The Blade kicked him away from him and gestured to the door. "Then the pain continues. You are not meant to go through that door."

Keith bristled but kept himself from launching at the Blade. Lance and Shiro had repeatedly reminded him about keeping his temper and check. If he didn't he would get himself into a lot of trouble.

Taking a deep breath the red paladin cautiously walked past the Blade and made his way to the door.

Upon reaching the next room, Keith almost turned back. The new room…looked exactly like the previous room he'd been in.

This time, two blades rose up from an opening in the ground and took defensive stances. Keith took a defensive stance as well and gripped the blade that he'd been given just as the two Blades ran at him.

"Lance is going to be so pissed," he muttered under his breath as he parried blow after blow that the two Blades were throwing at him.

Not surprisingly, Keith lost.

These Blades of Marmora were fucking skilled.

Still…despite the fact that he lost the fight they repeated the same thing that the previous Blade had said about him not meant to go through the door but he ignored them and went anyway.

This was getting fucking annoying.

Keith had lost track of how many rooms he'd gone through but he was so fucking tired. The last fight he had, there were about twelve Blade members. Or at least he thinks there were. He'd lost count when they all sprinted at him.

Keith's whole body throbbed, he was pretty sure that he would have bruises.

Lance was definitely going to be pissed when she saw him.

What would Lance do?

Break everything apart until she found a way out probably. Split open the floor where all the Blades kept coming out of or electrocute all the Blade members until they talked even though she could just read their minds.

Wait…

Break everything apart?

Split open the floor?

Keith looked back at the door with weary eyes. He'd kept trying the door all this time, despite the fact that all the Blades told him he wasn't meant to go through it.

His eyes went to the floor.

He hadn't tried going through there…

He shrugged, it couldn't hurt to try.

As soon as the next batch of Blades began to rise from the ground, Keith ran ahead and slid down the shaft just as it began to close.

He fell to a slide and he hissed at the movement but thankfully it didn't last very long to reach the ground.

The new area was empty, no signs of any Blade members whatsoever.

Keith let out a sigh of relief as he staggered forward, a hand over his chest. Everything hurt. Every step forward only made his wounds throb, his vision began to get blurry and Keith rapidly blinked his eyes to stay awake.

Perhaps a little nap wouldn't hurt. That floors looks nice and inviting, it looks cool.

With another groan of pain Keith crumbled to his knees and fell to the floor. He tried to get up but thought better of it and just decided to lie there.

A little nap then. Just to rest up before the next fight.

* * *

"You did it buddy." A familiar voice said in the background.

"I'm so proud of you Keith," A feminine voice said.

Keith blearily opened his eyes to see both Shiro and Lance crouching before him with proud smiles aimed at him.

"Need a hand?" Shiro asked looking down at him.

Keith reached his hand and Shiro took it firmly in his own before pulling him to his feet. Lance was at his side immediately, her hand cupping his face and looking at him in worry.

The red paladin gave her a pained smile and placed his hand on top of Lance's, "How did you get here? Shouldn't you be back at the castle?"

For some reason, he couldn't catch a scent of Lance's perfume. Maybe he was just really tired?

Shiro stepped next to them to answer, "Pidge and Hunk managed to find a way to get inside and Lance volunteered to come."

Lance nodded as she stepped back, she was wearing her blue and white paladin armor but she'd taken her helmet off so her chestnut hair was visible, "You did good Keith. They showed me the videos of your fight. You ready to go back now?"

Keith furrowed his brows, confused, "What are you talking about?"

Shiro placed an armored hand on his forehead and frowned, "You're obviously not feeling well. Just give them the blade and we'll go back to the castle. You don't have to go through anymore trials."

Lance nodded beside the black paladin, "He's right Keith. Just give them the blade and we'll all go back."

Something was wrong here. Lance would never tell him to give up his blade. She'd supported his decision in finding out the truth about his blade and his mom, she would never say this. Something was obviously wrong here, he could feel it.

"I can't do that Lance. We talked bout this remember?" Keith shook his head at his friends and took a step back, "I'm not done here. It's important that I-"

Shiro arched an eyebrow, "Keith, it's just a blade." His voice sounded incredulous, "It doesn't even look like it'd be good in a fight."

Keith took another step back and balled his fists together.

"You don't understand Shiro. This belonged to my mom." Keith began to explain, "I need to know if she was a Blade herself. And if she was, why did she leave? Did she want me to follow in her footsteps?"

Lance scoffed and Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Keith," Shiro began, his voice soft as if he were speaking to a toddler, "You're a paladin of Voltron. That's all you need to know."

"Shiro is right," Lance said, her blue eyes trained on him with an intense stare, "We're your family. _I_ am your family. Or at least I will be. Once we get married. Aren't we enough?"

Lance looked like she wanted to cry and Keith felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Lance should never cry, and especially not because of him. Shiro placed both of his hands on the blue paladins shoulders from behind her and turned pleading eyes to Keith, "Don't you care about us? I thought we were family?"

"Of course you are!" Keith shouted, his hand reaching for his friends but both of them took a few steps back, "You're both important to me. Everyone on the team is, but guys," his eyes turned desperate as he tried to make them understand, "I _have_ to do this."

Lance let out a sob and Keith staggered back as the blue paladin turned angry eyes at him, "You clearly don't think of us as family. Please," she begged and Keith's eyes widened as a few tears ran down her cheeks, "Come home Keith. Come back with me."

Keith slowly shook his head and his voice broke, "I can't!" he had to know. He was so so close.

"Yes you can Keith!" Shiro snapped at him, he was breathing hard and the look of betrayal on his eyes made Keith's heart clench painfully, "You just refuse to. All you have to do is give them the knife and this will all be over!" Lance began to cry harder and Shiro pulled her to his chest as he glared at Keith, "How can you be so selfish?"

This was wrong. What were his friends saying? Lance had said that she supported him, why was talking like this? And Shiro…he always had his back. Why was he turning his back on him now when Keith needed his support?

"I've made my choice," Keith said firmly and the look of utter despair that his friends gave him nearly destroyed him.

Lance lifted her head from Shiro's chest, her eyes stricken. Shiro's arms trembled from where he was holding the blue paladin and looked at him as if he didn't know him.

"I thought you chose me," Lance whispered, her voice broken. The blue paladin wiped the tears from her eyes and sent him a glare so fierce Keith was afraid she might strike him but instead she just got out of Shiro's embrace and wiped all emotions from her face and gave him a blank look.

As if she were looking at a complete stranger.

"Then I guess we'll go," Lance said, her voice cool, "It seems we're not wanted here. You always seemed to like doing things alone anyway, haven't you?"

The words cut deep and had him trembling.

He didn't want to lose Lance. Or Shiro.

Perhaps this was a mistake after all.

Shiro put a comforting hand on the Amazon's shoulder and started to guide her to the exit. He threw a glare at Keith, "I'm so disappointed in you Keith."

Keith panicked and he reached a hand out to stop them from leaving but Shiro pulled himself and Lance away from his reach without looking back and kept walking.

Keith began to run, screaming both of his friends' names but no matter how much he screamed and ran he couldn't reach them. Shiro and Lance kept retreating farther and farther away from him until a bright light engulfed them and they disappeared.

Keith covered his eyes and let out a last scream but no one answered back.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a familiar room. In fact, he was back on the shack where he and his dad had lived out in the dessert.

Same wooden walls. Same old TV perched on a coffee table in the corner of the room. That same ugly red couch that had sprints on it making everyone who saw on it uncomfortable.

The white drape covering the windows because they hadn't had time to go buy curtains.

The same three books on a small shelf

But what struck him the most was the man standing in the center of the room, his back to him. The man was taller than him, leaner with big strong arms that used to carry him from room to room with ease.

Same brown jacket, black pants and same sneakers.

The man turned around and Keith gasped.

It was his dad.

He looked like an older version of Keith; only difference was that his dad had brown hair with small bangs and brown eyes. There was an old scar across one of his eyebrows and he was smiling at him.

"Dad?" Keith whispered as he took a hesitant step forward.

He looked so real. But he couldn't be. His dad had died a long time ago. He couldn't be here looking healthy and smiling at him.

"Welcome home son," he said in his southern accent.

Keith felt the urge to cry. Everything felt so real, his voice, the way he stood with one hip jutting out, his stance casual. A part of him wanted to rush forward and embrace him but he refrained. This couldn't be real.

A sudden rumbling from outside made the whole room shake. The sounds of shots being fired startled him. What was happening outside?

"Don't worry, it's nothing." His father says before smiling and pointing at the couch, "Don't you want to catch up with your old man?"

Of course he did.

The sound of explosions and more rumbling made him turn his head to the window. What was happening? Why wasn't his father concerned?

If he could go over to the window he could just lift the white drape and find out what's going on outside.

Fuck it.

Ignoring his fathers' shout, Keith rushed forward and hastily lifted the white drape to peer outside. His eyes widened.

The Galra were here on Earth.

He could see people running around in a panic, screaming when one of the Galra's came after them.

Keith squinted and leaned forward to see…the rest of his teammates?

All of them were out there escorting the civilians to safety as Lance tried to keep the Galra at bay. Where were their lions? Why were they fighting on foot?

A familiar scream made him turn his attention to the sky to see a spear pierce through Lance's stomach. The Amazons let out a scream and began to fall from the sky. The others screamed her name before Hunk barreled his way over in the direction she was falling.

The yellow paladin had tears running down his face but he kept blasting Galra after Galra with his Bayard as he tried to reach the blue paladin who had crashed into the ground so hard she left a crater behind.

Keith couldn't breathe.

Just as the yellow paladin reached his friends side, a robeast suddenly appeared and threw one of its red beans at them.

Hunk threw his body on top of Lance's to try and cover her but it didn't matter. The blast hit them dead on and Keith fell to his knees as the dust cleared and he saw a blue sphere dissolve into dust, Lance and Hunk unconscious.

Pidge let out a broken scream and fired at the robeast to no avail. Shiro ran to her side and scooped her in his arms, his eyes frantic.

Allura and Coran fired beams from the castle but five more Robeasts appeared and destroyed the particle barrier surrounding the castle.

"I shouldn't be here," Keith, mumbled out in shock, "I should be out there helping them." He threw a punch at the wall and closed his eyes, "If I had helped them, Lance and Hunk would not had gotten hurt."

Keith staggered to his feet and started heading for the door.

"Don't you want to know about your mother?" his father asked from behind him. Keith's hand stopped inches from the door and he hesitated, "Don't you want to know the truth? You're mother will be here soon. She'll explain everything."

The screams outside turned frantic and Keith swiveled his head to the window.

Keith reached for the door again and his father shot to his feet, "If you go out that door you'll never know the truth. You'll never know about your mom!"

The words hurt.

After everything he went through, he would never know.

But if he stayed, he'd lose more than he would gain.

The choice was easy.

Keith gripped the knob in his hand and turned back to his father, "Goodbye dad."

With one last glance at his father, Keith opened the door and covered his eyes as a blinding light shone before him.

* * *

Keith woke up with a groan. What the hell happened?

He was lying on the cold floor he realized. Familiar set of footsteps started making their way to him and with another pained groan, Keith slowly got to his feet to see Shiro in front of him looking at him in concern.

What the hell?

Keith looked around and noticed he was still in the previous room he'd decided to take a nap in. There were no people running around screaming. No Robeasts. And the rest of his teammates weren't fighting like their lives depended on it.

The building began to shake just as Shiro was helping him to his feet.

What the fuck was happening?

"It was an illusion Keith!" Shiro yelled to him, "None of it was real!"

An illusion?

"Call off your beast!" Kolivan shouted as he ran toward the two paladins.

Red was doing this? The only reason she'd be attacking the base was if he was in danger. Was he?

A hand to his wrist showed him that Lance was worried. A whole lot of pissed off and probably ready to storm the place judging from the colors that the mood bracelet was showing him.

"Get out of our way!" Shiro shouted at Kolivan, "We're leaving right now!"

The black paladin placed himself in front of Keith, ready to defend him if the need called for it.

Ulaz tried to reason with his leader but Kolivan wasn't listening.

"Not without leaving the blade!" Kolivan shouted back.

Keith looked around in a panic as the rest of the Blade of Marmora soldiers began to circle them, their weapons drawn.

"The boy couldn't wake the blade, clearly he's not worthy," Kolivan continued, "The blade stays here."

The Blades took out their own weapons and Keith narrowed his eyes. He couldn't take another fight right now; he's too weak from the trials. A glance at his friend showed his that Shiro would stay and defend him, regardless of the fact that they were quite outnumbered.

Keith knows that Shiro is a better fighter than he is but he wouldn't be able to take on this many Blades.

The bulky Blade soldier, Antok, rushed forward and Shiro turned his prosthetic metal arm into a sword and intercepted the attack.

The other Blades rushed forward and Keith let out a shout to get their attention.

"Just take it!" Keith shouted as he practically shoved the small dagger in Kolivan's direction, "It doesn't matter anymore. I know who I am."

He's a paladin of Voltron. Half human and half Galra. He's Keith Kogane. And no dagger was going to change that. He'd find the answers his was looking for another way. He had plenty of time.

"All of us are fighting against Zarkon and his army, we need to come together and fight," Keith continued as he looked over all the Blades in the room, "If that means I have to give up this dagger then fine, fuck it just take it. It's a small price to pay."

And then the oddest thing happened. The dagger suddenly became warm and Keith turned his attention back to it to see it start to glow. The dagger grew in size until it settled into a curved blade similar to the weapons the rest of the Blades carried with them.

There were a few collective gasps in the room.

"The dagger-"

"He's awakened it!"

"But that means…"

Keith couldn't see their expressions because of the masks they wore, but he was pretty sure they were all in shock. They weren't the only ones either. Keith was right there with them.

"You are Galra," Kolivan stated, his voice in awe.

Shiro's eyes widened.

The base stopped shaking.

Had Red stopped?

Kolivan raised a hand in the air and the Blades put their weapons away. "How?" Kolivan asked him.

Keith looked confused. How what?

"We Galra have a very high sense of smell. And yet we couldn't detect any hint of Galra in you. How did you do it?"

Ah.

"One of my teammates helped me get my hands on some suppressant pills. I've been taking them for a few weeks now." Keith explained. Shiro was looking at him with narrowed eyes, probably deducing who that someone was.

"I see," Kolivan said with a nod to his head. The leader of the Blades turned back to Shiro, "It seems we've much to discuss with the Paladins of Voltron."

Shiro blinked, his expression turning hopeful, "Then you'll join us?"

"Yes. It seems I must apologize for our actions. Trust is a very hard thing to earn in these hard times but it seems you have proven your worth." Kolivan stepped forward and offered Shiro his right arm, "The Blades are at your disposal. We accept this alliance."

They did it Keith realized. A part of him couldn't believe it even as he saw Shiro shake Kolivan's hand with a relieved smile. Keith let out a relieved sigh and slowly settled himself to the floor and watched in amazement as his new curved blade went back to its original size.

"Keith of Earth," Kolivan said as he made his way to him, "You have passed the trials. When we have time, I shall answer any questions you have. I would also like to express my thanks to your fellow blue paladin."

Keith blinked in surprise. "Why?"

Ulaz stepped forward and Kolivan placed a hand on his shoulder, "For saving my comrades life. Ulaz has told me of the blue paladins heroics."

Shiro and Keith winced before the red paladin awkwardly scratched his neck, "She might be a little pissed when she sees me in my current state. I'll try to calm her down before you can speak to her."

"Understood." Kolivan said.

"Let's go home," Shiro said as he extended an arm toward him, "I'm sure the others are worried out of their minds by now."

Keith took the offered hand with a smile. He was so ready to go back home and get back to Lance. That illusion that he'd had over Lance and Shiro had left him a little rattled. He just wanted to go back home and hold his fiancée close to him.

"I shall be going back with you," Kolivan stated, "So will Antok and Ulaz."

Shiro nodded, "Right. It'll be a tight fit but that should be fine."

Keith let out a breath making his bangs sway as he began to walk with Shiro's help to get back to Red.

* * *

"The Red lion stopped attacking!" Coran shouted over his shoulder.

The rest of team Voltron halted in their tracks where they had been on their way to the hangers to reach their own lions.

"Does that mean Keith's not in danger anymore?" Hunk asked anxiously as he looked over at Lance.

The blue paladin looked absolutely livid. Her eyes were glowing a dark blue, her hands were shaped into claws with sparks of blue electricity shooting out at the ground, her chestnut hair floating in the air.

She couldn't sense Keith's mind because of the distance but the mood bracelet allowed her to feel the red paladins pain as if it were her own.

Keith was hurt.

And that was unacceptable.

Allura briefly glanced at the Amazon princess before turning her attention back to the screen, her eyes narrowed, "Lance. Calm down."

"I am calm," Lance stated, her voice subdued. Pidge gulped and cast her a weary eye. The blue paladin _was_ calm. Despite the way she looked, which only made her scarier.

"Princess," Shiro's voice sounded through the monitors. Everyone snapped their attention back to the screen to see the Red lion flying back to the castle, "We're coming back. And we're bringing back someone you'll want to leave."

The transmission cut off and Coran turned to look at the others with a huge smile, "They're all right!"

The rest of the team let out shouts of joy but Lance just turned on her heels and started making her way to the hangers to greet them.

The rest of team Voltron hurriedly followed after her in a brisk run.

When they all got there the Red lion had just landed and they eagerly waited as the door in the Red lion opened and out came its occupants.

At the sight of Keith limping forward with the help of Shiro, Lance immediately rushed forward and embraced him.

Keith gave a pained groan and Lance put it at arms length. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Keith gave her a small smile and tightened his hold on her, "Nothing I'm sure you can't handle healing."

Lance let out a weak smile and kissed his cheek, "You had me worried you idiot."

Keith winced, "Sorry about that. Got myself in a bit of a fight."

Lance blinked at him in surprise before she delved into his mind and quickly found out what had happened. As soon as she did Lance let out a low growl and turned angry blue eyes at Kolivan and Antok.

Shiro stepped in her path and put his hands in the air to show her he meant no harm, "Lance, let us explain-"

Lance didn't let him finish. Before anyone could stop her, the Amazon princess had launched forward and gripped Kolivan by the throat before slamming him into the wall.

Everyone released shouts of surprise and the bulky Blade member reached for his weapons and went after her. Lance threw him on the opposite side of the wall without even looking.

Keith was a little pleased about that.

He didn't much like Antok. He was kind of a dick to him.

Ulaz reached for his weapons but knew better than to go after the blue paladin at her current state.

But they did need this alliance and right now Lance was messing that up for them.

The leader of the Blades let out a strangled choke and gripped the Amazons hand hard.

Lance didn't even flinch.

"You had your people hurt him," Lance hissed at him.

"Lance," Shiro said stepping beside her, "Put him down. Keith willingly underwent those trials."

Keith got to his feet with a wince and placed a hand on Lance's shoulder, "He's right Lance. They're not to blame. I could have stopped anytime, but I chose to continue."

Lance narrowed her eyes before she huffed and released Kolivan.

The leader of the Blades let out a few coughs and slowly got to his feet. Antok and Ulaz quickly made their way to him.

Antok looked ready to fight the Amazon if the stance he was given was any indication.

Lance let out a few electric bolts shoot out from her fingertips and the Blade scoffed and put his weapon away.

Lance threw another heated glance at Antok but made her way to Keith and placed her hands on his shoulders to begin healing him.

Everyone released sighs of relief and Pidge and Hunk took the chance to check up on the red paladin.

Kolivan stepped forward and removed his mask to reveal an older looking Galra with light purple skin, a long scar running down the left side of his face he had patches of red on the top of his face and his white hair was braided down his back.

The leader of the Blades took a kneeling position in front of Allura who was looking at him with narrowed eyes, "Princess Allura, its good to see that the rumors are true." Kolivan said as he began to rise to his feet, "You are alive even after all this years."

Allura tilted her head and Coran put a comforting hand on her shoulder and some of the tension eased, "So is Zarkon. Can we consider you our ally in this fight against him?"

"Yes," Kolivan said as he turned to Keith, "You have already accepted another Galra into your ranks it seems. I am pleased to know that."

Allura looked at him in confusion as Keith suddenly tensed, "What are you talking about?"

Antok tilted his head in confusion, "The red paladin. He is half Galra. Did you not know?"

"Wait, what?" Hunk asked as he looked back at the red paladin in confusion.

"Keith is Galra?" Pidge asked as she blinked in confusion.

Allura narrowed her eyes at the Blade members, "This is no time for jokes!"

"It's true," Keith mumbled.

All eyes turned on him and Keith resisted the urge to fidget. Lance was still crouched behind him healing his injuries but she was tense. Shiro stepped beside them and took a protective stance next to them.

The three Blade members looked back in forth in confusion.

"But you're not purple!" Hunk exclaimed, "If you were Galra, wouldn't you be purple and have those fluffy ears?"

Keith sighed as he averted his eyes.

"Keith? Would you like me to explain?" Lance asked him from behind.

Keith shook his head but sent her a grateful smile, "No its okay. It's better that I do this," he turned back to the others who were still looking at him in shock, "The truth is I _was_ starting to turn purple. Remember those last two weeks when I was in a bad mood and kept putting on more layers of clothes?"

Hunk and Pidge nodded.

"That's when it started happening. It started of slow but then one day it suddenly grew worse and I began to grow claws."

Shiro's eyes widened in realization, "The day you and Lance left in the middle of the night."

Keith and Lance nodded. "Lance could sense what was happening and she helped me through it. She told me about these suppressant pills. That's why we left, we went to the swamp moon and after taking a test one of the aliens there specifically made the pills for me." Keith scratched his neck awkwardly, "They work pretty fast, and I went back to normal pretty quickly. Lance got me a years supply."

The others began to nod in understanding and Keith loosened a breath. So far so good.

The room went silent as the others scanned him from head to toe. The silence seemed to stretch too long and Keith began to get nervous. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

' _They had to know sometime. Give them a little more time to process'_ Lance said in his mind.

Hunk looked back and forth between Antok and Keith before finally breaking the silence, "So…does this mean that if you'd turned full Galra you would have had a tail?"

Keith's jaw dropped and he blinked slowly at the yellow paladin.

Lance grinned and crossed her arms over her chest as Keith got to his feet, "I was honestly just hoping he got some really cute Galra ears so I could play with them but a tail? Now that's interesting!"

Pidge hummed as she looked him over, "But the possibility is still out there. If you stopped taking the pills would you change to a Galra immediately?" the green paladin turned to look at Lance, "He didn't grow any ears?"

"Nope." Lance answered with a sad sigh.

"Shame."

"I know right?"

"At least he looks healthy," Shiro added with a smile in his direction, "Although I did notice that your appetite grew, perhaps it's a side effect from almost turning into a Galra?"

Coran nodded sagely as he twirled the end of his orange mustache, "From what I know of my time with Galra back in the good old days, they always did seem to have larger appetites."

Hunk gripped Keith's shoulders and leaned into him, "Dude! Are you eating enough? You're not starving yourself are you?"

Keith blinked in surprise. He couldn't believe how quickly his friends had accepted him. Maybe he'd been worrying for nothing. Lance gave him a slight nudge on the shoulder and Keith allowed a small smile to grace his features as the blue paladin intertwined her hand with his.

The three Blade members zeroed in on their joined hands and shared a look between themselves.

Allura was oddly quiet, her expression blank as she turned her attention back to Kolivan who began to speak again, "We have been informed from one of our spies that Zarkon and his witch Haggar are starting to suspect something, which means we'll have to move our timetable up and ready ourselves for our next move."

Shiro turned to Kolivan, all business, "How soon do we need to begin?"

"As soon as possible," Kolivan said.


	16. Chapter 16

"A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men."  
― **Anonymous**

Chapter 16

Okay, it was official.

The Blade of Marmora members absolutely adored Lance.

A part of Keith wanted to be surprised but he couldn't.

Because this was _Lance._

And everyone always loved Lance within minutes of meeting her.

Although, getting a beat down from the blue paladin wasn't exactly the way Keith imagined the blades to become friends with her.

After Kolivan met with Allura and officially declared that they had entered into an alliance, the leader of the Blades had brought over about a dozen more Blade members. Allura didn't say anything but her lips tightened at the sight of them and she cast a look at Lance.

' _Keep an eye on them'_ Allura thought to Lance who relayed the message to the rest of their team.

Hunk looked a little nervous but he straightened himself and declared that he was going to make some snacks for their guests before leaving the room.

Pidge turned to Ulaz and began to ask him how they managed to hide their base with the help of the two black holes and was deep in conversation.

Allura, Coran, Shiro, and Kolivan headed for the bridge to begin forming a plan.

The dozen blade members plus Antok made to follow but Lance insisted she give them a tour of the place.

Shiro had cast her a suspicious look but could find nothing wrong with giving the Blades a tour so he said nothing and went with the others.

Keith gave him fiancée a suspicious glare and followed after her as she began her tour. By the time they reached the kitchen, most of the Blade members had all removed their masks and even began to ask questions when they got curious.

Whenever he and Lance looked at each other or even bumped hands together as they walked, the Blades would dissolve into excited whispers.

What's up with that?

It's not like he and Lance were making out or anything.

It's when they got to the training room that the Blades actually perked up, so did Lance if the wide smile she showed was any indication.

Since Keith was more familiar with the training sequence, he went up in the glass room overlooking the training room and started level one.

The Blades defeated it easily and so Keith changed it up to level five where four blue holographic gladiators equipped with two long swords, Japanese looking helmets, and full-body armor.

Keith had never been to this level before, he'd made it to level three but he had yet to defeat the two robot gladiators that appeared on that level.

The thirteen Blades took out their weapons and rushed towards the gladiators. The way they ran made Keith think of the Naruto manga, but he had to admit, it did make them run fast.

Unfortunately, the four gladiators were tough opponents and after fighting them for a good solid twenty minutes the Blades were getting tired.

It's at this point that Lance suggested that they all spar together instead. The Blades vs Keith and her. Keith whipped his head to see Lance give him a winning smile and Keith had to bite his lip in order to not burst into laughter.

Figures Lance was still pissed at the Blades for beating him.

The Blade members said they didn't mind, heck Antok looked ready to fight already. When he'd removed his mask it was to reveal a furry purple face with yellow eyes, really thick purple eyebrows that Lance seriously wanted to wax, she'd told this to him in confidence, and small pointy purple ears at the top of his head.

All fifteen of them made their way to the middle of the training field before the Blades went to the far right and Lance and Keith went to the far left. The giant holographic timer on the wall counted down from five and everyone began to prepare themselves.

Keith took out his new dagger and willed it to change to its new curved blade while Lance took out her Bayard and changed it to a small pistol before taking out a small dagger and twirling it in her left arm.

As soon as the timer reached zero, everyone rushed forward at once.

Antok rushed at Keith and threw the first punch. The move was almost too quick to follow but the red paladin ducked and skirted out from Antok's shadow. The two moved away from the others who were still fighting and Lance made sure to give them some privacy.

The rest of Blades were impressively fast but Lance was faster. She blocked a series of blows before landing a hard punch at the ground that had the Blades dropping to the floor. Lance took out her Bayard and quickly shot them in the chest to keep them down.

Five of them managed to get to their feet though and they rushed to the Amazon princess. The first Blade member that reached the blue paladin was a woman, same purple skin, furry ears on the side of her head but at least her eyebrows looked fabulous.

The woman rushed forward, her blade pointed at Lance who easily dodged to the right and aimed a solid kick to her chest. A loud thud was heard as the woman Galra was knocked onto her back. She was only down for a moment, before jumping to her feet.

Lance backed away and waited as the other four reached the woman Galra and all together rushed at her. Lance smiled, her left hand hidden behind her back where bolts of lightning sparked, ready to shock the Blade members before Antok was suddenly thrown on top of them with a grunt.

Lance turned to see Keith panting, blood dribbling from his lips but he didn't seem bothered by it. He looked smug.

The Amazon princess grinned and inched her way over to Keith just as the Galra were getting up.

"Hand-to-hand?" Keith asked beside her.

Lance glanced at him from the corner of her eye before nodding and tossed her weapons to the side. Keith turned his blade back to its normal size and tossed it to the side as well.

The Blades who had gotten up looked at the corner where both paladins had discarded there weapons and repeated the action.

Hand-to-hand combat it is.

Antok let out a loud growl, purple blood dribbling from his lips before he roughly wiped it away and charged at them both. Lance swiped his feet from under him and Keith took the chance to knee him in the stomach.

Antok gasped and Lance hefted him in the air and tossed him to the wall. The same woman Galra from before rushed the blue paladin only for Keith to move in front and block the woman's attack by crossing his arms above him.

The woman growled and three more Blade members came to lend her a hand. Lance intercepted them and did her best to block their attacks; she wasn't as skilled as Keith when it came to hand-to-hand but whatever punches she _did_ land made some damage.

* * *

The fight lasted for quite a while and when they had finally called it to an end it was to a small applause from the rest of their teammates plus Ulaz and Kolivan.

Keith and Lance had been victorious of course.

Keith could feel new bruises starting to form; even Lance had a small bruise on her shoulder.

Keith caught Lance's eye and only had seconds to brace himself before she launched herself at him and wrapped her legs around his middle. Keith staggered back but he held on firmly so he wouldn't topple backwards.

"A little warning would have been nice," Keith muttered into her hair.

Lance grinned, "Now what would be the fun in that." She lowered her voice and whispered into his ear, "Feeling better?"

Keith snorted, all too aware of everyone watching them, "Just a bit." He mumbled back.

Lance laughed and Keith allowed himself a small smile.

As soon as he did, the rest of the Blade members gasped in awe and started whispering back and forth.

Keith slowly lowered Lance to the floor and was secretly pleased when she didn't leave his side before he turned his attention back to the whispering Blades.

Keith could only get a few snippets but he did manage to catch a few words. The word inamorata came up a lot though.

"Okay, what the hell has you guys so excited?" Pidge asked with narrowed eyes.

Shiro smacked her lightly on the back of her head and Pidge scowled and muttered under her breath.

Kolivan simply cast his yellow eyes to the blue and red paladin and watched them intently. "It's nothing bad I assure you," he began," It's just, we've never met two inamoratas before."

Allura narrowed her blue eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "And what pray tell is that?"

Ulaz gestured to Keith and Lance, "It's them. I believe inamorata in your term means soulmates."

Everyone blinked.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

And then everyone began to talk at once.

Soulmates?

He and Lance were soulmates?

Lance and he shared a look and then looked away.

It was amazing what miraculous shades of red the human face could muster.

Stammering nervously under her breath, Lance turned to him and gave him a shy smile.

 _Cute._

Finding himself in yet another battle with an oncoming blush, Keith discreetly eyed his fiancée and lifted the corner of his lips and smiled.

Lance and he were _soulmates_.

Holy crap.

He knew he'd jumped the gun when he had asked her to marry him but deep down he knew that it was the right choice.

He'd had flings before but he never really dated anyone, never felt the need to actually get to know them.

And meeting Lance…the two had automatically clicked.

He turned his head to look at Lance, and a shiver ran through him when he found that she was already looking at him too.

Their shoulders were pressed together, just slightly, but he suddenly felt like he was on fire.

Someone loudly coughed and there went Keith's good mood. Lance shot a glare at Pidge who gave them a sheepish smile and pointed at Shiro who scowled.

"It's very rare to find one's soulmates so we were just a little surprised," Kolivan continued when the chatter died down a little, "You both give out this certain glow when your within feet of each other."

"If you guys were to mark each other," Ulaz piped in with a small quirk of his lips, "The glow will intensify."

"What do you mean mark each other?" Shiro asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Hunk mumbled nervously, "That sounds kind of painful."

Ulaz quickly explained and Shiro promptly turned red before he cleared his throat, "Yeah, no marking each other okay." Keith shot him a glare, "At least whenever anyone is around."

Keith frowned.

Well yeah, it's not like he and Lance were going to mark each other right in front of everyone.

"You guys are simply adorable," the woman Galra said with a smile, "And your choreography, its _so_ nice. By the way, my name is Xylian I hope we can become friends."

Lance blinked before a huge grin spread to her cheeks, "Same here. You weren't too bad out there."

"Yeah but you guys were better," a lean Galra male with a short silver ponytail added as he joined them, "You guys didn't even talk and you knew what the other would do." He reached his hand forward and Keith awkwardly shook it, "The names Jonaz."

"It's damn impressive if you ask me," A petite Galra female said as she sauntered over to them, her tail swinging back and forth behind her. "The names Leylee."

There was a sarcastic grunt in the back before Antok limped over, his tail twitching in irritation before planting himself in front of Keith.

Antok glared at him and Keith glared right back before Antok lips turned into a wolfish grin and he stuck his hand out towards Keith, "Not bad Kit. Not bad at all."

Keith's glare slightly lessened as he reached a hand to clamp Antok's purple furry one in his own. "You too."

"Aww," Hunk exclaimed, "You guys are friends now."

Both Keith and Antok made a face and immediately denied it but that only caused everyone else to laugh; even Allura managed a small smile.

* * *

Three days later, Keith found himself in his room staring at the ceiling while he lay in his bed. Tomorrow, everyone was going to be splitting up to go on separate missions. Keith was going to go with Hunk and enter the belly of a devouring creature known as a Weblum which are apparently the source for scaultrite, a material that's essential in building wormhole generators.

Lance had thrown a small fit at the fact that she wasn't going on a mission with him. However, the Amazon princess perked up when she found out that Shiro and Pidge were going with her on their own side mission to free a Galra prisoner that they needed.

Lance gave a sly smirk at the black paladin who took a step back.

"Well," Lance said with a shrug of her shoulders, "I suppose I can tease Shiro to clear some of my boredom. You'll help me right Pidge?"

The green paladin looked absolutely devious as she looked at Shiro in a contemplative way.

Shiro had good reason to be worried.

In the last three days, Allura had downright avoided him. She still came to eat with them all during their meals times but she made sure to sit as far away from him as he could.

Coran and Shiro assured him that she just needed some time.

Just yesterday, Allura had asked for Hunk to pass her the salt and everyone frowned. Hunk was three seats away from her, the salt was closer to Keith so he reached for it himself and began to hand it over to her when she flinched.

Keith lowered his arm, dejected.

Lance looked ready to smack the Altean princess but refrained. Shiro put a comforting hand on Allura's back and the princess tensed for a good two minutes before snatching the salt and resumed eating.

At least having the Blades over to discuss their plans had distracted him from the fact that Allura was still avoiding him.

Most of the Blades gravitated to Lance who was more than eager for the attention. She and Leylee had become close, Leylee teaching her some type of Galra Morse code that he was pretty sure they were using to talk about him. In fact, Keith was pretty sure they were talking about him if the giggles they sent his way were any indication. Lance had the rest of the Blades laughing at her jokes within minutes and even freaked them out when she brought out her pets.

They absolutely loved Nyx and were eager to ride her, Kaltenecker just glared so they admired her from a distance, as for Nagini and Nagg…they were completely freaked out by them.

As soon as the two-headed snake grew as tall as the ceiling, the Blades scrambled so far back they tripped over themselves.

Pidge and Lance started taking pictures immediately and even Kolivan and Ulaz looked a little pleased at their fellow Blades actions.

Shiro immediately scolded them both as Coran laughed, his mustache twitching at the movement.

Keith was silently laughing from his position on the wall and Hunk looked a little green.

Once they explained to the Blades that the snakes wouldn't harm them did things settle down. One by one the Blades went up to the snakes and lightly pet their scales.

* * *

Once again, Keith found himself remembering the briefing they'd had about their plans.

"I think we've got something here." Shiro had murmured as he gazed at the holograph of Zarkon's ship. Keith along with the rest of the paladins and the rest of the blades were all looking at the same thing in wonder, "It's dangerous, and there are a lot of moving parts but if we coordinate everything just right-"

"Zarkon's reign will come to an end and the savagery that's poisoned the universe can finally be cleansed." Kolivan added, his face solemn as gazed at the holograph before them. "You've done it Shiro."

The black paladin shook his head with a smile and stuck his hand out, "No, we did it together."

Kolivan gazed at the offered hand for a second before clamping it in his own.

Allura just stared at them with a frown while Coran cast her a worried look. "As long as we all stick to the plan it should work," Allura added, her voice still mistrustful.

Shiro looked at her in disappointment.

"It will work," Kolivan added firmly, "Perhaps then you will learn that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon."

Allura turned her gaze to Keith who was standing at the side and frowned, her purple earrings swaying at the movement, "I hope not."

"I was right to trust you all," Ulaz said from beside his leader.

"So what's the plan?" Hunk asked with a yawn. The yellow paladin had fallen asleep three hours ago and had only just woken up.

Lance spread her arms wide and grinned at her best friend, "The plan is amazing," she declared, "First, we infect Zarkon's ship with a virus." She pointed at the holograph of Zarkon's ship, "Then, we make an extra large wormhole and lure Zarkon and his ship inside of it, zapping it a bajillion light years away," she pressed a few buttons and the ship disappeared through a wormhole before she twirled away and pressed another button and the ship reappeared on the opposite side of the room, "then, when he pops up on the other side, Voltron will kick is butt!"

Lance executed a few moves along with some background noises that sounded a lot like those comic book bubbles that appeared when a fight was going on before she finished with a curtsy and the others lightly clapped.

Hunk whistled lowly, "So this is it huh. We're really going to do this."

Everyone looked solemn as they looked at each other.

"I guess the question is," Pidge added, "When do we strike."

Coran brought up another screen, "In order for our plan to succeed, we're going to need quite a few things. For starters, we're going to need enough materials for a big enough wormhole to lure Zarkon into."

"Am I sensing a trip to the space mall here?" Hunk asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," Coran said with a shake of his head, "This is going to require far more scaultrite than we can find at the space mall." Hunk deflated as Coran turned to regard everyone, "Everyone will have to split up and take a different task. Hunk, Keith you two will be in charge of gathering more scaultrite." The two paladins nodded, "If any of us fail, the whole plan fails."

"Shiro, Pidge and Lance will be infiltrating a prison with the help of the Blades in order to retrieve an engineer by the name of Slav who has developed gravity-bending technology that can create pockets of space-time."

"Sweet," Lance said with a smile, "Sounds fun."

"Just don't end up in jail," Pidge added with a meaningful look at the blue paladin.

Lance scoffed, "Please, I'm an angel."

Bullshit everyone thought.

Lance scowled and huffed. Hunk lightly patted her on the back. "It's okay buddy, I believe you."

"All right then team," Shiro said as he looked over the gathered group, "We'll start this mission first thing in the morning. For now, I want everyone to head back to your rooms and get a good night's rest."

* * *

The meeting had ended hours ago and Keith still couldn't find any form of sleep. Groaning pathetically, he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He was in need of a haircut soon. With a huff, he got to his feet, stuffed his feet into his black and white boots and was about to head out when he glanced over at a picture on his desk. It was a picture of Lance and he in one of the first missions she'd gone with them when she joined the team.

The picture had both of them in their paladin armor, helmets off; Lance had a huge grin and an arm around an awkward looking Keith who was giving a shy smile at the blue paladin.

He'd never been fond of getting his picture taken.

Lance had insisted they both take a picture to remember their first mission together which had consisted in saving five kidnapped kids that the Galra had taken in order to make the townspeople finish making the weapons they had refused to make.

While Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge had engaged combat with the battlecruisers, Lance and he had gone on Nyx to look for the kidnapped kids.

They'd found them in record time and taken down their kidnappers with ease.

The townspeople had been so thankful that they had thrown them a party in thanks.

That's when Lance insisted that Pidge take their picture and after a bit of grumbling from the green _and_ red paladin, the picture was taken.

Keith still remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

" _Hey, Pidge," Lance waited as Pidge looked up from her conversation with one of the townspeople, an orange skinny alien that looked like an elephant that could walk on its hind legs to look at her, "Take a picture of me and Keith."_

 _Pidge lifted a brow, a small smirk crossing her face, "Sure, if you can get him to smile."_

 _Lance pulled an arm around Keith who had been slowly backing away and pulled him close to her, oblivious to his attempts at escape, "Come on Keith, this picture is for you."_

 _Keith narrowed his eyes and tried pulling away only to groan in frustration when his effort offered no results, "What on earth makes you think I want one?"_

" _Because," Lance insisted, her blue eyes serious, "I want you to know that you have friends that care about you. I saw your room," she said quietly, and Keith briefly tensed, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be by your side, and I will make it my mission to fill that room of yours with so many memories that you'll throw me a huge party in thanks."_

 _Keith's eyes grew wide and he felt a flush spread to his cheeks, "Y-you, d-don't say cheesy stuff like that." He mumbled under his breath._

 _Lance briefly stuck her tongue out at him before her face melted into a victorious grin. Keith's breath caught in his throat at the sudden wave of camaraderie ship and happy feelings emanating from the Amazon's mind to his and Keith gave a small shy smile in return._

 _Pidge quickly took the picture with a grin and despite Keith's insistence that he didn't want the picture, it somehow made it's way into a frame, standing proudly on his desk._

Keith smiled at the memory and glanced at the picture one more time before exiting his room.

As he wondered the dark hallways, he began to hear muffled voices coming from the living room. Frowning, Keith turned directions and started walking over there instead.

"This frickin goblin is adorable."

Keith furrowed his brow, that was Lance's voice.

Keith stood outside the doors leading to the living room for a good five seconds before deciding to head in.

It was mostly dark; the only source of light was the huge screen that his friends were seated in front of.

Pidge, Hunk and Lance were are all crammed on the couch playing a video game on a huge screen. After the Blades came over, Antok and Leylee thought them how to plug in their video game and let them borrow a few more. Lance and Pidge had been ecstatic and all but bolted to the living room to play.

"I thought you hated the goblin," Pidge added as she made her character slash at a skeleton warrior that was in her way.

Lance made a face and gripped the controller in her hands, "I don't hate anyone."

"Not even the Joker?" Hunk asked he turned to look at his friend. The yellow paladin was in his pajamas, which consisted of an oversized yellow shirt and some brown slacks. He was currently hugging a blue bowl of popcorn to his chest and taking a handful as he watched the blue and green paladin play.

Lance was wearing some black shorts along with a blue tank top and had her legs tucked under her. Her blue lion slippers rested on the floor, every now and then she'd turn her head slightly to the left and Hunk would feed her some popcorn.

Pidge was seated to Lance's right in a green sweater over a dark green tank top and wearing black gym shorts with two orange stripes at the corners sitting cross-legged, her tongue sticking out in concentration.

Lance faltered and her character, a tall fairy woman with brown hair and Valkyrie armor took a hit from one of the Skeleton warriors. Pidge made her character, a bulky man wearing a loincloth and carrying a hammer, run back to help her and quickly destroyed the skeletons giving the Amazon some trouble. "Okay, yeah I hate the Joker," Lance added at last as her and Pidge's character began to run on the now clear path, "I mean, Batman is just protecting his city and then this _clown_ just decides to screw up his day! Who does that?"

"A jerk," Hunk added around a mouthful of popcorn.

"A scumbag," Pidge added helpfully.

Lance nodded vigorously, "I know right?"

Keith snorted from where he was leaning against the wall and all three paladins quickly waved at him before turning back to the screen, "You know about Batman?"

"Uh, yeah," Lance added with a frown, "Hunk taught me all about him. He's amazing!"

Keith laughed under his breath and walked more into the room to sit on the floor before leaning against the couch that his friends were currently occupying, "Okay, so you hate the Joker. That's good. What about Darth Vader?"

Lance frowned as she made her character go to the weapons shop, "That's Star Wars right?"

Keith nodded as he turned to look at her.

"I still haven't technically seen any of the movies but from what Hunk and Pidge have told me, he sounds like a douche."

"He is," Keith, Pidge, and Hunk added with a nod of their heads.

Lance grinned and allowed Hunk to feed her some more popcorn, "But like I don't know," she added around a mouthful of popcorn before swallowing, "I'd have to see the movies in order to properly hate him you know."

"Okay," Hunk added as he swung his legs up and down, "What about Zooey Kaliee?"

Lance scowled, "Oh I _hate_ Zooey Kaliee."

Pidge and Keith grinned at the scowl Lance was showing.

"Any particular reason why?" Pidge asked eagerly, her brown eyes turning mischievous.

"Because she- and then I just-arrrh!" Lance huffed and turned to Hunk, "Hunk, you tell them. Tell them all about that she-devil."

Keith grinned. She-devil?

Hunk put a comforting hand on Lance's shoulder and took out a snickers bar that he unwrapped before placing it in the blue paladins mouth. Lance's tense shoulders relaxed as she began to chew and Pidge snorted.

Hunk cleared his throat, "So apparently, this Zooey Kaliee-"

"She-devil," Lance muttered under her breath.

"Stole all of Lance's cookies."

Pidge gasped as if scandalized.

Keith raised a brow, "Did she?"

Hunk nodded vigorously, "Oh yeah. My best friend here," Lance waved from beside him, "Offered her some cookies and instead of taking one-"

"That-that hag!" Lance stuttered in rage.

"Don't worry buddy, I got this," Hunk said seriously as Lance settled down, "That girl took the whole tray and ate the cookies under a tree."

Keith's lips twitched as Pidge let out another gasp. "She didn't."

"Oh she did," Hunk said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "She gave Lance a half eaten muffin in exchange."

"Never returned the tray either," Lance added with a sniff.

"That fiend!" Pidge exclaimed in anger.

"It's barbaric," Hunk added with a frown.

All three of them glanced down at him and Keith blinked as they waited for him to contribute. "Umm, that she-devil?"

"Yes," Lance added with a grin, "That darn she-devil."

"Whose a she-devil?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway.

As one all four of them turned to see Shiro, Allura and Coran standing in the back looking at them in interest.

Shiro was wearing a black rumpled shirt with some gray slacks, his feet barefoot.

Allura was wearing a long dark purple nightdress, white slippers and Shiro's black sweater draped over her shoulders.

Lance gave the black paladin a subtle thumps-up that had him blushing.

Coran was wearing a red onesie, some orange slippers and an orange blanket in one arm. Talk about a fashion disaster.

"This girl that stole all of Lance's cookies," Hunk replied from his seat.

Allura gasped, a hand covering her mouth as her eyes turned wide, "She didn't."

"She did." The four paladins said at the same time.

"I hope you got her back at least," Coran added as he began to make his way over to the sofa chair to the right of the long couch that the others were occupying, "Because stealing someone's cookies is simply unacceptable."

Lance and Hunk grinned, "Oh trust me she did."

Shiro cast her a worried look before sitting on the love couch to the left, after hesitant second Allura sat next to him, "Why am I suddenly worried about this girl?" Shiro asked the blue paladin.

Lance pouted beside him and looked back at the screen where Pidge's character was waiting so they could start the new quest, "Relax. I just gave her a laxative."

Shiro frowned before slowly nodding, "Okay, so not too bad then."

"Except it gave her explosive diarrhea," Hunk added with a small smile.

"While we were all training in our griffons," Lance added with a snicker.

"For a whole week," Hunk lastly added.

"I might have accidentally overdosed," Lance added sheepishly.

Coran threw his head back and started laughing, Allura joining in right after and that had them all bursting into laughter.

"The teacher was _so_ mad," Lance said between giggles, "Zooey kept asking to go to the restroom but the teacher refused and then well, oops. Accident. My only regret was that the griffon suffered for it too. Poor thing."

"You're terrible," Keith said between chuckles.

"I mean she got me back," Lance added with a frown, "When we were like thirteen she stole my underwear and hanged them up in the center of the city where everyone could see them."

"Oh my," Coran said, "Were you embarrassed?"

"Not really?" Lance said with a tilt of her head, "I mean most of the comments were pretty good so I just floated right up there and declared that they were mine so-"

Keith choked on his own spit and Shiro had to lean forward to pat his back.

"-You know, it wasn't too bad," Lance said with a grin, "And I do _love_ attention."

Everyone laughed because they couldn't deny it. Lance did love attention. Soon enough they settled into silence and Hunk passed the bowl of popcorn around.

"So what kind were they?" Allura asked after two full minutes of silence.

This time it was Shiro who choked on his own spit; Keith patted him on the back before settling down on the floor again.

"Oh you know," Lance said with a wicked grin, "It was mostly strings and it came with a black bow."

Shiro and Keith turned a little red even as Allura nodded, her face oddly serious, "Fascinating. We absolutely _must_ go shopping together."

Pidge grinned next to Lance, "Count me in. Not for the underwear shopping but just take me with you, you guys will definitely get in trouble."

"Hey!" both princesses scowled.

"What exactly _did_ you guys do when we went to the space small?" Keith quietly asked Allura.

The Altean princess tensed in her seat but took a deep breath and answered with not too much difficulty, "We had fun. Lots of fun. Besides, us girls must never reveal our secrets."

Keith and Shiro frowned.

Hunk nudged Lance with his shoulder, "You'll tell me right buddy?"

"Sure thing." Lance immediately said.

"Lance!" Allura and Pidge snapped at her.

"What?" Lance asked with a frown.

"You're telling Hunk?" Pidge asked with a pout.

"Uh, yeah. He's my best friend. I tell him everything."

And cue the fist bump between the yellow and blue paladin.

"Well, that's not fair," Keith, added with a scowl.

"Keith Wilhelm Kogane-" Shiro began.

"Wilhelm?" Pidge snorted.

"I told you that in confidence Shiro!" Keith shouted in embarrassment.

"-are you pouting?" the black paladin finished with a grin.

"No," Keith said with a huff, "Just thought I'd let Lance know that if she doesn't tell me what happened at the mall, something might happen to her face mask supplies."

Lance cast him an accusing finger and Pidge had to cover for her while her character was being attacked, "You leave my beauty routine out of this!"

Keith grinned, "You know, your mom and I had the most interesting conversation with your childhood scrapbook."

Lance paled.

"I'm a particular fan of your eight year old haircut." Keith said with a grin, "In fact, your mom gave me a few pictures before we left…"

"Shut up Keith."

"Make me."

"You're the worst."

"You love me."

"Oh my god, get a room!" Pidge groaned as she threw a handful of popcorn at them both.

Lance looked from Pidge to Allura with a serious expression, "After much deliberation, I think we should tell the others what happened at the mall after all."

Pidge let out a long-suffering sigh, "Oh my god, you're weak!"

Lance threw her hands up and gripped the green paladins shoulders and shook her, "He has pictures of me Pidgey! Pictures!"

"They can't be that bad-"Allura began.

"I had a bowl cut Allura, a bowl cut."

Allura cast her sympathetic eyes, "That still doesn't sound too-"

"At one point I tried to mimic Reyna's haircut and ended up shaving one whole eyebrow and my whole bangs. It was devastating."

Allura turned to the green paladin, face serious, "Pidge, I believe its best we talk."

Pidge threw them both popcorn and crossed her arms with a huff, game forgotten. "I refuse."

Hunk cast his eyes to the green paladin before shrugging, "Okay, did I ever tell you guys about that time in the Garrison when Pidge came to class in just her-"

"Okay I'll talk!"

Keith chuckled and Shiro and Coran shared a high-five as Hunk gave the women a sweet smile.

Lance suddenly grinned, "Instead of telling you," she began, "Why don't I just show you?"

Coran blinked in surprise and leaned in eagerly, "Lady Lance, you can do that now?"

"Why yes I can Sir Coran." Lance cracked her knuckles, "So sit back and relax. Oh and if anyone of you start getting a massive headache and start to hear a ringing noise, it's probably nothing."

Shiro immediately sat up straighter, "Wait, what?"

"Here we go!"

Everyone immediately tensed at the sudden intrusion in their heads but with Lance's coaxing they began to relax. At Lance's cue, everyone closed their eyes and eagerly waited as Lance scrounged over her memories to look for the right one.

It was fucking cool, it was like scrolling through a handful of pictures but instead of being pictures they were memories. Keith and the others managed to get a few snippets of it; there was one where a younger version of Lance and Reyna were laying in bed and laughing, one where a young man with caramel skin and baby blue eyes swung a younger version of Lance around while five other boys who looked like Lance were making a sandcastle in the back, Queen Lexi sitting among them adding shells, and one where Reyna and Lance were twirling in circles with their arms spread out as it rained in Cloyetera.

Reyna was in most of her memories which made sense since they were both best friends but Keith hoped that Lance told him about all those memories one day too.

' _I will, we have all the time in the world'_ Lance reassured him in his head.

Keith smiled and then gasped along with everyone else as Lance finished scrolling through her memories and found the right one.

The scenery suddenly changed to the brightly lit swap moon, pop music blaring through the speakers and they watched as a few aliens walked around shopping. The scenery changed again until they were in a bar that had seen better days.

There was a blue skinned bartender with a long face and a small beak as a mouth mixing a few drinks for a customer behind the counter.

There were a few burly aliens playing games in the corner while others just sat there and drank their drinks in stony silence.

Some were even hand wrestling a few tables away.

It's when Lance mentioned the word 'hustle' that Shiro tensed.

"Tell me you guys didn't…" Shiro said in disapproval.

Pidge snorted, "Oh you ain't seen nothing yet."

They felt sparks of amusement coming from Lance as she and the other two began to play games with the aliens.

It's like all of them _were_ Lance. They were seeing through her point of view. Everything she felt, smelled, or did, they all felt it as if they were she.

It was awesome.

It was like being inside a kid's head Keith thought. They could feel and see everything that Lance wanted to do which was pretty much to cause trouble.

She was always chipper, but not in a creepy way like Coran.

Keith grinded his teeth when that green skinned alien and three eyes draped his hand over Lance's shoulder for the third time. Everyone could feel the Amazons growing irritation that she had felt at the time as she steeled herself to not make a scene. Thankfully, Pidge had intervened and stepped in to Keith's relief.

It's after this that things started to get more interesting.

Coran was laughing quite loudly as Lance and the others began to win game after game.

He seemed to enjoy the looks of despair the aliens got whenever they lost a game and a whole lot of money.

So did Lance apparently. She was biting her cheek really really hard so she wouldn't burst out in laughter.

When Pidge was handed milk to drink instead of alcohol, Shiro had let out a sigh of relief and cast disapproving eyes at both princesses who pretended not to notice.

The others laughed and Pidge sent them all a glare from her seat.

It's as they reached the final game that Keith and the others leaned forward in their seats, their eyes still closed as they looked at the cards Lance had in her hands as if they were in her body.

Lance had some good cards but her win all depended on whatever numbers the dice rolled to.

As the other players began to doubt her, they didn't think she'd risk playing that ultimate card, Lance felt the urge to laugh once again.

She simply smiled widely and threw the dice in the middle of the table and watched as everyone leaned in and waited for the verdict.

Just as the last die began to roll to a stop on a lower number, Lance used her powers to turn it to a higher number and finally let out that villainous laugh that she'd held herself back from doing as the other players threw their hands on the table with a scowl and started crying in their seats.

Shiro released a sigh of relief, "That wasn't too bad. I don't know why you guys didn't want us to know."

"I was hoping for something juicer," Coran mumbled in disappointed.

"Same here," Hunk added, "I mean I'm still not totally cool that you guys swindled the people here but I was expecting something like property damage."

Allura grinned, "Oh, we're not done yet."

Pidge snickered in her seat, "It gets better."

And boy were they right. Lance accidentally showed everyone that she had powers and the players still seated in the round table began to throw accusations at them. Lance threw a table at them as she gripped Allura and Pidge's arm and began to herd them to the nearest exit.

After Pidge was snatched away from them, things got even more chaotic.

Everyone in the bar joined in and Keith watched in awe as Lance, Allura, and Pidge handed themselves beautifully.

Shiro even shouted in approval when Lance and Allura punched the tentacle alien that had snatched Pidge away from them.

Hunk and Coran shouted in excitement as Lance picked up a lizard like alien and branded him like a sword as she swung him around to knock aliens down.

Allura joined her and picked up a random alien to swing around as well, Pidge was throwing bottles of liquor at anyone who came close to her but she was laughing.

It was pure pandemonium and Keith seriously loved it.

That is until someone slammed a chair over Lance's head and the room grew silent. Keith knew the blue paladin hadn't felt more than a mosquito bite but he still felt pissed at the thought that someone would want to hurt Lance.

Keith felt sadistic satisfaction when Lance punched the alien so hard he went through a few walls.

The memory soon ended when Lance, Pidge, and Allura escaped through the exit and the Amazon showed them the huge bag of coins that she had managed to snatch.

"The next time we go to a mall, I'm coming with you guys," Shiro said sternly, he looked liked he'd aged over the past few minutes, "You guys got into a lot of trouble."

"Bah," Coran scoffed in his seat, "I did worst things in my youth. Let them have their fun."

"At least they had fun," Hunk added sheepishly.

"And that explains that piece of wood I found in your hair," Keith added with a scowl in Lance's direction.

Allura cleared her throat as she turned to regard Keith with a small hesitant smile that had everyone grinning, "Well, she got him back. Punched him through a few walls if it makes you feel better."

Keith slowly grinned as he nodded, "Yeah, I guess she did."

"You know," Shiro added thoughtfully, "I think brandishing some of the aliens as swords was kind of smart."

Lance smiled widely, "Shiro, are you saying you approve?"

Shiro blinked and made a face, "I wouldn't go that far-"

Allura snorted beside him, "He approves."

Pidge spread her arms wide, "And that's all that matters."

"We should play a game," Hunk adds out of nowhere, "Or like play a movie."

Shiro slightly frowned, "I don't know, we have separate mission tomorrow. W need all the rest we can get."

"But dad," Lance whined with a pout, "It's only eight thirty! Let's do something fun!"

The others join in and begin to beg as well but it's Allura's puppy eyes that did him in. With a resigned sigh, Shiro finally agreed to a movie.

Hunk was on his feet seconds after, "We need snacks!"

Lance cast a meaningful look to Keith and Allura and went after her friend, "And popcorn! We need more popcorn!"

The others seemed to take the hint and declared that there were things they wanted to get as well before they all hurriedly left the room until it was just Keith and Allura.

The Altean princess wanted to get a cup of tea but Coran insisted that he would get it for her.

Keith knew exactly what his friends were planning and he appreciated it but Allura didn't seem to be in a talkative mood. It was just awkward silence for a while, neither of them willing to break the silence first. But they had to; they couldn't stay like this forever. It'll affect the team if they left things as it was.

"I'm sorry," Allura finally mumbled.

Keith whipped his head up to look at her before casting his eyes downward, "No, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have hidden it from everyone. It's just-"

"You were scared of how I'd react," Allura quietly stated, her arms around herself in defense. "And you were right to be scared, the way I reacted- the way I've _been_ acting-I'm sorry."

Keith looked to the side, "It's okay. I-understand. After everything that the Galra have done to you, it's only right that you hate them."

Allura nodded minutely, "They killed my people. My father. Everyone I ever cared about…I can't forgive them for what they've done but-" Allura took a deep breath and when she spoke next her words sounded croaked, "I know _you_ didn't do those things. I _know_ that. You didn't even know you were Galra until a few weeks ago, you must have been terrified."

Those last words were said softly, as if she had just realized how he must have felt all those weeks ago.

"Whenever I see you now, I see you as one of them. Purple skin, purple furry ears, yellow eyes…I know you don't look like them because of the suppressant pills but I can't help it. And every time I look at you or any of the Blades, all that hatred suddenly seeps forward and it's all I can do to not let it take over. But it's not fair to you, or any of the Blades."

Her eyes met his this time and he could practically feel her shaking as she berated herself to not flinch, "Shiro and Coran have talked to me and they have both reminded me of all the things you've done as a member of Voltron. All the good that you've done. Not once have I ever felt any distrust from you, you've more than proven your loyalty to this team time and time again."

Keith licked his suddenly dry lips and Allura bowed her head, a few stray hairs falling in front of her face. "So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. It's going to take me a little while longer to get rid of all the hate that I have but I really hope…"her voice shook and she turned pleading eyes to him, "That we can remain friends. Because I think of you and the rest of the paladins as my family now, and I don't want to lose anymore family. I don't think I can stand it."

Keith smiled, a small smile but it was a smile, "Of course Allura. I forgive you, of course we can still be friends."

Allura let out a huge sigh of relief and wiped at the tears at the corners of her eyes before smiling at him, "Thank you Keith. You won't regret it.""

There was a sudden commotion from the kitchen that had them both turning their heads.

"Okay, but like, why can't I go back yet?" Hunk asked in confusion.

"You idiot," Pidge harshly whispered, "Because those two idiots need to talk so we're giving them some privacy!"

"Oh," Hunk mumbled, "Okay, but like, how long is that going to take cuz the popcorn is ready and I refuse to eat them cold."

Lance's chuckle could be heard before Shiro and Coran's voices drummed them out by whispering quite loudly to keep it down.

Allura and Keith shared a look before the red paladin turned his head towards the kitchen and shouted back, "Yeah, uh we can hear everything you guys are saying."

The kitchen grew silent.

"For the record, I blame Shiro." Lance replied back before she and Hunk reemerged from the kitchen, both of them carrying bowls of popcorn and some M&M's.

Shiro rolled his eyes as he settled own next to Allura, a bowl of cereal in one hand and a bag of some kind of candy in the other, "I wasn't loud Lance. The blame should go to Pidge and Coran."

"What?" Pidge squawked as she settled herself next to Lance and Hunk, a bag of gummy warms in her grasp, "I take offence to that! Coran's at fault."

At that moment, Coran walked into the room with a dramatic twirl. How he did that without dropping any liquid from the two cups of tea in his hands was a mystery. The castle advisor put and arm to his chest and stretched the other to the side, "Lady Pidge is right, twas I, whose to blame!"

Keith snorted as all eyes turned to Lance.

"You've been teaching him Shakespeare?" Shiro asked as he blinked in surprise.

Lance waved a hand dismissively, "For the record I was just reading out loud and he just happened to be there. Even _I_ don't get Shakespeare." She looked like that irked her for some reason, "I don't know what I'm reading half the time."

As the others settled down in their own seats and Coran passed Allura her cup of tea, Lance slid down from the couch to take a seat next to Keith on the floor. A scent vaguely of cinnamon wafted into Keith's nose as Lance pressed their shoulders together. Turning away, Keith had to fight the urge to grab a fistful of Lance's shirt, bury his face against her chest, and inhale deeply.

 _Jesus Keith. Calm yourself._

"So," Pidge asked curiously, "Did you two settle things?"

It took him a good few seconds to notice that she was talking to him and Allura. If it wasn't for Lance's poke to the cheek, it might have taken him longer.

Allura and Keith shared a look and smiled.

The Altean princess tucked a hair behind her ear and pressed Shiro's jacket closer to her, "Yes. I believe we've settled things."

Shiro softly smiled at her and Allura turned a pretty shade of red before she awkwardly cleared her throat and took a handful of popcorn from Hunk.

"It must have been awkward," Hunk, mumbled around a mouthful of popcorn, "Was it? Oh gosh I bet it was. You know because he's part Galra and all that stuff with your family."

Lance snorted and patted her friend's knee, "Hunk, take some M&M's, preferably the green ones since they're the worst."

Pidge made an indignant noise and lightly kicked the Amazon in the head, "They all literally taste the same!"

"No they don't," Lance argued back, "Plus, they offend me."

Keith snorted, Shiro looked like he wanted to argue and Coran looked amused. Hunk stifled a smile but took most of the green M&M's to Lance's delight.

Keith smiled.

* * *

In the end they decided to watch _Lilo & Stitch,_ how Pidge even found that movie is beyond him. Then again, this is Pidge he was talking about. Tech expert, and super smart.

The three aliens in the room certainly seemed to love the movie.

Lance and Allura were eagerly leaning forward to find out what happened next, blindly taking some popcorn.

Allura even took Shiro's bowl of cereal by accident but the black paladin kept quiet. Every now and then glancing at her from the corner of her eye.

Coran had gotten out a handkerchief and was blowing his nose quite loudly at pretty much everything.

When Stitch landed on Earth and started laughing like an evildoer, Pidge snorted and joked that that's how Keith made his way into Lance's life.

Lance choked on her popcorn but started laughing, her smile wide even as Keith scowled in Pidge's direction.

By the time the movie was drawing to an end, even Keith was bobbing his head and silently humming under his breath with the music in the movie.

Coran had gotten up a while ago and tried executing some of the dance moves. Lance joined him and everyone erupted into laughter when they started dancing to Elvis playing in the background. Hunk tried to mimic some of the moves and even Shiro and Allura got up to dance to the ending credits. Somehow, Lance was able to drag him to his feet and made him dance.

Pidge eagerly took pictures of everyone from her seat. She refused to make a fool of herself but she did sing along with them.

If you could call it that.

A thrill ran through him, born entirely of doing something completely stupid, and the grin he was receiving from Lance made it worthwhile.


	17. Chapter 17

"Never ignore the elephant in the room. That's rude; play with it and introduce it."  
― **Donna Lynn Hope**

Chapter 17

It was finally time.

After a fun-filled night with the rest of the occupants in the castle, it was finally time for them to start their separate missions.

After the night they had, everyone had knocked out and fallen asleep in the living room. Keith and she cuddled up next to each other on the floor, their legs intertwined together. Hunk passed out on the couch with Pidge practically sprawled on top of him, her right leg dangling mere inches away from Keith's face.

At least she remembered to take off her glasses this time.

Coran had passed out in the sofa, which he reclined, his loud snores drowning out the sound of the engines from the ship.

Shiro and Allura had fallen asleep on the love couch, the Altean princess curled into Shiro's wide chest. It's safe to say that Shiro didn't sleep all that much when the woman he was crushing on was using him as her personal pillow.

Lance had woken up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and had to rub the sleep from her eyes to see Shiro sitting ram rod straight on the couch, Allura's loud snores muffled into his chest.

He kept putting his arm around her shoulder before deciding against it. He did that at least four more times before he finally noticed that the Amazon was awake and watching him.

Lance had given the black paladin a wide smile and if looks could kill, Lance would be a pile of goo on the floor.

Shiro was so lucky that Lance was such a good person, because if she weren't Lance would have woken everyone up and started singing _'Allura and Shiro sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G'_ , but she was, so she settled on a few pictures and ignored the colorful array of curses that Shiro was thinking her way.

Jeez.

For someone who disapproved of Pidge and Keith's everyday bad-mouthing, he sure knew quite a few words himself.

A sailor would be proud.

She couldn't wait to mess with him during their own mission.

She was going to have so much fun.

* * *

At seven a.m. sharp, Shiro woke them up to the sound of a loud horn coming from a conch shell that he was blowing air into.

He looked like Christmas had come early.

She did not appreciate that smug look he sent her way.

The thing looked to be around sixteen inches; it was pink with pointed tips at the edges.

Who in the _hell_ had given Shiro a frickin conch shell?

Yes, she had cursed.

It's what happens when one is woken to the sound of a large horn. Lance almost thought they were under attack.

Heck, Keith took out the dagger he always stashed under his pillow and looked ready to defend them.

The others woke with a startled yelp, Pidge fell of the yellow paladin who was flailing his arms around and looking around in a panic, Pidge landed right on top of Keith and Lance who let out shouts of their own.

Lance got an elbow to the face and Keith got kicked in the jaw.

Coran woke with a loud snort and Lance feared he might have choked but he just sent the black paladin a glare of his own. Allura was the only one who woke up with a wide smile, going so far as to stretch her arms wide in the air and actually _thanked_ Shiro for the wake up call. Shiro grinned and bashfully ran a hand through his hair.

Those two were definitely made for each other.

Lance had a feeling that Allura was the one to give Shiro that shell.

As Shiro and Allura shared good morning pleasantries and long longing looks, like seriously just get together already, Lance and the others shared a look and swore that that shell would meet its end soon.

Keith yawned and ran a hand through that mullet hair of his. He was in need of a haircut soon. Despite sleeping on the floor, her fiancée still looked hot. Like _I just woke up from the floor and yeah I have carpet markings on my face but damn I still look this good.'_

It was so not fair. Lance was pretty sure her hair looked like a rat's nest, hopefully better than Pidge's hair, that thing looked like it had been spiked up, in fact she looked just like Edward Scissorhands.

Not that it was a bad thing. She loved that guy, but Lance didn't think she could pull off his look like Pidge seemed to be doing.

"You need a shower," Lance declared as she pinched her nose and waved her hand to ward off the non-existent smell, Keith scowled, "I bet I can smell your stench from the bridge. Now shoo, take your shower before I choke."

"Stop with the dramatics," Keith muttered as he flicked her forehead, "Besides, it's all probably coming from Pidge."

Pidge scowled at the wall and shot an accusing finger at it, "Hey! I took a shower three days ago!"

Hunk took pity on her and directed her in the right direction. Pidge flushed in embarrassment.

Shiro shot the green paladin a disapproving look and crossed his arms, "Pidge, please go take a shower."

Pidge huffed and picked up her glasses with the help of Allura and placed them on her face, "You're all just jealous."

Lance grinned but it was Coran who spoke, his voice already bright and cheery despite the god-forsaken hour, "Yes, not all of us can get that baby smell you seem to emit."

Hunk and Lance snorted and started laughing; even Keith managed a muffled laugh as he began to make his way to his room.

Allura bit her lip and looked to the side and Shiro tried to keep a blank face but his lips were trembling.

Pidge looked ready to murder someone.

And that was Lance's cue to leave the room before she became Pidge's victim.

* * *

As Lance walked through the still darkened halls to her room, Coran had yet to turn on the castle lights, she hummed a little song to herself.

' _Stay with me, why don't you stay'_ she softly sang under her breath. Keith had pretty good taste in music it seemed. Every now and then when they had some down time Keith and her would lie on the floor of his room and Keith would let her into his head where he had an infinite amount of music stored up. He knew the lyrics to pretty much every song that he liked in there and Lance was one of the few that he actually shared his music with.

He'd even admitted that he secretly liked musicals.

And yes, High school musical counted, Keith knew the words to every song in the movie.

He had made her swear not to tell anyone that little bit of information, even Shiro, but mostly Pidge. The green paladin had enough dirt on him thank you very much.

After a few more winding paths, Lance made it to her room, fixed her hair and picked up some jeans and a tank top before darting back to Keith's room that was just five doors down from her.

As soon as she stepped inside, Lance let out a satisfied smile at her surroundings. She had made good on her promise to fill Keith's room with a bunch of memories and a few more things that Keith had an interest in.

The walls that had been bare since her first joining the team now had posters. There was one poster on the right with the words ' _Do you believe?'_ and a picture of a big foot as a sign of Bigfoot.

The poster next to Keith's bed was all in black with the words ' _Mothman is Real.'_

Apparently, he had an obsession about all those kind of things. He insisted that Bigfoot was real, the same thing for Mothman and crypts.

Lance wasn't sure about any of those things but the more Keith talked about them, the more she began to believe that they _were_ real. They all sounded so interesting.

And then Lance would add in a few more details that she herself had heard from her father and small mysteries that had happened in Cloyetera.

With another glance at the room, Lance made her way to Keith's bed and sat on the red satin bed sheets that she had gotten him. She had found the lion slippers for the rest of team thanks to Coran's help but so far no one else seemed eager to wear them.

Keith only wore them in his room, kept him warm he said.

A glance at the desk revealed three framed photos. One of her and Keith in their paladin armors, one where Pidge had taken a picture of Keith sleeping on Lance's lap while she sat on the couch and played with his hair. The last framed photo had a picture of the whole team doing some kind of pose as they all smiled at the camera.

The sound of the shower being turned on caught her attention and Keith's mind curled around her in question. Lance curled her own mind with his, hesitant.

' _Lance? What's wrong?'_ Keith asked in her mind.

Taking a deep breath, Lance quickly stripped off her clothes before she could lose her nerve and made her way to the bathroom where Keith was already showering.

She made no move to hide her arrival, if the running feet hadn't alerted Keith that she was coming in then her chaotic thoughts did.

Noticing her presence, the gray metallic door swished open and Lance briskly walked inside only to almost trip on the tile floor at the sight before her.

Keith had opened the sliding door and was openly staring at her in shock. Lance would have made a joke or some slight teasing but she was too busy staring at her fiancée in obvious arousal.

Keith…was well endowed it seemed.

And very pale, like so pale that Lance felt the urge to take him to the beach and make him lay on the sand just so he could get a tan.

But holy mama…Keith was handsome.

The red paladin in question turned beet red and Lance slowly grinned, "Careful Keith, if you keep blushing like that you might just make Red jealous."

That seemed to snap him out his stupor and Keith closed his open mouth and tried to clear his throat while he discreetly gave her a once over.

Lance spread her arms wide and slowly turned around in a circle to give him a better view.

She worked out. She knew her body looked great.

His eyes closed to half-mast and he smirked, "What are you doing?" Somehow his voice managed to sound both aroused and demanding at the same time. As if to prove that he wasn't the least bit bothered by her bursting into the bathroom he went back to lathering himself in soap with the washcloth, all the while his blue-gray eyes trained on her.

"I…" that was a good start. At least her mouth was still able to form words. Her thoughts on the other hand…not so much. But it's not her fault! If anyone ever had a very naked Keith standing in front of them while he was lathering himself up with soap then they wouldn't be able think coherently either.

This was a new step for the both of them, despite all the intimate moments that they'd had, all clothes had been kept on.

Neither had ever seen the other completely naked before, it was a whole new territory for them but Lance was one hundred percent sure that they were more than ready for this step.

Swallowing once, Lance shook her head and willed her mouth to speak, "I w-want to shower."

Smooth Lance. The stuttering was a nice effect.

Keith quirked an eyebrow and he moved a wet lock away from his face, "I'm not done yet." He stared at her as if in challenge, waiting for her to come up with something to say as he continued to lather himself.

Were his movements slower or was she just seeing things?

Lance took a step forward and Keith's eyes followed the movement with such intensity that she almost began to fidget in place.

"W-with you!" That seemed to catch him off guard.

"W-what?"

"Yes! We'll be saving water…and…um that's always good. So I've heard at least. Plus, couples shower all the time and stuff right? Right. We've both know each other…for a while now…and I know this is a big step in our relationship but…we're going to get married one day...and so…yeah." Towards the end of her sentence her voice trailed off into a small mumble of embarrassment.

She blamed it on the fact that his legs slightly parted and she could tell that his dark hair was natural. Not that she ever doubted it but confirmation was always good.

"Lance."

The Amazon princess jerked her head up to see Keith giving her a shy smile, his face as red as a tomato. She was pretty sure she looked the same but it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one feeling shy at the moment.

Keith slid the shower door wider and Lance grinned and began to unclasp her red crystal necklace when Keith's voice halted her movements.

"What was that?"

Keith looked to the side before clearing his throat and turning back to her, "I said leave it. It…looks good."

 _So cute!_

Ignoring the knots in her stomach Lance breathed through her nose and began to walk over to Keith who was _still_ watching her.

In the back of her head she knew that stepping into the shower with your significant other was bound to be a bad idea. The whole thing screamed sex. And as much as Lance wanted to take that big step with Keith, now was not the time.

They both had separate missions that they were about to head into. It's the fact that they weren't going to see each other for a few days that had prompted her to take this next step with Keith in the first place.

Well, okay that was a lie.

She'd wanted to do this for a while longer than that but the separate mission thing was a good excuse to try it out.

Lance stepped into the shower and slightly shivered at the warm water pooling at the bottom, her shoulder brushing Keith's chest.

The shower room was definitely roomy, so Keith and Lance both had enough room but Lance opted to stay close. Keith moved slightly to the side and allowed her to wet her hair and face, her heart thundering in her chest.

"I've never done this before," she admitted as she turned to look at him. Her gaze easily found his; it's hard to miss the force of that stare when it's aimed at your back.

Keith pressed the soap into the cloth and made a turning motion. Lance obliged and turned around as Keith began to slowly clean her. His moves were hesitant at first but then they became relaxed as he continued his ministrations.

"Neither have I," he replied after a while, his hand idly stroking her spine while the other was still covering her neck with soap. "Never really wanted to but…you're the exception."

Lance flushed and admitted the same thing.

With her back done, Lance turned around and Keith took a sharp breath. Smiling gently, Lance cupped his cheek with one of her hands and took his other hand that was still clutching the cloth covered in soap and pressed it to her chest.

Keith swallowed and his eyes briefly met hers before they took on a determined edge and he began to wash her breasts.

Lance almost moaned but figured Keith wouldn't be able to handle that so she busied herself with putting some shampoo on her palm before putting it in Keith's hair. The red paladin released a satisfied groan when she began to massage his scalp. Lance grinned and smiled as Keith stared at her with that hooded gaze of his and that half smile that she'd always loved.

And then the two of them just stared at each other in wonder, the water had changed to something a little colder but neither of them seemed to notice. Lance was feeling way too hot at the moment thank you very much. A hand wrapped around her wrist and she was jerked forward into a kiss.

A shiver went up her spine as that talented mouth took control and she was pulled closer. One hand around her waist while the other cupped her face. Lance's nails raked down Keith's back slowly, memorizing each vertebrae as she ran a hand through his wet hair.

Lance let him have control for a little longer before she took control and pressed closer, her tongue slipping into his mouth. His hand went down to the wet skin of her thigh and Lance groaned into his mouth.

Their thoughts mingled together, colors and whispered promises going back and forth. The mood bracelet still wrapped on their wrists was ranging from color to color.

 _I love you._

 _I love you._

 _I love you._

That's all either of them could comprehend from the others thoughts.

Lance wrapped a leg around Keith's hip and the red paladin growled before hefting her up and leaning her on the wall, Lance's other leg wrapped around Keith's hip as he continued to kiss her.

Keith's mouth left her own and he lightly bit her neck. Lance released a moan at the sheer pleasure that move enacted and she could practically feel Keith grinning.

"Sensitive aren't we?"

Lance raked her nails harder on his back and bit his shoulder. Keith moaned and stiffened when Lance began to squirm in place. Her mouth caught his pulse, feeling it flutter in obvious arousal. Her lips jerked closer to his and Keith hissed at the unexpected pleasure as she buried her face into his neck to give him a few love bites.

"Sensitive aren't we?" she teased back.

Keith scoffed and was about to retort when Shiro's booming voice was heard outside.

"Keith, why is your room locked? Hurry up or you're going to miss breakfast!"

Keith groaned and sighed in disappointment as he lowered her to her feet. "He can be such a pain sometimes."

Lance grinned and pressed a kiss to his shoulder before she picked up his shampoo.

"Two-in-one?" she screeched, her hand waving the white bottle in great offence. "You know these are lies right?"

Keith huffed out a laugh and shook his head in amusement before he took the bottle from her hand and poured a good amount on his palm to Lance's horror. "Deal with it princess. It's all I have."

Lance huffed but allowed him to wash her hair, "I can feel my hair slowly dying already," she muttered under her breath.

Keith snickered, his hands gently washing her scalp, "You know how my hair is always so soft?"

Lance quirked a brow in curiosity, "Yeah?"

"It's because of this baby right here."

"Lies."

"True story."

"We shall see, and if my hair isn't as baby soft as your is, I'm smacking you."

"Is that a threat?"

"That, my dear Keith, is a promise."

* * *

He could not believe that had happened.

Lance and he had showered together.

Naked!

 _Duh Keith_ , a little voice mocked him from his head _, that's how showers work you idiot._

Keith scowled but the expression didn't last very long in his current mood.

Holy fuck.

That had been amazing.

He'd be lying if he said he hasn't imaged Lance naked on more than one sex dream. But holy shit was the real deal so much better than anything he could conjure up.

Lance with her beautiful brown skin. Her long limbs. Those beautiful blue eyes. That cute little nose and those soft lips. Not to mention those damn curves! And that tight ass.

Because yes, Keith had looked. How could he _not?_

He hadnt been brave enough to cop a feel yet, but fuck had he wanted to. And boy, he finally did.

Wait.

What if this was just another dream?

Keith's eyes widened in horror and he pinched himself.

He yelped.

Well that definitely hurt.

Must be real then.

"Are you going to stand there naked all day or are you going to get dressed?"

Keith turned around at the familiar voice and had to swallow twice.

Lance was standing in the middle of his room, hands on her hips as she just stood there in a dark blue tank top and some black underwear that Keith immediately took a liking to.

Those legs…

She wiggled her eyebrows and looked him up and down as she bit her bottom lip, "I mean, I don't mind. I'm enjoying the view but I will, under no circumstances, let you leave the room."

Keith sure was glad that he'd kept up his training.

He was proud to say that he had a six-pack.

His body looked and felt great but having Lance confirm it made his chest puff with pride.

Lance sighed before she suddenly grinned at him, "Okay then. Be a good boy and raise your hands in the air. Guess I'll have to dress you myself."

"…You're kidding." Keith frowned as Lance continued to grin at him.

"Either you get dressed or I'll dress you myself. Your choice."

Keith hesitated, but the glint in Lance's eyes left him no doubt that she would follow through with her threat. Reluctantly, he raised his hands in the air and Lance picked up the black shirt that he'd placed on his bed and brought it down over his raised arms.

Before she could, he swiped the red boxers from the desk and quickly put them on. Lance pouted and handed him his jeans and watched while he put them on.

"What about you?" he asked as he began to put on his black and white boots.

"I'll get to it, I'm enjoying the show," Lance replied sweetly.

"What if someone comes?"

"The door is locked, besides Hunk has seen me like this plenty of times."

 _Yeah, but Hunk doesn't want to jump you._ "Get dressed," he groaned out. He couldn't think coherent thoughts while she looked like that. Plus, a part of him wanted to just miss breakfast all together and faze Shiro's wrath so he could have his way with her.

Not that Lance would mind if the current look she was gracing him with had anything to say about it.

Lance simply rolled her eyes and began to shimmy into her jeans, her wet hair dripping drops of water onto the floor.

Keith picked up his red towel and walked behind her and began to dry her hair. He was secretly pleased that she smelled just like him now.

Turning to face him, Lance lifted the blue crystal and Keith took the hint and lowered his head so Lance could put it on him.

Keith swiped his black fingerless gloves from his desk and put them on before he could forget.

"There," Lance said with a smile as she took a step back, "Now we're ready. All I need are my boots from my room before I head to the kitchen. You go on ahead."

Keith gripped her wrist and she turned back to him, her expression curious, "I'll go with you."

After what the two had just shared he didn't feel like parting ways with her yet. Besides, after they were done eating breakfast with the others he wouldn't be able to see her for a few days anyway. Better to enjoy these last few moments before they had to part.

Lance grinned and she laced their hands together before she began to tug him towards the door. She'd slipped on her blue lion slippers but instead of looking ridiculous she looked absolutely adorable.

Getting to her room took no time at all and Lance quickly switched from her slippers into her black boots.

Keith was already turning before she caught his hand in hers and shoved a bottle of lotion in his face. "I put my hair at risk with your shampoo so it's only fair that you try out my lotion." His discomfort must have showed because Lance laughed and poured a good amount of lotion into her palm and waited for him to stretch his hands in front of her so she could put some lotion on him. "Trust me, it's so good for your skin. Not only that but it smells really good."

It did smell good.

But he wasn't going to admit that.

"I can't wait for us to put on face masks together one day."

Keith groaned, "Lance, I love you. I really do. But please don't make me do that."

Lance laughed, the sound pleasant, "One day I will. You can count on it." She took his hand in hers and steered him to the door where she began to drag him to the kitchen, "Now onto get breakfast!"

Keith shook his head.

This girl was going to be the death of him.

* * *

When they finally got to the kitchen everyone turned to greet them only to stop and stare at them.

Pidge made a face, "You guys were messing around, weren't you?"

Keith tensed and allowed Lance to drag him to his seat on the table where the others were already seated. Trying not to give anything away, Keith gave her a blank look, "What makes you say that?"

"It's that love bite." Shiro answered, his face torn between wanting to scold him and laugh at his expense.

Keith's eyes got wide and he looked himself over before Hunk had mercy on him and pointed at his pulse, "It's right there dude. All red and swollen looking."

"I think it's adorable," Allura said as she took a bite of her bacon and smiled at him. Her silver hair had been braided into a tight bun and she'd changed into her pink and white armor. In fact, the rest of the paladins had already changed into their armor as well.

Her four mice were perched on the table as they nibbled on whatever food Allura gave them from her plate.

"Indeed," Coran chirped after her as he leaned forward to examine the red paladin closer, his right hand twirling the end of his orange mustache, "A very good love bite indeed." He turned to the blue paladin and gave her a thumps-up that only had Keith groaning and the others laughing at his expanse, "Very nice Lady Lance."

And then Lance being Lance got up from her seat and bowed as she blew kisses at everyone.

How embarrassing.

As Keith put a gloved hand over his pulse in an attempt to hide the hickey that the blue paladin had given him, Lance suddenly shot up from her seat and turned to Shiro and began to sniff him. The black paladin looked perturbed and leaned back on his chair as the blue paladin got into his personal space.

Keith and the others looked on in confusion even as they continued to eat their breakfast, which consisted of bacon and eggs.

' _Lance?' What is it?'_

' _He just smells…like Allura.'_

Keith's eyes widened before he snorted out loud. "About time." He mumbled under his breath.

Lance got to her feet with a satisfied grin and shot a smirk at the Altean princess who was avoiding eye contact. "So, you and Shiro huh?"

Allura turned beet red and Shiro awkwardly cleared his throat as the others began to piece things together.

"Oh," Pidge said as she finally figured out what they were talking about, "Took you long enough."

Hunk turned red as he gave Shiro a scandalized look, his lips twitching.

"We didn't do anything!" Shiro immediately said, his voice high at the end. Allura sipped her tea as calmly as she could as Coran leaned into her personal space, his mouth set in a smile so wide it was looking homicidal.

"We just kissed a little," Allura finally said, her blue eyes mischievous.

Lance giggled and immediately took the seat next to the Altean princess, "Oh, who made the first move? It was you wasn't it? Shiro is such a prude."

Keith leaned in, a conspirator's grin on his face. "It probably _was_ Allura. Wasn't it?"

Shiro looked offended at that but Allura sent him a sweet smile and the black paladin practically melted as his face turned into a dopey grin.

Keith snorted.

Shiro was _so_ whipped.

The sound of Lance's laughter, bright and cheerful, made him turn his gaze back to his fiancée just in time to see her doubled over, a hand to her stomach as she pointed a shaking finger at Shiro who was looking embarrassed.

Keith's eyes turned soft and he chided himself.

Shiro wasn't the only one who was whipped.

"Congratulations," Keith said as he placed a hand on his friends shoulder, "It's about time Shiro."

Shiro looked chagrined but he nodded in thanks.

* * *

"Okay, everyone remembers what to do?" Shiro asked his fellow paladins half an hour later. His black hair looked almost silver as it shined from the castle lights overhead.

Everyone nodded.

Keith and Lance had both changed into their paladin armor and were waiting for the black paladin to give the cue for them to leave. Everyone had assembled in the hangers where their lions were kept. Hunk and Keith would be taking the yellow lion while Lance took both Shiro and Pidge in Blue.

Allura would be traveling to the Balmera planet to retrieve another crystal big enough for the wormhole they were going to need while Coran headed to the Olkari planet to get a bigger Teleduv.

Shiro made eye contact with all of them before nodding, "Good. Be careful and safe journeys. We'll see each other in a few days."

Lance grinned, excitement pooling in her stomach, "I can't wait to cross this off my bucket list."

Pidge gave her a droll stare, her brown eyes amused behind her glasses, "You put breaking into prison on your bucket list?"

Hunk nodded and crossed his arms over his wide chest, "Yep. She also put breaking _out_ of prison in her list." The yellow paladin raised his fist and Lance lifted her own to give him a fist pump, "You got this buddy."

"You too dude. Have fun getting scaultrite from a devouring creature," Lance said in amusement as Hunk suddenly paled at the reminder of his mission.

"Try not to tease Shiro too much Lance," Keith said sternly as Shiro gave him a grateful look from beside him.

Lance pouted, "Just a little?"

"Lance."

"Pretty please?"

"Fine." Shiro looked absolutely betrayed as Lance gave the red paladin a hug and a kiss to the cheek. "But just a little." Pidge and Hunk gave the black paladin a pat on the back even as Allura and Coran lightly laughed as they watched the proceedings.

"Be careful Mullet," Lance whispered as she gave him another long hug. Keith squeezed her back and held her a little longer before he stepped back and started heading to the yellow lion where Hunk was already making his way.

Shiro gave Allura a hug and she gave him a peck on the cheek that had him blushing before Coran stepped in and pulled the rest of the paladins closer to give them a hug.

With one last look at Lance and the others, Keith went inside the yellow lion and stepped inside with Hunk.

Allura opened up a wormhole for them and Hunk maneuvered them towards it before they stepped through it and the castle of lions disappeared.

* * *

"Why does Allura get to take a leisurely visit to the Balmera while we have to fly into the belly of a giant space worm to get scaultrite?" Hunk muttered a few minutes later from his seat where he was piloting the yellow lion.

Keith gave him a droll stare from where he was sitting on one of the boxes of food from behind him before answering, "You heard Coran. Building a huge Teleduv isn't easy. Everyone has a job to do and this is ours."

Hunk made a face at him before turning back to the screen before him to make sure he didn't steer them into any asteroids floating by, "But I always get the worst jobs. Go to a Galra occupied Balmera to get a crystal. Go down to the sewers to retrieve a stolen crystal and face giant killer worms. Go into a belly of a beast with the only Galra alien team member."

Keith made a face, "Technically, you volunteered for that second one." The red paladin ignored the sour look that the yellow paladin gave him, "And I'm not an alien."

"Well, you're kind of an alien," Hunk mumbled as he turned to look at him again, "You're way more alien than me. You're at least some alien. I'm none alien like at all."

Keith sighed in frustration and resisted the urge to shake Lance's best friend for the chatter that was starting to sound offensive. Lance had told him before that Hunk only babbled when he was nervous about something. "Let's just concentrate on the job here."

Hunk deflated and Keith almost felt bad for snapping at him before Hunk spoke again, his eyes darting from Keith to the screen nervously, "Was-was your mom alien? Your grandpa? How Galra are you?"

Must. Not. Strangle.

Keith clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides and took a deep breath before answering, "I don't know."

Hunk gave him a dubious look, one eyebrow quirked at him, "Did the Blade of Marmora, like, teach you the secret handshake or something?"

Keith glowered at him, his temper starting to rise with every word the yellow paladin said, "No. No one said anything. We were too busy planning this attack that I didn't have time to ask Kolivan what I wanted."

"Huh. Those Marmora guys sure are tight-lipped." Hunk frowned and tapped his chin with his gloved hands, "I get that your society is secret but is everything a secret?"

And there went his temper.

"Okay, look. It was bad enough that Allura hated me for the past few days. Can you just lay off?"

Hunk laughed nervously, "Allura didn't hate you." Keith's glare intensified but Hunk ignored it, "She just needed some time and well everything is okay now. She apologized, you apologized and everything is all right with the world now."

Keith pinched his nose and counted to five, "Let's just watch the video Coran uploaded and stay on task. We need to find out how to collect this stuff.""

Hunk took out the small tablet from under his seat and placed it on his lap so they could both see. After a few more taps, the screen flickered and a younger version of Coran appeared on the screen.

His normally gelled hair was spiked up and instead of wearing his uniform he was wearing a muscle shirt. His surprisingly toned biceps were impressive.

 _Hello Brave Altean._ The Coran in the video greeted.

Hunk's eyes bugged out and he stifled a laugh, "No way," Hunk chuckled as he turned to Keith and pointed at the video, "Is that Coran?"

Keith didn't say anything, just crossed his arms over his chest and returned his gaze to the tablet.

 _So, you're about to venture into the belly of a Weblum to harvest scaultrite. Good for you!_

The younger version of Coran pulled up a screen next to him and pointed at the picture being showed.

 _Scaultrite is an important substance, with thousand of commercial and industrial uses. Including fabrication foam, insect night vision goggles, teleduv-_

The video suddenly cut off only to be replaced by static.

Hunk and Keith shared a look of concern before the yellow paladin tapped the screen in an attempt to get the video to work.

"What's wrong wit the video?" Keith asked with a frown, his blue-gray eyes narrowed on the small screen.

Hunk shrugged helplessly, "It's ten thousand years old dude. It's probably corroded." Hunk leaned forward again and tried tapping the screen one more time.

The video only showed more static before suddenly going back to normal. The younger version of Coran continued talking, his face looking nostalgic.

 _Why, I could go on for days. But you've got a Weblum to enter and some scaultrite to collect. As you probably remember from school, the Weblum is an enormous creature and an integral part of keeping our universe functioning. It survives off the-_

The video cut off again but only for about five seconds before returning back to normal. This time, the video was showing a diagram of the Weblum, with five orange circles on the mouth, one in the middle and two more near the back of its tail.

 _-left over from dead planets. It then reconverts the quintessence remnants by-_ the video cut off for a few seconds more before changing to Coran pointing at a few planets from a chart he was holding.

 _-becoming new solar systems._ The video cut off again and Hunk and Keith were looking completely lost. _Of course, these are not gentle creatures. They're actually giants that are quite deadly. Which leads to rule number one. Now, this is very important so listen closely. Stay away from-_

The video completely cut off and the screen turned black. Hunk picked up the tablet and shook it frantically. The screen turned on to show Coran leaning very close to the camera and both paladins released sighs of relief.

 _-you got that?_

"No." Hunk cried desperately, "No I didn't."

 _It's like a rhyme. Now say it with me. Stay away from its-_

 _Other things to avoid are-_

 _-and eye sockets…_

 _-can lead to certain death!_

And then the video completely cut off and Keith was pretty sure that this mission wasn't going to go well at all.

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Hunk darkly muttered under his breath.

Keith silently agreed but before he could respond his attention snapped to the big screen to look at their new surroundings. Hunk followed his gaze after muttering some more.

"Whoa," Hunk said as he leaned forward to look at the debris surrounding them, "What are those?"

Keith leaned in closer from where he was standing behind the pilots chair and narrowed his eyes, "They look…like dead planets."

"That's strange," Hunk mumbled as he brought up a screen to his right, "The charts I'm looking at show that these planets should be thriving." Wow. What do you think happened to them?" he asked Keith as he turned in his seat to look at him, "Asteroid strike?"

Keith frowned and he looked back at the giant screen displaying the large pieces of planets floating around them, "Something tells me that they died an unnatural death."

"I wonder how Lance and the others are faring," Hunk quietly said before he turned to look at Keith, "Can you tell?"

Keith considered his answer. He could still feel Lance's presence at the back of his head but he couldn't talk to her from this far. But…maybe he could see through her eyes.

Keith closed his eyes and concentrated on Lance.

It took a while but…there.

He could see Lance's gloved hands gripping the two handles on the blue lion as she steered them where the coordinates were indicating. The blue paladin turned her head to the right where Shiro was sitting on a giant medical kit.

He couldn't hear what they were talking about but Shiro nodded before Pidge's head popped up next to him with a grin.

The green paladin said something else that had Shiro shaking his head and then Lance returned her view to the giant screen displayed in front of her.

Keith slowly left and returned to himself.

He opened his eyes and gave the anxious looking Hunk a small smile.

"They seem fine. They haven't reached their destination yet, but nothing seems wrong so far."

Hunk slumped in his seat in relief and nodded, "Phew. That's good."

Something blue and enormous suddenly cut in front of them and Hunk screeched as he pulled the yellow lion back.

"Look!" Hunk pointed but it was unnecessary. There was no way Keith could possibly miss the giant blue worm in front of them.

The thing was huge!

It was thirty-no at least fifty times bigger than the yellow lion they were currently inside of. Oh yeah, Keith could definitely see this thing eating entire planets like it was nothing.

"Guess that ancient Altean Weblum tracker put us right on the money," Keith said with a grin.

Hunk did not look amused.

"We gotta get out of here!" Hunk reasoned, his voice turning frantic, "We haven't watched the entire video yet! We don't know what to do!"

Keith's eyes widened. No way they were leaving now. They'd finally found the darn thing!

The red paladin moved to the front and tapped the tablet with urgency, "We're not leaving. You fly, keep our distance. I'll skim through the video."

Hunk still looked unsure but after a bit of hesitation he nodded and turned back to the screen to do what he was told.

"Come on, come on," Keith mumbled angrily as he tapped the tablet. The younger Coran appeared on the screen once again.

 _So you've made it to the Weblum's first stomach!_

"Rewind!" Hunk cried.

Keith gritted his teeth. "I know!"

 _So, you've identified a Weblum! Great! Now remember rule number one. Stay away from its' face._

Keith and Hunk shared a wide look as they looked at their surroundings. Three green circular eyes on the left and three green circular eyes on the right.

"Wait, that's rule number one?" Hunk cried as he looked outside. "We broke rule number one!"

The giant Weblum's six eyes turned to look at them and growled. A second later its giant mouth opened and began to suck the yellow lion inside.

"Oh, no!" Hunk cried, his voice definitely panicky, "What's it doing?"

The yellow lions alarms began to ring out giving the inside a red hue as the lights began to flicker in warning.

Keith growled and gripped the yellow paladins seats as the lion began to shake, "Get us out of here!"

Hunk gripped the controllers in his hands and grunted as he began to steer them away from the Weblum's mouth.

The Weblum opened its mouth wider before Keith saw a blue light from inside its mouth. Keith's eyes widened in realization. The Weblum was going to fire at them! It could do that?

Keith turned to the yellow paladin to warn him, "Hunk!"

Hunk finally managed to get control and steered them away just as the Weblum fired a blue beam at them. The yellow lion's metal walls groaned and rumbled but Hunk managed to get them away just in time.

The Weblum was not deterred and began to shoot another beam at them. Hunk narrowed his eyes and turned the yellow lion to the right. The debris from the destroyed planets were instantly vaporized instead.

Hunk visibly swallowed and kept his distance.

The tablet flared back to life and Coran's cheery voice startled them.

 _The Weblum's natural defense-venomous laser, deadly acid..total annihilation..death monster-_

The video cut of for two seconds and Keith felt like pulling at his hair. Had Coran not checked this video before he gave it to them?

- _to find it's blind spot at the back of its neck, just below the gills. That's your way inside folks. If it can't see you, then it can't kill you._

The younger Coran in the video looked quite pleased with himself but Keith just wanted to throw the tablet away in anger. A look at the yellow paladin confirmed that he had similar thoughts.

Hunk rolled his eyes and looked back to the big screen to avert another laser fired at them and began to maneuver them to the neck by using the scattered debris as a shield.

The laser fired by the Weblum caused some of the debris to bump into them and the yellow lion was tossed to the side just as it was reaching the Weblum's neck.

Keith held on for dear life as Hunk grunted and used the spikes at the top of the Weblum's head to slow their descent. The alarms inside the yellow lion got louder and just as they were beginning to fall from the Weblum's neck, Hunk made the yellow lion embed its claws on the ground and Keith let out a sigh of relief when they finally stopped falling.

Hunk wiped a beat of sweat from inside his helmet and loosened a breath, "We're attached to it's back, in its blind spot."

Keith straightened and nodded, "Good. We're going in."

Hunk swiveled in his seat to look at him, "Wait, what do we do once we're inside the beast?"

As if waiting for that comment, the tablet lit up and the younger version of Coran appeared once again. Keith and Hunk made a face.

 _A quick recap of what to do once you're inside the beast. One, avoid things that want to kill you._

Keith rolled his eyes. Yeah, no shit.

 _Two, get to the third stomach and find the scaultrite gland. Three activate the Weblum's defense mechanisms and collect the excess material from the gland. That's the scaultrite!_

Keith looked back at Hunk, "Seems simple enough."

"Seems under explained," Hunk argued.

Keith turned and started heading toward the exit. "Come on."

Hunk sighed but unbuckled himself and hastily followed after him.

* * *

Once they both made it outside, both paladins turned on their rocket packs to maneuver in space. Keith could only see the Weblum's blue skin with blue spikes embedded on its back.

Making sure Hunk was still behind him; the red paladin flew downward to where the gills were under the neck. Hunk grunted and whined as he tried to follow after him. He was never really good when it came to using their jetpacks.

Spotting the orange gills, Keith landed in front of the gills and waited for Hunk to land next to him. It took him a few seconds longer and Hunk fell more than landed but he'd made it to his side so that's all that mattered.

The orange gills opened and closed with every breath the Weblum took. The smell emanating from inside it wasn't making Keith want to venture inside it anytime soon but this was a mission. They had to go in.

Keith shared a look with Hunk who gave him a thumps-up. The red paladin nodded and turned his jetpack on once again and flew inside the gills with Hunk following a little ways behind him.

* * *

After heading downward for a few minutes, Hunk and Keith landed in a greenish place that smelled pretty badly. There was more green like slime coming from a few holes, greenish smoke emanating from the floor and Keith almost groaned.

Please don't let this be the stomach he prayed.

Beside him, Hunk screeched, "Oh, yuck! What am I standing on? A mucus pile?" Hunk waved his left leg and tried to shake off the green slime, "I do not like mucus! And is that steaming stomach acid?"

Keith looked to where the yellow paladin was indicating and made a face. It looked like a waterfall; only instead of water it was that green slime going down into a bigger pile of green goo.

Hunk made a gagging noise, "Oh, man. I hope I don't see any blood."

Keith looked back at the yellow paladin and prayed that he wouldn't throw up. He usually did after all.

Keith sighed in frustration, "Hunk! Knock it off. You're freaking yourself out."

Hunk turned frantic black eyes at him, "No, standing away from a pus-bubble is freaking me out."

Hunk stumped his feet in annoyance and yellow smoke floated up. The yellow paladin made another face and covered his nose before stepping a few feet back. He definitely looked a little greener.

Keith sighed and prayed for patience. What would Lance or Shiro do in this situation? Probably try to calm the yellow paladin down. Perhaps add a compliment or make a joke to ease his worries. Keith opened his mouth, "Look, we're inside a giant worm. There's no way to sugar coat it. We're going to need that big brain of yours to get through this. Will you be all right?"

Hunk seemed to not be listening to him. He was too busy looking at everything in a panic.

Keith made his voice louder, "I said, are you going to be all right?"

Hunk took a few deep breaths to calm himself, "Okay. I'll be okay dude."

"Good," Keith saisd as he patted his shoulder, "Besides, no one knows an explosive digestive tract like you."

There. He'd made a joke. Keith was so proud of himself.

Hunk just looked at him in confusion and tilted his head, "Wait, wait, wait." He shook his head a few times and then rubbed his eyes to stare at him, "Did you just make a joke?"

Keith pouted. Was it not a good joke?

Finally spotting an opening, Keith turned his jetpack on and flew towards it.

Hunk hurriedly turned his own jetpack on and followed after him, his voice echoing, "Seriously, that was a joke right? You're saying I throw up a lot. I get it. It's funny."

Hunk laughed but it sounded forced.

Keith flushed in embarrassment.

"Wow," Hunk mumbled between laughs, "Galra Keith is funnier than regular Keith. Boy, I can't wait to tell Lance that you told a joke!"

Keith groaned and cast him pleading eyes, "Please don't."

Hunk just gave him a wide smile, "Uh, I totally have to. She's my best friend." He put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be proud."

Keith let out a long-suffering sigh and resisted the urge to pout once again.

Hunk just laughed in amusement.

Great. Something else for Lance to tease him about.

But at least Hunk was looking better than before.

Keith inwardly grinned.

The red paladin looked around the place and tried to decide where to go when he noticed something green and floating near them. Hunk followed his gaze and grimaced. "What are those?"

Keith didn't know. It looked like snow was raining down at them only instead of them being white, they were green.

The greenish things suddenly changed shapes until they resembled tiny jellyfish and Hunk gasped from behind him.

"Maybe they're bacteria?" Hunk added helpfully. The green jellyfish things floated near them and let out a little screech before two of them planted themselves on Hunk's helmet. "Wait, they seem friendly." Three more jellyfish flew over to him and Hunk laughed as he touched them, "They like me dude."

Keith frowned and swatted the jellyfish that came near them away from him.

Something wasn't right.

Keith brought out his Bayard and watched as it turned into a long red sword. Hunk suddenly yelped and Keith whipped his head around, his weapon raised, "It's acid!" Hunk screamed as he began to swat them away, smoke was coming from the places that the jellyfish had touched, "They're trying to eat us!"

Hunk took out his own Bayard and transformed it into a large gun blaster. The jellyfish increased in tandem and began to surround them. Hunk and Keith put their backs together, their Bayards raised in defense.

The things suddenly leaped at them in groups and Keith swiped them away from him with his sword while Hunk began to open fire.

There were too many of them!

No matter how many they destroyed, they just kept coming.

Keith angrily cut the ones before him down before Hunk suddenly yelped and Keith turned to help before another swarm was in his way.

"I can't see!" Hunk cried as he began to back away, his Bayard shooting at random.

Keith cut the five jellyfish in front of him just in time to see Hunk be sucked inside one of the red walls.

"Hunk!" he cried out as he attempted to follow after him.

" _I'm here_!" Hunk cried over the comms, _"I'm in a sea of blood! I hate blood!"_

Keith cut two jellyfish with his sword before replying back, "You have to find a way out of the circulatory system," he said as he began to back away. His next step almost made him fall and Keith turned to see that there was no more ground before him, just green acid water. "I'm outnumbered here. Meet me back at the stomach!"

And then he jumped right into the acid water.

* * *

The green swarm of jellyfish followed after him but they dissolved as soon as they touched the water. Keith's armor began to give out a small alarm from his helmet. Warning him that he didn't have much time before the acid destroyed his armor.

He had to find a way out of here and fast.

All he could see was green water though.

Keith grinded his teeth and looked around.

There.

There was a small hole just big enough for him to fit that opened every few seconds.

Keith didn't hesitate, he dove towards it.

Please don't be something worse he silently prayed.

The red whole opened and Keith swam faster, barely managing to get inside.

* * *

As he reached the other side, Keith screamed as he began to fall into a dark pit. His eyes found something on the right that looked like a bridge with red vines wrapped around it.

Fuck it. Better than nothing.

With another grunt Keith turned on his jetpack and landed with a thump on the bridge like thing.

Well that hurt.

Keith scowled and began to get up when he noticed what else he landed on.

His eyes widened.

It was a Galra cruiser.

And the pilot was still sitting inside it, staring back at him.

* * *

Hunk screamed as he was tossed from side to side in the river of blood. The current was too strong.

So much blood.

Please don't throw up. Please don't throw up he chanted in his head.

He just _had_ to eat a giant breakfast didn't he?

At the time it had seemed like a good idea.

Now…not so much.

He really hoped that Keith was okay.

He didn't want to be the one to explain to Lance that her fiancée had met his demise by cute little jellyfish.

He didn't think his friend would take it too well.

No matter how cute the jellyfish looked.

The current of blood tossed him to the right and Hunk groaned as his head was slammed on the wall.

He better not get a concussion out of this either.

What if all the tossing around made him lose his memories on how to cook?

Hunk gasped.

Oh hell to the no.

Not on his watch.

As much as he could Hunk began to maneuver himself so he could see his surrounding.

Okay…he was upside down.

No biggie.

He could still see.

No need to freak out.

Hunk flailed his arms around and he grinned impishly when he was facing up again.

Okay, so far so good.

Now that he could see his surroundings better, Hunk began to hurriedly look around even as the current carried him to who knows where.

There were opening on both sides of the wall he realized.

Okay. Good place to start.

Hunk stuck his tongue out in concentration and began to swim towards it. Come one, come on.

The hole opened and Hunk dove right in.

"All right!" he cheered.

And then the hole closed, Hunk halfway out, his butt still on the other side of the current.

Hunk gripped the walls and tried to pull himself out.

Nope. Nada. No dice.

Hunk slumped on the wall.

"Aww man."

* * *

Keith took out his Bayard and transformed it to his long red sword and began to cut the red vines that were keeping the Galra cruiser in place.

He hoped the pilot inside wouldn't try to kill him.

Once the vines were all off Keith leaned into the see through screen and raised his Bayard. "Don't move. I'm here to help."

The pilot inside nodded his head and Keith jammed his sword into the see through screen, effectively breaking it.

Keith offered up a hand and the pilot gripped it with his black-gloved hands. As Keith began to help the pilot out, Zarkon's sigil stitched to the pilots shoulder made him pause.

The pilot suddenly tensed and tried to land a punch only for Keith to duck and kick him back. His sword was aimed at the pilot as soon he turned back to him.

Keith narrowed his eyes but he couldn't see beneath the pilots black helmet. Was it a man or a woman underneath?

As Keith and the pilot stared each other down, a screeching noise caught Keith's attention and he briefly cast his eyes upwards to see those green jellyfish begin to appear from the hole he'd fallen from.

Keith groaned in annoyance.

Those things were getting fucking annoying.

The black pilot suddenly straightened and brought up a red screen before him. Keith tensed as the pilot began to tap a few things from where he was standing.

"What are you doing?" Keith scowled at him.

The pilot didn't answer but a beeping sound from below made him turn his eyes to see the pilot's ship glowing red. Keith's eyes widened and he looked back at the pilot. "You're making your ship a bomb."

The jellyfish all swarmed together until he couldn't differentiate them from another and launched themselves at them.

Keith and the black pilot jumped from the ship just as the jellyfish surrounded it before they were suddenly tossed aside as the ship exploded.

The shock of the blast tossed both he and the black pilot through a wall and they went tumbling down a red pathway.

" _Keith! Keith, are you there?"_ Hunk yelled through the comms. There were a few grunts from the yellow paladin before he yelled again, _"Keith! Answer me! If you die because of those cute jellyfish, Lance will never let me live it down!"_

Keith briefly lost consciousness and didn't hear the rest of what Hunk said. He could still feel himself rolling but after that everything turned black.

* * *

The sound of running footsteps snapped him awake and Keith looked up just in time to avoid a kick to the face from the black paladin.

Keith rolled and turned his Bayard into a shield just as the black pilot aimed a blaster gun at him.

The pilot fired three times…but not at him.

There were three squelching sounds from behind him and Keith slightly turned his head to see the gooey remains of the jellyfish fall to the floor.

Keith looked back at the black pilot and sighed as he deactivated his shield, "I suppose you can keep your weapon," he mumbled under his breath.

Keith and the black pilot turned on their jetpacks and flew into one of the pink holes. Keith made sure to stay behind him in case he tried anything.

The hole sucked them in before promptly spitting them out.

Keith opened his eyes and saw Hunk a few feet away from them.

The yellow paladin looked startled for a second before he smiled widely and flew over to him, "Keith, you're all right! I don't have to explain your early demise to Lance!"

Keith furrowed his brows, "As if they could take me out."

Hunk just nodded and leaned in close to whisper into the side of his ear, "By the way, who's that dude?"

"Someone I found," Keith explained as he turned to look at him, "He doesn't talk much. Also, he's Galra."

Hunk snorted, "What, do you guys all know each other?" he joked.

Keith made a face, unimpressed with his joke.

Hunk pouted and sniffed, "Lance would have laughed."

Yeah, she probably would have Keith thought as he bit back a smile.

"Are you sure we should be saving a Galra soldier though?"

Keith looked back at the black pilot who was looking around, "We're paladins of Voltron," he said, his voice stern, "We can't just leave people to die, even if they are Galra." Hunk tilted his head but nodded. "Now, let's go. Let's just get what we came for and leave."

Hunk tapped his chin nervously, "Yeah, that might be a problem." Keith looked confused and urged him to go on, "Well, the scaultrite gland somehow secretes mucus, or saliva, or something gross. I don't know, take your pick. Anyway, that becomes crystallized."

"So what's the problem?"

"Well," Hunk licked his lips as he looked around the red walls and the small holes that opened and closed every few seconds, "I think we have to trigger the Weblum's defense mechanism like it was mentioned in the video."

There was a sudden rumbling noise and all three of them turned to see more of those jellyfish began to appear.

Keith groaned, "Damn it, not again."

The jellyfish began to gather as one until they created a swirling white circle. Keith, Hunk and the black pilots immediately began to fly away at the jellyfish it was throwing at them. Hunk and Keith both took out their Bayards and began to cut or shoot any that got too close to them as they flew around looking for an exit.

There was another rumble before one of the holes from the ceiling and another hole from the ground suddenly opened up and began to suck everything in the place.

Keith and Hunk yelled as they began to get sucked towards the openings as well. Keith gripped the ground and held on for dear life as wind rushed by his face. The black pilot was gripping the ground with both hands as well and Keith let out a frustrated noise.

What were they suppose to do?

And how long was this thing going to keep sucking in everything inside it?

At least the jellyfish had been sucked in first.

"I think this thing is getting rid of the excess gas produced from its multiple stomachs," Hunk yelled over the rushing wind.

Keith briefly turned his head to look at him in confusion. "In English?"

Hunk looked like he wanted to roll his eyes but refrained and laughed instead, "It's farting!"

Keith groaned and began to lower himself to a standing position as the two holes began to close, "Okay, so what do we do?"

Hunk tapped his chin as he began to pace, "Uh…wait second. "Stay away from its face." The blue laser." Keith looked ready to strangle him, what was he muttering about? Hunk snapped his fingers, "Aha! I know what to do!"

Hunk flew towards the ceiling and cast Keith a grin as he began to explain, "Okay, okay. So, if we want that third stomach gland to secrete the ooze that we need, then I need to get farted out of the Weblum's butt and attack the face, getting it to fire its laser puke."

Keith and the black pilot looked at each other before Keith shrugged and pulled out his Bayard. "Okay, but hurry. I don't know how long we can keep this up!"

Hunk nodded and turned his jetpack, a swarm of jellyfish flew right at him but Keith cut them down with his sword, Hunk used the opportunity to start flying towards the ceiling where the other hole had opened up again.

The black pilot cut down a few more standing in his way and Hunk gave him a thumps-up.

Hunk let the wind carry him out and sighed in relief when he made it just in time to see the hole close behind him. With a yelp, the yellow paladin was tossed outside the Weblum with a few jellyfish that turned to dust as soon as they made it outside.

" _Okay, I'm out buddy! Heading to my lion now!"_

* * *

Keith grinned but it soon turned into a scowl as more and more jellyfish began to surround him and the black pilot.

Was there no end to them?

Jesus.

Keith activated his shield and used it to shield himself from the jellyfish that came at him in groups before switching over to his sword to cut the others down.

He and the black pilot were soon back to back, both of tem hacking away at everything that came at them. "Hunk!" he yelled over the comms. "Whatever you're about to do, do it now!"

" _Okay, I'm provoking the beast now! Just hang on a little longer dude!"_

* * *

Keith almost lost his footing when something suddenly slammed into the Weblum and he looked behind him to see a new giant hole opening.

The hole began to glow blue and Keith took a step back, "Oh crap, I think its about to get really hot in here."

Keith tapped the black pilot on his shoulder and pointed at a wedge on the far side. The black pilot nodded back and both of them hurriedly made their way over there. As soon as they reached it, they both crouched down low and Keith turned his shield on in an effort to keep them safe. The black pilot leaned in close to him and both of them tensed as a giant blue light emanated from where they had been standing mere seconds go.

As soon as the blast disappeared, Keith poked his head out and saw patches of dark blue crystals surrounding one of the holes.

 _Please tell me you got the scaultrite,"_ Hunk asked through the comms.

* * *

Keith grinned and took out a small pill that he pressed a button to at the top and watched it transform into gray bags. "I'm getting it now," he answered as he began to grab a handful of crystals and shoved them inside the bags.

A few minutes later and about twenty something bags full of scaultrite crystals, Keith began to tie the last bag when he heard a whirring sound from behind him. Keith sighed in disappointed and turned to see the black pilot aiming a gun blaster at him, "So you're just like the rest of them."

The black pilot didn't say anything, simply picked up one of the bags of crystal and tossed it over a shoulder before flying out through one of the holes in the ceiling.

Keith watched him go in silence.

Once he was completely gone Keith tapped the button on the right side of his helmet and informed Hunk that he was coming out.

" _Okay, I'm on my way buddy."_

* * *

A few minutes later, Keith was walking back to Hunk's side where he was seated on the pilot chair and steering the yellow lion. "Where's your buddy?" he teased.

Keith sighed and took a seat on the food crate to the right, "Gone. With a whole bag of scaultrite with him too."

Hunk frowned in worry, "Oh. Should we like, go after him or something?"

Keith thought about it before shaking his head, "No. Whatever the Galra are planning won't matter after we defeat Zarkon."

Hunk nodded and gave him a two-finger salute, "Copy that."

Keith smiled and patted his shoulder, "By the way, Hunk, you really came through in the clutch back there."

Hunk smiled, "Aww thank you Galra Keith. I think turning Galra has made you more human."

Keith growled in frustration, "I did not turn Galra!"

Hunk just laughed.


	18. Chapter 18

"I was kind of excited to go to jail for the first time and learn some great dialogue."  
― **Quentin Tarantino**

Chapter 18

As Blue entered as close as she could to the prison orbit, Lance released a sigh and slumped into the pilot's seat. Stretching her arms as high as they could go, she released a satisfied groan when her back cracked before turning herself around to face her friends.

Shiro was sitting on the metallic medical kit, his legs crossed at the ankles. Pidge, who was typing away in her tablet, was flopped onto her stomach on the floor.

"We're here," Lance announced.

Shiro stifled a yawn and turned his neck side to side, letting out a satisfied groan when it popped. Running a hand through his white bangs, he nodded and turned to face her, "Hide the blue lion behind a cluster of asteroids. Once you do that, open the hatch at the back for the next part of the plan."

Lance gave him a two-finger solute and turned back to the screen in front of her and gripped the controls in her hands, "You got it."

Easing to a seated position, Pidge let out a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes, her tablet placed on her lap, "We're finally here?"

"Yup," Lance cheerily answered, "So wakey wakey, if anyone should be tired, it's me. I'm the one who had to pilot us to this prison for the last four hours. At least you two managed to get some sleep."

Pidge snorted and although Lance couldn't see it, she was pretty sure the green paladin was rolling her eyes in her direction, "It's a miracle we even slept at all. You wouldn't stop singing!"

Lance snickered in her seat and settled Blue on a cluster of asteroids big enough to hide her before turning to her, her chin on her palm as if watching a great show, "You can blame Shiro for that," she ignored the offended look the black paladin gave her, "He's the one who started singing Japanese songs."

Pidge shot the black paladin an angry look. Shiro ruffled his hair in embarrassment, his smile set in a crooked grin, "It's what I do on long trips. Lance learned the words pretty fast though."

Pidge shook her head but her anger had already dissipated, "Figures you two would start bonding eventually."

Lance grinned and tossed her brown hair over shoulder, "It had to happen sometime. Who would have thought it'd be over songs?"

Shiro cast her a small smile before reaching for his black and white helmet on the floor and putting it on his head. And then he was on his feet, all teasing gone and all business. Lance and Pidge straightened, "All right guys. You remember the plan?"

Two nods answered him and Pidge got to her feet and put on her green helmet over her mess of brown hair.

Shiro angled his body to the exit, "Okay, Pidge let's go. Lance after you launch us into the prison, use the blue lions scanner to do a full sweep of the prison layout."

Lance took out her bottle of perfume that she always brought with her and sprayed a good amount on herself.

Shiro frowned. "Wait. Are you putting on perfume? While we're about to infiltrate a prison?"

"Well, there's no need to be barbaric. We're entering a prison Shiro, I want to smell better than everyone else at least."

"Oh my god," Pidge groaned next to the black paladin, "You're such a princess!"

"I'm refined you little troll," Lance said with a delicate sniff. "Besides, I just brought the spray this time. It'll wear off within an hour."

Pidge rolled her eyes, and amused smile at her lips, "Oh, you poor baby."

Lance pointed to the ladder, "You can leave now."

Shiro and Pidge snickered and turned on their heels.

Lance huffed and watched her friends exit the cockpit and make their way to the end of the small hall where there was a ladder leading to Blue's mouth. Picking up her own helmet from the dashboard, she quickly slipped it on.

Despite the cluster shielding most of her view from the prison Lance could still see it. The thing was huge. It was shaped like a circular ring, with an outer ring around it and a purple shield surrounding the whole place.

There were yellow lights around it from the little windows it had but everything else was black with hints of purple every now and then.

She vaguely wondered if the Galra knew there were other colors in the rainbow. Not that there was anything wrong with black and purple but to use it on _everything_?

According to the Intel the Blades of Marmora had given them, the place is a maximum-security prison specifically designed to hold the engineer Slav prisoner. Lance didn't think such a huge place was necessary just to hold one prisoner.

Perhaps they had other stuff in there? A souvenir would be nice.

Shaking her head, Lance brought up the screen in front of her to a brighter color and moved the bulls eye sign until she was satisfied that her shot would go through. "Okay guys, I have the shot. I'm all ready here."

Pidge's voice answered her from the comms in her helmet, " _Be careful, you only have one shot."_

Lance snorted, her eyes trained on the screen before her, her hands gripping the controllers in anticipation, "Don't worry, I'm an excellent shot."

Pidge snorted, " _Since when?"_

" _Since forever_."

" _What about the other day during training? You missed the target twice!"_

" _Hey! Keith walked into the room with his sweaty shirt clinging to his body okay! And then he stretched his arms high and- I was distracted!"_

Shiro made a choking sound, " _Too much information Lance."_

" _Just don't miss,"_ Pidge replied after, " _I still have things I want to do with my life."_

" _You know I can still toss you in a random direction and let you float in space right?"_

Pidge snickered, her tone turning in challenge, " _Try it. Then you'll have no one to pretend to laugh at your jokes!"_

Lance gasped, " _Hey! I'm hilarious!"_

" _Yeah, hilarious looking!"_

Shiro's booming voice startled them, _"Guys! Focus!"_

"Sorry dad," both Paladins replied.

Shiro let out a long suffering sigh and mumbled incoherently under his breath.

Lance felt a smile at the corner of her lips.

"Okay, guys. Here we go!" And then Lance pulled the controllers in her hands towards her and Blue opened her jaw and launched the black and green paladins towards the prison.

The blue paladin leaned back in her seat and anxiously watched the figures of her two friends zooming at a fast rate towards the prison, Pidge's heavy breathing echoing loudly through the comms.

Once they were as close as they could get without being detected, both of them would release the small grappling hook they each had on the left wrist of the inside of their armor and attach it to a structure and quickly reel themselves in.

Her stomach growled.

Groaning, Lance settled a hand on top of it, wondering if she just ignored it and counted to ten, it would stop.

It didn't.

Her stomach rumbled again. Louder.

Sighing and making sure her friends were still fine, no one was screaming in panic at least, Lance turned in her seat and opened the small container of granola bars and took one in her hand before shutting the box and placing it under her seat again.

She was just about to rip open the bar when Pidge screamed.

Shoving the bar into one of the pockets in her armored belt, Lance swiveled in her seat and turned her blue eyes on the screen.

"Guys, what's happening?"

There was only static.

Okay Lance. Don't panic. Give them a few more minutes.

Lance only counted to thirty before she tapped the comms button on the side of her helmet, her voice small, "Guys?"

There was a bit more static before Shiro's voice came through, " _We're fine Lance. Pidge's grappling hook came loose and she almost floated away. Don't worry though, I got her."_

Lance slumped in relief.

Idiots making her worry.

* * *

" _Okay, beginning phase two of the plan."_ Came Pidge's voice about ten minutes later, _"I'm blocking the sensors. Lance, you've only got four dobashes to scan the base and land your lion before they're back online."_

Lance waited in anticipation and watched through her monitors. The floating security bods that were scanning outside the prison and were shaped like triangles suddenly gave a twitch before their glowing red eye dimmed and they lay still.

"Okay, initializing sonic scan now," Lance announced. She gripped the controllers in her hands and thrust them forward with a grunt. Blue let out a roar and began to rumble. A glance at the left holographic screen showed her that the sonic scanner had materialized on the blue lions back.

A second later, a ding alerted her upon its completion and a detailed layout of the prison appeared on the holographic screen in front of her. "Sonic scan complete. Sending you the data."

" _Perfect," Pidge replied, "We're right on top of your entry point. Get to my location. Hurry, you've got sixty ticks."_

"On my way," Lance answered.

A tap to another button made the sonic scanner on the blue lion's back disappear and Lance started urging Blue into the prison. A pool of excitement welled in her stomach as she passed the triangle shaped security drones, past the outer ring surrounding the prison and into the hanger bay where the doors were already open for their entry.

Lance settled Blue inside the massive hanger with a small thud before getting to her feet to exit the blue lion and meet up with her companions who were already waiting in front of Blue.

"Phase two is complete," Shiro announced as he looked up at her from inside the blue lion, "Welcome to Beta Traz."

Whoa…

She'd never seen a more impressive collection of ships and fighters. They had things here that people would kill to get their hands on. Everything looked very high tech and cutting edge.

She wanted to burn them.

Just so they wouldn't be used against them she reasoned.

But mostly she just wanted to burn something.

They had all sorts of things in here. Near the front, towering metal shelves held replacements parts for screens and ships. Lance only knew because both Pidge and Hunk had a lot of similar stuff in their own rooms.

Lance let out a low whistle as she joined Pidge and Shiro.

"Impressive right?" the grin Pidge was sporting made her look like Christmas had come early. "Maybe we can take some stuff back?" She cast the black paladin a look and flapped her eyelashes.

Shiro groaned and shook his head. "Let's just finish the mission and when it's over," he made sure to emphasize the word over, "If we have time then yes, you may take something."

Pidge threw a fist in the air and Lance and Shiro grinned.

* * *

"Okay," Pidge said as Lance and Shiro crowded around her to look at the holographic image of the prison coming from her wrist sensor, "I've compiled the data from the Blue lion's sonic scan and created this map. It appears the prison is comprised of three concentric levels." Lance made a face and squinted at the screen, "Each level is showing different types of security. Which is weird but whatever. The Blades said that this prison was made just for Slav, but I'm showing two cells. And three more smaller rooms." Pidge shared a look with her friends, "Who else would be here?"

Lance shrugged, "Maybe someone with magic powers?" Her friends gave her a droll stare, "Or maybe a fairy? A troll?"

"As if," Pidge snorted.

Lance crossed her arms over her armored chest and sniffed, "At least I came up with suggestions."

"Anyway," Shiro said with an arched brow in Lance's direction, "Can you get a visual on the cells?"

Pidge shook her head sadly, "No, not from here. And even if I could, we don't know what this Slav guy looks like."

"Then we're just going to have to check both." Shiro said as he looked over the layout, "I doubt he'd be held up in the smaller rooms."

Lance's hand shot up in the air, "Dibs on the closer one!"

Shiro and Pidge glared.

Lance scowled, "What? My legs are tired."

Pidge sighed in fond exasperation before shaking her head, "Fine. I'll go to the command center and try to access the security systems."

Shiro nodded, "Let's get moving then."

* * *

Shiro placed his Galra prosthetic arm on the scanner next to the hangar bay doors and a green light flickered before the doors opened into a dark tiled hallway. The corridor was empty. Shiro and Lance cautiously exited the room and walked along the brightly lit hall and leaned against the wall.

Pidge had already left them a few minutes ago and was making her way to the command center.

Shiro turned to Lance and the blue paladin nodded and tilted her head. No sound of footsteps. No fighting sentries. Just the sound of the engines outside. All clear.

" _I'm in," came Pidge's voice from their comms links._

Shiro pressed the button on the right side of his helmet and tilted his head closer to whisper back, "Guide us through."

" _Looks like the top level is patrolled by the sentries. The second level is patrolled by floating drones. Oh wow, that's interesting."_

Lance perked up from beside Shiro, "Good interesting?"

" _The second level also has immobilizing foam."_

Lance slumped her shoulders in disappointment, "Oh, bad interesting. Lame."

Shiro peered down the hall, "What about the third level?"

" _Close system I'm afraid. I can't get in from here."_

Shiro and Lance shared a concerned look before the black paladin asked his question in surprise, "You can't access it even on the command center?"

" _No single location can access the entire prison. It's a security measure. When you reach that level, you'll have to link me in."_

Shiro checked the hall one more time and after finding nothing once again, he and Lance darted out and went down the hall. "We're on our way down."

* * *

"There's a sentry after this hall," Lance announced as she ran beside Shiro.

The black paladin nodded and picked up his pace and turned on his jetpack to go faster. By the time Lance reached the end of the hall Shiro had already cut the sentry in half.

It's remains still sending sparks of electricity as the blue paladin made her way over.

Lance grinned, "Nice teamwork on that one."

He inclined his head to her.

Both paladins headed for the steel black door that the sentry had been guarding and waited for the door to open. They didn't have to wait long, this door didn't need a scan, and both of them ran down the hall when Lance heard a whirring noise ahead of them. She picked up her pace, small lightning bursts coming from her right hand.

A triangle shaped drone flew by them and Shiro and Lance halted, the Amazon ready to shoot it down.

" _Wait!" came Pidge's urgent voice, "This one is one of mine. He will be your escort through this hallway so don't shoot him Lance."_

Lance snorted and put her hands on her hips, "As long as it doesn't alert our presence to the warden of this place, he'll be fine."

" _Anyway, he'll scramble the monitors."_

After walking a few more paces they came upon a hall that split into two different paths. Lance took the right and Shiro took the left.

" _Okay guys, there should be a panel coming up,_ " Pidge said as they walked further down, " _Connect your gauntlets so I can hack in."_

Lance and Shiro both removed the panel from the wall on their opposite halls before lifting their wrists to the mess of wires inside. Their gauntlets let out a light as it scanned the inside of the panel before Pidge's excited voice came back.

" _Nice. I have access to level three. Opening the entrances."_

The black and blue paladin walked to the end of their halls and walked through the doors once they opened.

" _Okay," Pidge said, "Shiro you should be able to reach one of the big cells soon. Lance, yours will take a little longer. You'll be passing those three smaller rooms but after taking a few winding paths you should be able to reach the second big cell in this place."_

"Lance, be careful. And try not to cause any trouble." Shiro said through the comms link.

"No promises." Lance replied smoothly.

Pidge snorted through the comms link and Shiro sighed but remained quiet.

* * *

The door clanked shut behind Lance as she took her Bayard out and held it in front of her. She drummed her fingers, listening to the sound of voices somewhere far away, down another corridor, and half expected to hear screams coming from behind the closed doors that she passed.

A door at the front opened and a sentry came out with its gun blaster gripped between its robotic arms. Lance crouched to one knee, aimed her Bayard shaped like a long rifle at the sentries head, and fired.

The sentry tumbled to the floor, its robotic head tumbling a few feet away.

Boring.

There was nothing interesting in here.

Lance was hoping to fight off a bunch of Galra. Maybe shoot a few monitors and set some things on fire. But nope.

The place didn't seem to have much security. The sentries and the floating drones didn't really count. They were a piece of cake. Plus, they didn't scream.

She vaguely wondered if Keith and Hunk were having a better time in their mission than she was.

Going inside a devouring creatures stomach to gather scaultrite sounded fun.

Who knows what kind of defense mechanisms it had inside.

Perhaps she shouldn't have watched that _Osmosis Jones_ movie after all. And she definitely shouldn't have watched that _Magic School Bus_ episode where they all shrunk and went inside someone's body.

Now she was definitely curious.

She'll have to ask Keith and Hunk to describe in perfect detail of everything they saw in there.

With a sigh, Lance went inside the room that the sentry had exited before she destroyed it. The door clanked shut from behind her.

The Amazon searched the room for any hidden cameras, but nothing seemed to strike her as one. The place looked like a small operating room. There was a counter along one wall that held some heart-rate machines. A screen to the right sat blank. The door she had come from. And three exam tables covered in blood.

She really hoped that Slav hadn't been one of the subjects for whatever they were doing in here.

Which begged the question, were there other prisoners here beside Slav?

She scanned the room one more time but nothing else seemed to catch her interest so she turned back to the door.

The hall outside betrayed no footsteps.

Lance stepped out of the room and started making her way down the hall.

She only caught sight of two floating drones and one more sentry but those she blasted before they could notice her.

Lance found another door that a sentry had been guarding and stepped inside to check things out.

It looked exactly the same as the last one; only differences were the huge three cages at the far wall. More blood on the exam tables and robotic limbs that she was sure looked like a dog's paw.

Were there animals here?

Were they the ones being tested?

Lance sneered, she really hated when they tested on animals.

So not cool.

If she found any animals being tested in this place at all she was going to kill whoever was doing the testing in the first place.

Lance stopped just as she was about to exit the room.

Voices.

She could definitely hear voices now.

A little further ahead.

Lance tilted her head and strained to hear what they were saying.

"… _ggar wants the…replaced…"_

"… _no choice…drug…sedated…now…"_

There was a whimper.

But…it didn't sound human.

" _Lance," Pidge said through her helmet, her voice startling the blue paladin, "Once you pass this last room, you'll be able to reach the huge holding cell. There's a few heat signatures coming from the room you'll be passing but whoever is inside probably won't be coming out soon."_

Lance debated for a good three seconds before making up her mind. She tapped the button on the side of her helmet, "Okay. Just going to make a quick stop."

Pidge's screech made her wince, " _Wait, what?"_

" _Lance," Shiro said, his voice urgent, "What are you going to do?"_

Lance exited the room she was in and stepped out into the black tiled hall and began to cautiously head towards the last door paces ahead, "Hopefully saving someone's life," she muttered before turning off her comms.

She was almost there. She could hear the sound of voices a lot better now. There were only two but there was also the sound of whirring sounds. More sentries then.

What were they all doing in that room?

Peering down the hall, she waited for the two sentries guarding the door to turn their heads before she launched herself at them and sent two strikes of lightning at the base of their neck. The sentries twitched for a good five seconds before slumping in her hold.

She hid them in the hall she'd been leaning from with her mind and leaned on the wall next to the door. Lifting her Bayard in her grip Lance took a deep breath and walked right through that door as soon as it opened.

Lance gasped at the sight before her.

A collection of complex machines stood in the room, life monitors, and bio scanners. Machines with all sorts of dials and tubes, needles and screens. Bloody instruments perched on white paper. Her attention focused on the two exam tables that sat in the corner of the room, about three meters long with two bloody bodies of what she could only describe as wolves perched on top of them.

Lance almost gagged at the smell. Those wolves were clearly dead. The purple furred one was missing its front paw while the green furred one was split open from the belly. Some of its guts showing.

A long operating table in the center of the room had another huge wolf on it. This was one had blue fur, it's belly had white fur. An array of moveable lights sprouted at each end of the table, beside it another small table where more tools sat waiting.

There were two Galra doctors standing on each side of the blue wolf. Both were wearing surgical gowns, complete with the bandanas on their head covering their purple furry ears, and the white long gloves. The bottom half of their face was covered by a cloth.

At her gasp, they rounded on her and grasped a set of instruments before launching themselves at her.

Lance dropped to the ground and lashed out with a leg, sweeping the first Galra to reach her off his feet.

The second one, though, came up behind her, a saw flashing in his hand as he made to plunge it through her head. Lance rolled and aimed a shot at him with her Bayard.

The Galra hissed and clutched his side, his weapon falling to the ground and Lance clutched it in her hand and threw it behind her where the first Galra had already recovered and was coming her way.

The saw lodged itself in his head and he slumped to the floor, his purple blood beginning to spread over the white tiles in the room.

Perhaps his sneak attack would have been better if he hadnt released a battle cry.

Speaking of battle cries…the second Galra released one of his own and launched himself at her. She leaped back, careful to avoid crashing into the blue wolf strapped on the exam table and raised her hand palm up and the Galra stopped mid-motion.

"Why were you experimenting on wolves?" she asked him.

The Galra strained his muscles in an attempt to move but Lance held firm. She made a squeezing motion and the Galra let out a strangled yelp.

"Talk. I'm already pissed enough as it is."

The Galra remained quiet.

Clenching her jaw, Lance held out her other hand out to him, thinking only on how she wanted answers from him.

At her will, he began to speak.

His eyes filled with terror.

"Haggar likes to make them fight," he said, his voice sounded strained. "Lord Zarkon likes making them fight against his prisoners in the arenas," he began to pant, his limbs starting to tremble, "The Varg species…are strong…can cut through steel, dangerous creatures…"

The burning sensation returned, starting at the top of her neck and spreading down her spine. It wasn't painful, it felt better than the last time she'd accidentally used this power on Hunk and Pidge to make them shut up and go to bed.

It was almost comforting, pleasant even.

Lance shook her head to clear those thoughts.

Using this power to make people do what she wanted shouldn't feel right.

Best to get this over with quickly.

She had to swallow twice before she could speak, "And those robotic limbs? What about the other one that had its guts out?"

The Galra strained in her grasp, a beat of sweat running down his purple skin, "When they get injured in a fight…Lord Zarkon has us put new limbs on them. To make them stronger in the fights. As for the other one…it died during a fight but its organs are said to be good as food."

Lance scowled, "You guys are sick."

"Haggar…has plans for you blue paladin. Just…you wait."

The Galra had the audacity to smirk and Lance slammed him against the ceiling three times before she let him fall.

He didn't move.

She hoped he was dead.

Heaving a huge sigh, Lance walked over to the blue wolf, Varg, and stopped.

It was awake.

It was breathing hard, but it seemed fine otherwise.

Slowly, as to not scare it, she put her Bayard on the floor and held her hands up.

Its sea green eyes followed her every move cautiously but made no move to attack.

It was beautiful. And huge. The size of a horse.

Its paws were bigger than her hands. Its furry ears with blue tint at the edges twitched as she walked closer.

Its low growl reverberated in the quiet room and Lance almost fled out the room but decided to forge on.

Hopefully she wouldn't lose a hand in the process.

The wolf merely looked at her, a look that spoke of intelligence.

Lance reached its side and placed her hands on the metallic straps holding it down and pulled. The straps made a creaking sound as she pried them away but the wolf didn't lash out at her once it was free.

Merely continued to watch her with those sea green eyes that she found she really liked.

Slowly, as to show it she meant no harm, she placed her hands on top of it and waited for her hands to glow green.

She just wanted to make sure it didn't have any internal injuries.

After scanning it from head to toe, she let out a relieved sigh when she found no injuries.

It was merely drugged.

And a he apparently.

The drug would eventually fade.

A rumbling sound startled her out of her thoughts and she almost scowled thinking it was her stomach again.

The rumbling noise was heard again and Lance turned her blue eyes to the wolf.

Was he hungry?

Her lips quirking into a smile, the Amazon pulled out the granola bar that she'd stashed inside her belt and after unwrapping it, offered it to him.

The wolf sniffed it cautiously and Lance rolled her eyes.

This wolf reminded her of Keith when they first met.

Making sure it was still watching, she bit off a piece and swallowed.

The wolf watched her with narrowed eyes before letting out a sound that sounded a lot like a snort to her and clamped his jaws on the offered treat.

Lance grinned and patted his head, "Oh man. I'm so taking you home with me."

The wolf didn't say anything, duh Lance; animals don't talk, and continued to chew.

"Okay, buddy I have a mission I still need to finish but once I'm done I promise to come back for you."

With one last grin, Lance turned on her heels and exited the room with a skip to her step. Yay. Another friendly companion to join her little team. She couldn't wait to bring him back to the castle of lions and show Nyx and the rest of the animals what she'd brought home.

Maybe he would let her ride him? Now _that_ would be amazing.

She was feeling all too happy about her new companion that she almost forgot that she'd turned her comms off.

Whoops, better turn them back on before Shiro had a heart attack. Tapping the button on the side of her helmet to get in touch with her friends, Lance prepared herself to say a pleasant greeting when the screeching coming from both Shiro and Pidge made her stumble on her feet.

" _I swear to god, if you don't answer me in the next few seconds I'm going to destroy your beauty supplies!" Pidge screamed through the comms._

" _Lance, answer me right now," Shiro said in his dad voice. Lance winced. "If you don't I will cover your room full of insects. You'll never step a foot in there! And if that's not enough, I'll make you eat all the green M &M's as punishment!"_

Lance gasped, for once fearing for her life, "Shiro, you monster! I'm here! Now take it all back!"

Two relieved sighs followed her statement and Lance almost slumped her shoulders in relief but then both paladins began to throw obscenities at her, demanding to know where she was and the _fuck_ took her so long.

"Language," she lightly scolded them and then winced at sheer volume their voices made as they yelled at her _again._ Lance picked up her pace and crossed two more halls until she finally reached the big purple and black metallic doors.

That Slav guy had to be here. Hopefully.

Sighing and finally having enough at being yelled at, Lance tapped the button on her helmet to reply, "Chill guys. I had something to do and before you guys say anything else, yes it was important. Anyway, I'm about to enter one of the big cells and see if that Slav guy is here."

Lance could practically _see_ her friends dragging the skin of their face downward in frustration. It's something both her parents did whenever the Amazon picked a fight with an old lady at a Sephora. Not her fault. She'd gotten the item first, if the lady didn't want to hand it over that was on her, either way, Lance wasn't about to leave the store without getting what she came for.

At least her five brothers were always on her side, heck even her older brother Mikey would join the fight.

" _Lance, according to these readings, that door can only be opened through facial recognition." Pidge said after another long-suffering sigh._

Lance hummed and placed both hands next to the facial scanner. Concentrating, she brought forth small burst of lightning and guided them inside the scanner. Seconds later the scanner flickered green and the doors swiveled open.

Pidge whistled lowly through the comms, _"Nice one Lance. Shiro had to fight a few sentries but he's reached the big cell on his side. That Slav guy has to be inside one of those."_

" _Copy that." Shiro and Lance replied._

With what others might call an unnecessary roll, Lance made her way inside the big prison cell and looked for that Slav guy, her Bayard raised in front of her.

The prison was certainly bigger than the last three rooms she'd passed but had very little lighting. It was mostly dark inside, the only light coming from the open hall she'd come from.

Cautiously she stepped forward and immediately stepped on something hard. Crouching down to inspect what she'd stepped on, Lance picked up the hard piece to see…a sentry's metallic head?

At that moment footsteps began to near her and the Amazon raised her Bayard in the direction it was coming from to see a massive humanoid figure stop in front of her. Lance almost thought he was Galra, what with the purple fur and yellow eyes with no irises but the purple ears were flopped down. Kind of like _Goofy_ from the Disney channel.

Its purple arms were pretty thick; it had two canine teeth sticking out on both sides of his mouth. Two black horns on top of its head and a metallic collar on his neck.

It made a growling sound as it stood to its full height and Lance had to crane her neck a little more just to look him in the eye. Noticing that she was just openly staring at him, she cleared her throat and stood a little taller, "Are you Slav?"

The figure took a few steps forward towards the light and Lance waited with baited breath as it looked down on her, "Yup."

Lance sighed in relief, "Don't worry Slav. I'm here to rescue you. I'm with Voltron. Do you know Voltron?"

"Yup."

Lance grinned and placed her hands on her hips, "Great! Then you know what the blue lion is."

"Yup."

"Not a man of bigger words huh?" Lance said with a huge grin, "That's cool. I can dig it." Tapping the button on the side of her helmet she went to inform her friends, "Pidge, I have Slav."

" _Pidge, I have Slav._ " Shiro said at the same time.

Lance blinked in confusion.

" _Wait, what?" Pidge yelped._

" _I said I have Slav," Shiro said once again._

Lance immediately rebutted, "Wait. I have Slav." Turning to face the massive figure next to her, Lance quirked an eyebrow at him, "Tell me truth, are you Slav?"

The humanoid creature blinked, "Yup."

Pidge made a growling noise, " _We don't have time for this! You're just going to have to bring both of them back."_

" _Okay, give us the route of here," Shiro said after releasing another sigh._

Lance nodded, a finger still pressed to the button on the side of her helmet, "We're ready to go too." Silence. "Hello?"

On the other end, Shiro was also calling out for the green paladin but neither of them received a response.

After another few seconds of silence Shiro's voice spoke to her instead, _"Lance, it looks like we're on our own. We'll have to make our way to Pidge."_

Lance frowned, "What? I have no idea where I'm going, there's new halls here." Turning to face who she assumed was Slav, she asked for his opinion instead, "Slav, do you know where to go?"

"Yup."

Lance beamed and snorted, "What am I talking about? Of course you do. You're a genius!"

"Yup."

Although, there was something off about him. Lance couldn't really get a read on him. She'd tried reading his mind earlier but all she got was pictures of him tearing into those fighting sentries and him eating something that looked like sloppy joe's.

Maybe he'd been tortured? Maybe that's why all she could get from his thoughts were that.

Shrugging her shoulders, Lance exited the cell and started walking to where she remembered the wolf was. Slav followed after her in silence.

"Don't worry big guy, I'll get you out of here. Just have to make a quick stop first."

* * *

Shiro was going to punch this guy.

Normally, the black paladin would never resort to violence right off the bat but this guy was making him anxious. He wasn't good at dealing with people like him.

Pinching his nose in annoyance, Shiro prayed for patience and turned back to the fairly tall (Shiro was still taller though) bipedal alien with four pairs of arms, a long thick tail, and a yellow beak-like mouth. The top of his head and the tip of his tail were blue, while the rest of his body was gray with a white chin and hands.

He was wearing a dark gray turtleneck prison suit with three of his limbs inside the white pockets. All in all, he looked like a worm with four pairs of arms and Shiro didn't seem to like him so far.

"Come on. We have to hurry."

"No thanks." Slav said in an accent that sounded Indian to him from behind his small bed that he was hiding behind.

"What? We're freeing you from Zarkon! We have all these species helping us; we just need you for the final touches! Without you, we can't make this plan work."

Slav poked his head out from behind his head and gave an unimpressed shrug.

Shiro narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, "I can have you on the blue lion and gone in no time, but we have to hurry!"

Slav put two of his hands on his side and stepped on top of his bed, "Oh! The blue lion. Why didn't you say so? Blue light has a frequency between 606 to 608 terahertz."

Shiro frowned in confusion, "Is that going to jam their scanners or something?"

"Nope. That's just my lucky range of terahertz." Slav hopped off his bed and fisted a hand in the air, "Let's go!'

Finally.

Shiro turned on his heel to run when Slav suddenly crouched in front of his bed and began to fix it. "Okay, more to the left. A little more to the right. No, that's too far," he mumbled under his breath.

Shiro's eye twitched and he snapped back at him, "Oh, come on!"

Slav jumped in surprise and the blanket on his hold fluttered to the floor. Slav threw him an angry glare, picked up the blanket and placed it on the bed again, "Great. Now I have to start all over again."

Was this guy frickin serious?

Slav began to smooth out the blanket on the bed and Shiro almost threw his hands in the air and stomped his foot on the floor like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"Slav!"

Slav paid him no mind and continued with his ministrations.

Shiro slumped his shoulders and rubbed his aching head. He could already feel a headache starting to form.

First Lance goes off the grid for like fifteen minutes leaving him and Pidge to worry about her safety and then this Slav guy wants to properly make his bed before escaping the prison that's held him prisoner for who knows how long?

This was so not his day.

At least Lance had turned out to be all right. She'd still made him worry so he probably _would_ make her eat those green M&M's as punishment.

Just when he thought they were finally getting along too. Despite Pidge constantly telling them to shut up, neither he nor Lance had paid her a mind during the trip to the prison.

Here was someone who actually wanted to know more about his language and his Japanese heritage, so of course he was eager to teach Lance a few new words. He'd tried teaching Keith once, but the red paladin just wanted to know how to say fuck in another language.

It's safe to say that Shiro refused to teach him anything after that little comment.

Unlike her fiancée, Lance actually seemed interested in learning more about his culture. The trip to the prison was going to be a long one anyway, why not make it educational as well?

The Amazon picked up things pretty fast and after the second hour into the trip, she was confidently talking back to him in Japanese.

Shiro felt like a proud father.

Deciding to be nice, Shiro had even taught her some of his favorite Jpop songs that he hadn't heard in years. Lance picked those up pretty quickly as well and when she began to sing them back to him, Shiro will admit it, he almost cried.

Mostly because he was really proud of her but the other part was because her singing made him feel nostalgic. Made him think of home. Made him think of those days back on Earth when his mom and him would put on these Japanese songs to sing until his father would come home and put something a little more rock-ish instead.

Still in Japanese, but still good.

So when Lance went off the grid for those last few minutes, Shiro started to worry about her safety. He knew Lance was strong but he couldn't help but worry. Besides, if anything ever happened to her, Keith would go mad with fury. And he'd be devastated.

And he wouldn't be the only one either. The rest of the castle's inhabitants would be devastated as well. Everyone loved Lance. She was just what they needed to keep sane. Before she joined the team, hardly anyone ever made jokes. Most of them were always anxious with worry. There was hardly any humor around the castle.

But when he had met Lance, he was pleasantly surprised to see Keith of all people smiling. Shiro almost thought they'd found the wrong person because Keith hadn't smiled quite like that in a very long time.

So when they had discovered that she was the blue paladin, Shiro was relieved. He just knew that having the Amazon around would do them all some good. And he was right. Everyone was openly joking now, laughter echoed around the castle so much that those earlier months without the blue paladin felt like a dream that they'd finally woken up from.

"Perfect!" Slav exclaimed from his spot where he was crouching in front of his bed.

Shiro jumped, startled out of his thoughts and turned back to see the bed…look messier? The hell? Wasn't he fixing it?

Slav stood and admired his work with a satisfied grin, "Okay, now there's a two percent chance this mission won't result in a horrific, deadly fireball." He gave Shiro a thumps-up, "Let's leave."

Fine fucking finally.

Shiro turned on his heel and ran out the door, thoroughly pleased when he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

Slav suddenly screeched and Shiro stopped in his tracks and almost fell into the small puddle of water that was in the middle of the hall.

Slav tuned halfway back to his cell, "Let's go back."

Shiro clenched his fists together and growled back at him, "Just take the blanket with you!"

Slav curled his tail around himself and made a face at him, "What? No, the blanket is perfect." He was suddenly in front of Shiro and he gripped the black paladins shoulder, "Don't touch the blanket!" Slav took hold of his chin and directed his eyes to the puddle on the floor, "It's that!" Slav released another startled yelp when a drop of water fell to the floor from the leaky ceiling and hid behind Shiro.

Shiro looked back at the puddle in disbelief, "That's a tiny puddle, you'll be fine."

Slav flailed his four pair of arms frantically, "There's a twelve percent chance that I could slip. There are even realities in which I drown because in those realities, I never learned to swim!"

Must. Not. Strangle.

Shiro counted to five, his head definitely throbbing now, "What about this reality? Did you learn to swim in this one?"

Slav looked around frantically and shook Shiro harder, "I can't remember! There are infinite possibilities!"

Shiro removed the hands from his shoulders and shook Slav as he screamed back at him, his patience long gone, "It's just a tiny puddle!"

"Shiro? Is that you?" a familiar voice said.

Shiro and Slav both turned at the same time to see Lance and some massive humanoid alien next to her. The black paladin had never been so happy to see a familiar face until just now.

"Lance!" did his voice carry a hint of desperation there or was he just hearing things? "You're here!"

The blue paladin quirked her head and offered him a small smile as she walked over to his side.

Slav clicked his tongue, "Ah, you took the warden's pet Laika. That's not good, he'll come looking for her."

Lance gave him a puzzled look and cast her blue eyes at Laika in accusation, "You lied to me?"

Laika merely blinked her yellow eyes at the Amazon, "Yup."

Slav continued, "She's his favorite pet, he'll be coming back for her."

Lance's eyes grew wide, "You're an animal?"

"Yup."

Slav made another tsk sound and Shiro turned his attention back to him, he was looking at Lance in pity, "Ah. I can see why you were confused."

Lance looked like she wanted to punch the guy in the face and a part of Shiro hoped she really would punch him but the blue paladin just breathed through her nose and turned her gaze back to Shiro, "Anyway, what's holding you?"

Shiro almost growled out his answer but pointed at Slav as he began to explain, "He refuses to go any further because he thinks the puddle over there," he pointed at the small puddle that Lance had avoided, "will kill him."

Lance looked at him in disbelief, "But it's just a small puddle."

Shiro threw his hands in the air, "That's what _I_ said!"

Slav went over to Lance and shook her shoulders, "I can already feel myself not being able to breathe!" He suddenly turned a darker shade of blue and began to slump backwards in a dramatic fashion in the blue paladins arms, "My lungs are filling with water."

Lance gave Shiro a droll stare. "Shiro. I'm getting quite irritated, let's just kill him."

Shiro almost said yes, but put a hand out and took Slav's slump form in his hands, "No, wait. Though I understand how you feel."

Lance huffed and turned back to Laika who was just staring at them blankly. "This guy's a drama queen huh?"

Laika blinked, "Yup."

Lance grinned and Slav cast them both an unimpressed stare.

Shiro was beginning to smile when Slav began to speak again. Shiro was going to be honest; part of him tuned him out. Whatever he said must not have been good anyway if the rolling of her eyes that Lance did said anything.

Shiro turned back to Slav, "Why don't I just carry you then?"

Slav actually perked up, considered it for ten whole seconds, and finally agreed.

Great.

Lifting Slav in his arms, Shiro began to run as Slav curled his body around him. Lance and Laika followed after him at close pace.

The trek through the halls was pleasantly quiet and just when Shiro's headache began to seize its throbbing, Slav spoke up again. "You're so strong. Must be the robot arm." He peered closer to Shiro, a little closer than necessary in his opinion, "Doesn't it bother you that you only have one?"

And then Slav screamed _again_ and jumped off Shiro's arms. Lance skidded to a halt from beside them and gave them a confused look.

Shiro's headache came back with a vengeance.

"Oh, what? What now?" he cried as he turned to look at Slav who was hiding behind Laika.

Slav poked his head out and pointed at something on the floor, "Look at all those cracks! I can't step on those!"

Lance sighed in irritation.

Shiro turned back to Slav to scream at him, his voice loud even to his own ears, "I was carrying you!"

Slav glared at him from behind Laika, "Oh, so I guess no one cares about their mother's back anymore!"

Shiro shared an incredulous look with Lance as they both turned back to Slav and said at the same time, "You know that nursery rhyme?"

Slav looked at them in annoyance, "Nursery rhyme? I'm talking about quantum realities here." Was this guy for real? "Cracks initiate a space time temporal fissures, which mathematically make higher probabilities for alternate realities in which your mother has a broken back."

Shiro's right eye could not stop twitching. He turned back to Lance to find her in a similar state. In a calm voice that almost surprised him he said to the blue paladin, "Lance. I'm quite irritated. Let's kill him."

Lance's mouth twitched upwards before she placed a hand on top of his head and began to send him her calming energy. Shiro's headache began to ease. "No, wait. Though I understand how you feel."

Shiro took a long deep breath and when he was sure he wasn't going to use his prosthetic arm to kill Slav he turned back to face him, "Is there another route we can take? One without cracks?"

Slav tapped his chin with one of his arms as he began to think, "Well sure, we could go out the screen duct, but you know, it's all full of scree." His whole body seemed to shudder at what he just said and Shiro almost bitch slapped him.

Lance huffed out a laugh.

Shiro did not see what was so funny.

Slav continued talking as he began to pace back and forth, "There's the vlaxenator, but you can hear the water dripping in there."

Shiro made his voice mocking, "And you're worried about drowning."

Slav looked pleased as he turned his head to him, "Now you're getting it!"

Lance spoke up from behind them, "What if I make him float in the air?" she suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Float?" Slav asked curiously.

Lance nodded and Shiro turned back to Slav when he suddenly yelped. The most annoying alien he had ever met was floating in the air thanks to Lance's power, his arms frantically flailing.

"What if you get hit and lose control?" Slav screeched at her, "I could fall to my death!"

Lance frowned, the right side of her mouth scrunched up as if she had just eaten something sour, "It's like three feet off the ground! You'll be fine!"

"No!" Slave screamed, "Put me down this instant!"

Shrugging, Lance dropped him to the floor unceremoniously and smiled in satisfaction when Slav frantically screamed again.

Shiro almost smiled, he would have, but Slav's continued screaming put a bud in _that_.

Shiro and Lance shared a look and nodded before they both said at the same time, "Let's kill him."

" _Uh, you guys do know that I can hear you right?" came Pidge's voice, "No killing who we came to rescue."_

Lance stomped her foot and let out a whine, "But Pidgey! He's so annoying!"

Shiro furiously nodded beside her.

Silence.

Tapping the button on the side of his helmet he tried calling for Pidge again, "Pidge, are you there? We need an alternative route." Silence. "Pidge?"

There was the sound of static before Pidge's voice finally answered him, " _Okay, I'm back. Sorry about that. I'll find you guys a new route."_

Shiro and Lance waited impatiently for Pidge to tell them where to go in silence. Well, mostly silence. Lance kept muttering about a wolf not being where it was suppose to be which was weird. Had Lance met a wolf here or was she just muttering some nonsense?

All the while, Slav began to wring his hands nervously in front of him. He kept releasing a soft whine every time he looked back at those tiles that had cracks in them.

When the whining grew in volume and Lance was taking out her Bayard to probably shoot Slav in the face, Shiro turned back to the engineer and forced a smile on his face. He could feel it twitching at the corners but kept going, "How about I cover your eyes and carry you across?"

Slave glared at him, unimpressed in the least, "I'll know."

Shiro growled and Slav released a whimper at the sound. Forcing the smile back on his face, Shiro tried to make his voice more pleasant sounding and less homicidal than before, "Let's just give it a try!"

As Shiro crept closer to him, Slav released another whimper and screamed.

Loudly.

Lance whipped her head to the end of the hall, "We've got company!"

Shiro whipped his head around and punched the incoming sentry with his prosthetic arm so hard he completely crushed the head.

Lance gave a low whistle and clapped her hands. Even Laika seemed impressed by the clapping she did with her big beefy hands.

Shiro turned back to Slav and pointed a menacing finger at him, "No screaming!"

Lance laughed and tried to muffle her chuckles with her hands but Shiro could still hear it. This was not fucking funny! Shiro was ready to commit murder here and Lance was laughing at his misery?

In front of him Slav looked at him in confusion, "I was screaming?"

Lance laughed louder and Shiro threw her an angry glare. The blue paladin gave him a tight smile but he could still see her eyes twinkling in amusement.

Lord have mercy on him.

"Pidge?" he called again, his voice did not break. Anyone who says otherwise will be getting a punch to the face. "Any luck?"

" _Uh, I don't see an alternate route guys."_

Shiro wanted to scream. Pidge's sudden intake of breath made him stand straighter, "Pidge, what's going on?"

" _Guys, you have incoming!_ " Pidge sounded frantic and then an alarm's shrilly noise began to ringthroughout the prisoner and Shiro and Lance tensed _. "I can't see what they are very well from the screens because they're moving too fast, but they're coming your way! Get out of there!"_

"I hear snarls and a whole lot of footsteps coming from behind us Shiro!" the black paladin turned to Lance just in time to see her take out her Bayard, Laika got on all four and released a growl of her own, "We have to go now!"

Shiro turned back to Slav and had to yell for his voice to be heard over the alarms still ringing, "Slav, we have to go! Now!"

Shiro made as if to grab him but Slav just wriggled out of his reach. Shiro tried again and the same thing happened.

Laika suddenly took off at a run and Lance shouted something before she ran after her. Towards the snarls that he could now hear. "Lance!"

The sounds of a blaster being fired made him pale and he turned a harsh glare to Slav, "We have to go! My friend is in danger!" He pointed to the right where the tiled floors with the cracks were, "Now, we are walking over those cracks! It's our only option!"

Slav looked down on him from where he had crawled up to stick to the ceiling, "Why don't we just turn off the gravity off and float over them instead? Honestly, that's our best option of getting out of here in one piece. I ran the numbers."

Shiro looked unconvinced. Wasn't this the same as what Lance had pretty much offered to do for him? Glaring at him once again, Shiro tapped the button for the comms and waited for Pidge to answer even as the other part of him wanted to go out and help Lance fight whatever was coming their way. "Pidge? Any chance you can turn the gravity off?"

" _That's a great idea!" Pidge said and then grunted, Shiro could hear gun blasters on Pidge's side, "Then the sentries won't be able to maneuver, but we have our jetpacks! It's genius!"_

The whole prison suddenly made a whirring sound, as if someone had turned off an engine and a second later Shiro and Slav began to float in the air.

There was a screech from behind and then Lance flew back to their side, annoyance written across her face, "A little warning would have been nice!"

Good. She didn't look hurt. Just a little miffed but that would pass eventually.

Shiro turned on his own jetpack and Slav curled his worm like body around him and Shiro wasted no time as he began to fly them away from the snarls coming up from behind them. "What the hell are those things anyway?"

Lance looked like she wanted to scold him for his use of language but physically refrained and turned her blue eyes back to the front, her Bayard clutched in front of her, "Some type of robot wolves. They move pretty fast and they like to bite. We best get back to Blue."

Frowning, Shiro nodded and turned his head to the front to see two sentries floating in front of them. Noticing both paladins heading their way they lifted their guns toward them.

Shiro flew faster and turned his prosthetic arm into a sword and cut the one closes to him in half. From behind him, Lance fired off two shots and destroyed the other sentry.

Slav made a pleasing sound from where he had his head perched on top of Shiro's helmet, "That robot arm is fantastic! Now, imagine having two! Our chances of survival would go up to three hundred percent from totally doomed to highly unlikely!"

"Shut up," Shiro and Lance said at the same time.

A conspirator's grin filled up Lance's face. "Is it just me, or is this a big moment in our relationship?"

Shiro scoffed but offered her a smile.

" _Okay guys, gravity will be back in 3…2…1."_

Lance and Shiro landed lightly on their feet and shared another grin when they heard the sound of robot bodies crashing to the floor.

" _I'm making my way to the hangar guys. See you soon!"_

* * *

After what felt like forever, Lance, Shiro, Slav and Laika who had found her way back to them, finally reached the hangar bay where Lance had left Blue.

Shiro put his hand on the scanner and the doors opened up. As both paladins stepped into the room, they suddenly stopped in their tracks at the five sentries standing in front of the blue lion.

Upon noticing them, they began to open fire. Lance let out a little squeak and took out her shield to cover herself.

From beside her, Shiro mimicked her actions and grunted at the impact those blaster guns had, "Get to the lion!"

Lance nodded from beside him and she and Shiro dived forward and dodged the incoming blasters bullets heading their way.

Laika dodged every shot flawlessly, jumping from side to side on all fours and effectively snatching one of the sentries in her jaw and gave it a good shake before throwing it into the wall.

Lance took aim from behind her shield and shot three sentries in the head and turned just in time to see Shiro do a ground house kick to one of the sentries and sent its head tumbling.

Shiro had some moves.

Getting to his feet, Shiro turned and yelled at Slav who had hidden behind a crate, "Let's go Slav!"

Slav poked his head out and looked around the room before answering, "Be right with you!"

Lance rolled her eyes. This guy was the most annoying alien she had ever met in her life.

A sudden howl made all of them turn their heads to the hangar doors. Another and another picked up the howl, half a dozen unearthly calls being sent up in every direction to greet the other howls.

"What was that?" Shiro yelled as he began to inch closer to Blue.

Lance tilted her and put a finger over the trigger in her Bayard, "Those robotic wolves I told you about."

"Slav!" a booming voice screamed.

Lance and Shiro turned to the ceiling just in time to see a big Galra jump from the air shaft and land right in front of them with a slight shake of the ground that sent them back a few paces.

Jeez. Eat much?

The Galra got up from his crouch and stood to his full height and Lance and Shiro both had to crane their necks just to look at him.

The Galra in front of them had a blue-gray Mohawk for hair. Yellow eyes with no irises that were looking at them in fury. He had a goatee, the left side of his face red while the left side was blue. He had a robotic pack attached to his body by shoulder straps.

Hunk had given her an imagine of what Bain from the Batman series looked like, and this guy looked a lot like him except for the lack of face mask.

Everything else down to the robotic pack strapped to his back screamed Bain to her.

Or maybe Lance was just a big Batman fan.

The Galra sneered at them, "You steal my yupper and my prisoner?"

Neither Lance nor Shiro offered anything. Just kept silent and watched him wearily.

The Galra in front of them growled at the lack of response and pressed the button located on his belt. The two vials showing on top of his shoulders rumbled and the purple liquid inside them began to drain.

The Galra's veins began to show on his face, arms, and pretty much everywhere. Lance watched in disgust as he suddenly grew three times in size, his hands turned enormous. So much so that they were dangling in front of him.

Slav released a squeak and went into hiding.

Lance resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd done it so much today that she feared her eyes would permanently stay latched at the top of her skull if she kept that up.

Running footsteps from behind them made Lance turn just in time to see Pidge coming out of an air shaft and making her way over to them, "Okay, I'm ready and- what the hell is that?"

Lance craned her neck higher and licked her suddenly dry lips, "That my dear Pidge is what happens when you take too many steroids. You become fugly."

"And Pidge," Shiro said after her, "Language."

The blue paladin grinned.

The Galra roared and Lance and the others winced at the volume.

The Galra pounded his heavy fists to his chest and leveled a glare at them, "I am the warden of this prison!" he said in a booming voice, "My name is Cannon-"

Lance snorted and muffled a laugh, "Is your last name Ball?"

Despite the situation, Pidge and Shiro's lips twitched.

The Warden, err Cannon, narrowed his yellow eyes at them, "No. It's Seaman."

Lance laughed. She couldn't help it really. "Seaman? That's not any better!"

The warden let put a growl but Lance wasn't done yet, "Seriously though. Did you parents seriously name you that? Did they not like you or something?"

Pidge huffed out a laugh.

Mr. Cannon Seaman, insert a bout of laughter here, let out another roar and then the hangar bay doors were ripped open as a dozen or more robotic wolves made their way inside.

They were quite big; their red robotic eyes followed their moves closely before releasing a howl that was followed up by more howls from the rest of the robotic pack.

All three paladins winced.

"Well, that's not good," Pidge mumbled between her and Shiro.

Her sentiments exactly.

"You're not going anywhere," Cannon the warden said, "And neither is the lion."

In a move so fast that even Lance couldn't see, he barreled right into them and knocked all three paladins to the floor. The robotic wolves launched themselves at her and Lance and the others had to separate and roll away in different directions as to not be mauled by them.

Lance crouched to one knee and open fired on the robotic wolves heading her way. She managed to take out four of them before Shiro shouted in pain.

She could only watch with a wince as Shiro was tossed aside by the warden so hard against the wall that he left a dent behind him.

Slav poked his head out from his hiding spot and yelled at Shiro, "See what I was saying about those robot arms?"

Shiro gave Slav the finger.

The warden turned his yellow eyes on her and Lance began to open fire but her shots didn't seem to be having much of an effect on him. About five wolves ran toward her and Lance threw them away from her with a flick of her wrist.

The move cost her as the warden suddenly grabbed her with one of his beefy arms and squeezed. Lance screamed at the unexpected pressure and tried to wriggle out from his hold.

"Lance!" Pidge screamed as she ran toward her and swung her Bayard, a grappling hook that emanates electricity, towards the warden, "Let go of her you fucker!"

The warden merely growled in annoyance and gripped the end of Pidge's grappling hook and swung her to a box of crates where she fell with a grunt.

Shiro let out shout and began to run towards the warden, his prosthetic arm in the form of a sword only to be stopped when another robotic arm popped out from behind the wardens back. With a grunt, the warden threw Shiro to a far wall where a pack of wolves were waiting for him.

Lance focused her attention on the wolves coming towards Shiro and bent their legs with her mind. Shiro shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and quickly destroyed their heads.

Pidge let out a battle cry and ran towards the warden again only to be struck in the face by one of the warden's hands.

She'd have to teach Pidge to attack without doing a battle cry when they got back to the castle of lions. Battle cries were no good when you were trying to be sneaky.

The green paladin was thrown on top of Shiro who had been running towards them as well and both paladins stumbled to the floor with a yelp.

Thoroughly pissed, Lance began to emit lightning from all over her body and the warden shouted in pain and tossed her to opposite wall so hard that Lance felt something snap.

Okay. She deserved that. She'd been mean after all.

Her back collided with the wall and pain exploded through her head, knocking the wind from her. She collapsed to the ground, grasping her right shoulder, and tried to draw air into her lungs.

Oh great, that little turd dislocated her shoulder with that throw.

The sound of growling made her look up to see a robotic wolf a few feet from her. Lance reached for her Bayard but found that it wasn't there. She must have dropped it when she was thrown.

She would have used her powers to take care of the wolf but she was still seeing stars from that throw and couldn't concentrate well enough.

The robotic wolf crouched before her, ready to spring. His metallic tongue swiped his sharp canines, coating them in black oil.

Her stomach flopped. She scrambled backwards in an attempt to disappear. To hide.

"Nice doggy?"

The robotic wolf snapped his jaws.

"Bad doggy! No biting!"

She could hear Shiro and Pidge shouting her name, both of them desperately trying to make their way over to her. The warden was keeping them occupied though.

The robotic wolf sprang.

Lance turned her head to the side and closed her eyes, but the impact didn't come.

Lance heard a howl, followed by a heavy thud. Snarling.

The blue paladin opened her eyes and gaped. In the center of the room, two forms tangled with each other. Jaws snapping.

Her eyes widened.

It was the blue wolf she had rescued in what felt like a lifetime ago.

She'd come back to retrieve him but he hadn't been there when she'd returned.

Blinking rapidly, she managed to catch her breath before gritting her teeth and popped her shoulder back in.

Lance almost let out a curse, her muscles were screaming at her.

Clenching her jaw, Lance sat up in unsteady feet and began to look for her Bayard. If she could just get it back she could go help Shiro and Pidge.

The blue wolf took hold of the robotic wolf that almost launched itself at her with his jaws and swung him from side to side before slamming it into the floor.

The ground vibrated from the impact, but Lance barely felt it as she finally found her Bayard.

Making sure the blue wolf was fine, he was frickin amazing as he took another two wolves down, Lance turned back to her friends and fired two shots at the warden just as he was about to punch Shiro.

"Hey, ugly!" she screamed, "Come pick on someone your own size!"

The warden let out a roar, his face contorted with rage.

He made a U-turn and headed right for her. Lance tucked her Bayard into her belt and took a boxers stand. Both feet crouched, upper body lowered and both hands in front of her in fists.

The warden raised his arm to smash her but she caught his feint to the right before he changed and struck her to the left. She danced aside. He let out a roar and Lance drove the base of her palm straight into his nose and slammed her other fist into his gut.

The warden dropped to the floor, blood gushing from his nose.

Hopefully it was broken.

The warden was just getting to his feet once again when Lance heard a pained whimper from behind her.

The wolf!

It was hurt!

Lance started making her way over where it had collapsed to the floor, three robotic wolves already on him when the air lock alarm rang out and Lance whipped her head to front to see that Slav had pushed the button for the doors to open.

Lance and the others tried to hold on for dear life as they began to get sucked out into space but it was no use. There was nothing for them to hold onto.

Thankfully, Lance and her friends were still wearing their helmets.

Shiro and Pidge let out screams as they were sucked out into space along with Blue.

Shiro gripped Pidge's arm and brought her closer to his chest as to not lose sight of her.

Lance turned back to the blue wolf that was also being sucked into space with them and managed to grab hold of one of his back paws.

The poor thing had blood all over him but he was still breathing and that's all that counted. Quickly reaching into her pocket with her free hand, Lance desperately searched for that little device that Coran had given to her and the rest of the paladins in case they ever lost their helmets and were stuck in space and placed it on the wolfs forehead.

The black little device that looked a lot like a black lady bug to her beeped twice and released a holographic helmet over the wolfs head, allowing him to breath in space.

The warden had taken hold of one the tubes inside the hanger bay and was clutching Laika in one of his hands.

A startled yelp made her turn just in time to see Slav being thrown into space as well but before he could reach them, the warden grabbed him with one of his four arms and gripped him tightly in his grasp.

"No!" Shiro screamed.

"Here!" Lance said as she all but thrust the blue wolf at Shiro and Pidge, "Don't worry, I got this!"

Lance took out her Bayard and transformed it into a rifle and aimed. "Come on…" she took a deep breath and just as the hangar bay doors were beginning to close, she fired.

Her shot passed through the scattered debris with ease and founds its way into the arm that was holding onto Slav.

Mr. Cannon Seaman a.k.a. the warden yelped in pain and let go of Slav who floated right to them just as the doors to the hangar closed.

Slav was still screaming even as he stumbled into Pidge's waiting arms.

Shiro shot her a huge grin, "Nice one Lance! This is why we bring our sharpshooter!"

Lance grinned, "We're having another moment, aren't we?"

Shiro lightly shook his head but smiled, "Yeah, I guess we are."

Lance raised her fisted palm to him and after a slight hesitation Shiro returned her fist pump with his own, "I'll take it!"

Shiro laughed.

* * *

They were finally going home Shiro thought with a smile.

He'd be able to see Allura soon.

Just the thought of her made him smile.

At the front, Slav was running back and forth and looking around the Blue lion in wonder.

It was only a matter of time before Lance got annoyed with him and punched him though.

The blue paladin had very little patience.

Shiro and Pidge were sitting on the metal crates as they watched Lance heal the giant blue wolf that she had thrown at them earlier on.

Normally, Shiro would have voiced a protest at that because really? Another animal? The castle of lions was going to become a zoo at this rate.

But any protest that he would have made died the instant he remembered that this wolf had saved Lance from getting mauled by one of those robotic wolves when she was still shaking off her dizziness.

Shiro gladly welcomed this new addition to the family.

Shiro had a feeling that Keith in particular was going to love him. His friend always had a soft spot for wolves; he claimed that a wolf had once rescued him and his father when coyotes were attacking them when they had gone camping one time.

Shiro had a feeling that 'fan boy Keith' was going to make an entrance when he saw the wolf.

Shiro brought his gaze back to the floor where Lance was still crouched in front of the wolf, her hands glowing a soft green as she healed his injuries.

The wolf had been tense and suspicious when he had spotted both he and Pidge a few feet away from him. Shiro couldn't blame him for being distrustful of them, Lance had told them what the Galra were about to do to him before she'd rescued him. If Shiro were in his shoes, he'd be suspicious of everyone as well.

The wolf had only calmed down when Lance patted his head and began to sing to him. That had been over half an hour ago. As soon as they all stepped inside the blue lion, Lance had taken the giant blue wolf from his hands and taken him up on the bridge where she told both paladins to watch him for her while she steered them to a safer distance.

It's a good thing Lance had a pretty big metical kit inside her ship. She was thoroughly prepared it seemed.

Pidge and he himself had been a little weary at first but they opened up the medical kit as Slav began to instruct them on what to do.

Stop the bleeding.

Give him one of those shots that had green liquid inside. It would ease his pain.

Keep him from moving too much.

Seems Slav was actually useful for once.

When they were far enough away from the prison, Lance let go of the controllers and crouched down to the blue wolf that was taking up all the space in the small cockpit.

Lance seemed to know what she was doing and the wolf seemed to be breathing easier now so Shiro turned his attention to Pidge who was looking at her tablet. It seems the green paladin had looked through all the past surveillance from the prison and had found a video of her brother escaping at one point, "The information I found on my brother says he was taken by a group of rebels. He's still out there."

Shiro rested a hand on her shoulder, "Matt's a lot like you. He's a survivor."

Pidge sent him a grateful smile.

"Let me see," Lance said from her position on the floor.

Matt Holt looked exactly like Pidge. Same mess of brown hair. Same circular glasses. Same skinny form. Shiro hadn't seen his friend in a very long time. Just knowing that Matt was still out there and alive made him feel eternally grateful.

Pidge lowered the tablet to the blue paladin and Lance wolf-whistled, "Wow. You're brother's quite the looker. I can see the family resemblance." Shiro and Pidge rolled their eyes in amusement "Don't worry Pidge. We'll find him."

Shiro smiled and turned back to Pidge, "She's right. We'll definitely find him."

Pidge looked like she wanted to cry in gratitude and Lance lightly teased her for it. Pidge huffed but laughed and Shiro and Lance soon joined her.

The moment however, was ruined when Slav leaned in to Pidge's personal space and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Lance and Shiro scowled, "Let's kill him." They said at the same time.

Pidge groaned and Shiro could have sworn that the wolf rolled his eyes but he and Lance sent Slav a feral grin that had him quickly backing away from them.

Shiro was _so_ glad that he and Lance had finally bonded.

Perhaps now he would finally get his whistle back.

Right?

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Seriously, I love getting reviews, they make me smile :)_

 _Hope you all enjoy the new chapter!_


	19. Chapter 19

**Have fun, be yourself, enjoy life and stay positive.**

 _Tatiana Maslany_

Chapter 19

"Keith, buddy, you have to calm down."

At Hunk's voice, Keith startled in his back and forth pace at the bridge and sent him a frown. It's not like he was worried about Lance, Shiro and Pidge.

Not like he was fighting to urge to get back in Red and go look for them or anything.

He wasn't thinking about anything like that at all.

It had been three days since Hunk and he had made it back to the castle, and still no word from Lance's group. Allura had tried making contact with them but had been unsuccessful thus far.

Allura had already retrieved the crystal from the Balmera planet and had delivered it to Coran and the Olkari at the Olkarion planet.

But still, no word from Lance and her group yet.

Keith stared at the wall as if it had annoyed him.

Oh, who was he kidding?

Of course Keith was worried.

But he wasn't about to let the others know.

Turning back to the yellow paladin that was seated to the right of him, Keith said in the calmest voice possible, "I'm not worried. Just irritated."

Hunk looked unconvinced.

At least he and Hunk had gotten a little closer because of their mission. Keith wouldn't go so far as to say they were best friends forever and get each other friendship bracelets but they had become a little closer than before.

Hunk had even allowed Keith to help him cook with him the other day.

Sure, Keith had set the batch of cookies on fire as well as the second and third set of cookies but Hunk didn't snap at him once. He looked like he wanted to both cry and strangle him but again, he _didn't_.

If that didn't make them closer than they were the last time, then Keith didn't know shit.

There was a snort from behind him and Keith narrowed his blue-gray eyes and met the amused yellow eyes of Antok who was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, his tail swishing back and forth in a lazy motion.

Next to him, the other eight Blade members were standing at ease, their postures straight, hands behind their back and looking at the screen in front of them with blank eyes.

Keith briefly wondered if they were still alive, they'd been like that for the past hour. Hadn't moved a muscle. Not even a twitch. Had they even blinked?

Kolivan he could understand, Keith had seen the man sleep with his eyes open. Something that he will admit was freaky. For a while, Hunk had thought that the leader of the Blades was in a pissy mood and had stayed clear of him.

Allura had thought he was in a pissy mood as well and had been ready to march on over there and give him a piece of her mind when Ulaz had finally informed them that their leader was just sleeping.

It's safe to say that Keith and his friends had been a little surprised over this new information. Kolivan looked like he was ready to murder someone. His face had been etched in a scowl, his purple furry ears standing on edge, his yellow eyes set in a glare, and one of his hands on his sword.

But the fucker had just been sleeping?

Who the fuck even sleeps like that?

Kolivan apparently.

"You should see him when he smiles," Antok had whispered to him as he and the other Blades waved their hands in front of Kolivan's face just to double check that he was still sleeping.

Keith cast incredulous eyes at Antok, "He smiles?"

Jonaz frowned and shook his head, "If you can call what he did a smile."

At that moment Ulaz stepped forward to join the conversation, "He smirked, and I've never been so damn scared in my life," he stated seriously.

Antok snorted, "It wasn't just scary. It was borderlines on evil."

Keith stared at the trembling Blades and swallowed twice.

"I can hear you, you know," Kolivan said and everyone jumped. His tone was barely above sub-freezing temperatures.

Keith and the rest of the Blades had never run so fast in their lives.

"I'm sure you're mate is fine Keith of Earth," Leylee said from beside Antok in the present, a smile that was probably suppose to be reassuring on her face, "I've only known your friends for a short while but I can tell that they are strong."

Keith frowned and was about to answer when a beeping sound from the podium alerted them that someone was trying to make contact with them.

Keith whipped his head around and watched as Allura tapped the button to accept the message. A second later, Lance's voice was heard through the speakers and Keith's shoulders relaxed.

" _Lance here, sorry about the slight delay. We're ready for you to use the Teleduv and bring us home princess!"_

There was a screech on the other end of the line that had everyone at the castle wincing because of the sheer volume as a voice that had an Indian accent was heard, " _You didn't say we were traveling by Teleduv!"_

" _What's the problem?" Shiro snapped angrily, "We're traveling by Teleduv! So just count your hair follicles or fluff a pillow, or whatever the hell you need to do to make sure we survive the wormhole trip in this reality!"_

There was stunned silence from both ends. Allura and Keith were staring with their jaws dropped. Hunk was twiddling his thumbs nervously and the Blade of Marmora members looked around in confusion, their hands on their weapons.

 _"I was just going to say that traveling by Teleduv is a very efficient form of travel," the guy with the Indian accent said meekly._

Two snorts followed the statements and Keith could heard Pidge and Lance muffling their laughter as Shiro cursed under his breath before the Amazon cleared her throat, " _Anyway, we're ready to go home. Please, please take us home. Some of us are about to have a breakdown."_

Pidge coughed _, "Shiro."_

It took a moment for Allura to catch on but at Hunk's prodding the Altean princess cleared her throat and announced she was ready.

The communication with Lance was cut off as Allura began to open a wormhole for the Blue lion and its companions to pass through.

As soon as the Blue lion was on their side Keith and the others all but fled to the hangar bay to greet them.

* * *

The Blue lion was already lowering its ramp from its mouth so her passengers could exit when Keith and the others arrived.

Footsteps began to descend and Keith whirled his head to find Pidge holding a giant bloody knife followed by Lance and Shiro who were covered from head to toe in blood. In fact, even Pidge had smudges of blood on her cheeks. Keith's face turned from warm to horrified and he almost dropped to his knees as he gripped Lance's shoulders and shook her.

Behind him, sounds of alarms from the rest of the castle occupants were heard as they all got their first look at the rest of the paladins.

"Healing tub!" Allura screamed as she took in Shiro's face in her hands, "And bandages! We need bandages!"

"Oh man," Hunk whined nervously as he inspected Pidge, "There's so much blood! Where are you hurt?" He shook the green paladin's shoulders, "Speak to me!"

"A gurney!" Jonaz yelled, "We need gurneys!"

"How are you guys still standing?" Xylian exclaimed.

The three paladins shared a confused look. "We're fine."

Keith looked at the blue paladin incredulously, "You're covered in blood!"

"It's not ours." Shiro stated calmly.

Ulaz and Kolivan strode forward, faces stern, "Whose blood is it?"

Pidge grinned devilishly, "The blood of our enemies!"

Everyone blanched.

Lance and Shiro hit her upside the head and the green paladin scowled.

Lance rolled her eyes as Shiro pinched his nose and began to explain, "We were on our way back to the castle a few days ago when that little shit, ahem I mean Slav tripped on air," Lance's shoulders shook in amusement, "And destroyed our communications equipment. We had to dock on the closest planet we could find so Pidge could repair it."

"Unfortunately for us," Lance said as she continued with the story, "The planet was basically just an ocean of sea. There was only very little land for us to land in when we got attacked by the sea creatures there."

"They were fucking huge!" Pidge exclaimed with a wave of her hands and ignored the heated glances that the black and blue paladins sent her, "They were like whales! Except they were cannibals!"

Leylee and Jonaz shared a wide-eyed look and Antok leaned forward eagerly to hear the rest.

Allura frowned as she tried to wipe some blood off Shiro's cheek with her sleeve, "So then what happened?"

The three paladins shared a feral look and smiled. It was Shiro who answered next, "So we went hunting."

"We won of course," Lance added smugly. "Electrocuted a few, ate some of them, had a campfire. Talked to some coconuts. Told some ghost stories, tried to kill Slav a few times."

Hunk looked at his friend in shock.

"It was amazing!" Pidge said as she jumped up and down and shook the bloody machete around, "Lance and Shiro even said I could use a machete!"

Those whales they ate must have had some weird effect on those two then because under no circumstances would Lance _or_ Shiro allow Pidge to use a machete.

One look at the green paladin who was waving the bloody thing in the air would tell you that much.

"And then the most beautiful thing happened," Shiro said with a wistful smile and Lance sniffed and wiped a tear from her face, "Slav was taken by one of the creatures."

"It was beautiful," Lance said with another sniff.

"It was finally quiet," Pidge added lastly.

And then all three shared a nostalgic look and smiled.

Kolivan and the rest of the Blades strode forward, a look of disbelief on their faces. It was Antok who spoke, "And you let the creatures take him?"

Lance and Shiro sighed sadly and Pidge shook her head, a scowl on her face, "We got him back. He just wouldn't shut up afterward."

"Hey Slav!" Shiro yelled towards the Blue lion, "Come down already!"

A hesitant voice answered, "There's no cracks?"

Shiro released a long-suffering sigh, "No."

Slav poked his head out, "No puddles?"

Lance narrowed her eyes, "No."

Slav revealed half of his body, he looked like a worm, "No sea creatures to try and eat me?"

Pidge scowled and gripped the bloody machete in her hands, "No."

"Ah." Slav said in that Indian accent and finally started to make his way down the ramp, "Well, why didn't you say so?"

As Slav began to make his way to the gathered crowd, Shiro and Lance began to retreat slowly, Pidge followed close behind them. All three of them had a scowl on their face, as if they'd eaten something foul.

What the fuck had happened in the past three days?

Slav nodded to himself and tapped his chin as he hummed and looked around, "Yes, this will do. I can make this place better. I'll just destroy a few things."

Everyone shared a wide-eyed look.

Motherfucker was going to do what now?

Allura and Kolivan stepped forward and the Altean princess stuck her hand forward to greet the engineer, "Mr. Slav, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Princess Allura from Altea, I look forward to you helping us."

Slav ignored the offered hand as he looked her up and down, "Ah, Altean. Tell me, how is your sexual appetite?"

Lance and Shiro groaned and Allura turned red. "Excuse me?"

"Your sexual appetite. I have heard a lot about Alteans and their sexual appetites. I'm merely curious," he leaned forward eagerly and took out a notepad from one of his pockets, "I've heard that if an Altean doesn't have intercourse on a daily basis they can go mad. Is it true?"

Allura was speechless.

Slav turned to Kolivan and the Blades gathered behind him, "What about you guys? Do any of _you_ experience anything like that?"

Kolivan stared blankly ahead, though if one looked closely one would see his right eye twitch.

The Blades looked around in embarrassment and Slav turned and looked at the rest of the gathered crowd before he turned to Keith and gasped. The worm guy all but shoved everyone away from him and gripped Keith's face in his clammy hands, "So you're the half-Galra! Fascinating! Tell me, how do you not turn purple and grown ears? Being a half-breed and all, do you get any Galra traits? What about a higher temperature? Do you get a bigger appetite than most?"

Keith had only known Slav for all of five minutes but he could already tell that he wasn't going to like him.

The red paladin removed the clammy hands gripping his face and turned to see Shiro looking on the verge of a breakdown. Keith feared an aneurism was imminent.

Keith knew a broken man when he saw one.

"Anyway," Lance said loudly and all but shoved Slav out of the way; "We brought another guest with us today."

Keith frowned and tried to read her mind but Lance shut him out. It was the startled gasps that made him turn back to the ramp and Keith felt his eyes almost fall out of his head because coming down the ramp was a giant motherfucking blue wolf.

Keith released the manliest squeal of his life and ignoring the panicked looks that he received, all but skipped to the wolf's side.

It was huge!

Definitely taller than _him_ and it was staring at him with his sea green eyes as if he was trash.

Keith loved him immediately.

Kolivan stared, a look of awe on his face, "That's a Varg," he whispered.

Ulaz rubbed his eyes, "They are all but extinct at this point."

The rest of the Blades crowded closer, looks of awes on their face. Hunk looked like he was physically holding himself back from cuddling him.

Allura narrowed her blue eyes and placed her hands on her hips as her four mice hid behind a cluster of her silver hair, "Another animal Lance?"

"He saved my life!" Lance argued with a scowl.

"He helped us take down three giant whales!" added Pidge.

"Plus, he scared Slav most of the time so I already love him," Shiro said, "You can't take him from us, he's our baby!"

Was that a whine coming from Shiro?

Allura looked lost.

Those whales they ate had definitely been bad after all.

"What's his name?" Keith asked the blue paladin as he danced around the wolf in an attempt to touch him. The wolf snapped his jaws at him but Keith only squealed.

Lance shrugged, "You decide."

Keith whipped his head around to look at her, "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

Lance grinned and even covered in blood she looked beautiful, "Once or twice."

Keith shared a secret smile with her and Lance gave him a devilish smirk and a wink. There were some awkward coughs around the room and someone screamed for them to get a room but Keith didn't give a fuck.

They were just jealous.

Slav rubbed his chin, his beak of a mouth curling at the edges, "Ah, soulmates. Very interesting. And how is _your_ sexual appetite?"

Keith glared, but Slav only shrugged.

Winking, he reached out and gave Lance's nose a tweak, ignoring how Keith bristled beside her. The blue paladin had to be physically held back by Hunk when she made to fling herself at him.

"Dude," Hunk said with a frown in Slav's direction, "So not cool."

Keith ignored them all and focused his attention back to the blue wolf who had marched on over to Lance and all but snuggled onto her side.

Keith was not jealous.

But if he was, he wasn't sure whom he was jealous of. The wolf or Lance?

The world may never know.

Sizing up the wolf, Keith looked him up and down, side to side, and finally nodded his head. "I'll call him Shadow."

The wolf let out a snort but looked pleased.

At least that's what Keith chose to think.

He was sure he saw a twinkle in his eye.

Or maybe Keith just looked appetizing.

It's probably because he loves his new name he reasoned.

"Now that that's settled, we three are going to take a shower and then go to sleep." Lance announced with a tired yawn, "Three days with no sleep is just bad for my skin."

"Ditto," Pidge said as she rubbed her face and hugged the bloody machete closer to her chest. Hunk wisely took it away from her but she didn't seem to notice, just stared incomprehensibly.

Shiro nodded and shot a glare at Slav, "Make sure that _he_ stays far _far_ way."

"Or I'll kill him," Lance threatened with the cracking of her knuckles.

"I'll straight up strangle him," Pidge added with a scowl.

Having nothing else to say, all three of them lazily walked out the doors with Shadow following closely behind.

As soon as they were gone, Slav turned to Allura and pointed at the door where the three paladins had just left from with a smile, "Those three are my best friends in the whole universe."

There was something seriously wrong with this guy.

* * *

A few days later, Lance found herself in the Olkarion planet where they would be adding the final touches for their plan.

The blue paladin had never been to the Olkarion planet before but she could see why Pidge loved it so much. The place practically _screamed_ technology. It was pretty but it had nothing on Cloyetera. The planet seemed to be divided in half by a 'skirt' of titanic mountains at its equator. On one side was the vast city where they had all their technology while the other side was just a forest.

Plus it was like ninety degrees outside and Lance didn't like sweating.

She didn't like the buildings much either, well not the buildings themselves just the color. The city was very yellowish to her. Hints of brown every now and then but when Lance ventured into the city, she felt like she should take a pair of sunglasses with her lest she go blind from all the brightness.

She'd gone inside a building with glass doors and blinked as she was assaulted by yellow. Yellow floors, ceilings, walls, heck even the furniture was yellow. Walking slowly into the room, Lance had blinked at the sheer brightness and nervously walked to the front desk.

One of the Olkari was seated behind a desk in…wait for it…a yellow robe.

She'd just gone looking for the restroom! And here the color yellow was assaulting her.

Lance had never had a problem with the color before but now…a part of her wanted to grab a paintbrush and add some frickin color besides yellow to make this place look a little better.

Just when Lance had decided to just walk all the way back to the castle to use the restroom instead, Hunk had walked into the room with a big smile and a wave in her direction and wearing…yellow.

Lance fled to the castle of lions for fear that she might punch Hunk's sweet face for wearing a color that Lance suddenly found offensive.

The Amazon decided to stay in the castle for the next few days until they finished the Teleduv and no matter how much the other Paladins pleaded for her to go outside and get some fresh air, Lance had refused.

Maybe if they painted the buildings she would go.

* * *

The Teleduv was nearly finished and the Olkari were already outfitting the giant crystal that Allura had retrieved from the Balmera planet. Slav had been blissfully busy and had left them alone. He kept making adjustments to the gravity generator so much that Coran looked like he wanted to cry though.

Lance felt for him, she really did, but Shiro had simply said 'better him than us'.

The black paladin was looking much better as well. It seems all he needed was some sleep, some time with Allura, and a whole lot of distance from Slav to feel better.

Perhaps some therapy would do him some good too.

Pidge too was feeling better and after a day of rest had gone with Hunk to help the Olkari with the Teleduv.

Lance had slept for two whole days, Shadow never leaving her side, and woken up to breakfast in bed thanks to Keith.

Hunk had prepared the meal because all Keith could make was a sandwich.

Still, it was the thought that count.

Since neither of them had anything else to do, the two had spent their time talking about the missions they went on and introducing Shadow to the rest of Lance's pets that she kept in a giant room that she and Pidge had basically turned into a tropical forest thanks to the transparent bracelets and a whole lot of help from Hunk and Coran.

Nyx had seemed pleased with the new addition to the family and perched herself on Shadows head. Kaltenecker the cow just snorted and went back to chewing grass. Nagini and Nagg had no problem with him either.

After some prodding from her, Shadow had finally allowed Keith to touch him. The red paladin looked like he was on the verge of tears and hugged Shadow's massive head to his chest and squealed more than once.

Keith was so lucky that the blue paladin loved him; otherwise she would have smacked him.

* * *

The Teleduv was finally done and so to commemorate its completion, Ryner, the new leader of the Olkari people had declared that they would be throwing a party to celebrate.

Lance was ecstatic, Keith could tell by the way her eyes grew wide and sparkled. But underneath that sparkle there was a hint of mischief hidden deep within.

Plus, that cackling she did in her head was disturbing.

Keith frowned, Lance was up to something.

The Amazon had been acting strange for the past few days. She'd all but refused to venture outside after she was 'assaulted by the color yellow' and had stayed inside the castle where she modified a training dummy to look like Slav and had been beating the shit out of it for days.

When Shiro had walked in by accident, his eyes had gone wide with glee and he'd immediately gone to join her. And then Pidge found out from one of the Blades and Keith had began to fear for his life as he watched his friends laughing maniacally into the air, all of them taking turns beating that training dummy to pieces.

He would have to talk to Allura about getting those three a check up because Keith was one hundred percent sure that those whales they ate had given the three paladins some weird side effects.

Lance had been prepared for the training dummies demise it seemed, and she had made at least six more look alike Slav dummies to replace the first one.

Shiro in particular was laughing the most out of the three of them. But he looked so much better so Keith didn't really care.

It seems that Shiro and Lance had bonded during their mission and Keith was glad. Just the other day he had seen Shiro walking down the halls and annoying everyone with his shiny whistle that the blue paladin had finally given back to him. Those two _really_ must have bonded because Lance would have never given Shiro that whistle back when she knew it would annoy her to no end.

It seems Lance had gotten some of the Olkari to make her some headphones and earbuds so whenever Shiro passed by whistling out the 'We Are the Champions' song by Queen, the blue paladin would put on her headphones and tune him out.

It seemed that the most important people to him were finally getting along. Whenever they passed the halls Lance would put up her hand for a fist bump and Shiro would return it with a grin and mimic an explosion with his other hand.

Those two were so weird.

* * *

Shaking his head, Keith left the Blades behind in the training room and went to look for Lance who he hadn't spend much time with since she had come back.

Lifting his arm up he grimaced. He'd have to take a shower later and change out of his training clothes and into something better.

A tug on their bond informed him that Lance was in her room so Keith took the next hall and marched on over there.

Shadow wouldn't be with her this time though which sucked because Keith really wanted to pet him and snuggle up to him.

Shadow had not strayed once from Lance's side, he even slept in her room. The blue paladin had talked to Ryner and gotten permission for her pets to go venture into the woods. All of them except for Kaltenecker the cow had gone and every now and then one would hear screeching and howling in the distance at the edge of the forest.

The door to Lance's room swiveled open and Keith walked in to see his fiancé laying on her back in bed. She had one leg crossed over the other, a set of earphones on her ears, her eyes were closed as she moved her head to the beat and hummed.

She was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue V-neck shirt. Her boots were under her bed.

Lance _knew_ he was there. But she refused to acknowledge him. Keith pouted, he didn't like being ignored.

His mouth set in a grin, he tiptoed over to her and stole the pillow she was using.

Lance's head fell to the mattress in surprise and she laughed before trying to steal back her pillow. "What are you thirteen?"

Keith dodged the pillow she threw at him; "You still had pillow fights at thirteen?"

Lance flushed, "N-no!"

She _so_ did.

Palms were shoved into faces and legs jabbed into ribs.

Endless insults were thrown at one another and yes there were a few uncontrollable giggles coming from the both of them.

Mostly by Lance.

Not by Keith.

No matter what the blue paladin said.

At one point Keith told Lance that her hair looked ridiculous and the Amazon threw three hard pillows at him.

Keith almost had the upper hand but Lance was quick and soon the tables were turned.

"Wait!" Keith wheezed and laughed as Lance straddled his hips and began to tickle his sides, "No more!"

"Say you're prayers Mullet!" Lance taunted before she promptly threw a pillow to his face. "All that training and you couldn't even dodge a pillow," Lance shook her shoulders and sighed dramatically, "Oh the shame."

And then she began to laugh like a villain and Keith laughed harder because it was surprisingly pretty good. Breathing rather hard, Keith sat up and Lance moved to get more comfortable in his lap and threw her hands around his neck.

"Looks like I win," she whispered.

Keith settled his hands around her waist and rolled his eyes, "Having super strength is no fair."

Lance snorted and combed back his hair with one of her hands, "Please. I won because that mullet was holding you back."

Keith groaned and buried his face in her neck, "Oh my god! It's not a mullet!"

"You're right, it's just the achy breaky big mistakey."

Keith's mouth twitched.

"Oh Keith, forever in denial."

Keith bit her shoulder and Lance lightly laughed, "Are you going to kiss me or will I have to beg?"

"Ah, excuse _you._ I'm the one who won the pillow fight. _I_ deserved to get kissed."

Keith pulled himself up and rolled his eyes but leaned in to give her a kiss. Lance's instincts kicked in and she kissed back eagerly.

Keith suddenly felt too hot, a warm tingling sensation spreading over him and making him feel lightheaded.

Lance tilted her head to make the kiss deeper and Keith wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer. Unfortunately, both of them overcompensated and Lance fell backwards and pulled Keith along.

The red paladin tried to grip the edge of the bed but instead pulled the sheet off and both of them fell in a tangled heap to the floor.

Lance laughed hard, her shoulders shaking and Keith had never seen someone so beautiful. And then she murmured his name and Keith leaned in to kiss her jaw. Her neck. Her cheeks. Anywhere he could reach he made sure to leave a lingering kiss.

Lance was a moaning mess under him and Keith felt the need to make her forget everything else but him.

The red paladin pulled back and moved a stray lock from her face, feeling suddenly shy, "Y-you're pretty."

Really? He was going to stutter now?

And pretty? The fuck man. He could do better than that.

Jesus Christ Kogane, get a hold of yourself.

"You're such a romantic," Lance teased, a smile on her face.

She'd so read his mind.

Keith huffed and pinched her cheek in retaliation, "Shut up jeez. I'm trying to say I love you okay!"

Lance kissed him again, slower and softer this time. Keith felt like he was going to faint.

"Now _that_ was romantic," Lance said as she ran her hands through his hair, "I fear it did a number on your emo soul. You should probably take it easy for the next twenty-four hours just in case there are some side effects."

Keith flushed and threw a pillow at her face.

Lance laughed under the pillow, "Too late! It's happening! We have a playful Keith on the loose!"

God, Keith loved this woman.

* * *

"So what are you planning?" Keith asked a few minutes later when they'd calmed down. Both of them decided to just screw it and lay on the floor side by side, Lance's music playing in the background.

"What makes you think I'm planning anything?"

Keith rolled his eyes, "Because I know you. Plus that evil laugh you did in your head when Ryner announced they were throwing a party spoke volumes."

"Darn, and here I thought I was being sneaky."

"You? Sneaky? Leave the sleep talking to when you're asleep."

Keith flawlessly dodged the pillow she threw at him.

"Fireworks," Lance said at last.

Keith quirked an eyebrow, his eyes on the ceiling where Lance had put some glow in the dark stars that glowed a bright blue even during the day. "Fireworks?"

"Yup, fireworks. In Cloyetera we always throw fireworks at the end of a party to celebrate its success. We didn't get to do it last time because the Galra attacked but I really want to do it now. Hunk and Pidge are already on board, said they'd try to find some."

Keith nodded and closed his eyes as he listened to music. There was never a moment of silence when he was Lance. The Amazon always had some kind of background noise to fill the silence. Either by her singing or humming, or even tapping her fingers.

He wondered why that was.

"It's because of my father," Lance murmured as his thoughts passed through hers.

Keith opened his eyes and crawled over to Lance until he laid his head on her stomach so he could look at her. Lance ran her hands over his hair as she began to explain, "Before my father became a music teacher, he was a soldier. He was in the army for eight years until he got injured in the war."

Keith nodded and listened; he liked listening to her stories from Earth.

"Anyway, every now and then he has these nightmares where all he can hear is the sound of gunfire, people screaming, crying out for help. Whenever that happens he gets up and goes to the living room and starts playing the piano. Once we hear that, the rest of the family makes their way there as well and we pick up a random instrument and just start playing." Lance laughed at the memory and Keith closed his eyes as she sent him a memory to his head. There were eight people in the big living room, all of them playing a random instrument. Some were playing the trumpet, another one was playing the guitar, Lance herself was playing the violin, and Queen Lexi had picked up a clarinet and was blowing hot air into it.

The sounds were chaotic and made no sense but the older man on the piano began to laugh and then the others would join in as well. After the laughter ceased all of them began to play again only this time they sounded choreographed.

It was nice.

Keith felt a bubble of happiness and joy seep into his chest and he had to take a breath because Lance's emotions during the time were something he had not had much experience with.

There was that incident with Shiro and his family where all of them had tried rapping to some Japanese song that Shiro's dad had put on. Keith had been embarrassed and had chosen to merely watch but he had still had fun.

"By the way Keith," Lance whispered to him, effectively breaking him out of his thoughts as he turned to regard her. Her nose was scrunched up but her eyes were gleaming, "You kind of stink."

Keith bristled and Lance laughed. When she spoke again, her tone had changed to something a little more seductive and Keith could feel his heart hammering wildly. "You'll have to take a shower."

Keith licked his suddenly dry lips, "Yeah, I'll have to," he smirked and slowly sat up, "It's too bad I can't reach my back."

"You might need some help."

"Are you offering?"

"Well, I wouldn't _mind_."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, if you _insist."_

Lance shot to her feet and threw her shirt at the red paladins face and all but ran to the restroom. Keith followed after her with a curse and almost tripped in his haste of removing his boots.

* * *

The chamber the party was being held in could encompass his little shack in the desert ten times over. It was elegant, the glass walls shining a soft green, the sun setting in the background. From where he was leaning on a white wall he could see everything.

The Blades of Marmora are each stationed around the room watching everything with a canny eye. They hadn't dressed fancy like Keith and the rest of the crowd had which only made the red paladin envy them.

The Olkari looked a little weary around them but made the effort to try and talk to them.

Allura had made him and the rest of the paladins dress up for the occasion. Lance, Hunk and Coran had been excited, social butterflies that they were. Only he and Pidge had let out load groans to show their discomfort over the idea but Shiro's stern face made them shut their mouths pretty quickly.

After the shower that he and Lance had taken, they mostly made out, they had been in the process of changing into some casual wear when Allura had burst into the room, let out a screech, and grabbed hold of both of their wrists and began to drag them to her room where the rest of their team was waiting in curiosity.

The Altean princess's room was very…purple. Purple bed sheets, purple curtains, light purple carpet. Only her dresser was a soft pink; the whole place made Keith uncomfortable.

After a lengthy debate that felt like forever, everyone finally agreed to wear something fancier to the party.

Thus began the choosing of clothes from Hell.

At least he didn't have to wear a tie this time.

When Allura and Coran had fitted him and the rest of the males of the team in a tux, he felt like a corpse being dressed for his funeral. Everything was black except for the undershirt, which was red. Allura wanted them to wear their paladin color so Keith's shirt was red, Shiro's black and Hunk's was yellow.

Pidge had somehow convinced the Altean princess to dress in a tux as well, she refused to wear another dress, and had a dark green undershirt and was looking quite pleased with herself.

Coran had gotten a tux with coat tails, a top hat, and a cane to match. He looked surprisingly good.

Allura had put on a purple and pink dress with jewels that sparkled every time she turned. Shiro had stared open-mouthed for a good two minutes that Lance had to jab him in the ribs to snap him out of it.

And Lance…she looked amazing. The dress she wore was a dark shade of blue spattered with black, made of silk and sheer lace.

Her hair, which now reached her shoulders, was curled at the tips thanks to Allura.

Allura had even done her makeup, something Lance didn't seem to think was very necessary but it looked good on her.

She was certainly going to get a few eyes following after her.

Himself included.

Finally deeming them ready, Allura took hold of Shiro's arm and began to make their way to the center of the city where the party was being held on, the rest of the paladins and Coran following after them.

The architecture was all curves of stone, glass, and metal. Lance seemed immensely pleased at the giant green curtains that covered the huge two windows and heaved a giant sigh of relief at the fact that there would be other colors there besides yellow.

As soon as they got there, the Olkari released mighty cheers and surrounded them. Unfortunately, Lance and he were separated but he was okay with that. Keith wasn't much into social gatherings; he'd much prefer to watch over the crowd.

Besides, from his position he could see everything and the blue paladin looked fine. She was already surrounded by a bunch of Olkari who were eagerly asking her questions about who knows what. Lance said something that had the small crowd laughing and Keith felt his mouth twitch into a soft smile.

Hunk had gone straight to the buffet and was talking with a few Olkari about the dishes.

Pidge had an even bigger crowd surrounding her; she'd always been popular since she was a tech nerd like them.

Shiro and Allura were talking with Ryner and Kolivan, a glass of champagne in their hands.

Coran was already chatting with a few Blades and was in the process of coercing them to dance with him. Xylian and Leylee looked like they desperately wanted to go but Ulaz sent them a stern frown.

Keith snorted and grabbed a random plate from one of the dining tables and made his way over to the far wall to watch. A few Olkari went up to him but after a few pleasantries they all scurried away towards Lance where the crowd was laughing it up to whatever the blue paladin was saying.

Lance was waving her hands around, her face scrunched up into a face so ridiculous it had the crowd and even some of the Blades that were close enough to see laugh.

The Olkari were still wearing their robes but these looked a little more stylish and varied in colors. Some looked like they had glitter in them while others had intricate designs woven into the cloth. They looked great.

Even Slav had made it to the party. He was dressed in a black tux and was talking animatedly with a few Olkari people who looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there.

Shiro, Lance and Pidge made sure to stay far away from him.

A low whistle broke his gaze and he turned to see Antok leaning on the same wall next to him, his face scrunched up into what Keith hoped was a smile.

"Wow. You just can't keep your eyes off her huh?"

Keith rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink, it tasted sweet but the after taste left his tongue on fire. "Antok," Keith greeted, "They let you in with that face?"

Antok's bushy eyebrows furrowed into a scowl and Keith grinned. "Don't make me hit you in front of your girl."

The red paladin snorted, "Try it. I'm sure Lance will just _love_ that. She might just slam you through a few walls this time."

Antok glared and he shoved Keith with his hand, "Whatever. As if she could."

"She so could."

Another roll of the eyes, "Anyway, you're totally whipped aren't you?"

"You know the answer to that."

"You should get her a ring since you haven't marked her. It'll make other men know that she's taken."

Keith swirled the yellow drink in his glass and gritted his teeth, "I'm working on that. Being a paladin of Voltron doesn't exactly pay much. Or at all really."

Antok nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, "You could try going to one of the blacksmiths we have back at the base. If you don't have money, you could do a quest for them and in return they'll make you whatever you want."

Keith's eyes bugged out, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Keith hummed and nodded in thanks for the information. Perhaps, after they defeat Zarkon he could go and pay the Blades a visit. Kolivan said that he was more than welcome there, even said that he could train with the other Blade members as well.

Lance has given him so much, more than he ever wanted or needed. She's the one he enjoys being with the most. He could truly be himself around her and she'll simply adore him for who he was.

She makes him laugh when no one else can. She's there to cheer him up, encourage him when he's down, the perfect sparring partner. He can keep his back to her in battle and know that she'll watch out for him. They make a great team.

They're soulmates.

Falling from the sky and crashing in her home planet was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

After they defeated Zarkon, he and Lance were going to get married. And since Lance didn't have to become queen until her mother deemed she was ready to retire, Queen Lexi didn't seem too eager to hand over the throne just yet; he and Lance were planning on looking for his mom. He'd finally gotten to talk to Kolivan once he and Hunk had returned from their mission and Kolivan had informed him that his mothers name was Krolia.

She was a member of the Blades a long time ago before they lost contact with her a few years ago. Kolivan gave him the last known location of where she was spotted so he and the Amazon would start there.

Kolivan didn't know if she was still alive but he said she was strong so there's a strong possibility that she was still out there. Keith just had to go out and find her.

"Lance seems to be quite popular today," a familiar voice stated.

Keith turned his head to the right to see Shiro holding another glass of champagne in his hands. His cheeks looked a little flushed but he was smiling.

Allura was off dancing with Coran, the both of them looking ridiculous as they waved their hands around.

The air was filled with something sweet and the scent of sweating people as people danced, drank or huddled with friends.

Antok nodded his head in Shiro's direction before excusing himself.

Keith nodded absently and turned his eyes back to the crowd to see Lance dancing with an Olkari women whose greenish skin was flushed. His fiancée twirled the Olkari women away and took hold of Xylian who had been looking over the dance floor with such longing it was almost funny.

The female Galra let out a shout of surprise but soon began to laugh as Lance twirled her this way and that.

"You know," Shiro said with a huge smile in Keith's direction, "You should ask her to dance. Before she gets snatched by someone else."

Keith gnawed on his lower lip, "I wouldn't want to embarrass her. I'm not all that great when it comes to dancing. Besides," he said as he gestured to the crowd of dancing aliens, "All these dances look complicated as fuck. Everything Lance taught me won't do me much good here."

Shiro lightly punched his shoulder for the curse and shook his head, "Lance? Be embarrassed? As if you could possibly embarrass her. If anything, she's the one who will do the embarrassing stuff and laugh about it."

True.

The sound of startled gasps made both paladins turn to see Lance making her way over to Kolivan who was leaning on a wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Aliens gave him a wide berth and avoided looking at him.

Not that Keith could blame them. Kolivan looked like he could kill someone with that scowl on his face.

The Amazon stopped three feet away from him and offered him her hand. Shocked shouts erupted from the crowd and Keith could have sworn he saw some of the Blades trembling in their spots.

"Is she seriously asking our leader to dance?" Antok harshly whispered in Jonaz's ear, his tail swishing back in forth furiously.

"She's dead," Leylee whispered back, her yellow eyes wide with fear.

"Kolivan doesn't even dance!" another Blade said, Cal, if Keith remembered right. "Does he?"

The gathered Blades shrugged helplessly and turned to Ulaz who said he didn't know.

Shiro promptly spat his drink in surprise and Keith made a face at his friend but couldn't really blame him.

What was Lance thinking?

The room grew quiet as they all watched to see what would happen next. Kolivan merely raised a purple eyebrow in the Amazon's direction that only had her grinning.

They were talking telepathically Keith realized.

He could venture into Lance's head and find out what they were talking about but feared Kolivan might notice his presence there and outright refuse to dance after all.

Everyone watched anxiously and after what felt like forever, Kolivan's shoulders slumped and he heaved a quiet sigh and finally _finally_ took Lance's hand.

Someone in the crowd fainted.

A few people even whimpered but the orchestra began to play again and the crowd parted for the two as they made their way to the center of the room to dance.

The music changed to something Irish sounding. It was a fast beat but Kolivan pulled Lance close and they began to move.

All eyes were on them, Keith's included. Some of those moves looked like battle stances. Sharing a look with Shiro, the both of them walked closer to get a better view and had to cut through the gathered crowd to get a good spot.

Kolivan suddenly took out his two long blades and Xylian threw Lance her own set of blades and continued to dance. Swords clashed and spit sparks while their feet danced too fast for him to follow.

Lance danced away from Kolivan's strikes as if they were in slow motion, a wide smile over her features.

Amusement danced in Kolivan's eyes, but he somehow managed to keep his face straight.

How Lance could move so fast in that long dress was beyond him but she didn't trip once.

At one point Kolivan picked up the blue paladin and tossed her over his shoulder, Lance landed with a split before rolling to her feet and danced her way back to the leader of the Blades.

The song picked up, drums were added and Lance threw her blade at Kolivan who caught it in his mouth and threw it back to her. Lance twirled away and caught it behind her back. The crowd ooed and ahhed at the display.

They dipped and whirled, Lance throwing sparks of lightning in the sky, and danced around the floor until the music ended.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Hunk began to clap and the crowd jumped in surprise but mimicked the move.

Lance and Kolivan both took a bow and walked away in different directions. Part of the crowd followed after the two of them and Keith made his way over to Lance who was once again surrounded by a crowd of people.

Noticing him, Lance's eyes sparkled and she smiled and waved in his direction. Keith shook his head as he moved to stand beside her, "Only you would ask the scariest man in the party to dance."

Lance gave him a cheeky grin and took the champagne in his hand and downed it in one go, "He wanted to dance."

Keith hoped she didn't get drunk, those drinks were quite strong.

"Wait, really?" Hunk said as he made his way over to them. The yellow paladin had two plates in his hands full of green and orange items. He handed a plate to Lance who took with a nod of thanks and began to eat.

"He didn't say it out loud," Lance said once she swallowed and licked her lips, "But he was practically screaming it in his head. He may look all serious but even he wants to have a good time every now and then."

"Wow." Hunk said around a mouthful of food, "Never would have pegged him for a dancer. He had some moves."

Lance grinned and offered some orange item to Keith who wordlessly let her feed him to the crowds delight, "You still owe me a dance buddy." Her blue eyes turned to Keith and he winced, "You too. We're not leaving this party until I've danced with everyone on the team."

"I don't know any of these alien moves," Keith tried to object, "I wouldn't know what to do."

Lance clicked her tongue, "That's why I talked to the orchestra before hand and lent them my iPod. They chose a few songs and promised they would play them so you can't use that as an excuse."

Damn.

As if waiting for that comment, the orchestra suddenly changed to something familiar and Lance held her hand out him. Keith tried to object but she simply ignored him and dragged him to the center of the room.

As they began to move, Keith was more than aware of the stares they received. Some of the aliens were all out pointing at them, exclaiming in surprise and whispering in awe at the fact that they're soulmates.

Could all aliens see that glow that indicates them as soulmates like the rest of the Galra can?

Keith didn't know but based on the awed whispers, perhaps they all could.

His attention went back to Lance as she hummed in approval and Keith slowly began to relax. Suddenly feeling bolder, Keith twirled the blue paladin away and dipped her mere inches from the ground.

Lance giggled, "My, someone's gotten better. Keep that up and you'll be joining me and the rest of my family to Salsa nights."

Keith blanched, he was pretty sure that he wasn't anywhere ready for _that._

Lance laughed and patted his cheek as he brought her back to face him, "We'll work on it. I'm a great teacher. I'll tutor you in private."

There was a suggestive note in her voice that had his heart hammering wildly in his chest but somehow he managed to snort and tweak her nose to her annoyance.

Somehow they managed to dance all the way through the song and Keith suppressed a sigh of relief. He hadn't messed up once.

Lance wanted to dance again when the beat changed to something faster but Keith shook his head so Lance shrugged, gave him a peck on the cheek, and made her way over to Hunk who was eagerly waiting for his turn.

The blue and yellow paladins looked like they were doing the shuffle dance and the Olkari and even some Blades watched in interest and were taking notes.

Keith could never do that; his feet didn't have that much rhythm.

Slav was mimicking the moves where he was standing by one of the dining room tables.

When the song changed to something more hip-hop sounding Lance went over to Shiro and dragged him to the dance floor where they proceeded to do the robot.

It seems the orchestra could pretty much produce any sound they wanted it seemed.

Everyone's eyes bugged out.

Shiro was surprisingly good and Allura clapped her hands in delight. Pidge was screaming shouts of encouragements and taping everything with a grin.

When the song changed back to an alien song, Allura and Coran both joined the Amazon in the dance floor. They swung their legs high in the air, swiveled their hips and some of the Olkari joined in. Keith thought they were dancing like the people on Earth used to dance back in the 1920's.

Even flailed their hands in the air and the males tapped their feet so it looked like they were tap dancing.

When Lance made her way over to Pidge, the green paladin paled and tried to run and hide but Lance easily caught her and dragged her to the dance floor. Pidge whined and shouted but the blue paladin didn't seem bothered by it in the least.

Lance took Pidge's hands in her own and began to show her how to move. They moved slowly and Pidge's face was burning bright but she only stepped on Lance's feet twice before settling into a slow rhythm.

Lance whispered something into Pidge's ear that had her lips twitching and that scowl soon turned into a small smile.

Keith shared a look with his fellow paladins and grinned.

* * *

Lance was having a great time.

Sure her feet were starting to hurt and her breathing was a little harder than normal but she didn't care. Perhaps she'd coerce Hun into giving her a foot massage later. She'd even managed to get Pidge and Keith to dance with her. The green paladin all but hissed in her direction when Lance moved to ask her to dance a second time and Lance wisely made a U-turn and asked one of the blades to dance instead.

The party had been going on for a good four hours and it was starting to get late. It was almost time to launch the fireworks. She couldn't wait.

Someone clinked their glass a few times and the room quieted as they all turned to see Ryner next to Allura and Shiro.

The leader of the Olkari had chosen to wear a dark green cloak with stitches of flowers and trees around it.

"Thank you all for gathering this evening," Ryner began as her voice echoed across the room, "I know that many of you have been victims of Zarkon and the Galra Empire, but I'm here to tell you that his reign will end tomorrow."

A few cheers erupted from the audience at that.

Allura stepped forward and swept her long silver hair over her shoulders and she began to address the crowd, "I want to thank you all for helping us in our plan in defeating Zarkon. You have all worked hard and you have done your part. Now the rest is up to us and the paladins of Voltron. We will not fail. We _will_ defeat Zarkon. And when we do, I would appreciate all of your help once again in restoring the universe and bringing peace to everyone who the Galra Empire wronged."

Cheers and shouts went up in the crowd and Allura looked like she might burst into tears. Shiro put his hand around her shoulder and she smiled at him in thanks.

Lance and the rest of the paladins released shouts of their own. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. Lance and the rest of the paladins will have to give everything they had in order to defeat Zarkon and his army.

Lance took a deep breath; they could do this. And once it was all over Keith and her would get married and go out looking for Keith's mom and have their own adventure. They could help the planets that were terrorized by Zarkon along the way.

Coran stepped forward into the crowd and clinked his own drink to get everyone's attention, "And let's not forget the wedding between our red and blue paladins!" Lance and Keith flushed at the sudden stares they received, "I assume we're all invited?"

Coran wiggled his orange eyebrows at them and Lance shared a look with Keith who had made his way over to her. Keith scratched his cheek nervously, "We were just going to have small wedding."

"Keith mentioned Vegas," Lance piped in and there were a few startled shouts from their fellow paladins.

Shiro marched over to them and sent them a stern look, "You guys are not getting married in Vegas! You will both have a proper wedding. I will not allow Keith to get married by an Elvis impersonator!"

"But I love Elvis…" Keith muttered his breath.

Shiro narrowed his eyes as the rest of their teammates made their way over to them.

Lance and Keith winced. Well there went that idea.

Lance didn't particularly want to get married over a large crowd watching them, she feared she might burst into tears and get all emotional. At least if they got married in Vegas, she would only make a fool of herself in front of her close friends and relatives.

"I suppose we can have a bigger wedding," Lance muttered and Keith whipped his head to look at her with a scowl.

Lance shrugged helplessly.

Coran immediately bellowed in joy and announced that everyone in the room was invited. Keith sent her another look as the crowd erupted into cheers and wolf whistled in their directions.

Pidge looked at them in pity but Hunk looked relieved.

Allura and Coran said they wouldn't mind planning the wedding in their stead and began to throw ideas at them. Xylian and Leylee began to talk about the dress and Keith made a face at Lance.

 _See what you started?_

Lance shot him a look. _They were probably going to invite everyone they knew to the wedding anyway. Besides, as long as you're there and we get married, then I don't care who's watching. Let them know that you belong to me._

Keith's eyes widened and he turned a brilliant shade of red and awkwardly coughed. The blue paladin sent him a cheeky grinned and pecked him on the cheek. The crowd seemed to absolutely love _that_.

A tap to her shoulder made her turn to see Hunk grinning at her, "It's ready," he whispered.

Lance blinked and grinned before nodding at Pidge who nodded back with an evil grin.

Lance tapped her fiancée on his shoulder and whispered that the fireworks were ready. Keith's eyes lit up and he smirked.

Shiro narrowed his eyes at them and everyone averted their eyes. All four of them made some kind of excuse and quietly began to leave the party.

Lance and Keith followed after the yellow and green paladins who were grinning widely.

All four of them left the building where the party was being held in and made their way to the deserted street. The night was surprisingly cold and Keith handed her his jacket, which she gladly took with a small nod of thanks.

It was so cold that the blue paladin could see her breath in front of her.

The buildings were mostly dark at this time but there were a few flying lanterns lighting the way for them, giving the city a greenish hue.

Finally reaching the end of the city, the blue paladin noticed that there was a bunch of small size rockets placed on the ground ready to be lit and Lance jumped in her feet in excitement. Keith bent down to inspect one of them and sent Lance a frown.

"Lance."

"Yes, Keith?"

"These are explosives."

A pause. "No, they're not."

"It says T.N.T. here."

"That's in an alien language Keith, you don't know what it says."

Pidge walked over to them and straightened her glasses, "Nope. Those are definitely explosives."

"Ha!" Keith declared.

Lance shot the green paladin a look but she only smirked.

"Yeah, they were the only things we could find," Hunk said in apology, "They should be fine as long as they blow up high in the sky. Pidge and I already ran the calculations and if something goes wrong then you can just fling them yourself with your powers."

Lance nodded seriously and shot Keith a grin that made him roll his eyes, "See? All good."

Keith made another face.

Lance gave him a long look before crossing her arms over her chest, "I'll let you launch one up in the air."

Keith grinned in triumph, "Deal."

* * *

Shiro was trying not to have an anxiety attack.

His fellow paladins had disappeared and something told him that they were up to no good.

He'd seen the looks all four of them had shared but Slav had been coming his way so he had quickly taken hold of Allura's hand and all but dragged her to the dance floor just to avoid talking to that tumor inducing creature.

He'd just gotten better!

He didn't need Slav to come and talk to him and throw all that process down the drain.

Four days with the creature had almost been the death of him.

Lance and Pidge had to talk him into saving that little turds life after watching Slav get thrown into the air like volleyball for a good half hour between the whale like creatures.

If he so much as tried talking to him, Shiro feared he might beat the shit out of him and make a scene.

Deep breaths Shiro.

Remember what your counselor back at the Garrison used to say. Deep breaths and count to ten. Think of your happy place. Think of Allura who was shooting him an amused smile as he tried to lead them in a waltz.

He didn't quite succeed and accidentally stepped on her toes. Allura released a small yelp and he profusely apologized.

"It's okay Shiro. Just try to relax," Allura said with a patient smile. Shiro nodded and looked down at his feet. One, two, three. One, two, three.

Twirl Allura and slowly bring her back.

If Keith could do this then so could he.

Allura grinned in approval and Shiro's heart felt like it would burst out of his chest.

"Very nice," the Altean princess said and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Shiro grinned, he could already feel a blush forming in his cheeks but he didn't really care. Allura's perfume drifted over to him and the black paladin took a delicate sniff and almost moaned. The Altean princess always smelled fantastic, just like Lance always did.

He was so glad they had another girl in the team. No offence to Pidge who liked ruffing it with the guys and sometimes forgot to take a shower, but it was really nice to have other females in the group who actually smelled like actual girls.

Shiro pulled the Altean princess close and slowly dipped her. Allura turned into a giggling mess and some of the Olkari in the crowd clapped while the Blade members wolf whistled.

Ulaz arched a brown at him and Shiro flushed.

Coran was the loudest among the gathered crowd and even standing on the other side of the room his words carried out perfectly, "Now kiss her you fool!"

Allura laughed and she wiggled her own brows at him, the crescent markings under her eyes sparkling in the light.

Shiro didn't need to be told twice and he brought her back to face him and planted a small kiss against her lips. Allura turned bright red and brought her forehead close to his.

This night was perfect.

Nothing could possibly ruin this.

There was an explosion outside and the doors to the room flew open, two Olkari and one Blade member rushed forward with panicked expressions.

"Prepare for combat! We may be under attack!"

Fuck.

Well there went his perfect night.

Suppressing a groan, Shiro turned to the crowd and tried to calm them down. Kolivan and his Blades marched over to him and Allura said she would take care of the crowd so they could check out what was going on.

Where in the hell were his fellow paladins?

Hopefully they had heard the explosion and had gone to check it out.

Lance should probably be with them; he had confidence that if anything were to happen she would keep them safe.

"Who the hell is attacking in this cold weather?" Antok harshly whispered as he took out his blades and matched Shiro and Kolivan's pace. "I was finally having a good time too!"

The others said nothing and simply picked up their pace.

There was another explosion and Shiro let out a ragged breath. Would they need the lions for this?

It's then that he noticed the four figures standing a few feet away, and Shiro's eyes widened in realization.

It was his fellow paladins.

"Take cover!" Pidge yelled.

Three figures dropped to the ground and then there was a whoosh and something shot into the air, exploding in blue and red sparks.

Shiro and the Blades gaped, taken aback for a moment.

It was actually really pretty he thought but then he shook his head. He had to get to the bottom of this.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?" he yelled as he stalked over in a huff.

Four set of eyes narrowed and said at the same time, "Language!"

Shiro spluttered in place and let out another curse.

Lance frowned and clicked her tongue as she waved a finger in his direction, "When we get back to the castle I'm _so_ washing your mouth with soap. There are pre-teens present!"

"You have five seconds to tell me what the fuck is going on," he demanded, a scowl on his face.

Keith gave him a sideways look, his blue-gray eyes focused mostly on the rocket lying on the floor. "They're fireworks Shiro."

Ulaz frowned, "Those are explosives."

Shiro whipped his head to look at Ulaz and let out a screech, "They're what?"

"Details," Pidge said with a wave of her hand.

Lance gave her a high five.

Shiro sent them both a scowl before turning his black eyes to Hunk who was fumbling to light a match, "And you too Hunk? I thought you were the good boy!"

Hunk gave a sheepish grin and scratched his head, "Well, they can be very persuasive."

Shiro stared.

He could already feel a headache coming on.

The sound of approaching footsteps made him turn to see the rest of the crowd from the party along with Allura and Coran coming their way.

"Back in Cloyetera we always throw fireworks after a party," Lance explained, "Doesn't everyone?"

"Not with explosives." He deadpanned.

Lance frowned, "Well that's kind of boring."

Shiro pinched his nose, "Besides, isn't it illegal or something?"

Lance's eyes turned wide and she turned over to Ryner who was watching curiously, "Is it illegal?"

Ryner frowned and hummed, "Well, there's no rule against it…"

"Then everything's fine!" Lance said with a huge grin and nodded to Keith, "Shoot the next one into the air!"

Hunk handed the red paladin the lit match and Keith took it with a feral grin, and lit the fuse.

Shiro's eyes bugged out, "Keith, don't you fuckin-"

"Everyone take cover!" Pidge shouted and Hunk and Lance dropped to the ground and covered their heads with their hands. The crowd gave a startled cry and dropped to the ground as well. Ulaz pulled a still gaping Shiro to the ground and could only stare in wonder as the explosive blew up in the air and formed a metal lion.

Okay, so the explosives were kind of cool he admitted.

But they were still in trouble.

"My word," Coran whispered as he helped Allura to her feet, "How did you get them to do that?"

Lance and Keith shrugged and pointed at Hunk and Pidge, "I don't know. Science."

Science they claimed.

Idiots.

It still didn't feel safe.

Lance shot him that stupid grin of hers and threw an arm over the black paladins shoulders, "Don't worry, it's fine. I brought something that you will really love though."

Shiro narrowed his eyes at her.

Whatever Lance was up to it couldn't be good.

The blue paladin released him and shouted to the three paladins, "Prepare the sacrifice!"

Prepare the what now?

The crowd let out startled cries and shot nervous looks at the paladins. Some even began to inch away from them. A part of Shiro wanted to go with them and hide under a rock but his fellow paladins needed an adult. And unfortunately for him, _he_ was an adult.

He turned to Coran and then to Kolivan.

They were adults.

They were adulterer than _him_ at least.

As Hunk, Pidge and Keith came back carrying a figure that looked a lot like Slav, Shiro did a double take and almost choked on his own spit.

Shiro really hated Slav. He really did.

But killing the alien with so many witnesses was a big no no.

Didn't his friends know that if they were to commit murder, there had to be no witnesses?

Keith and Lance should know this.

And Hunk and Pidge were definitely smarter than that idiot couple so they _had_ to know better.

They could have at least let Shiro know. He wouldn't have objected to this. They just needed a little more tact. And somewhere to hide the body.

Shiro could have totally helped with that.

Lance let out a loud laugh and doubled over.

Oh.

She'd probably read his mind.

"It's a fake Shiro," Lance said between laughs and Shiro squinted and noticed that yes, it was a fake. It was one of the training dummies that the Amazon had modified a few days ago to look like Slav.

Shiro felt his cheeks turn red in embarrassment.

"Is that supposed to be me?" An Indian accent asked and Shiro immediately scowled and turned to see Slav looking at the training dummy with tears.

The crowd grew silent and they anxiously watched to see what happened next.

Shiro winced.

Great. Now he felt bad.

Sure the guy was annoying but he'd come through for them in their plans and made the Teleduv functional and here Shiro was dreaming of his demise.

Slav came closer and inspected the doll with teary eyes and then looked over from Lance, to Pidge, and then to Shiro and wiped a tear from his eye.

All of three of them had that whole deer caught in the headlights look.

"I knew it," he said with a sniff, "You three really are my best friends."

Motherfucker said what?

Lance did a double take and Pidge began to scowl.

Keith looked on with a frown and Hunk smiled nervously.

Allura and Coran stifled a laugh behind their hands.

Traitors.

"In my home planet," Slav began to explain with another sniff and he loudly blew his nose into a handkerchief, "Burning ones dummy look alike brings good luck to the person the doll represents. You guys must really like me!"

And then he wrapped one of his limbs around the green and blue paladins who released panicked shrieks of protest and turned to pull Shiro in as well. The black paladin made to run but a force stopped his getaway.

Shiro turned and shot Lance an angry glare that she returned with one of her own. _You're not getting away that easily. If Pidge and I have to endure this then so do you!_

That frickin traitor!

Shiro gave her his deadliest glare, it usually made his enemies tremble in fear but Lance didn't release her hold on him and Slav pulled him in for a hug.

Shiro whimpered.

Pidge snickered in his direction. "Try running now you hoe."

Did Pidge just call him a hoe?

The language kids nowadays seemed to have.

Where the hell had she gotten _that_ from?

Probably from Keith.

He'd have to give her a talking to later.

With a roll of her eyes, Lance turned to Keith who was looking torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to rescue her. "Light it up mullet! Put everything we have on that one!"

Keith didn't need to be told twice as he and Hunk began to gather the remaining explosives and shoved them under the Slav look alike.

"I want to light the match!" Shiro screamed. There was a note of hysteria in his voice but he chose to ignore it.

Slav sniffed and gave the three paladins in his hold another squeeze before releasing them, "Such good friends!"

Shiro all but ran from him and took hold of the match in Keith's hands, "To a good battle," he said.

Keith tipped his head in his direction and gave him a feral grin, "Go wild Shiro."

Grinning, Shiro quickly lit all the fuses and took a few steps back. "Everyone down on the ground!"

Lance and Pidge followed suit, as did Keith and Hunk, the gathered crowd gave startled cries and launched themselves to the floor and covered their heads as a massive whistling sound filled the air and the explosives flew in random directions.

Pictures of all the lions materialized as soon as they exploded.

The symbol for the Blades showed up as well.

Shiro and his fellow paladins shot to their feet and gave a salute to the sky. Shiro and Lance's maniacal laughter filled their air along with Pidge's cackling.

Shiro hoped that the explosions covered their laughter.

Lance shot a few bolts of lightning into the sky as well and the crowd began to get to their feet and watched in awe at the colorful display.

There was a screech from the forest followed by a howl.

Slav was jumping up and down and pulled Coran close to him as he pointed at the sky, "My best friends made those for me!"

Totally bullshit lie.

But whatever helped the little shit sleep better at night.

Lance laughed next to him, "Oh man. Out of everyone here, I like reading your mind the most Shiro."

Because Shiro was fucking hilarious. His mom had said so too and his mom never lied to him.

"Don't think this gets you guys out of trouble," he said sternly and Keith rolled his eyes as he made his way over to them, "You guys will be getting a lecture from me later."

Lance shrugged and leaned into Keith's personal space to lay her head on his shoulder, "Worth it."

"So worth it," Keith mumbled back, his eyes set on the beautiful display still in the sky.

Allura tapped his shoulder and sent him a grin, "Feeling better?"

He gripped her hand in his and pulled her closer to watch the show, "So much."

Even as Pidge kept cackling in the background and Slav kept claiming they were his best friends, Shiro felt great.

They were going to win tomorrow.

He just knew it.

* * *

 _Did you guys see season 5? Were you as disappointed as me y]by how short it was? Not to mention the total lack of Keith and Lance ._

 _Anyway, Reviews are more than welcome!_

 _I really like the last ones i received from the last chapter, made my day :)_


	20. Chapter 20

"Ronan," Noah said, "I have a super bad feeling."  
"It's called being dead," Ronan replied."  
― **Maggie Stiefvater** , **The Dream Thieves**

Chapter 20

You know that feeling you get that tells you something wrong is going to happen? That feeling that tells you not to get up from bed because whatever is about to happen is going to seriously suck big time?

Lance did.

She'd had that feeling on more than one occasion, so much so that she'd learned to listen to that gut feeling.

The first time it happened was when she was eight years old and it was picture day in Cloyetera. She'd had a bad feeling as soon as she woke up but chalked it up to nerves. It was picture day! She'd been anxiously looking forward to the event. She'd picked out a cute dress, done her hair in pigtails; her mom helped because she was totally useless in that department, and had used that new face cream for the past few weeks so her face looked flawless. At least _she_ thought so.

On the way to school, her sandals ripped. Sucked right? But she had an extra pair just in case so no biggie.

Her dress caught on one of the trees and ripped a part of the dress. Okay, nothing she couldn't fix with a thread and needle.

One of the firebirds had decided to take a dump just when Lance crossed its paths and had landed on her cheek.

Rude.

But still nothing she couldn't fix.

After everything that had happened so far, one would think that she would just go home right? Bad omens everywhere her father would say. But Lance had never been a quitter. And she wasn't about to start now.

Somehow, she made it all the way to school and made it to her classroom where she had a lovely conversation with Reyna and that shy girl Adina and had chalked up the previous events as nothing but bad luck.

When it was finally time for their pictures to be taken, Lance had been jumping up and down in excitement and was eagerly waiting for her turn.

That's when Zooey Kaliee, aka the she-devil, had placed a huge piece of gum in her hair. Lance screeched and was ready to pound that smirking face right off but decided that she wasn't worth it. Instead she went to the restroom and tried to salvage her hair.

No such luck. She'd have to cut it.

No big deal. She'd wanted a new haircut anyway. Reyna's hair looked pretty cool the way it was half shaved off and had most of her bangs parted to the right.

Grabbing a pair of scissors, Lance started to work.

She should have called an adult.

Somehow she'd shaved off her whole right eyebrow and now she had a bowl cut. She'd just wanted to even out her bangs!

She wanted to cry.

So she did.

And those nasty little hags, ahem teachers, still made her take her picture for picture day.

All Lance knew was that she really should have stayed in bed.

And Zooey Kaliee totally deserved that black eye Lance gave her.

* * *

When Lance woke up that morning, she had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen. Her hands felt sweaty, her hair wasn't cooperating, and she'd accidentally dropped one of her face cream jars on the floor, effectively shattering it and spilling its contents.

Plus, Shadow kept pulling at the hem of her shirt in an effort to make her stay. Whimpering as she took out her paladin armor and placed it on the bed so she could put it on after her shower.

All signs that something was going to go wrong.

They had a mission though. And they'd been planning this for a while. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad.

And Keith and the others would be there.

Despite her nerves, she still managed to get ready and headed to breakfast where the rest of her teammates were already seated for a light breakfast. One could practically feel the tension in the air and cut it with a knife.

Still, she plastered on a smile and made fun of Shiro's bed head and managed to make everyone lighten up a little.

The smiles however, did not last very long as Lance's pets all showed up at the dining room and began to whine and whimper. Even Allura's four mice looked nervous and released small whines of their own.

Shadow refused to leave her side and Nyx curled herself on her lap and clawed at her legs. Even Kaltenecker who was always so sassy looked a little sad. She didn't even throw a glare in Keith's direction and she practically hated him.

Nagini and Nagg were lightly hissing as they slithered around Shiro's shoulders and cooed at him.

"Perhaps they're just nervous," Allura suggested, her hands lightly petting her four mice, "They must know that we're about to go into a huge battle. Bigger than any battle we've had before."

Pidge scrunched up her face, "Maybe. Or maybe they feel that something bad is going to happen. Animals are very perceptive you know."

Hunk wrung his hands nervously as he took another bite of his green space goo, "Oh man," he cried as he looked over everyone, "What if something goes wrong in the mission?"

Shiro frowned, his right hand lightly stroking the snakes heads, "Nothing will go wrong. We just have to follow the plan and everything will be fine. We can do this guys, and we will."

"He's right," Keith chimed in, his face etched in determination, "Come on guys, we have the Blades helping us. The Olkari and Slav helped make the Teleduv. We've gone over the plan countless times. Nothing will go wrong."

"You'll show Zarkon the one two and beat him into the next day!" Coran declared as he lightly punched the air a few times, "He won't know what hit him!"

The others slowly nodded, their postures slowly relaxing and Lance squeezed Keith's hand in her own tightly. Even with all the assurances, something told her that this would be the last time she saw any of her teammates for a while.

She had always trusted her instincts and not once had they ever failed her. If something was going to happen in the mission, she hoped it happened to her.

She couldn't bear it if anything ever happened to her new family.

Keith sent her a concerned frown when she pushed away her plate and it was an effort to keep her thoughts from him.

His thoughts mingled with hers, sending soft reassurances and certain images of what he was going to do to her during their honeymoon.

Lance turned beet red and awkwardly coughed even as Keith sent her an image of himself slowly removing his shirt so Lance could see those abs she loved so much.

Lance pinched his knee and Keith slightly jumped but he was grinning and Lance slowly returned the look.

There was a snort from across the table and both paladins turned to see Pidge giving them a crooked grin, "Flirting already? It's not even seven-thirty yet."

"Well I think it's cute," Hunk declared with a big smile in their direction, "Everyone's too tense."

Lance placed a hand over her heart, "Aww thanks babe, but you're still my number one bro."

Hunk placed a hand over his heart and wiped a non-existent tear, "Aww babe, you're my number one bro too."

"Babe?" Keith screeched incredulously.

"Bro? Lance is a girl though." Allura said in confusion.

Hunk and Lance sniffed and the yellow paladin passed some orange juice to the blue paladin who took it with a nod of thanks as Hunk frowned at the others, "You're all just jealous of our love!"

Pidge made a gagging noise.

Shiro and Coran's lips twitched.

Keith was mumbling the word 'babe' over and over in confusion and Allura still looked confused.

"By the way," Coran asked as he finished off his space goo in two more bites, "Has anyone taken breakfast to Slav yet?"

Everyone scowled.

"We could just let him starve," Shiro suggested with a shrug.

Lance and Pidge eagerly nodded their heads.

Allura smacked his shoulder and Shiro looked offended.

The others lightly laughed and decided to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who would get to go and have their mood ruined.

Luckily, Coran ended up losing the game and no matter how much he begged and no matter how much he wobbled his bottom lip at them, no one chose to take pity on him and with another scowl in their direction, the castle advisor got to his feet and took a plate of space goo down to the bottom floor where Slav resided.

Lance's day was getting better already.

* * *

"All right guys, listen up," Shiro said as he brought up the holographic picture of Zarkon's ship in the center of the room, "I'll use the Black lion to lure Zarkon's fleet to our current location and make sure he's within the Teleduv's area of effect."

Everyone nodded as they crowded around their leader. Kolivan and his Blades were present as well, faces serious and alert. Even Slav looked serious standing next to Pidge and Hunk.

Lance made sure to stand next to Keith and the rest of the Blade members.

The rest of Lance's pets were also present but were crouched on the floor quietly.

Shiro continued, "Keeping the Teleduv hidden behind the space-fold until the last possible second is essential." Shiro turned to Slav who was nodding slowly, "We can count on you, right Slav?"

Slav jumped and scrunched up his beak of a mouth, "Absolutely. I'll be fine." Slav then made a face and looked back and forth with narrowed eyes, "I'm not sure about the gravity generator, though." He mumbled quietly.

Hunk who was standing closer to him whipped his head in Slav's direction, his voice slightly panicked, "W-what was that last thing?"

Slav tapped his chin with one hand while he crossed the other over his chest and began to speak, "Hiding a ship is one thing, but I've never had to build a gravity generator for something this large." Slav spread four of his limbs and shot a helpless look over the gathered crowd, "I know it'll work, but I don't know for how long."

Well that wasn't good.

Everyone looked around each other quietly until Shiro sighed and rubbed his nose, "Well, it's just a risk we'll have to take. Once Zarkon's ship is in position, Kolivan and Ulaz will coordinate with Thace."

Allura nodded beside him, her blue eyes serious, "And once they're together, they'll take down Zarkon's security system and upload the virus."

Pidge snickered and crossed her arms over her chest, "And then he'll be a sitting du-flax."

The green paladin looked quite pleased with herself for that comment. Unfortunately, no one else but her seemed to know what the heck a du-flax was so they just stared in confusion.

Lance turned to Kolivan, "What about Thace?"

Kolivan turned his yellow eyes to her, "He should be getting into position now. We received his last communication three quintants ago. We should hear from him soon."

Shiro nodded, "Let's go then."

"We should do a team huddle," Lance suggested.

The aliens in the room looked confused but Hunk was already dancing on his feet. Pidge looked interested as well. Keith didn't say anything but his eyes lit up. Shiro looked around and sighed but agreed.

With a grin, Lance and the rest of the paladins met up in the center and huddled up. It took some prodding but eventually the Blades, Allura and Coran and even Slav joined their little circle. Hunk quickly explained what they had to do as they slowly nodded back.

Slav started talking about some bad stuff that could happen with another reality but one glare from Shiro and he quickly shut his mouth.

When everyone had a hand stretched out in the middle, Shiro looked over the gathered faces and began to speak, "This is going to be one of the toughest battles we've ever had. But we can do this. I know we can. We're going to defeat Zarkon; we just have to work together. Now then, what team?"

"Voltron!" everyone shouted.

"Wildcats!" Keith shouted.

Everyone blinked and Keith turned bright red and awkwardly cleared his throat, "I-I meant Voltron! Team Voltron!"

Pidge started laughing.

Shiro's lips twitched and he had to look away.

Lance and Hunk tried to hide their laughter but then they'd sneak a glance in Keith's direction and that would make them laugh all over again.

Keith covered his face and groaned.

The aliens in the room looked on in confusion but Coran and Allura soon joined in anyway.

The Altean princess squeezed Shiro's hand and lightly pecked his cheek as he began to move towards the doors.

With one last giggle, Shiro left the room and headed for the Black lion to start phase one.

* * *

Shiro had only been out in the Black lion for less than twenty minutes before informing them that Zarkon had taken the bait and was heading their way.

Unfortunately, that's when Kolivan informed them that Thace had not gotten back to them. He'd missed his deadline.

Antok and the rest of the Blades suggested that perhaps he'd already been captured.

Kolivan and Ulaz suggested the same thing and thought it was better to call off the whole plan.

Allura had not been pleased, insisted that their caution was the reason Zarkon was still out there terrorizing planets.

Kolivan threw a glare in her direction but insisted they wait then jeopardize everything. It was already too late to get anyone else on the inside.

Lance was definitely on Kolivan's side. Something unpleasant churned in her stomach at the fact that they hadn't heard anything from their inside man. He probably had been captured or killed already. It'd been a while since his last check in.

Just as Allura and Kolivan began to get into another argument, Keith shot to his feet and declared that _he_ would infiltrate Zarkon's ship and upload the virus instead.

Lance immediately protested.

"I'm Galra," Keith reminded them, "I'll be able to interact with their technology."

Well, that's true but still.

Keith turned to the green paladin, "Pidge, you can rig up one of those pods with a cloaking device, right?"

Pidge jumped in her seat but slowly nodded.

Lance rounded on Keith, "You can't go in by yourself Keith! It's suicide!"

Kolivan nodded from his spot, "The blue paladin is right. I would never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous."

Keith narrowed his eyes, determination seeping through his very core, "No one's commanding me, I'm doing it."

Lance's bad feeling only intensified.

" _Pidge, get that pod ready." Shiro said through the comms, "And Keith, let me know when you're on your way, I'll cover you."_

"You better protect him Shiro," Lance said, her hands curled into fists, "Anything happens to him and you won't like what I'll do to you."

Keith snorted and squeezed her hand.

Shiro chuckled, " _You have my word Lance. I'll make sure to protect him."_

* * *

"Okay," Pidge said as she got to her feet, "The cloaking device is ready to go. Good luck."

Keith ruffled her hair to her annoyance. "Thanks Pidge."

Lance's calming presence seeped to his head and Keith looked over to see Lance leaning on the doorway looking uncertain. "Mind if I have a word with my idiot fiancée?"

Pidge looked back and forth between them and snorted, "Be my guest. Just try not to make out too much."

"We'll try," Lance snickered.

Pidge rolled her eyes one more time before heading out. As soon as the green paladin disappeared Lance all but flew to his side and enveloped him in a tight hug, "You come back to me okay? Don't do anything stupid."

Keith swallowed, a waft of her perfume drifted past to tease his nose and he held her a little harder. Lance was worried about him. But it wasn't just him she was worried about. It was the whole mission. She'd been acting a little odd since breakfast.

She'd even pushed her plate away. Lance usually ate three to fours bowls before being satisfied.

Keith knew Lance enough to know when she was acting and that smile she plastered on her face hadn't fooled him for a minute. Pulling back he gave her a once over. "What's going on Lance?"

The brunette looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, "I just have a bad feeling…"

"We're going to be fine Lance," Keith tried to reassure her, patting her cheek lightly, "We'll kick Zarkon's ass to sky high!"

Lance stared, a small pensive frown on her lips. Eventually, she simply gave him a gentle smile. "Okay, be careful out there."

Keith furrowed his brows and drew her in for a surprise kiss. Before she could even begin to reciprocate he pulled back and smirked widely at the slight tint in her cheeks before he climbed inside the small pod. "I'll see you around Princess Leah."

Lance huffed but gave him a small wave, "See you around Mullet."

* * *

A part of him was nervous, but he knew Shiro would make a path for him so all Keith needed to do was fly through the wreckage that Shiro left behind in order to infiltrate Zarkon's ship.

As soon as he flew the pod outside the castle of lions he informed Shiro and cloaked the pod that Pidge had tweaked. Shiro made the Black lion take out its jaw dagger and began to cut down enemy cruisers. It seemed Zarkon and his castle had already arrived and had sent a fleet after Shiro and the black lion.

Keith gripped the controls in his hands and flew the pod over the path that Shiro was making. The sound of an alarm rang through the small pod, informing him that he was too close to the remaining metal debris from the wrecked ships.

Keith ignored the alarms, gritted his teeth and kept going. The Black lion made it all the way to Zarkon's ship and lightly touched it with its paws before making a U-turn. That's all Keith needed. The doors for the small cruisers were already opened for him to venture inside.

Something suddenly hit his small pod and Keith grunted as the pod scraped the ground but he was already inside. Three battle sentries with gray gun blasters were already there and began to shoot at him. Keith took the first one down by running it over with the pod before the door disappeared from the pod and Keith jumped out, his Bayard and shield already out and cut down the two sentries with ease.

Keith took hold of one of the gray gun blasters and announced to his team that he had made it in.

" _Okay," Kolivan said through Keith's helmet, "You've made it to the lower communications deck. Head left down that corridor."_

Keith looked both ways and after making sure no one else was there he began to move down the hall.

" _Based on the schematics from Thace, there should be a large door up ahead. This is the central hub for the Galra fleet."_

"I see it," Keith announced and headed straight for it.

* * *

Cut that ship down. Split that one in half. That one bumped into the Black lion, so that one _definitely_ had to go down.

Shiro kept taking down cruiser after cruiser but it made no difference. There were too many ships for him to battle alone.

"I'm two minutes out," Shiro informed his friends back at the castle, "Is everyone in position yet?"

" _No," Kolivan replied, "Keith hasn't made it to the hub yet. We need more time."_

Shiro grunted as two cruisers came his way and began to open fire. He maneuvered the Black lion and ripped them apart with its jaw blade.

"How much time _?"_ he demanded.

" _I hope not much because my gravity generator is not going to run forever!" Slav informed them both._

Shiro released a growl and tried not to snap at anyone, "I don't know how much longer I can hold Zarkon's fleet in this position by myself!"

" _You won't have to!" Pidge yelled._

And then the yellow lion slammed two cruisers away from him. The green lion fired off a laser and enveloped one of the cruisers in vines as the blue lions completely froze another one.

" _We got your back fearless leader!" Lance declared with a whoop of joy as her face turned up on his screen._

Pidge and Hunk's faces followed after her and they gave him a toothy grin that Shiro returned. "Good timing guys. We got Zarkon's ship right where it needs to be. We have to keep it here until that virus is uploaded."

" _Keith can do it,"_ Lance said with a nod of her head.

" _We got this dude!" Hunk cheered._

" _Hell yeah!" Pidge cheered._

Shiro and Lance scowled.

* * *

If one had ever seen the X-men movies and seen Charles Xavier's Cerebro program where he'd go and tried to find the mutants, then one would know what Keith was looking at.

The place was an exact replica. Only difference was that it was red and black and there were giant red pillars on the ceiling.

Keith snorted. Yeah, that looked safe.

Not.

At least the place was in another color besides red and black like they usually were. Lance would be pleased.

Keith ran straight to the machine at the end of the narrow path and tried not to look down. Once there he informed Kolivan that he'd made it and Kolivan began to instruct him on what to do. Everything seemed fine so far, until he had to put in the codes and nothing happened.

"It's not working," Keith said through the comms.

Kolivan told him to try again but he got the same results twice. This was bad. This was very very bad. His team was counting on him to disable the power in Zarkon's ship. If he couldn't then the whole plan would fail.

Don't panic Keith.

It won't do anyone any good.

Gritting his teeth, Keith was about to try once again when he heard footsteps.

Keith narrowed his eyes and quickly hid behind the console just as the door opened. The footsteps got closer and Keith chanced a look.

It was a Galra. He looked older and he was clutching his side as he all but limped to the console where Keith was currently hiding behind. Was this one of the Galra that was injured during Shiro's first attack on the ship?

Keith narrowed his eyes and gripped the gray gun blaster that he'd stolen from one of the sentries he cut down and was about to see if those target lessons with Lance had really paid off when the doors swooshed open again and two druids stepped inside.

A shiver went down Keith's spine.

He'd never been a fan of druids.

Not only did they look creepy in their full body cloaks and beak like masks but also they just seemed to ooze danger from their very core.

Lance had said they could teleport and could use magic like Haggar could. She'd only fought them once but they could be tricky.

"And now we know _you_ were attempting to shut down the system," one of them said and Keith shuddered. Even their voices sounded creepy.

Keith turned his gaze back to the Galra. This must be Thace then. Good thing Keith hadn't shot him.

As the two druids began to run down the catwalk towards Thace, Keith rolled out from his hiding spot and threw his Blade of Marmora blade into one of the druids' back and watched as the druid gave an inhuman scream and disintegrated, Keith's blade dropping to the floor with a clutter.

Holy shit.

Keith briefly contemplated the idea of throwing water on the remaining druid just to see if it would melt like the witch from Oz did. Too bad he didn't have any water with him. Guess he'll just have to stab the thing.

The second druid let out a scream and began to throw black balls of energy at them. It was effort to dodge, and whenever he successfully missed a dark energy ball to the face, the druid would teleport in front of him and tried to hit him with those freakishly long nails.

These guys needed to trim their nails.

Keith was getting really tired of this teleportation bullshit.

Catching his breath, Thace rolled and caught the druid just as it reappeared and with a grunt, threw the damn thing into one of the energy pillars and Keith watched as the druid screamed and exploded with a burst of light.

Keith made a mental note not to touch the pillars.

Slightly panting, Keith turned to regard Thace's injuries. They didn't look too bad so he'd probably be fine. Thace had the same purple skin and yellow ears like the rest of the Galra did. He had a small purple goatee and light purple fur on his ears.

"Thace, I'm Keith. Red paladin of Voltron," Keith said introducing himself.

Thace looked him over and roamed his gaze over his Blade of Marmora dagger with interest, "And a fellow Blade I see. I guess we haven't failed."

"Not yet," Keith said.

" _Zarkon's ship is leaving the Teleduv's area of effect," Allura announced, "Paladins, you must guide it back on it."_

" _We're working on it Allura," Shiro said with a strained voice._

" _It's looking a little hairy, how you doing Keith?" Lance asked after Shiro._

Keith destroyed the panel for the doors to buy them some more time before answering, "They changed the code guys. We're trying a work-around."

" _We? Oh. Did you find Thace?" Lance asked him._

"Yeah, we had some trouble with a couple of druids but we took care of them."

" _Copy that Keith. We'll try to give you some more time but you guys have to hurry." Shiro replied with a grunt._

"You got it guys. Hang in there."

They had to hurry. Keith didn't know how long Lance and the others would be able to hold off all those battle cruisers. With a resigned sigh, Keith settled his gaze over to Thace who was fiddling with some cables. Keith wasn't an engineer like Hunk and he certainly wasn't as smart as Pidge so all he could do was watch and keep guard.

"What exactly are you doing anyway?"

Thace briefly looked back at him before returning his attention back to the cables, "I'm using the main power to overload the system."

Keith blinked and then his eyes widened in shock, "You're turning the room into a bomb."

Thace looked serious, "It's the only way."

Oh shit.

" _Uh, everyone, the gravity generator won't maintain power much longer!" Slav screeched through the comms. "If it goes down, we're just going to be uncloaked in open space."_

 _Shiro growled, "Just do all you can to hold out. We need a little more time!"_

" _You got it best friend!" Slav replied._

 _Shiro groaned._

The sound of something burning made Keith turn to the doors just in time to see it be blown aside. Keith gripped the gun blaster in his hands and got ready to shoot. He didn't have to wait long.

The smoke hadn't even cleared before two sentries emerged, their guns already pointed in his direction. Keith didn't give them time to shoot before he shot them in the head.

His first two shots had missed but he still managed to destroy them in the end so whatever.

Keith saw more sentries from the hall coming their way before he remembered the red pillars in the ceilings. He quickly shot a few more shots upward and one of the pillars cracked and fell in front of the door.

Good. That would buy them some time at least.

"There's an exit through the main power down there. Take it and go," Thace said.

Keith shook his head angrily; "I'm not going to leave you here!"

"Someone has to stay and make sure that the bomb goes off. I will stay here and make sure no one interrupts the process." Thace made a shooing motion and turned back to the console and activated the bomb.

Keith rolled his eyes and after making sure Thace wasn't looking his way, quickly hit him in the back with the gun blaster and knocked him out cold. Gripping the gun baster in his hand, Keith shot down three more pillars and picked up Thace's unconscious body and draped him over his shoulder with a grunt before jumping down the platform and turned on his jetpack to maneuver down the halls faster.

Keith didn't read Galra so he didn't know exactly how much time he actually had to get the fuck out of there before the bomb went off but he ran like a madman.

Hopefully Red would be waiting for him outside.

* * *

Lance was starting to get worried. Keith should have been out already. She didn't know how much longer she and the rest of the team could hold off these cruisers. Not to mention that Slav kept reminding them that the cloak around the Teleduv and the castle wasn't going to last much longer.

Not only that but Lance was sensing a dark presence from inside Zarkon's ship that was giving her the willies.

She didn't know if Zarkon or his second in command Haggar were the ones emitting that dangerous aura but either way she wanted to steer clear from them.

One could practically feel the maliciousness in waves. Well, Zarkon and Haggar were over one thousand years old so they had to turn dark at some point.

Lance gripped the controllers in her hands and flew Blue under two cruisers before firing off two ice beams in their direction. As soon as they turned to solid ice, Hunk and the yellow lion crashed into them and sent out a cheer when they exploded in pieces.

" _Oh, I hate it when I'm right," Slav muttered, "The gravity generator just lost power! Now there's no reality where we all get out alive!"_

Lance and the others gasped and turned panicked eyes high above Zarkon's ship where the circular ring Teleduv was suddenly visible along with the castle of lions.

That wasn't good.

Where the heck was Keith?

" _What can we do?" Pidge yelled._

" _There's nothing we can do!" Shiro replied, "All we can do is wait until Keith turns off the power and protect the Teleduv!"_

* * *

" _We can't wait any longer!" Allura screamed as her face appeared on everyone's screens, "I'm turning on the Teleduv!"_

An explosion from Zarkon's ship caught Lance's attention before all the lights on Zarkon's ship turned black.

An explosion?

But where was Keith?

" _The ship has lost power!" Kolivan said urgently, "We're uploading the virus!"_

The cruisers they had been fighting lost power and stopped moving.

The red lion suddenly zoomed past her and Lance smiled widely as she saw a red figure enter its jaws. Keith had made it!

" _Keith here! All good!"_ he reported.

' _You had me worried there Keith.'_

" _Sorry Lance, got a little held up. Brought some extra baggage with me too.'_

' _Thace?'_

' _Yeah, I'll drop him off at the castle.'_

With Keith safe inside the Red lion, Lance turned her gaze upwards to see Zarkon's ship being enveloped by the giant Teleduv.

" _Hurry Paladins!" Coran shouted at them, "We must all pass through the Teleduv before it closes!"_

Lance and the others gripped their controllers and flew their lions up and towards the Teleduv where Zarkon's ship had already disappeared.

The trip to a different location in space didn't take very long and before they knew it Lance and the others were safely out of the Teleduv.

Zarkon's ship hovered in front of them looking dim. It seemed the virus had worked after all.

Keith flew Red to the castle of lions where Jonaz and Xylian had been waiting to retrieve Thace's unconscious body before he made his way back to the others.

" _Coran, how is Allura?" Shiro asked._

" _She's weak but she'll live," Coran reassured them._

" _Take care of her please. We'll take things from here."_

" _Holy crap guys!" Pidge exclaimed with a grin, "We did it!"_

" _I knew we could do it!" Slav said in a cheery voice._

" _Liar," Hunk muttered darkly._

 _Shiro grinned, "It's not over yet guys. Everyone, form Voltron!"_

The forming of Voltron didn't take much time and before they knew it, Voltron had been formed and was ready to kick butt.

" _All right team," Shiro said as his face appeared on their screens, "According to the Blades schematics, there are four areas that we need to target. The weapons systems, the engines, the bridge and the shield generators. We only have twenty minutes before the power comes back up. Everyone, form sword!"_

Keith and Pidge brought the hands they were piloting together and the blue sword appeared before them.

They set to work immediately.

* * *

So far so good.

Lance and the others had successfully taken care of the engines in Zarkon's ship. It had taken them a little longer than they originally thought but a ship as big as Zarkon's was bound to have many engines.

Everything was a little too easy actually.

But that prickly feeling was coming back and Lance feared that Zarkon's second in command was up to something sinister. According to the reports, Haggar was a witch.

With Zarkon's ship out of power for the moment it was a perfect opportunity for Haggar to try something.

Lance glanced back to the screen in front of her to see Shiro leading them towards the bridge, the sword cutting away at the metal as they flew up. It looked like he and the others had everything in control. Lance leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes to concentrate.

Her ears strained as she listened as hard as she could in the directions of Zarkon's ship.

She could hear screams. Natural, since they were attacking their ship. Panicked shouts to get the power back on. Running feet. A deep voice giving out commands and…a woman's voice.

Her voice sounded raspy, like nails on a chalkboard. Highly unpleasant.

Was this Haggar's voice?

" _gather…power…"_

Lance gripped the controllers in her hands and tilted her head to hear better.

" _Almost there…quintessence…Voltron…"_

Lance snapped her eyes open and gasped.

Keith's attention was immediately on her. "Lance? What is it?"

They were approaching the bridge in Zarkon's ship. Lance shook her head and leaned forward in her seat. She could now feel the power that Haggar was gathering. She had to warn her friends.

"Shiro! We have to get away! We have to-"

Whatever else she had been planning on saying was cut off as a giant ball of purple energy suddenly materialized below them and struck a purple beam of lightning towards them.

Lance and her friends screamed at the impact. Whatever this thing was it was draining them!

Lance could feel her power drain away from her so fast it was disorienting. Blue whimpered in her mind. Was she also being drained?

The last thing Lance saw was the blue energy gathered from her and her friends fly towards the bridge and back in Haggar's direction and then everything went dark.

* * *

Allura couldn't believe her eyes. Whatever hit Shiro and the rest of the paladins had completely drained them. Allura and Coran had tried making contact but so far nothing.

Allura's hands were trembling but she did her best to hide it from the others.

"Paladins, can you hear me?" Coran asked as he tried to reach Shiro and the rest of their friends. Voltron was floating in the middle of space. All lights out.

Coran turned angry eyes at Kolivan who was looking somber, "I thought the virus shut down all of Zarkon's power!"

The other five Blade members were surrounding their leader. Their faces were blank but Allura could see the worry in their eyes.

A quick glance towards the doors showed Lance's pets. They were eerily quiet. Just watching but Allura could tell that they were worried about their owner. Allura's own four mice had perched themselves on Shadow's head and were trembling.

Allura shook her head from were it was laying on her advisor's shoulder for support. She was still weak from opening such a big wormhole, "That blast wasn't from the ships weapons. It was magic."

"It must be the Komar," Kolivan replied after her, "Zarkon has been trying to develop a device to extract quintessence from planets. It appears he succeeded."

Coran looked anguished, his mustache almost looked like it had dropped, "But if it destroys planets, what did it do to the paladins?"

Allura didn't know, but she had to hope that Shiro and the others would be okay. They had to be. Gritting her teeth, Allura got to her feet with the help of Coran. With a small thank you in his direction she turned her eyes to the screen and tried to reach any of the paladins one more time.

"Paladins, can you hear me? Please." Her voice almost broke into a sob and she could feel tears threating to spill. She blinked them away with a swipe of her hand. This was no time for tears. "Please, can anyone hear me?"

Only static answered her.

But then…

" _Yes, Princess. We're alive." Shiro finally answered._

Allura let out a gasp before a small smile made its way to her face. Shiro and the others were alive!

"Oh, thank the ancients!" Coran exclaimed happily.

The Blades released sighs of relief as well.

Allura leaned forward, "Is Voltron operational?"

" _It's not working," Hunk groaned out._

 _Keith grunted, "I can't move my lion."_

" _Ditto," Pidge grumbled._

" _I can barely feel Keith either. I feel so drained," Lance mumbled._

Allura exchanged worried glances with Coran.

The castle advisor strode forward, "You've been hit by some kind of witchcraft that draws the quintessence out of you. You have to get out of there!" Coran's tone turned urgent, "If you get hit by another attack you won't survive!"

" _Guys," Lance said, a hint of panic in her voice, "What the heck is that?"_

Allura and the rest of the castle occupants leaned forward to search for whatever the Amazon was looking at. Whatever it was couldn't be good if it made _Lance_ panic.

Allura desperately looked for the source of Lance's discomfort before she spotted a figure emerge from Zarkon's ship.

Was that?

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

It seemed Zarkon himself was coming out to fight Voltron personally. The man was dressed in full body armor. He looked like one of his Robeast. He had eight metal wings at the back. His armor was a bloody red and his helmet had spikes at the top.

This was not good.

Zarkon looked like he was ready to kill someone.

In this case, it was the paladins who were still inside a non-operational Voltron.

Allura knew what she had to do.

Blue eyes narrowed she turned to Coran who was anxiously looking at the emerging figure of Zarkon, "We must buy them more time. Get us in closer. Divert all power to our weapons system."

Coran gasped, "What? But we'll be completely defenseless!"

"I know Coran. But it's the only way."

Kolivan ordered his Blades to hold on to something and to prepare for impact.

Lance's pets huddled closer to each other, their faces grim.

Even her four mice had stopped their trembling and Allura bit back a smile as she started to guide the castle towards Zarkon.

Allura took a deep breath, her eyes narrowed and when she spoke she was glad to know that her voice sounded strong, "Listen to me. You are true paladins now. Connect with your lions, reach out to each other! Fight! This cannot end now!"

As they got closer to Zarkon, Allura and Coran released all their weapons on him and Zarkon was thrown back where he crashed on one side of his ship. Allura and Coran didn't stop firing, didn't stop advancing. They had to keep Zarkon distracted so Shiro and the others had more time to activate Voltron again.

They had to hold out.

But then Zarkon directed their attack right back at them and Allura could only look on with wide eyes before the attack hit them full force and the castle was sent tumbling back.

Allura and everyone else screamed before everything went dark.

* * *

This was not happening.

Allura and the others couldn't be…

No! Shiro refused to believe that.

Gritting his teeth, Shiro took a deep breath and ceased the trembling in his arms before speaking. "Lance, can you hear anything from the castle? Anything at all?"

It took a moment for her to answer and Shiro and the rest of his fellow paladins could only wait with baited breath as Lance concentrated and tried to listen in for anything.

After what felt like forever, Lance finally answered, " _Yes_!" she exclaimed, " _I can definitely hear heartbeats from the castle. They're weak but they're alive. Allura is alive Shiro_. _Now stop panicking,_ _breathe, and lead us. What do you want us to do?_ "

Shiro released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

He could hear the relieved sighs and small cheers from the others at the news.

Allura was alive!

If she'd died he didn't know if he could stand it.

Zarkon was going to pay.

Lance was right; this was no time to panic. He was the leader of this team and right now they were all looking at him on what to do next. He couldn't fail them now.

Determination set, Shiro narrowed his eyes at the red figure that was Zarkon before addressing his team, "Everybody, listen. We have to fight. We have to channel all our energy. Visualize five becoming one. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron."

Zarkon was getting to his feet; part of the wall was scorched because of Allura's attack with the castle.

"We are the last thing standing in the way of Zarkon's total universe domination," Shiro continued, "I'm not giving up that fight. Are you Hunk?"

" _No."_

The yellow lion roared and its eyes glowed.

"Are you Pidge?" Shiro asked.

" _Never!"_

The green lion's eyes glowed.

"Lance?"

" _Let's go down swinging!"_

The Blue lion roared before its eyes glowed a bright yellow.

"Keith?"

" _I'm all in."_

The red lion roared before its eyes turned a bright yellow as well.

Shiro grinned as Black released a roar of her own and he smiled when the lights came back on in the cockpit. Voltron was back. And just in time too.

Zarkon had taken out the black Bayard that he had taken all those centuries ago and transformed it into a giant purple sword.

And then he charged.

Keith and Pidge brought the lions they controlled together to form a sword just in time to block Zarkon's attack. Everyone groaned at the impact.

Zarkon was strong.

The guy had been alive for over one thousand years and he was still this strong? That shit just wasn't fair.

Shiro and the others were doing their best and kept clashing swords with the Galra ruler but Voltron was still being pushed back.

"Let's hit him with the big guns!" Shiro yelled, "Hunk, form shoulder canon!"

Hunk immediately followed his directions and a second later; Shiro felt a sudden weight to his left. Good, maybe the shoulder canon will do some damage.

" _Shiro!" Lance's urgent voice said as she appeared on his screen, "Haggar is planning on hitting us with another one of those stealing quintessence attacks again!"_

Shiro narrowed his eyes as Zarkon flew after them with those eight metal wings of his. He quickly snapped his attention to the Amazon, "How long?"

" _Not long. Soon." Lance said grimly._

Shiro nodded and turned his eyes back to the battle, "All right. Tell us when to dodge. In the meantime, fire!"

A burst of blue light was thrown in Zarkon's direction but just before it could hit him, the eight metal wings attached to Zarkon's back detached themselves and formed a shield around the Galra ruler.

" _Shiro! It's coming! Everyone, fly to the far right!"_ Lance instructed urgently.

And sure enough, a purple electrical beam burst out from Zarkon's ship and headed straight for them. Thanks to Lance warning them in time they were able to dodge it. Unfortunately, it also sent them closer to Zarkon who used the opportunity to kick them away.

Asshole.

 _Pidge grunted, "We've never fought against something this powerful before!"_

Shiro knew that. But one way or another, this would probably be their last battle.

One way or another they were going to bring this asshole down.

* * *

Allura woke to a splitting headache and a worried Coran hovering in front of her. It was an effort to open her eyes but somehow she was able to manage it. A glance around the room confirmed that the others were alive. The Blades were beginning to wake up. Even the animals who were floating around in confusion were alive.

Good.

She wouldn't want to make Lance angry.

Her gaze turned back to Coran who was still hovering anxiously in front of her, "I'm fine. How badly is the castle damaged?"

With no power to sustain them, it seemed that the anti-gravity generator had turned off as well and everyone was hovering aimlessly in the air.

Coran took a leap to the center and after a bit of maneuvering was able to grip the edge of a screen to better orient himself before checking their status, "Our power levels are pretty much decimated. Our communications aren't working either. I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the paladins anymore. Nor can we assist them in the fight."

Allura scrunched up her brows and floated next to him, "We can't give up."

The sound of metal being forced apart followed by a lot of grunting caught everyone's attention and as one they all turned to see Slav prying the doors open with all his might until the doors finally opened enough for him to squeeze trough.

After wiping a beat of sweat running down his cheek he said, "Did we win?"

Allura resisted the urge to smack him.

Did they look like they'd won with all the lights out and no form of communication?

Rolling her eyes, Allura turned back to Coran, "I need you and Slav to do everything you can to get this ship working again." Coran and Slav nodded and she turned to Kolivan who was watching everything silently, "Kolivan, can you get me to the Komar?"

Kolivan slowly nodded and moved his long silver braided hair behind his shoulder before answering, "It will be dangerous, but yes, I know a way."

"All right then," Allura said before taking a leap towards one of the emergency exits to reach the hangar bay, "You and the rest of your Blades come with me. We'll need to attack that witch and stop her. Coran, the bridge is yours."

Coran immediately protested, "You've been weakened by operating the Teleduv! You can't face that witch directly!"

Allura briefly closed her eyes. She knew that. But it was the only thing that she could think of to help Shiro and the others fight against Zarkon.

When her eyes opened again, they were set in determination, "We don't have a choice. Wish us luck."

* * *

Taking a cruiser would be a bad idea. It would probably be noticed immediately. The hover boards would allow more maneuvering and they were fast. Those would do. Making a beeline towards them she was pleased to hear the almost silent footsteps of Kolivan and his Blades following after her.

The hover boards were a simple design. They looked like scooters in a way but you could plant both legs on it no problem. Allura took hold of a pink one and stepped on it. A long stick reaching all the way to her chest popped up and Allura took hold of it as handles appeared in its side.

A glance behind her confirmed that the Blades were all set to go as well. With one push of a button the hangar bay doors opened and Allura and the Blades were sucked into space.

The hover boards boosters turned on immediately and she and the Blades easily maneuvered toward their location. A look to her right confirmed that Shiro and the rest of the paladins were still fighting Zarkon.

She narrowed her blue eyes.

Just hold on guys, we'll take care of that witch she swore.

* * *

The hover boards were fast and in to time at all they were within feet of Zarkon's ship. Allura kept going up though; from this distance she could feel the magic in the air. It was dark and sinister. Haggar was close.

Thanks to Voltron's attacks there were plenty of entrances they could take so Allura chose to come up from below Haggar and her druids who were gathering more magic as they hovered in rock metal platforms.

Antok flew higher than the rest and threw his hover board at one of the druids.

The thing released an inhuman scream and burst into a small pile of dust.

The rest followed his example but the druids dodged it this time.

There were three druids remaining and Haggar herself. Kolivan directed his Blades to work in teams of two to dispatch the druids while Allura went to handle Haggar.

Unlike her druids, she wore no mask. But even without one it was still hard to see her features with the black cloak she was wearing which obscured her face. Allura could still see strands of her silver hair and glowing yellow eyes through the cloak but nothing more.

It didn't matter, one way or another she was going down.

Taking out her staff, Allura launched herself at the witch.

Haggar was fast Allura grudgingly admitted. And so were her druids. All that teleportation was getting on her nerves. From below she could hear the rest of the Blades fighting their own druids and watched as Xylian threw her curved dagger through the air and hit the druid that Jonaz and Antok had been fighting and made it crumble to his knees.

Jonaz and Antok wasted no time and plunged their own daggers in the druids back and Allura watched in satisfaction as the druids turned to dust.

Jonaz threw Xylian her dagger back and caught it just in time as Leylee swiped the druids' feet and plunged the dagger on the druids' chest before it could get up.

One more to go.

Ulaz suddenly screamed as the last of the druids threw a purple lightning bolt at his back and crumbled to his knees. The druid gathered a ball of purple energy to finish him off but Kolivan and Allura made it just in time and plunged their own weapons on the druids' chest.

"Is he all right?" Allura asked as Kolivan bent down to inspect Ulaz's wound.

Kolivan drew his purple brows together but eventually nodded, "Nothing a healing pod won't be able to fix."

Haggar laughed, her voice raspy and cringe worthy as she hovered above them.

Allura was getting really tired of that witch.

With all the rocks hovering around Allura and the rest of the Blades except for Ulaz and Leylee made their way to Haggar and engaged in battle.

With so many people fighting her at once even Haggar looked like she was having trouble. She kept throwing purple lightning at them, Allura and the Blades barely dodging.

Gripping the boa stick in her palm, Allura ran straight for Haggar as Kolivan and Antok threw their daggers at her. Haggar dodged but she didn't see Allura come up behind her. With one step forward, Allura gripped the boa stick like a bat and swung.

There was a deafening crack as Haggar was thrown to the ground and Allura smiled. Haggar slid and rolled to the far edge of the rock platform before throwing a glare in her direction.

Allura stopped in her tracks and gasped. Haggar's hood had come loose revealing her appearance.

Pointy ears, silver hair, and glowing yellow eyes that looked almost neon green with how bright they were and white markings almost like tears coming down from each eye.

"You're…Altean," Allura whispered in shock.

Haggar screamed in rage and before Allura could even dodge she threw a large ball of purple lightning at her. Allura's staff was knocked off her hands as Haggar continued her strike against her. Allura covered her face and waited for the impact but when all she could feel was warmth she cautiously opened her eyes to see that she was glowing purple.

What?

She stretched her hands before her and just stared.

How was she not dead?

Haggar staggered back a step, her yellow glowing eyes wide in disbelief, "Impossible!"

Haggar screamed and threw another bout of lightning at her but Allura held her ground and even as the hit continued to strike Allura kept walking forward.

She would not go down.

She _refused_ to.

Haggar finally seemed to run out of energy and dropped to one knee.

Allura stood before her, her eyes fierce, "You will never hurt another innocent world!" And then she placed both hands on the floor and all the energy that Haggar had thrown her way released all at once in random directions.

The Blades stumbled but held onto each other as Allura's attack began to destroy the bridge in Zarkon's ship.

Haggar threw one last glare in her direction before she teleported away. With the witch gone, Allura got to her feet in shaky legs before Kolivan gripped her hand and began to lead her towards his hover board.

"We have to go!" he shouted, "Everyone, get back on your boards, we have to get out of here!"

They didn't need to be told twice and all but flew to their boards and began to fly away at max speed.

Allura held on tighter to where Kolivan had placed her on his back and watched as Ulaz did the same with Leylee and held on for dear life.

The sounds of explosions were like music to her ears and Allura grinned viciously.

They'd done it.

Now everything else depended on Voltron.

* * *

Shiro suppressed another groan of pain as Zarkon tried once again to take control of the Black lion. The black paladin had a major headache going on thanks to this asshole but no mater what they tried; Zarkon was kicking their ass.

Lance had delved into Shiro's mind in an attempt to block Zarkon from his mind but even the Amazon was having trouble handling him.

So much so that Lance was currently cursing quite loudly in Spanish. Shiro had only taken Spanish class for about a year and even though he wasn't completely fluid it in yet, he knew most of what Lance was spouting.

Lance was right.

Zarkon was a p _inche cabron._

At one point Zarkon had hit them so hard that the attack caused them to break formation and split them up in their individual lions.

Shiro admitted it.

He fainted.

But with good reason!

And only for a few minutes.

Two minutes tops.

Probably.

He'd woken up to his teams frantic shouting as they did their best to keep Zarkon from taking the black lion while he lay unconscious in his seat and to Lance throwing all kinds of Spanish profanities at him that made him flush.

The blue paladin had a mouth on her.

When they got out of this he'll have to have a talk with her. Just because no one else understood the language didn't mean it was okay for her to curse like nobodies business.

Lance snorted in his mind. _'If you want I can just curse in Japanese. Will that be better?'_

Shiro narrowed his eyes. ' _Don't you dare. I'll send you to your room.'_

Keith laughed in his head and Shiro jumped. Holy shit. Two voices in his head? So weird.

" _Language!"_ the idiot couple said at the same time. And then bristled at the idiot couple comment.

Pidge and Hunk's urgent faces appeared on his screen. "Are you guys having a silent conversation with each other?" Shiro looked away sheepishly as Keith and Lance appeared on his screen after them, "It wasn't on purpose!"

Zarkon looked like he was getting to attack once again so Shiro and the others moved Voltron a few feet away.

Hunk shot Lance his best puppy dog look and Shiro could practically feel the blue paladin melt at the look, "How come you don't have silent conversations with me? I know jokes! And secrets!"

Despite the situation, everyone laughed as Lance flailed her arms and tried to calm her best friend, "We will! We can do it right now! Want to hear something from Keith's past that I thought was hilarious?"

Hunk and Pidge looked intrigued even as Keith spluttered indignantly and immediately protested.

"As fun as that sounds, we should probably take care of Zarkon first," Pidge suggested.

The comment immediately sobered them up and they turned back to Zarkon, he could still feel Lance's presence at the back of his head offering him protection and comfort.

It seemed Keith had retreated back to his own mind since he couldn't conjure up mind shields as well as Lance could.

" _Paladins!" Coran shouted over the speakers._

Cheers erupted from the rest of his teammates, himself included, as Coran's voice startled them. But that was a good thing. It only confirmed that Allura and the rest of the castle occupants were alive like Lance had claimed.

" _Paladins, the power in Zarkon's ship is coming back! You must hurry!"_

Shiro grinned, "It's good to hear your voice Coran and understood."

" _I survived too, you know," Slav muttered._

"Oh, look. Slav made it out too…yay." One could practically hear the sarcasm in Lance's voice.

" _Anyway, we have to get out of here!" Coran shouted, "I'll go pick up the princess!"_

Allura? Where the heck had she gone?

No time to dwell on that, Coran would take care of her; he and the others had more important things to do.

"All right guys, this is our last chance! Let's finish this!" Shiro shouted.

As one, they all thrust the controller in their right hand and pushed it forward with all their might just as Zarkon swung his giant purple sword at them.

They clashed.

For a moment it was pure silence but then Shiro slowly grinned. Voltron had stabbed through Zarkon's armor and he could see the end of the sword Voltron was gripping protruding from Zarkon's back.

The small victory didn't last however as Zarkon suddenly leaned forward and gripped Voltron's head, the place where Shiro was seated, and began to squeeze. Beams of purple lightning shot at him and he resisted the urge to scream as something else began to intrude in his mind.

Lance was immediately there and she released a frustrated growl at the sheer power behind the force. It didn't matter, Lance pushed Zarkon back with all her might and Shiro was able to momentarily gain control of the Black lion and thrust the sword deeper.

The sounds of his teammates battle screams echoed around him and somehow the sword that Voltron was gripping suddenly began to burn fire. Shiro took the sword out and bashed it at Zarkon with all his might.

The next thing they knew Zarkon's armor exploded and the force of the explosion threw them back before everything turned black.

He could dimly hear Lance yelling something in his head but he couldn't catch whatever she said before she too disappeared from his mind.

* * *

Lance knew something bad was going to happen as soon as Zarkon's metal armor exploded.

The Black lion was roaring in her mind.

She sounded desperate.

Why?

Was something bad going to happen?

She didn't know but as the blast from Zarkon's armor separated them back to their individual lions and she was thrown quite a few feet away and she was beginning to lose consciousness, all she could think was that she really should have stayed in bed.

* * *

Keith woke up with a groan and lifted his head up with some difficulty. Had they done it? The others asked the same and Keith desperately looked around to see Zarkon floating quite a few feet away from them. His metal armor in pieces.

"Is it over?" Hunk anxiously asked.

"I-I think so," Pidge murmured.

" _Paladins! I have Allura back at the castle! We have to get out of here before they send more cruisers after us!" Coran shouted at them._

Keith nodded absently and then he was suddenly standing upright.

Lance!

He couldn't feel Lance in his head anymore!

She was completely subdued.

What the hell?

Had she lost consciousness?

But then…why did she feel so far away?

"Shiro?"

The sound of Pidge and Hunk calling for their leader snapped his attention to the front of the screen where he could see the Black and Blue lions just hovering aimlessly in space as the green and yellow lions hovered neared them and moved around them frantically.

"Lance?" he called over the speakers.

No answer.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Pidge and Hunk called out to Shiro but still nothing.

Neither Shiro nor Lance answered.

The sound of Coran's urgent voice made them jump and Keith gritted his teeth before giving out orders, "We'll have to tow them both back to the ship!" he yelled, "Hunk, Pidge you go get Shiro. I'll go pick up Lance and the Blue lion!"

"Understood!"

As fast as they could, they each embedded their claws on their friends' lions and flew them back to the castle where it was already waiting with its doors open for them.

Something was gnawing at Keith though.

Something terrible had happened.

He just knew it.

"All right guys, we're all in!" Pidge yelled as soon as they reached the hangar bay, "Get us out of here!"

Allura opened up a wormhole and just as a set of cruisers went after them, they disappeared through the wormhole.

Keith was already rushing out of his lion and heading to Blue who had her jaws open, Hunk heading his way with a panicked expression on his face. On the other side, Allura and Pidge ran towards the Black lion to check on Shiro.

He had to make sure.

What if Lance was so badly hurt that her presence in his mind suddenly felt so far away?

Finally reaching the Blue lion, Keith and Hunk all but tripped on their feet and hurriedly made their way inside.

"Lance?" he called.

The cockpit was empty.

"Buddy? Where are you?" Hunk asked as he ventured inside and looked around desperately for his friend.

Only Lance's Bayard rested comfortably on the seat.

"Shiro?" Allura called on the other side of the room where she and Pidge had gone inside the Black lion. "Shiro, where are you?" Allura desperately called, a hint of panic in her voice.

"He's not here," Pidge mumbled quietly.

Neither was Lance.

A shot of fear went through to him and he stumbled to his knees as the reality of what he was seeing made itself known.

Shadow released an anguished howl that echoed throughout the castle.

Lance and Shiro were gone.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! I quite enjoy them :)_


	21. Chapter 21

"That's the funny thing about trying to escape. You never really can. Maybe temporarily, but not completely."  
― **Jennifer L. Armentrout** , **Onyx**

Chapter 21

Lance's toes were frozen solid. They were as cold as the ice on the northern sea. As cold as the drifting snow. As cold as a dead maid's cheek.

Not that she'd ever touched a dead maid's cheek before but you got the point.

It's not real a little voice said.

None of it is real.

Of course it wasn't.

She _knew_ that.

But after being subjected to all different types of torture in her mind, a part of her believed that it _was_ real.

These druids were good.

But Lance was better.

She curled her toes inside her boots, because they weren't frozen, not really. And this wasn't real.

The frozen ocean, the howling wind, even her being underwater and running out of air wasn't real.

If it were, Lance would have no trouble breathing underwater, regardless of how cold it was.

 _Take control_.

Lance focused. She thought of the ocean back on Earth. The sunsets and sunrises that she'd seen on the horizon. The sound of the waves crashing in the distant. Feeling the warm sunshine on her back as she swam. The sound of birds calling to one another as they flew by.

The druid released a harsh growl from its throat.

Lance smiled.

The scenery changed to a dark forest and Lance felt a cold feeling wash over her, even though it was really warm and humid in the forest. There was absolute silence. Where there should be the sounds of birds singing there was only stillness. Even with her high sense of hearing she couldn't catch the sounds of any creepy crawlies roaming around either.

There were Goosebumps on her skin.

Something was coming.

She felt it more than she heard it.

A part of her wanted to run.

 _Focus!_

Right.

Not real.

The forest disappeared and just to spite her torturer she thought of Chuck E. Cheese, the worst place she'd ever been. The place smelled like feet, the kids were spoiled pains in the butt, and the pizza tasted like road kill.

Creepy figures that were suppose to be fun to play with looked like they were mocking you as you passed. Creepy songs played in the background and a man wearing a giant mouse costume walked by with a creepy too wide smile.

The druid screamed and the world she created dissolved back to the purple-lighted medical room where she was strapped to the table, her hands pinned to her sides with handcuffs that even _she_ couldn't break out of.

If she moved her head to the right she could see torture equipment on a display case on the wall. When she'd first come in they'd tried cutting her only for their instruments to break thanks to her tough skin.

They'd tried injecting her with who knows what but the needles broke against her skin as well.

They tried electrocuting her but that only made her stronger. She'd even gotten out of her hold and taken out two Galra soldiers and one druid before they pumped the room with knockout gas and she'd lost consciousness.

That's when the druids decided to enter her mind and torture her for information there instead. They always asked the same questions. Where are the rest of the paladins? Where is the Black lion? Who is the weakest member of the team?

She did not deign to answer their questions.

The torture happening in her mind was painful.

She'd been burned alive.

She'd had her limbs cut off.

She'd been shot to death.

It hurt.

But she could not give in to despair.

So she waited, and she screamed and she cried but not once did she say anything.

She endured.

Let them think she was weak.

It would make them drop their guard.

The druids got cocky and two more entered her mind but this time Lance was ready.

She took control of the situation and she burned the druids alive in her mind.

Made them watch the Teletubbies and watched them scream in horror.

Locked them in a room full of clowns and watched them cry.

The images dissolved and the three druids in the room burst into dust with the sudden overload.

One would think that after all of that they would stop their little torture session.

They didn't but Lance didn't really care anymore, she took over as soon as they entered her mind this time.

She was bored.

She didn't know how long she'd been here. She just wanted to go back to her cell and sleep in that little cot in the room. She was starving. Since she'd shown bad behavior they didn't bring her any food as punishment.

Back in the present, the druid before her shuddered and pressed a button by the wall. Little minutes later, three Galra officers came in, their weapons raised and expressions weary.

Lance laughed and she swore one pissed himself.

After a rather boring stare down one of the Galra that had a thick mouth and a crooked nose stepped forward and put a surgical mask over her nose and mouth.

The crooked nose was thanks to her. She was a little proud of that.

If her hands weren't restrained she would have punched the guy. She smelled something foul and her eyes began to droop but she didn't lose consciousness this time.

She was slowly becoming immune to this as well.

The shackles disappeared and she slumped to the floor and almost fell face first onto the floor but two strong arms gripped her forearms and she was dragged to her feet.

The metal shackles that blocked her usage of electricity were clamped on her wrists once again.

The Galra began to lead her back to her cell and Lance took the chance to lift her head and inhale.

Shiro was close.

She'll have to find him soon.

The last time she'd seen him; he'd been out cold and was being dragged away by two Galra soldiers and some druids following close behind.

She didn't know what the heck happened.

One second they were fighting against Zarkon and just when they stabbed the guy, his armor exploded and sent them flying backwards in their individual lions and that's when the Black lion had started roaring in her mind and then…nothing.

When she later woke up it was to the feeling of having hands on her. She tried to move but she was so tired.

A sound to the right made her turn her head to see Shiro lying next to her in his paladin armor before purple hands grabbed him and they began to drag him away.

Lance lost consciousness after that.

How had they ended up here?

Had Keith and the others gotten away?

Were they okay?

Honestly, Lance thought her guards were idiots. They hadn't confiscated her mood bracelet, which could totally be used as a GPS to find Keith and the others. Then again, the crystal in its center had been cracked so contacting Keith had not gone well so far.

Her transparent bracelet had been damaged so they'd thrown that away.

The same with her blue and white paladin armor. It'd been damaged and so they'd gotten rid of it as well.

They'd even let her keep the red crystal necklace that Keith had given her. Which was good because so far it was the only thing keeping her sane.

They stopped at a black metal door. The Galra with the crooked nose leered at her before placing his palm on the scanner beside the door to open it.

"Since you can't seem to behave yourself, we're giving you a cell mate." The Galra she'd given a crooked nose to harshly whispered in her ear, his hot breath making her wrinkle her nose, "He's been known to annoy and make even the strongest of men go mad so you probably won't last very long _paladin."_

Jeez.

Say it don't spray it.

Lance gave him a droll stare and nodded at his nose, "Want me to fix that?"

The Galra growled and placed a silver ring that looked like a tiara on her head before she was all but thrown in her new cell.

The three Galra soldiers laughed.

"Enjoy your new cell mate," was the last thing she heard before the metal door closed and she was left in the dark.

* * *

Matt Holt was bored.

He'd tried playing _I Spy_ but had gotten bored pretty quickly. The game was only fun when you had someone else to play with anyway. Plus, the same three items in the room hadn't changed much. There was a small cot in the corner of the room, a toilet that had seen better days, and a wrinkled old blanket. His cell was a perfect cube with smooth, shiny black wall panels on all six sides.

He seriously wanted to redecorate.

Didn't these guys know that there were other colors in the rainbow?

He was just glad that he could actually _use_ the toilet this time.

The last cellmate he had had refused to let him use it. Kept claiming that it was his.

Rude.

What was his name again?

Rudolf? Ralphy? Rodolfo?

Bah, who cares? The guy didn't bathe anyway.

Good riddance.

He'd heard a rumor that he'd become part of security for this place in exchange for more food, but Matt wasn't sure.

He'd tried talking to the guards but they just looked like they wanted to strangle him. Perhaps they were still mad about him protesting about the soap.

It's why he was transferred to solitary in the first place.

It's not his fault though.

Maybe if they used actual soap that didn't smell like stinky feet he wouldn't have complained. Although, he probably shouldn't have thrown it on the floor and caused the other alien prisoners taking a shower to trip and start a fight amongst themselves either.

He'd managed not to get punched in the face by crawling along the floor but the alien prisoners had ratted him out as being the culprit for starting the whole thing.

Again, rude.

Sighing, Matt went back to his little cot and leaned back on the wall before blowing away a light brown strand away from his face. He was in desperate need for a haircut; his hair already reached his shoulders.

He was wondering if he could bribe one of the guards to bring him better food in exchange for a compliment when the sound of footsteps outside his room disrupted the cell's peacefulness.

He turned to the door, squinting at the smooth glossy black door.

The voices on the other end ceased and the door swooshed open. Matt had to cover his eyes at the sudden brightness before something was thrown into his little cell and the door closed once again.

Oh, great.

Another new roommate?

Was this one going to claim that the dirty toilet belonged to him too?

Because if he was, Matt was ready to throw down.

He refused to pee in the corner like a dog.

His new cellmate groaned and Matt's brows shot up.

That didn't sound like a guy.

In fact, that sounded a lot like a female.

Suddenly excited about getting to see someone from the opposite sex, Matt shot to his feet and all but flew to the girls' side, a compliment already on the tip of his tongue.

One could imagine his surprise when his wrist was suddenly taken hold off and he was thrown over a shoulder where he landed hard on his back.

A second later, a booted foot came crashing down on his chest and the girl peered down at him in anger.

Matt stared.

Because standing in front of him was a goddess.

His heart nearly stopped. The girl who was still clutching his hand and was peering down at him was wearing a cobalt blue tank top with some black jeans, her skin was a light brown, like caramel candy, and her short brown hair was cascading over her shoulder, but it was her eyes that had him captivated the most. They were the bluest eyes he'd ever seen in his life. They were blue like the sea, crystal clear blue shimmering and crashing and churning.

She was looking at him like she wanted nothing more than to crush him with her pretty black and blue boots. But it didn't matter. Matt Holt was in love. She was the most dazzling girl he'd ever seen.

She looked like one of those Victoria Secret models. Matt swore he saw a halo and wings behind her back. Or maybe getting thrown to the floor was making him see things.

He had to get to his feet. There were important questions that he desperately wanted to ask her. Like her email address and phone number. And the most obvious, did she have a boyfriend?

The girl furrowed her delicate eyebrows and squinted before bending down to peer at his face.

Oh crap.

He should have done his hair!

When was the last time he'd seen himself in a mirror anyway? Weeks ago? Days?

Think Matt think.

Last time he saw himself in a mirror he'd still had brown eyes, light brown hair (which now reached his shoulders) and had a small scar going up on the right side of his cheek. His cheeks had been a little sunken but that was mostly from the meager food they gave him. But he still looked good.

He remembered winking at himself.

Hopefully he still looked that good.

And hopefully the girl would have a thing for guys with long hair.

"Matt?"

The goddess knew his name?

The girl slowly loosened her hold on him and her boot came off him. Biting her lower lip she offered him her hand and he quickly took it. Her hands were so soft! "Are you…Matt Holt?"

He vigorously nodded his head before taking hold of her hand and got down on one knee, "Do you have a Band-Aid?" The girl looked confused, "Because I just scraped my knee falling for you."

The girl stared.

No?

Let's try another one.

Scrambling for another pick-up line and finally finding one, he smiled, "I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together."

The girl blinked and promptly started laughing.

Matt's smile faltered but laughter could be a good thing. Right?

Right.

After the girl stopped laughing she gave him a sultry smile that gave him Goosebumps and leaned closer, "Nice shirt, is it made out of boyfriend material?"

Matt's jaw dropped and he blinked rapidly but the girl wasn't done as she looked him up and down, "Roses are red, violets are fine. I'll be the six, if you'll me by nine."

Matt choked on his own spit.

He was sure his face resembled a tomato.

The girl laughed again and after a while Matt joined her. This was just too good to be true. Someone else who used pick-up lines too?

The two of them were obviously meant to be together!

Finally catching her breath, the girl lifted her hand in his direction for him to shake. Matt instantly took it, "My name is Leah McLain but you can just call me Lance. And you're Matt Holt right?"

She smelled so good!

And she was really rocking that outfit. Much better than his brown prison jumpsuit that all prisoners were obligated to wear. Clearing his throat, he discreetly began to fix his hair, "Yeah, the names Matt. You heard of me?"

Qu the suggestive brows.

Lance nodded and frowned at the silver tiara thing that was on her head, "Yeah, Pidge mentions you a lot."

Matt cocked his head to the right in confusion, "Pidge?"

"Katie. You know, you're sister."

As soon as she said the word Katie, all thoughts of flirting left his mind and he gripped her shoulders as he leaned in closer to her face, "Katie? Is she in space too? Did those Galra bastards drag here against her will?"

Lance eyed his hands with an arched brow and he immediately released her. Finally free to move, Lance looked around the cell and began to inspect the items in the room as she answered him, "Yes, Katie is in space too. No, the Galra didn't drag her here against her will. She came here voluntarily and she's also the green paladin of Voltron and pilot of the green lion."

Matt's mind reeled and he rapidly blinked his eyes, "Katie is part of Voltron? _My_ baby sister?"

Lance grimaced, shrinking away from the dirty toilet. "Yup, she's really smart. Also, I'm the blue paladin, pilot of the blue lion."

Matt's jaw dropped, "You're part of Voltron too?"

Lance nodded absently before suddenly remembering something and began to look through her pockets, "Yeah, so is Shiro by the way. He's our leader and the black paladin. Naturally, he's the black lions pilot."

"Shiro too? Is he okay?"

Lance was still looking through her pockets with a frown but she nodded, "I think he's okay. He's somewhere in this ship so I'll have to rescue his butt too."

Whoa.

So Shiro was part of Voltron as well. He always knew his friend was destined for great things. He couldn't wait to see him too.

Lance suddenly made an "Aha!" sound and Matt turned to see her gazing at something small and cylinder. Matt's eyes widened as he gazed at the small black cylinder object in her palm. Was that what he thought it was?

"Do you know what that is?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." She held it up to him. "I stole it from one of the guards that I punched."

Matt grinned as he took the item from her, "Did he deserve it?"

Lance nodded seriously, "Oh, yes. He pulled my hair. No one touches my hair."

"I hope you landed a good punch."

Lance studied her nails with a smile, "Well, his nose is crooked now. If you ask me, its somewhat of an improvement."

Matt laughed as he began tinkering with the small cylinder. Turning it over he began to pull the top and watched with a triumphant grin as the cylinder stretched and a screen suddenly formed. Bingo.

He was right.

This was a portscreen.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked as she came over to his side.

"Getting us a view of the whole ship and hopefully get us out of here."

"Oh. Sweet."

He pulled out a yellow wire from the top cylinder and dropped it into Lance's lap, then sank cross-legged next to her on the floor and began to work.

Lance watched, mystified, as he took out another cable, this one blue, and replaced it where the yellow cable used to be. Matt felt his chest puff with pride as he felt a small blush appear on his cheeks.

He was totally impressing her now.

Nice.

Matt had some mad skills.

The portscreen in his hand changed to static and he frowned.

"Try giving it a good smack," Lance added helpfully as she leaned in to take a closer look, "Sometimes that helps."

Good idea.

Shrugging, Matt lightly hit it and then shook it in the air a few times until finally, _finally_ , the screen turned on and displayed one of the halls outside where two Galra soldiers were walking by.

Lance and Matt high-fived.

"Do you think you can find Shiro with this thing?" Lance asked, her hand lightly stroking the red crystal necklace around her neck.

Matt hummed and began to tap the screen with his finger. The images changed to different floors, some with those flying triangle robots that zapped you, some with those creepy druids walking around being their eerie selves, passed some cells that probably had other prisoners inside and finally the medical rooms.

He changed to another angle so he could peer inside the rooms and kept swiping. Most of the rooms were empty. Just when Matt was about to hang his head and tell the beautiful goddess that he couldn't find Shiro, Lance suddenly gripped his shoulder and told him to go back.

Startled, he quickly went back and Lance grinned.

"There he is!" she exclaimed with a happy grin.

Matt paused and looked at the image closer. What was she seeing that he couldn't see?

"Its his boots," she explained when he questioned her and pointed at the black boot on display, "Shiro only has one pair of boots. That's him. I'm positive."

Matt grinned and got to his feet. "Awesome. Now how do we get out of here?"

Lance gnawed on her lower lip and gave the room a once over once again before bringing her gaze towards the grate at the ceiling. Tethered wires that snaked around the room surrounded it. He and his first roommate, a blue little alien guy who only had one eye, had tried escaping through there as well but neither of them could open it.

It was too heavy for either of them.

"Can you give me a lift?"

"Already tried that, it's too heavy," Matt said, but he laced his fingers together anyway.

Lance stepped onto his palms and he easily lifted her. With the added leverage, she began to fidget with the grate.

Matt frowned as he peered up, "It's heavy. Don't feel bad if you can't-"

Lance tossed the grate on Matt's little cot with a small thud and pulled herself into the opening without hesitation.

Matt's jaw dropped and Lance glanced down at him with a frown. "You coming or what?"

Scrambling to his feet, he took her offered hand and watched in amazement as she easily pulled him up alongside her.

Dang.

This girl was strong.

Matt like-y.

Although it did make him question his manliness.

"Does that thing show the blueprints of this place?" Lance asked him after he just stared open-mouthed at her like an idiot.

Shaking his head, he brought the portscreen to his face and after looking through it after a few minutes he pulled up the ships interior structure to check the direction they needed to go to get to Shiro.

It seemed Lance and he were in the fourth floor. Shiro was in the second floor. The rest of the prison cells were in the second floor too and the hangar bay was in the fifth floor.

They'd have to secure a ship to escape later on.

But first things first.

Find Shiro.

Finally having a destination, they began to crawl.

Lance in front with Matt crawling behind her.

Matt was enjoying the view immensely.

The trek was mostly quiet, although Lance did hum under her breath; in fact Matt was pretty sure she was humming out _Staying Alive_ by the Bee Gees.

Oh yeah.

Matt was definitely in love.

Naturally he sang along quietly and Lance sent him a wide grin over her shoulder that had his heart beating wildly in his chest.

Matt would have impressed her with his mad dancing skills but since he didn't have a lot of room to maneuver in he settled for bobbing his head up and down.

Lance looked like she approved.

It's too bad really; Matt was particularly good at doing the hustle.

They had to stop twice when they heard footsteps from somewhere below.

Matt briefly wondered if there would be an alarm when their escape was discovered. Part of him was a little surprised that one hadn't sounded yet.

They'd been crawling along for almost half an hour according to the time on the portscreen. It would be nighttime by now and the guards usually didn't bother checking after their prisoners until morning but sometimes if they were in a pissy mood, they came to check on them while they were sleeping.

Jerks.

Thankfully, they still had hours before the Galra guards came to check on them. Hopefully they'll have Shiro and be long gone by then.

Sweat was beginning to drip from his nose and his breath was becoming shallow. The walls looked like they were closing in around them. What if the blueprint he was reading hadn't been updated in a while and he was just leading them into a trap?

Matt didn't think he could stand it if that were true.

Maybe Lance shouldn't place her trust in him.

Oh god.

What if he was leading them in circles and they would starve here?

Matt's breaths became quicker.

Oh great, he was having a panic attack.

So not cool.

"Everything all right?"

Matt breathed deeply through his nose but it still came out shaky. Lance frowned at him over her shoulder.

He shook his head to clear his mind.

Calm down dude. This was no time to panic. Lance and Shiro were counting on him to get them out of here.

"Sorry," he finally mumbled, "Just had a small panic attack. No biggie. It's cool."

Lance frowned, the portscreens light making her blue eyes sparkle in the darkness. "What does your blueprint say? Are we almost there?"

Glancing down, he licked his dry lips and slowly nodded. "Yeah, we should be nearing the second floor soon. Just a little longer."

Lance nodded and began to crawl again. Matt followed after. For a few minutes the only noise in the small air duct was his heavy breathing until Lance spoke up, "What's your favorite song?"

Matt startled, "What?"

"Your favorite song," she said patiently, "What is it?"

Matt blinked and tried to remember, it'd been a while since he'd heard Earth music. "What's up by 4 Non Blondes," he finally answered.

Lance grinned, "Is that so? Any particular reason why?"

Matt bit his lip, "Well, because it sounds funny. Sometimes I do a pose and sing in this really ridiculous voice that sounds so bad that it makes me laugh."

Lance nodded as if that was totally normal and continued crawling. After a few seconds of silence he asked her the same question she'd asked him and watched as she thought about it, "Right now it's a tie between Dancing Queen and Girls Just Want to Have Fun."

Matt gasped and put a hand over his heart, "Oh my god. Tell me you grab a comb and sing into it as you dance around in your room."

Lance gasped and shot him a shocked expression that she was obviously faking, "Oh my god. How did you know?"

"Girl, I do the same but in my underwear."

Lance lightly laughed under her breath and Matt grinned, his little panic attack all but forgotten.

They rounded a corner and saw a square of checkered light on the duct's ceiling. Instant relief fluttered inside him as he and Lance crawled over to it and peered down.

"Is this it?" Lance asked as she peered at him, the grate casting peculiar shadows across her face.

He began to open his mouth to say yes when they heard voices. Matt shut his mouth and both of them ducked back.

"Haggar said that she'd be coming soon. Lord Zarkon needed immediate medical attention so she's been too busy to come and check out the two new prisoners. She seems very interested in the blue paladin for some reason," said a Galra soldier.

Lance and he exchanged worried looks.

What the heck did that witch want with Lance?

"Whatever Haggar wants with the blue paladin can't be good. I kind of feel for her. You know she punched Hendrix so hard she messed up his nose? That was pretty awesome actually. The guy is a total douche, it's an improvement I say."

Lance cheekily grinned and whispered, "Maybe I'll let that one live. I like him."

"Is it true that even the druids are scared of her?" asked the previous Galra.

"Oh, yeah," the Galra that Lance liked said, "They tried torturing her in her mind but whatever she did to them make them scream in fear and they evaporated to dust. It was awesome. Personally I don't like the druids anyway. Creepy little things."

The other Galra shuddered, "Tell me about it. Wish I could have seen it though. Oh well, maybe next time."

The conversation faded as they stepped through another hall and Matt looked at Lance in approval. "You made druids scream? What'd you do?"

Lance shrugged and casually said, "Showed them a few Teletubbies. Some clowns. You know, normal stuff."

Matt snickered and raised his fisted palm for a fist pump. Lance lifted her own and they bumped fists before peering down. "Think it's safe to go down now?"

Lance tilted her head and slowly nodded, "I think so. I don't hear any more guards. Let's go."

Matt began to pull back the grate but when it refused to budge Lance kindly took over and removed the grate as if it weighed nothing before she jumped out and gracefully landed on her feet.

Matt would have fallen on his face if Lance hadn't steadied him. The black and purple halls were quiet but Matt found a few cameras' that after a few taps on the portscreen began to show an empty hall. He made sure to keep that video on loop for the other four cameras that they found as they silently walked down the halls.

It was on the sixth room where they found Shiro. Unfortunately the door was locked.

Matt frowned and looked back at the portscreen. Did this door need a code or something?

There was a creaking sound and Matt whipped his head to see Lance prying the door away like nothing. With a small grunt, she pulled back the handle and the door completely came off.

Matt was ready to propose right then and there.

"Ladies first." Lance said to him.

Matt glared and Lance grinned, "Oh, ha ha. Very funny. For the record, I could have totally lifted that door of its hinges too but I figured you could gain some muscle so I let you do it first."

Lance gave him a cheeky grin and Matt made his way inside the room with his head held high. Once Lance was inside she placed the door back where it was but it looked a little crooked.

"A little to the left," he said with one eye closed.

Lance sent him a vulgar gesture that had him raising his hands in a pacifying manner. Right. Best not to anger his future wife.

Lance and he quickly made their way over to Shiro who was strapped to the table spread eagle. He looked like he was having a nightmare. Beats of sweat had formed on his forehead and he kept frowning, making the scar across the bridge of his nose stand out.

He was wearing a light gray long sleeved with a black zipper vest over it. His right hand was wrapped in a black fingerless glove.

His pants were black as well as his boots.

Matt briefly wondered if he wore all black because he was the Black paladin of Voltron.

Lance was wearing a blue tank top…is that how they advertised what paladin they were?

This was some serious power rangers' stuff. Those guys did the same thing. Even when they weren't in their spandex armor.

Matt lightly patted his friends' cheek, "Takashi, wake up. We're here to rescue you."

No response.

Matt tried again.

Still nothing.

Lance made a frustrated noise and bitch slapped him. It was the only way to describe it really. She slapped him so hard she left a red mark across his cheek.

Shiro woke with a shout and began to struggle in his bindings. Matt put a hand to his shoulder and Shiro slowly blinked, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Matt?" he croaked.

Despite himself, Matt felt tears prickling the corner of his eyes, "Hey Takeshi. Long time no see."

Shiro slowly blinked and made to reach for him before remembering his restraints, "You're alive."

Matt grinned and lightly punched his shoulder, "Of course I am. I'm too awesome to die."

Shiro gave him a wide smile.

Lance cleared her throat and both males turned in her direction, "Lance?"

The blue paladin gave him a little wave and pulled at one of the metal shackles on Shiro's leg and crumbled it into a ball and threw it behind her like it was nothing.

Again.

So cool.

Matt like-y.

"Hey Shiro," Lance said as she began to remove the rest of the metal shackles, "Lovely weather huh. For todays forecast I predict a lot of Galra's with a punch to the face and our awesome escape from this little prison with us flying away with an awesome explosion behind us as we fly to freedom. Perhaps we'll do a pose. I know _I_ will. Maybe I'll convince you two to join me."

Matt grinned. Punching Galra's in the face? An awesome escape and some explosions? Poses? Sign him up!

Shiro blinked as he slowly got up and rubbed his wrists before hissing, "Did you bitch slap me?"

Lance clicked her tongue and smacked him upside the head. Shiro looked absolutely offended. "First of all, language. You're an adult, set a better example for me." Matt snickered as Shiro spluttered, "And second of all, you wouldn't wake up. I had to."

"Or you just wanted to slap me," Shiro darkly muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, maybe that too," Lance said, not even bothering to deny it.

"I'll tell Keith when we get back," Shiro threatened.

Lance gave him a wide smile, "I'm sure my fiancée will be on my side, but go ahead."

Matt frowned. "Fiancée?"

Lance gave him a strange look, "Yeah, I'm engaged. Did I not mention that?"

Matt deflated. Figures the girl he fell in love with at first sight would be taken. No fair. Why was life so cruel?

Wait. Keith? He turned his brown eyes to Shiro, "You mean your adopted little brother is here too?"

Shiro nodded as he got to his feet. He swayed a little but both he and Lance steadied him. "Yeah, he's the red paladin and Lance's fiancée."

Matt groaned and looked at the heavens, "So not fair!"

Lance lightly laughed as Shiro put a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a serious expression, "She'd destroy you."

That earned him another smack from the blue paladin.

Shiro growled low in his throat, "Damn it woman! That hurts!"

Lance sniffed and crossed her arms over her blue tank top, "It's supposed to. Anyway," she turned those pretty blue eyes to him, "The rest of the prisoners are in this floor too right?"

Matt looked down at his portscreen and nodded. "Yeah, so it says. We have to go further down but yeah."

Lance nodded and Shiro looked back and forth between them in confusion, "What other prisoners? And where are we? Last thing I remember we were fighting Zarkon."

Lance went over to the door and peered through the small little window it had and looked outside for a bit, "I don't know. I just woke up and I was here. Got tortured by a few druids for a few days I think. Zarkon's apparently alive but on life support with Haggar healing him or so the guards said. Then I was tossed inside Matt's little cell where we began to escape through an air duct and here we are."

Shiro furrowed his brows at the Zarkon comment and quickly walked to her side, his face etched in fury, "Those druids did what? I'll kill them." The way he said it made Matt cringe. Boy was Matt glad that he wasn't one of those druids right about now. "Are you okay?"

Lance gave him a small smile and patted the hand on her shoulder, "Nothing I haven't been trained for. I'll live. As for the killing them. Well." She flashed him a feral grin and a peace sign, "I took care of that all on my own. Took down three of them. I'm sure I'll find that last one and give him a good beating."

Shiro still looked concerned but he slowly returned her feral smile with one of his own, " _We'll_ give him a good beating," he corrected and Lance beamed.

Matt awkwardly cleared his throat.

Boy did he feel like a third wheel.

Lance tilted her head in his direction, "Anyone on _your_ list that you want to beat up?"

Matt startled as both Shiro and Lance turned to him with expectant looks, "Well, there was this guy who refused to let me use the toilet. Had to pee in the corner for a few weeks."

"That scumbag," Lance snarled.

Shiro cracked his knuckles, "We'll find the fuck-" Lance threw an angry glare at him and Shiro awkwardly cleared his throat, "I mean, we'll find the prick and make him pay."

Lance nodded in satisfaction and Shiro released a relieved sigh that had Matt laughing. These two were hilarious.

"By the way," Shiro said as he eyed the silver circlet around Lance's head as well as the shackles on her wrists, "Do you not want to take those off or what?"

Lance glared at him but sighed in resignation as her shoulders slumped, "I already tried removing them but they won't budge. The shackles keep me from using my lightning and the tiara/circlet keep me from using the rest of my powers. I can't feel them at all."

That last part was said in anguish and Shiro's face softened as he pulled her into a hug. "We'll find a way to remove them when we get to the castle. I'm sure Pidge or Hunk can figure this out."

Lance let out a quiet sniffle and Matt patted her back comfortingly.

After a few minutes Lance stepped back and took a deep breath. No signs of distress on her face. Just pure resolve.

Man this girl was strong.

"Ready to go?" Lance asked them both.

Shiro looked around the room and found his belt with two satchels on the side and clicked it around his waist before nodding.

"Lead the way," Shiro said, his face etched in determination.

* * *

Shiro, Lance and Matt jogged to the doors at the far end of the hall and peered inside. It was dark but Lance and Matt insisted that this room had prisoners inside.

He still couldn't believe that Matt was here. Pidge was going to be so happy when they got back. It's too bad her father wasn't here either. When Lance and he asked his friend if his father was here too Matt sighed and sadly shook his head.

His father along with other scientists had been taken somewhere else a few weeks ago.

Right now, all that mattered was getting the hell out of here.

Part of him hoped they ran into that druid that had tortured Lance in her mind. That guy was going to get a beat down. No one hurt Shiro's friends. He owed it to Keith to protect his fiancée as well.

Turning his prosthetic arm into a sword he cut the door apart and began to make his way inside. The stench of sweat and grime rolled out, slamming into him before the whimpers and whispers of fear came. Dozens of faces emerged from the dark, hands held up to shield their eyes.

Matt found a light switch and the room was enveloped in purple lighting. The prisoners recoiled and stumbled back.

Different types of aliens looked back at them. Some looked like reptiles with their green scaly skin. Others looked a lot like Olkari to him. And three of them looked like mini elephants with the long trunk on their face.

They were wearing the same brown jumpsuit that Matt was wearing. All of them had hollow cheeks, carved out by hunger.

At the sight of his prosthetic arm, some released panicked screams. Shiro's mind scrambled to come up with something to avoid having to carry them out.

"My name is Shiro," he said quickly, "I'm a paladin of Voltron. We bring you no harm. We're just here to rescue you."

One of the huddled aliens that looked like an Olkari raised his green baldhead towards him and slowly blinked, "Voltron? You're a paladin of Voltron?"

Shiro nodded.

"So am I," Lance added with a small wave.

The prisoners began to whisper amongst themselves and Shiro tried not to tap his foot in annoyance. Lance went out into the hallway to make sure it was still clear while Matt and he stayed inside and waited for the prisoner's verdicts.

After what felt like forever, the prisoners slowly nodded to themselves and began to step forward. The one that looked like an Olkari introduced himself as Festus and announced that they would go with them.

Shiro nodded and after Lance announced that the coast was clear they began to move out. Feet slapped against the tiles and they all leaned against a wall as Matt put the cameras on the next hall in a loop before moving out.

They found a stairwell and began to climb down to the hangar bay where they would steal a ship and get in contact with the castle of lions to get home safely.

It's when they reached the fourth floor that they found three Galra soldiers lounging in the stairwell. It looked like they were about to eat lunch or something. All three of them were holding something wrapped in foil in their hands. It looked like a burrito. Shiro's stomach let out a long growl.

When was the last time he'd eaten anything?

A while probably.

For a moment both groups just stared in confusion.

And then one of the men reached for the sword at his belt while the other one reached for his ear where a little device was attached.

Perhaps it was a communications device?

The third one looked like he was getting ready to scream.

Clenching his jaw, Shiro launched himself at the one reaching for his blade while Lance went after the other two.

A punch to the gut and a slam against the stairwell knocked the Galra out.

Shiro turned to see if Lance needed help but when he turned over, both Galra's were slumped on the floor with huge bumps on their heads.

Nice.

Matt let out an impressed whistle. "Remind me not to get on either of your bad sides."

Shiro and Lance grinned.

After moving the three unconscious bodies out of the way, they continued their trek to the hangar bay.

Lance took two of the blaster guns from the unconscious Galra before handing the third one to Matt who took it without hesitation.

Shiro couldn't wait to go home. He was _so_ done being captured by the Galra.

Been there. Done that. Even brought back a shirt.

A part of him was trying not to freak out about whatever they had done to him in those few days while he slept. He hadn't woken up once.

Shiro seriously hoped he hadn't been molested.

The thought was enough to make him cringe.

An alarm suddenly rang out throughout the whole ship and the prisoners released panicked screams. Shiro let out a curse as Matt began to frantically tap the portscreen.

He shook his head and sent him frantic eyes, "I can't turn it off! They've locked me out!"

Lance took the portscreen from his hands and crushed it with the heel of her boot. "They'll have our location by now. Run!"

Shiro didn't need to be told twice.

He ran.

They went down the last flight of stairs where the hangar bay was and Shiro let out a curse when the door refused to budge. Even Lance couldn't seem to open it either.

Shiro growled.

"Everyone back to the fourth floor!" Lance barked as she gripped one of the gun blasters in her hand and a burrito in the other. "We'll have to go the long way!"

"You took a burrito with you?" Shiro accused in disbelief. He, Matt, and the rest of the prisoners followed after her as Shiro looked at her in envy.

Why hadn't he thought of that?

Lance took a bite of the burrito in her hand and shot him a grin that he did not appreciate. "I'm hungry, there was food right in front of me. Of course I was going to take some with me!"

Matt threw his head back and let out a long laugh.

Shiro didn't see what the hell was so funny.

Lance reached the fourth floor's door and burst inside the hall with Shiro hot on her heels only to almost trip on top of her when she stopped so suddenly.

Why was Lance stopping?

As if to answer his question a loud roar greeted them and as one they all turned to see a ten feet tall blue humanoid alien with a hairy muscular body. Its face was pretty brutish looking; his single eye in the center of his forehead glowed red. Shiro would have trembled in fear if it hadn't been for the fact that the aliens greasy black hair was matted in pigtails and he was wearing a tiger striped loincloth.

Seriously?

Matt gasped from somewhere behind him, "Hey, it's Rudolf!" his friend screeched, "He's the guy who refused to let me use the toilet!"

Shiro almost whimpered.

Of course it was.

Rudolf let out another roar and hit his chest like a gorilla, "It's Ralphy!"

Matt snorted and muttered under his breath, "Like that's any better."

For a moment there was absolute silence as everyone stared at each other wearily.

And then Lance threw her half eaten burrito at Ralphy's face and Shiro wanted to cry.

"That's for not letting my friend use the toilet!" Lance screamed in accusation.

Matt let out a mighty cheer.

Shiro could already feel the beginning of a headache.

Behind them the prisoners were exchanging looks and probably rethinking their life choices right about now.

The half eaten burrito unfolded itself and all its contents spilled down the ten feet tall giant Ralphy who was doing a pretty good job of not losing his shit despite having a burrito thrown at his face.

The smell of avocado and something that smelled a lot like bacon washed over the hall and Shiro licked his lips.

What a waste of a burrito.

Ralphy let out another roar and suddenly seven robot sentries carrying gun blasters appeared next to him.

"Great," Matt muttered. "We needed more enemies."

Shiro let out a long suffering sigh and turned his prosthetic arm into a sword before exchanging looks with Lance.

The Amazon princess nodded and gripped the two gun blasters in her hands.

Shiro ran towards the giant Ralphy with his sword raised high. Ralphy the giant swung a giant mallet towards him.

Who the fuck had given this guy a mallet?

Shiro rolled to the right and watched as the mallet made a dent where he'd been standing just moments ago.

Lance began to open fire from the back and Ralphy let out a pained yelp when one of her shots hit him in the crotch.

Shiro winced.

Damn.

Lance wasn't joking around.

As Ralphy put his beefy arms around his assets, Shiro used the opportunity to climb onto his back and began to stab him with his sword.

No dice.

This guy's skin was tough.

Lance kept shooting as Ralphy tried to swing Shiro off of him.

Through the chaos, Shiro caught glimpses of Matt and the other prisoners. Sentries surrounded his friend, but he seemed to be holding his own.

When had his friend gotten so good with an alien gun?

The prisoners behind him were throwing burritos at the sentries so Matt could shoot them down.

Where the hell had they gotten more burritos?

And why the fuck was no one saving him one?

Shiro was starving.

Gritting his teeth, Shiro got a good grip by pulling at one of Ralphy's pigtails and stabbed his red eye.

The giant roared and Lance ran forward to punch him in the gut and knocked him to the floor.

Ralphy didn't move.

Shiro safely made his way down and grinned as he returned Lance's high five. "Well that was awesome."

Lance handed him a burrito and Shiro almost cried then and there, "Figured you'd want one."

Shiro took the offered item like it was a gift from god, "I could kiss you!"

"Please don't!" she said with a frown.

Rude.

"That was awesome!" Matt cheered as he jogged to their side, "By the way, these burritos are really good!"

His friend offered one to Lance who took it eagerly and began to eat it. Shiro finished his in two more bites as they began to run towards the end of the hall to reach the hangar bays. "Where did you guys get these?"

Matt shrugged as the other prisoners caught up to them. It was Festus who answered, "The three Galra that you guys knocked out had a bag with them. There were at least a dozen burritos in there. They were quite good."

"Nice," Lance said as she finished her own burrito.

"Okay guys," Shiro said, wiping his hands on his pants, "We're almost out. We just need to reach the hangar bay and then we'll be home free. Are you guys with me?"

Cheers followed his statement and Shiro grinned.

Reaching the elevator everyone crammed themselves inside and Shiro pushed the button with the number five on it. The ride to the hangar bay was kind of awkward.

They had some kind of poppy elevator music playing inside that totally ruined the seriousness of the situation.

To make matters worse, Lance and Matt were bobbing their heads and looked like they were ready to start break dancing.

Shiro seriously hoped they didn't.

The elevator door opened and just as Shiro was beginning to smile, Haggar and three other druids dressed in black long cloaks stepped forward to greet them.

Fuck.

* * *

Okay, so druids were creepy Matt decided.

He'd never seen one from so close before, usually it was from a distance, and honestly, he'd like to keep it that way.

Unfortunately, life seemed to have other plans for him and his friends.

As if finding out that the girl of his dreams was already engaged to someone else wasn't bad enough already, they decided to add creepy druids to the mix.

Gee, thanks universe.

Just what he needed.

"Anyone got another burrito to throw?" Matt muttered quietly under his breath.

Everyone shook their head.

Bummer.

"If it isn't the black and blue paladins of Voltron," Haggar the witch said in a voice that made him flinch, "I have greats plans for you two. You're not going anywhere."

Matt shuddered.

Whatever that witch wanted with Lance and Shiro couldn't be good.

"What exactly do you want with us?" Lance asked with a frown.

Shiro placed himself protectively in front of her. Matt followed his example.

Haggar spread her arms and Matt swore she smiled. It was kind of hard to tell with that cloak covering her features. Only her yellow glowing eyes and long silver hair showed, "I've heard some interesting rumors about you blue paladin. That you have…certain abilities."

Matt furrowed his brows. Shiro and Lance had briefly mentioned that. Something about electricity and some other stuff that he couldn't remember in the moment.

"You have so much potential," Haggar continued, "You're not making full use of your abilities. But _I_ can. I've been thinking of getting a new body for a while. Yours will do just fine."

A chill went down his spine.

Lance audibly swallowed.

Shiro narrowed his eyes, "You want to take over her body?"

"Oh yes," Haggar purred, "Imagine how powerful I'll become when I take over her body. With my knowledge and her untapped potential I'll be invincible." Shiro growled low in his throat as the prisoners behind them whimpered. "As for you black paladin," Haggar went on as she directed her glowing eyes from Lance to Shiro, "I have plans for you as well. In fact, I've already tinkered with you since your last capture. It seems you've yet to notice."

Lance stepped forward, her hands curled into fists, "What did you do to Shiro you old trout?"

Haggar chuckled and Matt almost pissed himself. This woman should never _ever_ laugh, "That's for the rest of the paladins to find out my dear. I'm afraid you won't be alive for very long."

Well that sounded ominous.

Desperation welled inside Matt.

They were so close!

If they could just get behind Haggar and her little squad of creepers who were oddly silent then they'd be home free.

Seriously, were those guys alive or what? They hadn't moved or made so much as a peep since Haggar started her whole monologue.

The hangar bay stretched out the length of a whole city block, filled with dozens of spaceships, large and small, new and old. Cargo ships, podships, cruisers, etc.

There was a ship in the middle that looked like one of those hippie vans that stoners use to smoke weed in. Even came with the peace sign and a rainbow drawing on its slide in door.

He was pretty sure everyone would be able to fit in that ship no problem.

Dibs.

It looked pretty simple.

Matt was sure that even he could drive it.

Now if they could just find a way to get there…

Haggar's yellow eyes moved to the bracelet around Lance's wrist and gasped, "A mood bracelet? That thing has a GPS on it. One of the other paladins must carry one as well, isn't that right?" Lance remained silent as Haggar growled, "Those idiot guards. If they'd taken that bracelet we would have found the castle of lions long ago. Honestly, do I have to do everything myself?"

Lance scowled and hid the hand with the bracelet behind her back, "You won't be getting your hands on it anytime soon you wrinkly old bag."

Haggar flashed them a wicked grin and everyone took a step back.

Matt immediately added 'Must never smile' on the list of things that Haggar should never do in front of any of them.

Scratch that.

That ho should never do it period.

"I'll do you a favor blue paladin," Haggar began, "I'll let you use your powers one last time before I take over your body. It's the least I can do."

Matt blinked and before anyone could stop her, Haggar shot a purple beam of lightning toward the tiara that was on Lance's head.

The thing crumbled to the floor and Lance took a shuddering breath that had her swaying in place before her eyes glowed a bright blue.

Whoa.

Matt and Shiro were in the middle of asking if she was okay before an unfamiliar voice ricocheted through the hangar bay, "There they are!"

Turning, Matt saw seven Galra guards coming through the stairwell with gun blasters in their grips.

Everything after that became chaos.

With a roar, Lance moved her palms to the sides and tossed the three druids and the seven Galra guards to the walls.

"Go!" she barked at them.

Matt and the prisoners ran towards the ships as Lance and Shiro engaged Haggar in combat.

Bursts of purple lightning shot in their direction and Matt cursed under his breath. A few more feet and they'd be in front of the hippie ship.

There was a boom and a shockwave that tossed everyone in the room in random directions before an explosion was heard.

Matt's ears were ringing.

What was he doing again?

"Matt, get up!" Lance called. Her voice seemed to energize him, shook him out of his stupor. He slowly sat up, his head groggy, while Lance grabbed him under his arms and hauled him to his feet.

The sound of clamoring feet in their direction made him turn his head to see two druids and three Galra guards coming towards them.

Lance lifted her hand and suddenly their enemies got clamored with two battle cruisers.

Matt heard crunching bone and pained yelps.

His feet swayed.

"Don't die on me," Lance ordered. "You are _not_ dying on me. Pidge will kill me!"

"Yes, ma'am." He felt light-headed but she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life. Her blue tank top was singed. Her hair was smoldering. She had a cut on her shoulder, her face was smudged with soot on one cheek and she looked like she was ready to murder someone.

Beautiful.

Keith was one lucky man.

Lance's cheeks slightly tinged pink.

About twenty feet from them, Shiro was fighting against Haggar and the last reaming druid. The last four Galra soldiers were making their way to Festus and the other eleven prisoners who were swaying on their feet.

A few of them were throwing random ship parts at them.

He had to go help them.

Something told him that among the gathered prisoners he was the only one who could drive a ship.

Lance gave him a hard push in Festus's direction before throwing another few cruisers at the last remaining Galra soldiers.

They went down easily.

Matt whistled.

Dang.

Lance had some cool telekinesis powers.

"Get the ship ready!" Lance barked at him.

Right.

Stumbling to his feet he ran the last few feet to the hippie look alike ship and slid the door open with a grunt.

"Everyone inside!" he yelled.

Festus and the other prisoners quickly made their way inside. Once they were all in Matt hurried in after them and made his way to the pilots seat.

He was ready.

Now he just needed Lance or Shiro to open the doors for them, get their own butts inside, and they'd be home free.

Festus slid the door close and Matt opened the back door so Lance and Shiro could jump in at any time.

"Come on guys," he muttered under his breath. "Hurry."

* * *

Haggar was a real pain in her behind Lance thought as she dodged the lightning bolt sent her way and aimed a punch at Haggar's wrinkly old face only to yell in frustration when the old witch teleported away.

Lance was running out of power.

That burrito had not been enough to fully replenish her energy and she was growing tired.

Shiro seemed to be running out of energy as well. Her friends' breathing was shaky and having a teleporting druid as an opponent was a pain in the butt.

Haggar and her druid were tiring them out on purpose.

Lance wasn't too eager to have Haggar take over her body. She visibly shuddered. Just the thought gave her the heebie jeebies.

She couldn't let that witch get Shiro either.

Lance just wanted to go back to the castle of lions and curl up in the couch with Keith. She missed him terribly.

Having her powers locked from her had made her feel hollow. Without them she hadn't been able to sense Keith in her mind. It was enough to make her cry.

She and Keith had been bonded telepathically for over seven months and when she'd woken up to his absence in her head she had panicked.

She'd almost thought something had happened to him.

She had to get back to him.

He must be going out of his mind by now.

When Haggar had broken that tiara on her head, the feeling of her powers rushing back to her was staggering. She was finally beginning to feel like herself again. Now if she could get those darn shackles from her wrists that would be great.

"Not bad," Haggar said and Lance looked around for the old crone but couldn't find her, "Now let's see how you deal with this."

Shiro stopped fighting.

His hands drooped to his sides.

Lance took a hesitant step forward, "Shiro?"

A low growl rumbled through his throat. He spun toward her, his gaze filling with hatred and raised his sword in her direction.

"Shiro?" she murmured, backing up a few steps. Her friend took a step toward her and that's when Haggar and her last druid reappeared from behind the black paladin.

Haggar chuckled, "it's a good thing his body is still weak. It makes his mind easier to control."

Lance scowled and reached out with her mind, grasping for the familiar strong presence of Shiro's energy, his own strong aura, but found something feral and dark clouding around him instead.

Shiro lunged for her.

Lance sidestepped and went for Haggar instead. She made as if to throw the witch off her feet so she would lose her concentration but her druid stepped in front of her instead.

She tossed him aside but her knee buckled as one of his energy spheres made contact.

Hissing, she threw out her hand as Shiro started running in her direction again and managed to toss a small podship in Haggar's direction.

The witch let out an annoyed grunt and teleported away.

Now was her chance.

Turning, she face Shiro as he lunged for her again and held his stare as she delved into his mind.

Shiro stopped mid-run.

A headache was beginning to form at her temples from the effort it required to control him, but she was making process.

Shiro's thoughts began to change.

There was still anger in there.

A whole lot of it, but there was also confusion as he regarded her.

Recognition was coming to him.

 _Yes._

"Come back Shiro, you don't want to hurt me."

His eyes flickered and he slowly blinked.

Bright spots were dancing in her vision. Her legs were trembling not just from the druids attack but also from the effort it was taking to bring her friend back to his old self.

One more push.

Lance sent him an imagine of Allura and the others. Memories of the sleepover they had in the living room. Memories of he and Keith sparring together with wide smiles.

Memories of ruffling Pidge's hair and making her laugh.

Memories of trying out Coran's food with a grimace.

Memories of he and Hunk talking over one of the yellow paladins new dishes.

Memories of he and her doing the robot and saluting the Slav dummy as it exploded and them cackling in the sky.

And finally a memory with him and Allura dancing and gazing at each other with shy smiles.

Shiro broke from Haggar's control with a shuddering breath and he dropped to his knees with a gasp. His whole body was shaking.

Hissing, Lance crumbled to her knees as well.

"Impressive."

Haggar's voice seemed to echo all around them but it sounded muffled in Lance's ringing head. Zarkon's second in command stepped out of the shadows, her yellow glowing eyes looking at her with so much glee that if Lance had the strength, she would have punched her.

With some effort Lance got to her feet. Her body felt heavy and she swayed. She so desperately wanted to sleep and wake up in Keith's arms and know that everything was going to be okay.

Haggar chuckled in amusement and Lance lunged herself at her, her hands poised to strangle the old witch until she stopped breathing.

She froze with her fingertips mere inches from Haggar's throat. The fury drained from her all at once and she collapsed. She began to sob on the floor.

What was wrong with her?

Shiro was yelling her name but she couldn't even turn in his direction.

Where had all her anger gone?

She tried reaching for it again, but the more she tried, the further away it went.

Matt yelled her name but the druid holding Shiro threw a ball of energy in Matt's direction and Lance heard a crash.

There was silence.

And then Matt and the other prisoners groaned but they were alive.

She could still hear thirteen heartbeats in that direction.

They'd be okay.

A feeling of utter hopelessness washed over her and she cried harder. She was useless. She'd been so stupid to try and challenge Haggar in the first place. The witch had been alive for more than a thousand years. She was all kinds of powerful.

'… _ance…'_

Haggar chuckled above her and Shiro began to crawl in her direction but the other druid reappeared and pits one knee on his back to hold him down. Shiro roared obscenities at the thing but it refused to budge.

' _Lance!'_

What was that?

' _I'm coming! Hold on!'_

Keith?

"It seems the red paladin is on his way," Haggar mused from above her, "Is he the one that has the other mood bracelet?"

Lance didn't answer.

Something clawed at her mind and Lance choked, "Yes."

"Good girl," Haggar purred and Lance's mind hushed, the self-loathing disappeared, and the tears trickling down her cheeks stopped their descent.

Haggar had been controlling her.

Like toying with a puppet.

Lance lay crumpled on the floor, her whole body shaking and Shiro shouted her name but she couldn't speak. Her throat hurt from all the crying she'd done.

"Perhaps I'll let the red paladin go so he can lead us back to the castle of lions where the rest of the lions are. It would be a great present for my lord Zarkon once he wakes up. That mood bracelet of yours will be quite useful."

Lance froze.

She couldn't let that happen.

With the way she was now, Lace didn't think she'd be able to make it to Matt and the others so they could get away.

But she also couldn't let Haggar get her hands on Shiro.

There was however, something else that she could do to prevent Haggar from getting her mood bracelet and Lance herself.

She just hoped it worked.

Keith was getting closer.

She could feel him.

Gritting her teeth, she forced her body to stop its trembling and pushed herself up. Haggar looked at her in amusement.

There were three things she had to do and she had to do them before Keith got any closer.

Her mind scrambling she thought back to the book that her mother had given her and desperately brought up the passage with her great grandmother where she put herself in a deep sleep.

She had to gather her energy and put a shield around herself.

And she had to do it without Haggar noticing.

Lance slowly brought up her right hand where her mood bracelet was and almost smiled as Haggar's attention went to her right wrist.

Gathering her energy as subtly as she could she began to form a shield starting from the tip of her toes.

In order for the shield to complete, it had to reach the top of her head.

Better start distracting Haggar.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Lance said as she slowly rotated her wrist to show off her mood bracelet. "Did you know it bonds both wearers telepathically?"

Haggar frowned.

Three feet away from them, Shiro looked on with narrowed eyes from where he was pined down on his stomach by the last druid.

His hair looked disheveled and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. His breath still sounded shaky but despite the few cuts on his arm he looked fine.

His brows were furrowed, probably trying to figure out what she was up to.

The shield was reaching Lance's knees.

"As the wearers become closer, so do their senses," Lance continued, "Eventually they start to feel each others pain. Whatever they see, the other will too. You'll always feel them at the back of your mind. Have you ever had something that special in all of the time that you've been alive?"

Haggar scowled and she growled low in her throat, "Bonds like those are for the weak. I've no use for them."

The shield was passing her stomach.

Keith was getting closer.

Lance shot the witch a look of pity, "It's such a shame. All this time and you have no one? Its sad really."

"I'd be careful little girl," Haggar said, her yellow eyes narrowed to slits, "Don't make me hurt my new body. It's much too pretty."

The shield was passing her shoulders.

"I can't let you have this," Lance said as she pointed at the mood bracelet, "But I also can't let you have Shiro or me either."

Haggar's eyes widened and she took a step forward, "Don't you dare-"

In one quick move, Lance removed the mood bracelet and Haggar tried to invade her mind to make her stop.

' _Keith.'_

' _Lance, I'm almost there!'_

' _I love you.'_

' _Lance?'_

' _Don't forget that okay?'_

' _Lance, what are you planning? Whatever it is, you don't have to do it!'_

' _Find me okay? I'll be waiting.'_

' _Lance-'_

Lance crushed the mood bracelet in her palm and staggered back at the sudden loss. A sob passed her lips. Keith's presence was gone. She couldn't feel him anymore. It hurt.

The loss was agonizing.

Haggar roared and threw a bolt of purple lightning at her.

Lance was thrown a few feet away but managed to remain standing.

"You little brat!" Haggar screamed, her cloak had fallen over her shoulders to reveal her face. Haggar was…Altean?

Shiro managed to land a punch at the druid holding him and Lance threw the creepy thing to the far wall with a flick of her wrist.

The shield was passing her neck.

Unconsciousness beckoned her and Lance swayed.

She was feeling sleepy.

She turned her gaze to Shiro who was getting to his feet; "Take care of Keith for me, okay?"

As Shiro started running towards her, Lance lifted her hand and with a yell threw Shiro across the room and inside the ship where Matt and the other prisoners were waiting before closing the ships door.

Shiro was on his feet immediately and started banging on the door.

Lance started the ship as Haggar threw herself at her.

Lance managed to land a punch to the old witch's face and smiled in satisfaction when she heard something break and Haggar was thrown across the room.

Shiro and Matt began screaming something.

Lance opened the hangar bay doors and stood her ground as everything began to be swept out into space.

Her hair was swaying around frantically.

Matt tried to take control of the ship but Lance didn't let him.

Haggar staggered to her feet, looks of such rage on her wrinkly face that it almost made Lance flinch.

A trickle of purple blood dripped from her nose.

Shiro kept roaring and banging on the door, shouting pleading words at her to stop.

The ship with her friends was already quite a few ways away and Lance willed the hangar bay doors to begin closing.

Turning her back to Haggar, Lance gave her friends a sad smile and waved goodbye.

A single tear ran down her cheek.

Just as the shield began to close at the top of her head, a trickle of Haggar's magic seeped into Lance's mind as the shield finished and Lance crumpled to the floor in a deep sleep.

The last thing she heard was Haggar's roar of rage.

* * *

Keith couldn't breathe.

The sudden loss of Lance's presence was staggering.

He almost lost consciousness.

Devastation overwhelmed him.

The mood bracelet on his right wrist crumpled to dust and Keith desperately tried to pick up the pieces and somehow put them back together.

But it was useless.

It was just dust now.

One week.

Lance and Shiro had been gone for one week and Keith and the others had been going out of their minds trying to look for them.

The mood bracelet had been on the fritz.

It must have been damaged during their fight against Zarkon.

Pidge and Hunk had attempted to fix it but since they weren't familiar with the mood bracelets type of technology, they had been stumped.

Of all the times for Slav to away.

The bastard had gone with the Blades who were also out there looking for their two paladins.

Keith hadn't wanted to stray far from the mood bracelet. Just having it off his wrist felt wrong.

But having it fixed would be the only way they could find Lance and Shiro, so while Hunk and Pidge worked on repairing the bracelet, Keith went out there looking for their missing paladins.

Allura and Coran using the Teleduv to wormhole and take the castle where Galra activity was going on.

They'd had no luck.

After a week of no results, Pidge and Hunk had called him over the comms to tell him that the mood bracelet had suddenly began to glow.

Keith rushed back to the castle, took the bracelet and clamped it on his wrist, and got on the red lion to go search for Lance and Shiro.

Hunk and Pidge following after him after a few minutes.

With the mood bracelet and Lance's presence suddenly back, Keith had given Allura and Coran the coordinates and they had all wormhole as close as they could to the their location.

As soon as they reached the place the coordinates led them to Keith was off before anyone could stop him.

The closer he got, the more he could hear and feel whatever Lance was feeling.

Lance was terrified.

Keith grit his teeth and concentrated so he could see through her eyes.

It was kind of hard, Lance's view was blurry from all the crying she was doing but he could still partially see Shiro trying to crawl his way to her. His friend looked both devastated and angry as he tried to reach Lance.

Someone laughed and Keith felt a chill go down his spine.

Haggar.

This was the bitch that was making Lance cry.

This was the stupid bitch that was messing with Lance's mind.

Unacceptable.

Gathering his strength, Keith called out to his fiancée.

Noticing his presence in the blue paladin's mind, the witch's laugh echoed in his own head before she thrust him back into his own mind.

And then…

And then Lance said that she loved him and Keith just knew that something was wrong.

Lance told him she was sorry.

Keith tried calling for her, his tone desperate and pleading.

" _Find me okay? I'll be waiting."_

And then he completely lost the connection and Keith cried out.

Lance was gone.

He couldn't feel her anymore.

The bracelet crumpled to dust.

" _Keith? Keith, answer me!" Pidge yelled at him._

He had to get his breathing under control.

He'd been close. Perhaps he could still get to her.

Wiping the tears that threatened to fall, Keith gripped the controllers and turned the blasters to full speed.

Hunk and Pidge were yelling at him.

He didn't have time to answer.

Lance needed him.

There was a Galra ship just ahead.

Almost there.

Something small shot out from the ship and Keith narrowed his eyes as he zoomed in. Was that a small ship? It looked like one of those hippie vans that stoners used to use.

The screen in front of him began to beep.

A message?

Was it from that small ship?

Was Lance there?

He pressed the button to accept.

Shiro's devastated face appeared on the screen, a hint of light brown hair showing from the corner of the screen. " _Keith, you have to hurry! You still have time, you have to get her!"_

"Where is she? Where's Lance?"

" _She's still inside the ship! I tried to make her come with us but-"Shiro's voice broke, "Keith, just hurry!"_

Keith nodded and he guided Red towards the ship.

A wormhole suddenly appeared and Keith almost screamed in rage as the Galra ship began to head towards it.

Bringing up the communications, he alerted the rest of their friends of the situation.

Hunk and Pidge turned on their blasters to full speed and rushed towards the Galra ship along side him as Allura and Coran went to pick up the small ship that Shiro was in.

The Galra ship was halfway through the wormhole.

Keith began to open fire but a purple shield wrapped around it and Keith banged his fist on the cockpit.

He had to hurry!

Why couldn't Red go faster than this?

Lance was in there!

He couldn't let that ship disappear!

Pidge and Hunk began to open fire as well.

Almost there.

Almost…

The ship disappeared though the wormhole and Keith could only watch in horror as the ship and the woman he loved vanished from his sight.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome :)_

 _Tell me what you guys thought._


	22. Chapter 22

"Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell."  
― **Edna St. Vincent Millay**

Chapter 22

The world had turned gray to Keith, as though Lance had taken all the colors in the world with her when she disappeared through that wormhole.

Her mind was gone, it's familiar comforting presence leaving him with such emptiness that it _hurt_.

Had it always been this lonely he idly wondered.

To just have his own thoughts again, without anyone else constantly at the back of his mind, singing to him? Talking to him? Joking with him? Making him laugh?

Keith thought the answer was yes.

Not having Lance's mind linked with his own anymore was wrong.

And so terribly lonely.

The feeling was worse than the time Lance had overused her powers in order to save Ulaz and save them from that Robeast.

It was worse than that time Lance, Shiro and Pidge had taken four days to return from the rescue mission of Slav.

She hadn't been hurt as much during those situations, she'd been far from him, but he could still feel her at the back of his head.

This…

This was different.

Now it was just gone.

And Keith was left with his own thoughts once again.

He hadn't been able to get to Lance in time. All he'd been able to do was cry out in outrage and watch as the wormhole closed around the ship and disappeared.

Keith closed his eyes, painful shudders racking through his chest as he tried to draw breath.

Lance was gone.

Keith had done everything he could, tried to keep his calm in the week that Lance and Shiro were gone even though all he wanted to do was rage, acted as the leader while they searched for their missing paladins, and just when they finally had an idea of where they might be, he still hadn't made it.

Lance had gotten Shiro out, but she had remained in the ship with that witch.

The thought was too shattering to comprehend, but there was no use doubting the truth of it, not when the memories of that horrible moment kept playing themselves over and over in his head.

How was it possible that he would never get another chance to see Lance smile at him, to have pillow fights with her and make her laugh, to shower with her while she scolded him on the shampoo that he used, to have her sing to him while he lay on her lap and she coaxed him to sleep while she ran her fingers through his hair, to feel his heart fill to bursting with the unexpected brightness that Lance had given him?

It couldn't be true, it couldn't be real, this wasn't the way their love story ended.

They hadn't even gotten married yet.

Or maybe he was just never meant to be happy.

* * *

He didn't remember getting back, but Pidge and Hunk must have towed Red back to the castle. The events of that day were still a blurry mess to him.

He remembered not exiting the red lion. A part of him was still in shock, but he was sure he had cried. At least, that's what he thinks happened.

His cheeks had felt wet.

He remembered just sitting there, time passed but he couldn't have said how much. Time had no meaning to him anymore, except as another force separating him from Lance. Only one thing repeating in his mind over and over again.

 _Lance was gone._

He hadn't been able to save her.

He'd been so _close_.

When Keith asked Lance to marry him he'd promised her that he would always have her back. And that if she ever needed a shoulder to cry on he'd be there.

And he had failed.

Lance had been terrified. She'd been crying. And Keith hadn't been there.

What kind of fiancée was he?

The worst.

Despite knowing that she was gone, Keith's mind sought out Lance's own mind with a frantic urgency. He was vaguely aware of strong hands on his shoulders, but he paid them no mind.

Maybe he'd been wrong.

Maybe this was all just a dream and Keith was going to wake up and Lance would still be there. He'd go to the kitchen and he'd find her there standing next to Hunk while they made breakfast. And then she'd notice him and she'd give him one of those wide smiles that had his heart hammering wildly in his chest.

"I'm so sorry Keith."

She'd run her fingers through his hair after teasing him that it still looked like a mullet. Keith would pout and argue back that it wasn't and she just needed to get her eyes checked and then Lance would laugh and laugh.

"I tried. But Haggar, she was strong. I couldn't save her."

Lance would lean in close and their minds would tangle around each other, sending waves of mirth and glee as they slowly closed the distance between them and then they'd be kissing.

"Keith?"

The strong hands gripped his chin and Keith slowly blinked at the person in front of him. He dredged up the will to keep his eyes on the person in front of him. Let himself focus.

The person looked familiar.

Why did he look familiar?

"Keith, are you okay?"

Keith stared without blinking.

Right.

This was Shiro.

Lance had saved Shiro.

She'd brought him back.

And sacrificed herself to save him.

The reminder made him choke.

He couldn't breathe.

A headache had burst open in his skull.

"Keith!" Shiro sounded frantic. "Keith, you have to calm down! Breath deeply. Come on, that's it."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Keith began to get his bearings. His breathing stabilized. He could breathe.

The headache remained.

"You have to get up, Keith."

His friend spoke the words slowly and clearly enough that he could read them through his lips if he had to. The thought pissed him off for some reason. He could hear just fine. He didn't need to be talked to this way.

Keith's eyes narrowed and he frowned darkly, "No."

Instead of being annoyed with him, his friend took his words as a good sign if the way he released a relieved sigh was any indication. "Oh, so you _can_ understand me. That's good. I've been trying to talk to you for the past hour."

Keith stared blankly ahead.

Shiro sighed and ran a hand through his hair before standing up.

Shiro got him to his feet, despite the obscene words he was throwing his way, but Keith just sagged against him once his energy drained out of him.

It took a while, but Shiro managed to get him out of Red and outside to where the rest of his friends were waiting anxiously for them.

They were crying.

Hunk and Coran were outright bawling, big tears cascading down their cheeks.

Allura was trembling in place, hastily wiping away the tears before they fell. The four mice on her shoulder letting out small squeaks as they patted her cheek.

Pidge had her arms wrapped around a boy who looked just like her. She was trying to muffle her cries but it wasn't doing any good. The boy who looked just like her held her tightly to him, his face etched in sorrow.

This must be Matt Holt, Keith slowly realized.

Behind them, Keith caught glimpses of other aliens standing around awkwardly. They were wearing the same brown jumpsuit that Matt was wearing.

Prisoners?

It didn't matter.

They weren't Lance; his gaze went to the floor.

"We have to go back," Pidge mumbled under her brothers shirt, "She brought Matt back to me! We can't-she can't be-"

Whatever else she wanted to say was too hard for Keith to understand. She'd started crying again and he couldn't make sense of what she was saying.

"Haggar probably has her already," Shiro quietly said from behind him. His friend looked like someone had killed his puppy, his eyes looked misty, "That witch probably already transferred her somewhere else to begin the transfer."

Transfer?

"What transfer?" Allura demanded with clenched fists. She wiped the remaining tears with the sleeve of her purple dress and looked hard at her boyfriend.

"That witch said that she wanted to take over Lance's body," Matt said with a clenched jaw, "Said she was powerful, a perfect vessel for her to take over."

Shocked gasps followed the statement.

"She can't do that though!" Hunk cried as he looked at everyone in turn frantically. His usual orange cloth that he wrapped around his head was slipping to the right and he quickly re-tied it. "Can she?"

Coran wiped the tears from his eyes before answering, "She's been alive for more than a thousand years. She's bound to have learned how to transfer her soul into another body."

"Then we have to go look for her right now!" Pidge yelled, her eyes were red and she still had tears running down her cheeks but she looked determined, "Lance is our friend! We _have_ to go!"

"I'm in!" Hunk yelled fiercely.

"It might be too late already," Shiro mumbled, his clenched fists trembling, "Before Lance closed the hangar bay doors, she was glowing."

Keith's head shot up to stare at Shiro.

Glowing?

Keith wrapped his right hand around Shiro's wrist. "What kind of glowing?"

Shiro blinked, startled. "I-I don't know what you-"

"How was she glowing?" His grip on Shiro's wrist tightened until he could see the white of his knuckles, but he didn't care.

"Lance's whole outline was glowing, all the way to the top of her head." Shiro quietly said." I think Haggar was already doing the transfer."

"Maybe not," Keith mumbled to himself.

All heads turned to him.

Hunk rapidly blinked his tears away and stepped forward, "What do you mean?"

Keith didn't answer.

His mind was slowly coming awake.

Glowing.

Why did that sound so familiar?

Think Keith think.

He and Lance had talked about this before.

Lance had been training when he walked in on her. That time felt so long ago.

What was it?

Something about her grandma?

Keith gasped.

The book Lance's mother had given her!

Where had she left it?

Her room?

Keith shook his head and began to pace.

He was vaguely aware of his friends asking if he was okay but Keith didn't have time to answer. He was thinking damn it!

His head snapped up.

The training room!

Finally having a destination in mind, Keith ran out of the hangar bays and started making his way to the training room.

He could hear his friends' footsteps following closely after him, which was good because he didn't feel like lugging the heavy book back with him.

The metal doors to the training room opened and he skidded to a halt and frantically looked around for Lance's book.

There!

Nestled under his red towel on the small stool in the far corner of the room was Lance's thick green book that her mother had given to her before she left Cloyetera.

The book looked as beautiful as ever. Green vines enveloped the cover from the sides; words in golden cursive were stationed on the center of the cover in a language that Keith couldn't understand.

Keith snatched the book from the stool and rapidly began to flip the pages.

His teammates were huddled around him and Shiro was speaking to him in that voice that made him feel like punching his friend in the face.

Deep breaths Keith.

Finally finding the page he was looking for, Keith lifted the book with a grunt and all but shoved the book in Shiro's face.

His friend stumbled back a few steps before gripping the book in his own hands too peer at it.

Keith went behind him so he could look behind Shiro's shoulder and pointed at the picture with the glowing woman.

"This," Keith said, his voice beginning to grow in excitement, "Is this what Lance looked like?"

Matt walked around to Shiro's side and peered down at the book. The two of them shared a look and slowly nodded.

"Yeah," Shiro said with a frown, "That's exactly how Lance looked."

"Before she collapsed," Matt added as an afterthought.

A sense of overwhelming relief hit Keith and it was all he could do not to start jumping around in somersaults.

That's my girl Keith thought with a grin.

"Keith," Allura said as she wringed her hands nervously, her gaze going from the book to him in confusion, "What is this all about?"

"It means that Lance is safe!" Keith shouted as he began to pace back and forth in excitement. "A few months ago, Lance showed me this page. It was about her great grandmother and how she put herself to sleep by putting a shield around herself."

Shiro furrowed his brows.

"Explain," Pidge said, her hand clenching Matt's brown jumpsuit in a death grip. She wiped at her nose with her sleeve and sniffled. Coran and Hunk moved over to listen closely and Allura walked over and put a hand on Shiro's shoulder.

So he did.

By the time he finished explaining how the shield would put Lance into a deep sleep and no harm would come to her as long as she remained sleeping his friends were starting to look hopeful again.

"Lady Lance can do that?" Coran asked him once he was done explaining. The older man had thankfully stopped crying, which was good because Coran was not a pretty crier. He was a snot-coming-out-in floods crier.

Keith slowly nodded, "She'd been practicing, but maybe since she was desperate at the time it ended up working."

Allura clapped her hands and looked at them with a big smile, her pointy ears twitching in her excitement. "That's great news! And you're sure no harm will come to her?"

Keith nodded vehemently, "I'm positive. That shield will protect her from anything."

"Which means that bitch won't get Lance's body after all!" Pidge added with a huge smile.

Matt frowned at his little sister, "Watch your tone young lady."

"Thank you," Shiro mumbled under his breath.

Pidge sent the black paladin a scowl.

"So I get that Lance won't be getting her body snatched by a thousand year old witch and all but how do we get her to wake up?" Hunk asked with a puzzled frown.

"Yes," Allura added with a pensive frown, "I too was wondering the same thing."

"I think the only way for Lance to wake up is if I'm there in front of her body," Keith answered.

Shiro tilted his head, his white bangs swaying at the movement. "Why's that?"

Keith tapped his chin, "Before I lost the connection with Lance, she told me to come find her. That she'll be waiting. Lance probably set that as the condition for waking her up."

"So if any of us find her and bring her back to you or you yourself find her, Lance will wake up?" Matt asked him, a small grin starting to form on his face.

Keith nodded, an excited grin beginning to form on his lips as well.

"Then all we have to do is find Lance," Shiro said as he swung an arm around Allura who was openly smiling at the news, "Lance gave us plenty of time. We can do this."

"Let's bring my best friend home!" Hunk added with a cheer.

Coran threw a fist in the air, "Right-o my boy!"

"When we get her back I'll even let her put on that face cream as thanks," Pidge added as she jumped in place.

Allura giggled and arched a brow at her, "I'll make sure to remind you of that when you try to flee."

Pidge grimaced and Matt ruffled her hair to her annoyance.

"Ok guys, "Shiro said as he looked at them one by one, "Let's get our blue paladin back!"

Mighty cheers followed the statement and Keith slowly smiled back.

Hold on Lance, I'm coming for you he vowed.

* * *

Two months, three weeks and two days later, Keith found himself seated at a big rectangle table in his paladin armor, a dark scowl on his face.

What the fuck did they need him here for anyway?

It's not like he was any good at talking about politics and all that shit.

He shouldn't even be here!

He could be out there looking for Lance instead of being here for the gathered meeting with their allies.

Over the past few months Keith had gone on Red to check different quadrants where Galra activity had been going on.

Everyone had joined him on his search for Lance those first few days. But then those days turned to weeks and one by one his friends began to disappear.

In the end only Shiro and sometimes Matt would go with him on his search but they didn't sound as optimistic as they did when they first started.

Sometimes Keith just went by himself.

Each time he came back from another fruitless search, his friends would look at him in sympathy. They'd all try to console him but he just brushed them off or snapped back at them. Even Shiro wasn't having much luck at talking to him before he'd head to Lance's room for a quick shower before heading out to look for his fiancée once again.

A part of him resented his friends a little.

It's like they'd given up looking for her.

Instead they went on missions to free more planets from Zarkon's control, most of those missions they did without Keith.

Keith helped but only when it was truly necessary and as soon as they were done, he'd go back to his search for Lance.

He'd all but moved to her room.

Going to Lance's room since she'd disappeared had been hard the first time. For a long while he just stood outside her door and stared blankly ahead. He all but refused to look at her door, didn't want to go in because he knew Lance wouldn't be there.

That room had been one of the places where the two hung out the most. Sometimes they'd lie on the floor and watch a movie or listen to Lance's iPod as they shared one earbud each. Lance softly singing along to the words and Keith himself sometimes humming along quietly.

Clenching his jaw, he had stepped forward and briskly made his way inside Lance's room. The place still looked the same. Smelled the same. Lance's bed was neatly made, the blue sheets matching some of the pillows it had on top of it.

The stars Lance had put on the ceiling still glowing.

Lance's pets had been curled up on the floor looking like the world had just ended. Keith idly scratched Shadow behind his ear and the wolf let out a small whine.

Kaltenecker hadn't even glared in his direction.

Nyx and the two-headed snake just lay quietly next to Shadow on the floor.

"I know," Keith had said, "I miss her too."

Keith walked over to the dresser and felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

Lance grinned at him from one of the framed pictures she had on the dresser. Keith's heart seemed to stop at the sight. He drank in the familiar face witch trembling hands. Lance looked happy in the picture. She had an arm around a sleeping Keith while she grinned at the camera.

Pidge must have taken this picture. The green paladin liked to take embarrassing pictures of him all the time. Keith suspected that Lance had secretly been paying her in exchange for some junk food.

Keith grimaced at his picture self. His sleeping self was slightly drooling on Lance's shoulder but she didn't seem to mind if the grin she was giving the camera was any indication.

After that first visit, going back to Lance's room became easier. And in the on going days, he'd practically moved in. Eventually, he brought all his clothes to Lance's room and decided to sleep there as well.

Once the search turned to weeks, Keith had no choice but to inform Queen Lexi about her daughters' disappearance. He hadn't been looking forward to it, but Shiro insisted that the Queen had to know.

So with a reluctant sigh, he and the others had called Queen Lexi back on Cloyetera. After Keith and Shiro were done explaining what had happened to Lance, the queen had just stared. Queen Lexi looked so much like Lance. Her hair was long and dark, her eyes a penetrating brown, but the appearance was uncanny. She had her long dark hair swept in a tight bun and despite the news they'd just given her, she didn't so much as twitch.

Keith fought the urge to fidget under that penetrating gaze but somehow managed to remain standing still. Finally, the queen had taken a deep breath through her nose and said that she understood. She would be sending her own search party as well and then promptly cut the connection off.

Somehow, the abrupt end to the call only made him feel worse.

"It is our honor to have you all here together," Allura said in the present as she greeted the five leaders from the allied planets that they had freed from the Galra.

The Altean princess had put on her purple and blue long sleeve dress for the occasion. Her silver hair tumbled down her back in waves and she looked regal seated at the head of the table. Her hands were clasped in front of her, the purple triangle earrings she wore swaying whenever she moved.

Kolivan was seated across from her at the other end of the table. The Blade of Marmora leader looked serious, but that wasn't anything new. Kolivan always looked like he had a stick up his ass. The man had his arms braced on the table, his long silver braided hair drooping over his shoulder. He'd donned his Blade of Marmora armor for the occasion. All black with his two ceremonial daggers at his back and another one strapped to his hip.

Keith and the rest of the paladins were seated on one side, Coran and Matt included, while the allied leaders were seated across from them.

Matt had cut his hair shorter; it now reached just an inch below his ears. His bangs were cut short, just above his eyes. His skin still looked pale but compared to the first time Keith had met him, it had improved immensely over the past few months. He was currently wearing a dark gray cloak comprised of two pieces of cloth secured to his body at his waist.

Keith was pretty sure that under that long cloak Matt was wearing his usual black space suit under a white chest plate. His arm bracers were gray and he wore black gloves. His blue pants came with a large gray holster on his right hip where he kept his staff and the gun blaster that Lance had handed to him when they met.

Part of Keith tuned out the conversation as the leaders began to compliment the room and Allura herself. The Altean princess smiled and giggled at the praise and offered a few compliments of her own to the leaders as well.

Keith didn't need to be here for this.

At least he'd finally stopped moping around while he listened to sad love songs like Shiro wanted.

Plus, that alien lady with the robotic voice kept eyeing him. Keith fought the urge to snarl at her. The purple alien lady kept trying to talk to him throughout the whole meal. Her white and purple antennas at the top of her head swaying back and forth.

Keith missed half of what she was saying, but it was the tone that made him angry. It rubbed him the wrong way. A part of him was a bit surprised that her robotic voice could even sound so _suggestive._

Keith looked up from glaring at the table and caught the alien woman's white eyes, saw the glint there.

It's an expression that Keith had come familiar with.

Lance always looked at him like that.

It looked better on Lance.

A part of him wants to snap at the alien woman, no one but Lance should ever look at him like that. The woman wriggled her delicate purple brows at him and Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes before looking down at the meal that Hunk had placed in front of him.

When the fuck did he do that?

Beside him, Shiro elbowed him on the ribs.

"Don't be rude," Shiro whispered to him.

Keith didn't say anything, just glared and all but stabbed the piece of meat on his plate so hard that everyone turned their attention to him.

The move is rude. He knows it. But he also doesn't give a fuck. He didn't ask to be here, he had better things to do anyway.

Allura awkwardly cleared her throat and got everyone's attention back to her where she and Kolivan began to talk about their plans.

They have a plan to gather all the allied planets together so they can take out the rest of the Zarkon's army.

The allied leaders said that they would join. That they all stand with Voltron. Which then made them question where Voltron is.

It's been two months since anyone had seen Voltron. It's not like they could form Voltron without Lance Keith bitterly thought.

"Where _is_ Voltron?" one of the allied leaders with brown skin and a black beard asked. The guy had two brown horns sticking out from his forehead, a green hat lay on his head, and he had two ball like things covering his ears.

Some kind of accessory?

Allura gave the leaders a tight smile and gestured to Keith and the rest of the paladins, "The people you see before you are the paladins of Voltron." Hunk and the others waved, "Together, we pilot the mighty lions that form the great warrior."

"Excellent," the same guy with the horns asked, "Can you form Voltron now?"

Allura faltered and she smiled nervously, "Umm, well-"

"We can't form Voltron, okay?" Keith finally snapped. Shiro whipped his head to him, probably to reprimand him or something but Keith didn't care. "We can fly the lions but Voltron is not happening!"

The allied leaders gasped and looked on in shock.

"Keith!" Shiro harshly whispered to him.

Hunk swallowed another mouthful of food anxiously.

Matt was already shaking his head and sighing.

Coran and Pidge looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there.

Allura gave a nervous laugh and tried to fix the situation, "What he means is that right _now_ we can't do it because-"

"But nothing!" Keith snapped, "Lance is gone. She was the blue paladin! And until we find her, there is no Voltron!"

He was met with stunned silence.

Allura's shoulders drooped and she looked on the verge of tears.

Shiro got to his feet and placed a comforting hand on her shoulders and shot a glare in Keith's direction.

Kolivan stood from his seat, "The lions are still a substantial fighting force. And this castle is also a considerable weapon. The Blade of Marmora can lead you."

The allied leaders whispered amongst themselves.

Finally, the purple alien woman who had been trying to catch Keith's eyes spoke, "My people have been enslaved for centuries by soldiers who look exactly like you."

"Exactly!" the horn guy said angrily, "Our people have heard of the legend of Voltron, of how _he_ defeated Zarkon. That's what gave them hope. What are we suppose to tell them now?"

Keith stood up so fast that he knocked his chair backwards as he placed his arms on the table and shouted, "Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves!"

He didn't wait for a response and stalked out of the room in a huff. Shiro was calling out his name but Keith didn't turn back.

The truth of the matter was that they probably _could_ form Voltron. But it was probably Keith's fault that they couldn't.

About one month ago, Prince Lotor had attacked the castle of lions. Apparently Zarkon had a son. Who in the right mind would want to procreate with that thing was beyond him but apparently it was true.

Keith and the others had gone in their lions to defend the castle but Lotor and his little army were good. Even with Shiro commanding them they'd still had trouble. Just when they thought Lotor would beat them, a roar startled them out of their thoughts and Keith had stared wide-eyed as the Blue lion joined the battle.

For a second, Keith thought that Lance was back but then Allura's voice rang out from inside the Blue lion and Keith deflated.

The others had been surprised at the Altean princess's presence but quickly welcomed her to the fold.

Shiro had yelled at them to form Voltron but before they could, Lotor and his little army disappeared through a small wormhole.

With no enemy for them to face, Keith and the others returned to the castle and Keith watched from a distance as the others crowded around Allura and congratulated her for being able to pilot the blue lion.

Keith couldn't help feeling betrayed.

The blue lion choosing Allura as her new pilot was like the lion declaring that Lance was gone for good and so she needed a replacement.

Keith clenched his fists. He refused to believe that. He wasn't planning on accepting Allura anytime soon.

Before anyone could stop him, Keith left the room and stayed in Lance's room for the rest of the day.

Over the following weeks, Keith and the others had been saving other planets from some Robeast's and had tried forming Voltron once again but had been unable to do so. Lotor and his little army had fought against them at least four more times but they had been unable to form Voltron.

Allura had even managed to active the blue lions sonic scanner and got them out a bind when they'd entered a field that made visibility practically impossible. Thanks to Allura guiding them, they'd managed to get out and given Lotor's ship a beating. The Galra prince had retreated in the end.

With the way Keith was feeling, they probably wouldn't be able to form Voltron for a while. Allura was a good pilot he had to admit, she was doing her best but if Keith accepted her as the new blue paladin, he felt that he would be betraying Lance.

He couldn't do that.

Not to Lance.

Never to Lance.

* * *

Somehow, Keith found himself standing in front of the blue lion after storming out of the meeting with the allied forces.

He'd walked to Lance's room and after discarding his paladin armor; he'd just paced angrily and gripped Lance's Bayard that he'd stashed inside his jacket before heading to the hangar bay where the rest of the lions were.

Shadow and the rest of Lance's pet were cooped up in her room today as well. Keith was still worried about them. For a while they had refused to eat.

They didn't seem to have that problem anymore but they still looked so sad.

He didn't know how long he stood in the hangar bay, but he clearly remembered talking shit to the blue lion until he was panting for breath.

The sound of footsteps alerted him that he wasn't alone but Keith didn't turn around. Just kept glaring at the blue lion.

A strong hand patted his back and Keith didn't have to turn around to know that it was Shiro, "Look, Keith. We all miss Lance. I remember how thrilled I was when I met her for the first time and saw you openly smiling next to her. I kept thinking, 'who is this girl and how the heck did she make my unsociable little brother smile without having to force him?'"

Keith felt his mouth twitch.

"And then I got to know her and I learned to love her like she was a little sister. Despite all the teasing she did, she made me laugh. She made all of us laugh. And when we truly bonded during the Slav mission I was so thrilled because now we had something in common. Sure it was our shared hatred for Slav, but it brought us closer. She'd always find a way to make a dire situation seem not so dire."

"Yeah," Pidge added as she and Hunk stepped forward to look at the blue lion, "Lance was like the big sister I never knew I wanted. She was always there whenever I needed to talk about Matt and my dad. She always made sure to make me feel better. Sometimes she'd make a joke or she'd ruffle my hair. I'd act annoyed but I secretly liked it. She reminded me of Matt, the two of them are so similar that it's uncanny."

"When she first asked if she could cook with me I was a little worried," Hunk added with a laugh, "I could be very demanding in the kitchen and I tended to be very picky with those who wished to help me. But with Lance, the two of us automatically clicked. She knew what I wanted before I could tell her. She was fast but efficient. She even gave _me_ pointers. Soon enough, we were finishing each other's sentences and it was nice. She became my best friend right then and there."

"You're not the only one hurting Keith," Allura said as she wrung her hands nervously in front of her, "We all miss her. Did you know? Sometimes she'd come to my room and we'd have a good old sleepover. We'd do each other's hair, talked about boys, and talked about pretty much everything. And- I know I could never replace her." She laughed lowly and wrapped her hands around herself, "No one could ever replace Lance McLain, she's one of a kind."

Coran ruffled Keith's hair, "The girl is one of a kind my boy. A great listener who liked all of my stories. A good friend that no one could ever replace."

Matt made his over to stand next to his sister, "I know I only knew her for a few hours but she made me laugh. When I was having a panic attack, she distracted me and calmed me down. She defended me against that bully by throwing her burrito at the guy." Shiro quietly laughed, "She'd only known me for a few hours but already she deemed me her friend and was out there defending my honor. There was never a dull moment with her. I felt safe."

"But Keith," Shiro said, making Keith turn his eyes toward him, "You and I both know that she would want us to move on. She would want us to still be out there defending the universe from Zarkon's control."

"I know exactly how you feel Keith," Allura added quietly, "Sometimes the universe takes people from us. Someone so irreplaceable that you want to curse the world. But we still have a greater mission to accomplish. And I know I'm not Lance, but I hope you can learn to accept me as the new pilot of the blue lion. Only until we find Lance of course. If I can help in any way, I'd like to. If you'll have me."

Allura looked so vulnerable. Her eyes looked like they were on the verge of leaking but she was staring at him with so much hope that Keith felt like such an asshole for the way he'd been acting lately.

Keith stared at the floor sadly and sighed, "I know you're right," he finally mumbled, "But I feel like, if I accept you, I'll be betraying Lance."

Shiro shook his head and gripped his shoulder, "You could never betray her Keith. Lance would understand."

Keith closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose. When he felt like he could properly speak, he reached inside his red jacket and pulled out Lance's Bayard and stared at it for a good while before handing it to Allura, "Here. I think it's time you got this."

Allura took the Bayard in her arms and cradled it tightly to her chest. When she spoke, her voice was full of so much emotion that Keith felt tears threatening to fall, "I'll keep it safe until she returns. You have my promise."

"And she will return," Shiro added fiercely, "One day, hopefully someday soon, we're going to find her and we'll tell her of all the adventures she missed out on and how many people we saved."

"She'll be singing to you in your head again in no time," Pidge added with a tearful smile.

"And then we'll dazzle you all when she and I make some of our famous dishes to celebrate the occasion!" Hunk added as he wiped a tear from his face.

"She and I will entertain you with our best pick-up lines of the century so much that you'll want to use them immediately!" Matt added with a grin.

Keith sniffed and he had to rapidly blink for fear of tears leaking.

The sound of running footsteps made everyone turn to see Kolivan making his way over to them. The Blade of Marmora leader looked haggard, he was panting and his silver braided hair had come loose.

He came to a stand a few feet from them and caught his breath before looking at Keith, "I've just got a message from one of our spies. He thinks he may have found the blue paladin!"

Everyone gasped.

Keith strode forward and gripped Kolivan's shoulders and shook him, "What did he say? What news?"

Kolivan calmly removed Keith's hands from his shoulders, "You can ask him yourself. He's on live."

Keith didn't wait to hear anymore. He just ran towards the bridge where they accepted messages. His friends followed after him.

* * *

Keith almost fell twice in his haste to reach the bridge but somehow managed to make it there in one piece. He still had to wait a few more seconds for Allura and Coran to make their own way to the bridge where they could accept the line.

He tried to snap at them when they finally made it.

As Allura tapped the button to accept the message, the rest of his friends had made their way to the bridge as well and were anxiously waiting to see what news they had.

Pidge was holding Matt's hand tightly in her own. Hunk had his fingers crossed and was biting his lip as he waited.

Shiro already had his attention on the screen and was clenching and unclenching his hands fretfully.

The screen on the bridge turned on and they were met with a Galra who was looking over his shoulder in worry. The man looked skinny, his purple ears had a red tint to them and his face had red markings on both sides of his cheeks.

Upon noticing them, he released a relieved sigh and began to move to a more secure area.

"Greeting sir," the man on the video said as he greeted Kolivan.

Kolivan strode forward and crossed his arms over his chest, "Greetings Kongou. You said you had information about the blue paladin?"

Kongou nodded and stood straighter, "Yes sir. You sent a picture of her when you had us begin the search. The girl looks a little different but I'm sure it's her." Kongou tapped something on his wrist before looking up, "I'm sending you a picture."

Keith impatiently tapped his foot as he and the others waited for the picture to finish loading.

When it finally did, everyone gasped.

The girl on the picture looked peaceful. Her dark brown hair was longer; it reached down all the way to her waist. Her arms were placed on top of her chest where she was wearing a white hospital gown. A red crystal necklace wrapped around her neck. The freckles normally hidden were clearly seen because of the close up.

Keith's breath hitched and he reached a hand out towards her.

It was Lance.

"Is this the missing paladin?" Kongou asked with a tilt of his head.

Allura was the first to snap out of her stupor and vehemently nodded, "Yes! This is our missing paladin!"

"Where is she?" Keith snapped as he strode forward witch clenched fists. It was all he could do not to scream.

Lance!

It was Lance!

"She's been transported to another location. I only managed to take a picture of her before the druids came and took her away in a steel coffin."

Keith saw red.

Shocked gasps erupted from the rest of his friends

That gads-damned bitch had placed Lance in an iron box.

Lance never like the dark. It's why she placed those glowing stars on her ceiling.

"Coffin?" Shiro snarled as he strode forward as well.

Pidge straightened, pulling from her brothers' arms. "Lance hates the dark. That bitch!"

Keith's sentiments exactly.

Kongou nodded, "Yes. They've placed her in a steel coffin. I don't know what else it's made out of but whatever it is, it makes the glowing she has around herself dim the longer she stays there." Keith swallowed audibly. Had Haggar found something that affects Lance's shield?

If that was true, then how long did Lance have before her shield crumbled?

Kongou continued, "I don't know what they'd been doing to her but according to some of the officers, Haggar and her druids spend hours on her, throwing all kinds of magic on her. Different spells, sometimes dark objects."

"But she's okay, right?" Hunk eagerly asked as he clenched his fists. The yellow paladin looked angry, his nostrils were flaring and he was openly scowling.

It was a little scary to be honest.

Everyone turned to Kongou who slowly nodded. "She seems to be doing fine. Whatever they'd done to her, it doesn't seem to have any effect on her. The druids and Haggar herself have been in awful mood. Raging at anyone who so much as looks at them."

Matt nodded slowly, his brows furrowed as he tapped his chin, "So Haggar's spells don't affect her. It's only the coffin itself?"

Kongou nodded.

"Where. Is. She." Keith demanded.

Kongou tapped something on his wrist; "I'm sending you the coordinates now. She'll be heavily guarded. However, Haggar has gone back to Zarkon's side for the moment so perhaps you'll have an easier time without her there."

"Is Zarkon off life support?" Coran asked with a twitch of his mustache.

Kongou frowned and gnawed on his bottom lip, "I am not sure. Haggar refuses to let anyone else see him. Not even Prince Lotor; unless she too is present."

"I don't care," Keith snapped, "I'm going to find her and when I have her, I'm going after that damn witch."

Pidge nodded eagerly, "Let's shank the bitch."

Matt lightly smacked her upside the head and Pidge glowered.

Kongou nodded back on the castle screens and placed a fist over his heart, "I wish you well paladins of Voltron."

The connection cut off and Keith began to exit the room.

"Keith, wait!" Shiro shouted as he ran to his side, "We have to think this through. Kongou said she was heavily guarded-"

Keith whipped his head to look at him, "So what?" he snapped, "I'm going after her! I'll kill all the fuckers that get in my way!"

Shiro raised his hands in a pacifying manner, "No one is saying that we're not going. We are. But let's go in the castle, asses the situation, and then make our move."

Keith seethed, his shoulders shook but he told himself to calm down.

Shiro was right.

"We wouldn't want to alert them of our presence," Allura said, "I'll wormhole us as close as we can to the coordinates and then we'll make our move. We almost have her Keith. Let's not lose her by making rash decisions."

Coran placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, "We'll bring her back my boy."

Keith's knees felt like they would give out any moment. Pidge and Hunk gave him reassuring pats on the back.

He slowly calmed down. "Okay," he said, "Let's go in the castle and see what we're dealing with. And after that, we're going after her."

"Won't they be able to see us anyway?" Hunk asked as he looked around.

Pidge grinned, "Not if we're cloaked."

"You have cloaking?" Matt asked eagerly as he ruffled his sisters hair, "Who are you?"

"Only the best!" Pidge answered with a smirk.

Shiro frowned, "I don't think it'd be safe just for the green lion to go."

Pidge clicked her tongue, "I'm pretty sure I can upgrade the castle for cloaking. I'll need some help but I'm sure I can do it."

"Just tell us what to do!" Coran said cheerfully.

"I'm at your disposal ma'am," Matt said as he slightly bowed.

Keith felt his lips twitch.

"All right then," Shiro said, "Sounds like a plan."

Everyone nodded and Keith allowed himself to be led back to the center where Allura was already preparing herself to make a wormhole.

Pidge, Matt and Coran left to the control center to start upgrading the castle.

"Okay everyone," Allura said as she looked at them all one by one, "Let's bring our friend home."

* * *

" _Attention, citizens of the Galra Empire." Zarkon said in his deep voice, "From this day forward, my son Lotor is to be regarded as a fugitive criminal of the empire. All citizens are authorized to use deadly force to stop him or any of his soldiers. I repeat, Lotor is an enemy of the state. Engage with extreme prejudice. Kill on sight."_

Lotor stifled a groan from where he was sitting in his ship. His four generals were looking wide-eyed at each other and Lotor couldn't blame them.

It figures that as soon as he was off life support, Zarkon would act like his usual asshole self.

First his father summons him to dismiss him of his duties for he was finally all well and off life support and wanted control of his empire back, and now he decided to make Lotor public enemy number one.

What the heck had he done in the last two hours that made his father turn him into an enemy after dismissing him of his duties?

Lotor didn't know, but something told him that that witch he always kept at his side was at fault. She'd been at the meeting when he went to see his father. It took everything he had not to grab his sword and stab the bitch repeatedly until she stopped moving.

Lotor absolutely hated Haggar.

He often spent his days dreaming of her demise. Preferably at _his_ hands.

After his father had dismissed him, Lotor had ordered a full scan on his ship for any signs of a tracker and found one after all.

He immediately had Narti destroy it.

That witch had been trying to keep track of him.

Why?

Lotor leaned forward and tapped his chin; strands of silver hair obscuring his view before he gently pushed them away. He loved his long hair, was quite proud of how well he'd taken care of it. Even smiled gleefully when his own generals looked at it in envy.

Now then, what had he one to upset his father this much? Had Zarkon found out about those slaves he'd freed? Or was it about those Galra officers he and his team had killed when he found that they were torturing innocent civilians?

He shook his head. That couldn't be it. He and his generals had covered their tracks carefully and placed the blame on other Galra officers that were in his fathers' inner circle.

"Sir?" Axca asked from the front. Her black uniform was the same as his, with the colors black, purple, blue and orange with a pattern of markings and shoulder pads. She was a lean young humanoid half Galra woman with light blue skin and dark blue hair. Her hair was cut short with long bangs swept to the side of her face. Four short black horns protruded from her scalp near the back of her head. Her Galra heritage showed in her pointed ears, her blue eyes featured yellow irises, and her enlarged hands featured claws.

"Sir?" Axca asked again when he took too long to answer. He turned his eyes to her, "What should we do?"

"I don't know about you guys, but running away sounds nice." Ezor said as her baby blue eyes looked at them all. His spy looked positively nervous, the free-flowing appendage resembling hair that was striped with three different colors kept twitching. A couple of those colors were seen on her complexion as well. She was very colorful, mostly orange except for the yellow, green and purple markings on her appendage. Not to mention the ability to cloak herself to her surroundings like a chameleon.

Lotor slowly nodded, "For now, let's just keep going in this direction. There doesn't seem to be any Galra around these parts. In the meantime, I want you to tell me what you found during your mission."

"Why not go back and just kill them all?" Zethrid asked as she brought her fists together and shot him a grin. Lotor resisted the urge to roll his eyes, Zethrid always wanted to fight. It's why she was his muscle in the group. The woman was strong and pretty buff. Her face always looked stern except when she was out on the battlefield, then she was grinning wildly.

It made her enemies shake with fear.

Honestly, the woman looked like a furbie. He'd seen one of those things on one of the Earth shops at the swap moon. Her ears stretched to the side showing the pinkness of them. Her skin was a dark blue, her lips colored in turquoise lipstick.

"Because we're outnumbered," Lotor patiently said as he placed his chin on his fisted hand.

"Anyway," Ezor said as she turned her attention from Zethrid to Lotor instead, "I don't know why, but some of Haggar's' druids were transporting some girl in a steel coffin to another area."

Lotor's interest peeked.

A girl?

Lotor turned to Narti who was as silent as ever in her seat. That was pretty normal though, considering the fact that she couldn't speak and she had no eyes. She only spoke in one's mind thanks to her alien cat Kova; she could see whatever the feline saw.

Narti was a strong agile fighter that had mysterious powers. She could make people hallucinate, could talk to them with her mind as well as manipulate them, and had the ability to transport herself but only to areas that she'd been in before.

Her wicked tale was quite capable of delivering hard blows to her enemies.

If she wasn't half Galra, she might have become one of Haggar's druids.

Her magic and abilities were quite strong.

"Have you heard anything of this girl?" Lotor asked his general.

Narti shook her head as her soft lilting voice echoed in his mind, _"I'm afraid not sir. Perhaps this girl has_ _abilities?"_

"She had at least eight druids and ten more Galra soldiers surrounding her as security," Ezor continued as she crossed her legs under her seat, "She must be pretty important for Haggar to place that much security on her."

Lotor leaned forward, "Did you get coordinates of where she was being transferred?"

Ezor grinned, her long orange appendage swaying in excitement, "Yup, I also managed to get a picture before I had to leave lest the druids notice me."

"Send it to me." Lotor commanded.

"Okay!" Ezor said cheerily and began to tap at the transparent keyboard in her wrist.

Zethrid groaned in her seat, "Who cares about some girl? When do I get to smash stuff?"

"Patience Zethrid," Axca snapped, "Prince Lotor will tells us when he needs us to fight. In the meantime don't question him. He's a prince! Show some respect!"

Lotor wanted to groan. Axca seemed to have a very high opinion of him. It wasn't bad, she just needed to -what was that word the Earth people had said? Chill?

Yes. Axca needed to chill.

There was a beeping sound from his monitor and Lotor leaned forward to look at the picture that Ezor had sent him. When the picture finished loading, Lotor froze.

This girl looked familiar.

Where had he seen her before?

" _Aren't you going to finish it? The tomatoes are the best." The girl asked as she moved her eyes to the plate with his unfinished food to him._

 _Lotor grinned and resisted the urge to laugh as he sent the pretty Earth girl with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen a wry grin, "You're not going to leave me alone until I eat those tomatoes as you call them, aren't you?"_

Lotor inhaled sharply.

It was the girl from the swap moon that he had met all those months ago. He'd still been exiled by his father at the time but they had needed parts to repair the ship so he and his generals had gone to the closest swap moon in cloaks to disguise themselves and split up to find the missing parts.

He'd found his part of the list and had settled down to eat at one of the establishments nearby to wait for his generals when he noticed someone staring at him.

He remembered looking up and seeing a beautiful girl with caramel skin and blue eyes staring at him a few tables away. She was smiling at him in a non-hostile way and he couldn't help but smile back.

The girl had taken that as an invitation and plopped herself across from him in the table he was seated at.

There had been teasing from both parties and Lotor remembered smiling. Thoughts of someone recognizing him and reporting him back to his father had fled from his mind in the girls company.

She'd been right about the tomatoes. They _had_ been delicious.

They had only talked for a few minutes but Lotor had dropped his guard around her. For a moment he forgot that he was an exiled prince as he talked to this girl. It was nice having a casual conversation with someone and not having them trying to kiss his ass and try to get on his good side.

He was just Lotor.

Over time he had gone back to that swap moon at least three more times in the hopes of seeing her again but had found no trace of her.

What did she say her name was?

Leah?

Yes he thought to himself. Her name was Leah.

What did that witch want with this girl?

Was Leah really that important that she required all that security?

Lotor narrowed his blue eyes. Whatever Haggar wanted, Lotor tended to take away or destroy.

This would be no different.

Whatever Haggar wanted with this girl, Lotor wouldn't let her have her way.

Decision made, Lotor turned to his generals who had turned their attention to him without him having to demand it, "Set course to those coordinate and put the ship in cloaking mode," he commanded, "We're rescuing that girl."

His four generals got to their feet and put a fist to their hearts as they bowed their heads, "Yes sir!"

Zethrid grinned, her whole body vibrating with excitement. "We're going smash stuff?"

Lotor allowed himself to smirk, "Oh, yes. We're going to smash stuff."

* * *

There was something waiting in the darkness.

It was ancient, and cruel, and had been pacing in the shadows of her mind. Something seemed to separate them, an invisible barrier perhaps, but the wall seemed to crumble the more time she spent in this new location.

She was aware of voices.

Her body had been moved numerous times but it had not affected her this badly. This new place was cold. It was dark and it terrified her.

Wherever she'd been moved to, it was sucking away her strength.

She could not remember her name.

It was one of the first things that she had forgotten when the darkness enveloped her and the cruel voice in her head began to speak to her.

She thought she'd completed the shield in time, but somehow, a small trickle of magic had seeped into her mind. Her pleasant dreams turned into nightmares.

It was that witch she realized soon after.

The witch's echoing laughter in her mind made her tremble in fear.

It was enough to make her go mad.

The voice in her head made her forget things when she refused to cooperate. First her name. Then the names of the ones closest to her, the ones who meant the world to her.

There had been a man with a prosthetic arm. He was her friend. At least, that's what she used to think. She could not recall his features anymore.

There'd been another young man. He was funny. He was the second memory to go.

Then it was a big guy who smelled of spices.

A snarky little girl with a lot of spunk.

A beautiful young woman with pretty eyes.

An older man with a boisterous laugh.

All gone.

And then there'd been another man that had her heart racing.

The witch took her time with this memory.

She remembered struggling. Pleading. Anything to make the witch leave this memory alone.

The witch didn't listen.

She got rid of his features first. The sound of his laughter. His smell. The warmth he radiated.

She struggled.

And then he was gone and she could not remember _why_ she had struggled so hard in the first place.

Who was he to her?

Had he been important?

She could not recall.

The witch's voice turned soothing at times but she was not fooled. She would not give her what she wanted.

She would not wake.

She would not yield.

Someone was coming.

She somehow just knew.

So she remained in the dark, witnessing her memories disappear one by one, unable to stop the witch for the place she had been moved to was sucking away at her energy.

She knew she should struggle, _had_ struggled, but there was not much use in it anymore when all it did was take away her strength faster.

She wanted to wake up.

The witch began to cackle.

She did not know how much longer she would last.

* * *

 _Wow. All those reviews! I loved them all, even the ones that were angry at me XD_

 _It's okay, I understand. I was a little mad at myself for writing it too but it HAD to happen._

 _Anyway, hopefully this chapter makes up for the last one. I'm not good at writing sad stuff so I just hurried and finished writing it because I'm really excited about the next few chapters!_

 _Ahhh I can't wait! Laughter and cheers await you all next time!_

 _Unless i change my mind ;)_

 _Make sure to leave a review!_


	23. Chapter 23

"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end."

-Ed Sheeran

Chapter 23

Okay. So getting to Lance back might be a tad difficult Keith silently admitted to himself an hour later when they had used the wormhole to take them to the coordinates that Kongou had given them.

From inside the castle they could barely see a small red and black ship surrounded by at least fifty different battle cruisers. About a dozen of those triangle bots were floating around the whole in between them, their glowing red eyes scanning the area around them every few seconds.

There were two Robeasts donned in black armor flying around the area as well, their massive heads turning in every direction as they flew.

There was a white-ish planet just below them. Perhaps it was snowing there?

Everyone gaped.

Well shit.

Someone whimpered.

Hunk swallowed audibly and lifted a trembling finger and pointed at the red and black ship that was surrounded, " _That's_ where they're keeping Lance?" No one answered. "Please tell me that's not where we have to go."

Keith clenched his jaw and scowled, "Kolivan's informant _did_ say she'd be heavily guarded."

"At least there's safety in numbers," Allura added with a small smile. "We'll be fine. Probably."

Hunk cast her an unimpressed glare, "Yeah, well there's also death in numbers! It's called a massacre!"

Coran patted Hunk's back, "Relax. Lady Lance is in there, we're not about to let her remain in enemy hands are we?"

"Hell no." Pidge said with a scowl.

Hunk took deep steady breaths, "We should come up with a plan at least."

Keith didn't give a fuck how heavily armed the place looked. One way or another he was getting to Lance. Consequences be damned.

Matt tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously. "We won't be able to even get near it!"

Pidge gnawed on her lower lip and fixed her circular glasses higher, "The castle will be detected automatically. And the lions are too big to maneuver around those closely knit cruisers."

Shiro chimed in from beside Keith. "What about a small ship? Would that be able to get through?"

Coran hummed and lightly curved the end of his orange mustache with two fingers as he thought out loud, "Perhaps. But the way those battle cruisers are so tightly stationed near the ship Lady Lance is in, the ship we send would have to be really small."

"Unfortunately," Allura piped in with a small pensive frown, "The only ships small enough to maneuver around that area can fit two people inside. Which means-"

"Only one of you may go," Kolivan finished from where he was glowering at the screen.

Keith stepped forward, "I'm going."

Shiro cocked his head, "Keith, are you sure you don't want me to go? It's going to require some precise maneuvering to attach the docking clamp. You haven't had to do any of that before."

"What? You think I can't do it?"

Shiro and Allura shared a look. "Keith, you're a good pilot, no one is doubting that. But maybe I should go in a separate ship in case you need backup."

"Plus, you have a temper so you might give yourself away by deciding to just fuck it and pass through." Pidge added.

Keith glared, but Shiro only shrugged.

Pidge squared her shoulders and deepened her voice, "Planning? What the fuck is that? I only know raw instinct and brooding."

Matt scowled at his little sister and Shiro placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Keith crossed his arms, "I sound nothing like that."

Hunk tried to hide his laughter but failed completely, "I don't know. It sounds pretty accurate."

Keith's glare intensified but that only got the rest of his friends to start laughing. Even Kolivan looked amused. He didn't smile, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

Keith would have said something rude but since this was the first time his friends had truly laughed since Lance's disappearance, he let it slide.

He'd get them back for it later.

Shiro cleared his throat after catching his breath, "Perhaps we can get back to planning?"

 _Yes_.

They had plenty of time to make jokes once they had Lance back.

"The cloaking will dissolve as soon as you attach the docking clamp anyway," Hunk added with a wrinkle of his nose when his laughter ceased, "Those cruisers will be on you in seconds."

"Not to mention whatever is inside the ship guarding Lance," Matt added as he planted his hands on his hips. "There could be druids inside. I don't know if you've ever faced one of those things but they can teleport."

"Plus, their nails are in serious need of a trim and they're creepy as fuck," Pidge said with a shudder.

"Language," Matt and Shiro scolded.

Pidge pretended not to hear either of them.

Keith clenched his fists. Why were they still talking about this? Lance was so close! If it were up to Keith, he'd go in guns blazing. His mouth twisted to the side; the other rational part of his brain kept reminding him that his friends were right. If their enemies noticed them, they might just move Lance to another location while Keith and his friends dealt with all those cruisers and he'd never get to see her again.

He _knew_ that they had to be careful.

He forced himself to take a breath and calm the fuck down.

They would get Lance back. If that required Keith to be sneaky and strategic then so be it. Those two things were something he wasn't very good at. Lance was usually the one who did the planning when it was just the two of them. She'd sneak them around so as to not engage many enemies.

Keith on the other hand would just go in with his Bayard drawn and a battle cry on his lips and pray for the best. If it bleeds then he can win.

"Fine," Keith relented after a good two minutes had passed, "What do you guys have in mind?"

His friends beamed at his question and Keith almost scoffed.

Shiro ruffled his hair and Keith sent him a pout, "You're growing up Keith. Lance would be proud. Heck, _I'm_ proud of you. You're finally starting to use that head of yours."

Allura and Pidge snickered and cooed at him. Keith flipped them off which earned him a smack to the back of his head by the black paladin.

"Honestly Keith," Shiro said in an exasperated voice, "You're already eighteen, why are you still like this?"

Keith flipped him off.

"Keith!"

* * *

"Okay," Shiro said fifteen minutes and a lecture of proper etiquette later, "Here's the plan. Keith will go down in one of the smaller ships we have on board. Pidge will upgrade the ship so it can be cloaked. As soon as Keith makes it to the ship Lance is being held in, Keith will inform us."

Keith nodded where he stood, both arms crossed over his chest.

"When he does, that will be our cue to distract the enemy," Shiro continued as he looked back at the rest of the paladins, "We'll go out there and engage the enemies while Keith investigates the inside of the ship."

Hunk and the others nodded.

Coran and Matt sent him a thumbs-up.

Kolivan merely inclined his head.

Shiro turned to Pidge and Matt, "You guys said you'd invented something that will turn off the battle cruisers and all forms of communication on the enemies side?"

Matt nodded and grinned as he produced a small black cube with green veins on its side and a green button attached to the top, "Yup. It will only work for about five minutes but it should turn off the communications system inside the enemy ship Lance is being held in."

"So even if they notice Keith attaching the docking clamp, they won't be able to call for reinforcements." Hunk said with a wide smile. "Smart. This is starting to sound doable."

Coran tapped his chin, "What about the triangle bots that scan the area every few seconds?"

Pidge grinned and produced a small green remote from her gray shorts pocket, "That's where this baby comes in. As soon as Keith gets within three feet from them, all he has to do is press the button and fly past them before they turn back on. It won't turn them off but it'll make their scanners think that everything is all clear."

Kolivan nodded, intrigued. "Do you think you could make another set for the Blades?"

Matt and Pidge grinned, "You got it!"

"The Robeasts might pose a problem," Shiro added with a thoughtful frown. "We'll keep them distracted as best we can. Coran, Matt and Kolivan will have to engage from inside the castle as well."

The castle advisor and the Blade of Marmora leader nodded once. Matt's easy going smile turned to a determined look. "You can count on us."

"After that, everything will be left to Keith." Allura finished as she looked back at him.

Keith nodded as he tapped his fingers in a random tune on his black pants, "I just have to kill anyone inside the ship, wake Lance up, haul her back to the ship, and alert you guys to come pick us up. Got it."

"Make sure to defeat the guards inside before the five minutes are up and they get their communications system back." Pidge added lastly. "We wouldn't want those pricks calling for help."

Keith breathed deeply through his nose and closed his eyes. He could do this. He'd have to be as careful as he could to maneuver around the heavily guarded areas but he'd be fine.

He was going to bring Lance home.

"Everyone ready?" Shiro asked the group.

Keith opened his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Let's bring Lance home."

* * *

The docking clamp engaged on Keith's third attempt, which he thought was pretty good for a first timer. He hoped Shiro and the others had seen him after they'd doubted his skills. Hell, he'd even kept his temper in check and hadn't rushed right in at full blast like he so desperately wanted to. The stress ball he'd taken from Shiro's room had worked wonders. That'll show them.

He'd already informed Shiro and the others that he'd been successful, he turned his head to the battle currently going on quite a distance away from the ship Lance was being held in and wished his friends luck.

Shiro and the others were flying around in their lions as they shot down cruiser after cruiser. The castle had its particle barrier up and was currently firing at the two Robeasts and keeping them occupied.

Time to get to work.

He turned his attention back to the ship Lance was being held in.

And she _was_ here. Keith could smell her familiar scent coming from inside. He'd forgotten to take his suppressant pill that morning so his Galra senses were on full alert. He craned his ears to listen further. There were definitely other passengers coming from the inside.

He just hoped his skin didn't start turning purple as well. He'd have to take the pill once he had Lance in tow.

The communications system on the enemies' side had already been turned off thanks to the small cube that the Holt siblings had given him. The triangle bots and the remaining battle cruisers that were still within thirty feet from the ship were hovering harmlessly in the air. The lights inside the red and black ship were off. From up close he could see that ship was shaped alike a cylinder.

Making sure the clamp was firmly attached, Keith opened the hatch from the top and it swung upward. He quickly exited the small podship that looked like an oversized egg and stepped up to a ramp edged with a rail, and beyond it a narrow corridor.

His ears popped with the change of pressure but he ignored it and used his jetpack to fly faster. His hands went to his Bayard and the dagger strapped to his lower waist as he listened closely. The movements from inside had ceased.

They knew he was here.

With the power off, the entrance to the ship easily slid open as he pried them apart with his hands. Keith cautiously flew inside to see dozens of flat, clear screens, some cabinets, and a small gray fridge nestled under a small grey coffee table. A plate with unfinished food lay on top of it. He turned his jetpack off and lightly landed on the metal floor.

A small window was on the far side of the room.

The door to the left side was where Lance's scent was the strongest. The door to the right was probably some kind of washroom. Is that where the guards were?

He couldn't smell them for some reason.

Couldn't even hear them anymore.

The hell?

Keith edged closer, he was on a time limit, and barely managed to avoid the punch aimed at his face when he fully stepped into the hall.

How had he not heard that?

Despite the dark, his Galra senses allowed him to see just fine. Keith swiped the Galra's feet from under him and quickly stabbed him through the chest with his Bayard.

The man was dead by the time he collapsed on the floor.

Something jumped on his back and Keith cursed under his breath. Seizing the Galra's' arms, Keith backed towards a wall and slammed the alien on his back repeatedly.

He'd dropped his Bayard somewhere.

The Galra cursed and trashed, pulled at his hair with a death grip, but Keith gritted his teeth and continued to slam them against the wall.

The Galra slumped in his hold and fell in a heap to the floor. Keith picked out his Bayard and stabbed him before he could get up.

Was that it?

Were there no other enemies around?

Keith strained his ears for any sign of movements but none came. He sniffed the air a few times but only Lance's scent lingered in the room. Satisfied, he put his Bayard away and marched towards the left door where Lance's scent was coming off in strong waves, his hand was just turning the knob when a dark violent presence oozed into his mind.

He froze in his tracks.

His senses were screaming at him to move but his limbs wouldn't listen to him.

That could only mean one thing: there was a motherfucking druid in here too.

God damn it.

Two pair of hands roughly grabbed his shoulders and Keith cursed as he was dragged away from the door and to the center of the room where he was kicked on the back of the knee so he could drop to the floor on his knees.

The lights turned on.

The ships engines hummed as they came back to life. The screens began to flicker.

Damn it.

He'd run out of time.

The dark energy in his mind remained as the druid appeared from the shadows. Where had all three of them come from? Had the druid teleported them somewhere to catch him off guard?

Is that why he hadn't heard or smelled any of them?

But where the hell had they teleported?

Druids couldn't teleport very far, not like Haggar.

"So close paladin of Voltron," the druid said in a raspy voice. Keith wrinkled his nose. The thing smelled like a wet dog wrapped in old cheese. Keith definitely would have smelled it if it had been in the room. There's no way he would have missed _that_. The druid leaned close to peer at his face and Keith held his breath.

Seriously, did druids even bathe?

As was per usual, the druid was covered in a long black cloak with a bird beak mask obscuring its face from anyone. This druid had a golden outline surrounding the cloak it wore. The top of the cloak had some golden symbols stitched on the material at the top of its head.

"Lady Haggar said we would have visitors." The druid continued as it circled around him. "Looking for your fellow paladin?"

Keith didn't answer.

The druids' presence in his mind advanced further and Keith's chest spiked with pain as he tried to inhale. He schooled his features to a blank slate. He'd never felt another presence like this before. But it wasn't as bad as Haggar's energy.

That bitch's energy was on another level.

The druid chuckled in his mind and Keith scowled.

"Can we kill him already?" One of the guards holding him down asked the druid in annoyance. His voice sounded deep.

The druid cocked its head; it looked unnatural, and shook its head. "Not yet," it said in that raspy voice that hurt Keith's ears, "Let's see if he's the one who will wake the blue paladin. Bring her out."

The guard who had first spoken respectfully inclined his head and moved to follow the druids' commands. The guard eyed him smugly as he passed. If Keith had full control of his limbs, he would have punched the shit out of that face.

He had to find a way to warn Shiro and the others that the plan had failed.

The sound of grunting brought Keith's attention to the end of the corridor where the Galra guard was pushing out a giant steel box to the center of the room.

The thing looked like a coffin.

It was certainly the size of one.

Keith's heart clenched painfully in his chest. Lance had been locked up in this dark confining box for almost three months? He was going to kill that witch.

Despite his anger, he still felt a hitch in his breath at the excitement that oozed from being so close to his fiancée after so long. He'd get to see Lance again. Maybe if she woke up, the both of them could easily take down the two Galra guards. The druid might cause a problem but Keith had full faith in his and Lance's teamwork.

He was going to make them pay. How dare they lock his fiancée in a steel coffin.

The other guard holding him down produced some rope and wrapped it around his wrists. Soon enough, both of Keith's wrists were tied into intricate knots. The guard gave it one final yank to tighten it into place before deeming it satisfactory.

The guards yellow gaze became hard as sterling as he gazed at him, "When we're done, you'll pay for killing our comrades."

Keith didn't say anything; the druid was still controlling him.

With a final grunt, the first guard wiped his purple forehead of the sweat he'd produced by pushing the steel box into the center of the room.

"Open it." The druid hissed.

The Galra's purple eyebrow twitched. "Anything I can do to assist his benevolent."

Was that sarcasm?

Keith wondered if the druid was glaring under that mask as it strode over to one of the screens and tapped a series of codes into it.

"The rest of security has been ordered to come back. If the blue paladin wakes up, we kill the red paladin and make our way to the planet below us. That's where the soul transfer will take place."

"And if she doesn't wake up?" the second guard asked with a tilt of his head.

The druid shrugged. "Then we kill the red paladin and go down to the planet anyway. I'm sure the druids there will have _something_ that wakes her up."

Keith really hated druids.

The first guard pushed the lid all the way off the steel coffin and let it fall to the floor with a small thud. Keith was grabbed by the second guard and was all but dragged to the steel coffin to peer at it.

Keith inhaled sharply.

Lance was inside. Her chest lifting lightly for every breath she took. She looked peaceful. The golden shield around her looked dim. Keith narrowed his eyes as he inspected the inside of the box. Were those small black crystals embedded inside the walls?

Were those crystals the cause of Lance's shield crumbling?

His eyes roamed over the rest of her and frowned. She had shackles on both wrists. Keith narrowed his blue-gray eyes, probably to keep her lightning in check. Shiro and Matt had mentioned her wearing similar cuffs back in that Galra ship they had escaped from.

"Bring him closer," The druid commanded as it walked on the other side and peered inside to look at the blue paladin.

The second guard shoved him closer and everyone waited with baited breath to see what would happen.

Five seconds passed.

Fifteen seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Nothing.

Lance didn't even twitch.

Keith's heart deflated. Why? Why wasn't it working? Had he been wrong and Lance had set something else as a condition to wake her up instead of him?

The druid released a harsh growl from its throat and reached inside to hit Lance, Keith tensed, but the thing released a startled scream when sparks of electricity shot at its hand.

"Damn wretch!" the druid snarled and cradled its clawed hand to its chest. Purple blood oozed from the small puncture wounds Lance's shield had given him.

Keith turned his stare back to Lance. Hoping that if he just stared long enough, she would wake. So far he was having no luck. The two Galra guards said something to the druid but Keith didn't pay them any attention.

Lance's fingers twitched.

Keith sucked in a breath.

Her eyelids stirred.

It was working!

Lance was waking up!

His captors had yet to notice, they were too busy arguing amongst themselves on what they should do next.

Come on Lance.

Hurry.

"It's working!" the druid suddenly screeched and in its excited state the druid let go of Keith's mind and he regained control of his limbs.

He could finally move!

Keith brought his head back and head-butted the second Galra guard on the face. The guy released a startled shout as his purple furred hands went to his nose. Keith rolled and swiped the druids' feet from under him. The thing released a surprised yelp and landed harshly on its back where its head collided against the steel iron box.

The first Galra growled and reached for his weapons when suddenly Lance shot up from the steel box and screamed.

The whole ship rocked from the sudden cry. If Keith's hands weren't tied up at the moment he would have covered his ears.

What the fuck was going on?

The two Galra flattened their ears in an attempt to block the noise.

Why was Lance screaming?

The lights in the ship dimmed. Alarms bells began to sound from inside.

The sound of metal bending made him snap his head to the ceiling where the top of the ship was beginning to bend unnaturally.

The communication device on his helmet gave off a screech that had him wincing. With a pained yelp, he removed his helmet as best he could and tossed it to the side as smoke began to appear.

And still, Lance wouldn't stop screaming.

The ship suddenly began to move downward as all the lights went out. Lance had somehow fried them with her scream. A look outside the small window on the far side showed that the rest of the ships were having the same problem.

Their trajectory had been altered. Gravity was claiming them, drawing them out of orbit.

The ship they were in, as well as the dozen of battle cruisers that had come back, were falling towards the white planet below them.

* * *

"Something is wrong." Shiro said as he guided the Black lion to the right, just narrowly missing the Robeasts attack.

Man these things were a pain in the ass.

" _The lights are back on!"_ Pidge yelled as she and Hunk engaged the other Robeasts.

Wait, what?

Shiro whipped his head to the screen in front of him and zoomed in to get a better look at the ship Keith was in. Pidge was right. The lights _were_ on. At least that explained why the rest of the cruisers had returned back to the ships side.

Allura tried to guide the Blue lion towards the ship but the Robeasts kept stopping them with their attacks.

Damn it.

" _Wait. Is that another ship?" Coran asked through the comms, pulling up a radar search on everyone's screens. "Our scanners aren't picking up anything but I can clearly see it!"_

Shiro peered at the radar scan with a frown before turning his attention back to the new ship, five times bigger than the one Keith took, as it neared the small red and black ship.

Shiro's heart began to pound. "That's Lotor's ship."

" _What?" Hunk screeched, "I thought he was busy running for his life! Why is he here where there's a bunch of Galra that can take him in or kill him on sight?"_

Shiro cursed under his breath. "I don't know. But it can't be good."

" _I've tried contacting Keith, but there's been no response." Allura murmured. "Shiro, what do we do?"_

"Allura and I are going after him," Shiro said after a moment. "Lotor being here can't be good. The rest of you keep the Robeasts distracted."

Shiro didn't wait for his teammates response as he and Allura guided their lions towards the ship Keith had gone in. He knew they'd do it and try to give them as much time as they could.

Lotor's ship had parked beside the smaller ship but most of the cruisers had turned their attention to it. What was Lotor doing here? For a man who had just been declared public enemy number one by his own father, the Galra Prince sure didn't act like his life was in danger with the way he just parked his ship in the middle of his enemies.

One would think he just went out for a stroll with the way he was acting.

When that announcement had gone viral Shiro and his friends had been completely stunned. What had Lotor done to upset Zarkon so badly that he had given out orders to everyone in the universe to kill his son if they spotted him?

It didn't matter. It wasn't his problem. Right now, he had to get to Keith. And hopefully Lance too.

Shiro wasn't a religious person by nature but right now he prayed to deities in the world that their missing paladin was on board that ship. Lance had saved his life and he had failed her. She'd been _crying;_ downright sobbing on the floor and Shiro hadn't been able to reach her. Couldn't help out his dear friend while that witch tortured her in her mind.

Shiro still had nightmares about that day. Of them being so close to freedom only for Haggar and her fucking druids to appear and fuck it up for them.

Lance had known that in her current state she wouldn't have been able to make it out with him and Matt, so she'd decided to stay and save them instead.

It was such a Lance move that he should have seen it coming. Perhaps if he hadn't been so focused on the druid holding him down and hadn't been so tired he would have noticed and stopped her from sacrificing herself.

It was his fault that they'd lost Lance. His fault that had put that look of utter devastation on Keith's face. His fault that his friends were walking around in a daze for the past few months. Hunk's food had become dull, his usual eagerness all but gone. Coran would begin the start of a story only to grow quiet when he realized Lance wasn't there to request for more details. Pidge had hardly left her room; too busy looking through all the footage they'd collected from the Galra prisons in search of Lance and her father. Allura was mostly the same, though sometimes she'd grow quiet and gaze off into the distance for a long while.

Matt tried to lighten the mood with his jokes but opted to spend his time helping out Pidge with her search. And Keith…it's like he'd completely shut down. Shiro had hardly seen any sign of his little brother. Keith would spend his time out in the red lion looking for his missing fiancée and when he wasn't he'd be out in the training deck and venting out his frustrations in the gladiator simulators.

Shiro himself had been trying his best to keep everyone's spirits up. Keep them busy so their grief wouldn't get to them. It's why they were taking so many missions to save the remaining planets that were still in Zarkon's control. And if they had more places to look for Lance then all the better.

He just hoped that Lance was in that ship after all. He needed her help. He'd been acting odd lately. He'd even been having blackouts. One minute he'd be in the training deck and the next thing he knew a whole day had passed and he was left utterly confused.

What had he done?

And why couldn't he remember?

Haggar's' words still echoed in his head even after these past few months. She'd said that she had already tinkered with him but he had yet to notice.

What had she done to him? And did they relate to the recent blackouts he was getting? He didn't know, but he was sure that Lance would be able to help.

He just hoped his friend was all right.

" _Wait! Don't fly any closer!" Pidge suddenly shouted._

Shiro jolted in his seat and barely managed to stop the Black lion from going further. Beside him, Allura had stopped the Blue lion as well and was looking around in confusion.

Pidge's face appeared on his screen, "Pidge, what's going on? Why can't we get closer?"

Pidge scrunched up her brows and Hunk, Coran, and Allura's faces appeared on his screen as well.

" _There's some kind of energy coming from the ship Keith just boarded!" Coran shouted, his face looked confused and frantic at the same time. "Look! The ships around it have lost power and are falling!"_

What?

Shiro and the others turned and sure enough, Coran was right. The black and red ship that Keith had boarded had its power off once again, the ship slowly beginning to fall.

Every cruiser that flew towards it immediately stopped moving once it got within thirty feet of it. At least thirty of the remaining cruisers were beginning to fall too.

Even Lotor's ship was starting to fall.

Shit.

This wasn't good.

Was this Lance's doing?

"Keith! We have to get to Keith!" Shiro screamed.

Pidge shook her head, " _We can't go near it. If we do, then we'll just fall along with them!"_

" _So what do we do?" Hunk cried, "And what about the two Robeasts? Coran and the others can't take that much damage in the castle!"_

Shiro sighed irritably.

Sometimes he really hated being a leader.

They could both go and try to help out Keith and probably fall alongside him or they could finish dealing with the Robeasts and hope that Lance was awake and she'd keep Keith safe with her powers.

Decisions decisions.

What the fuck were they suppose to do?

* * *

She should really stop screaming.

Right…now.

No?

She was going to keep screaming?

Well this sucked.

Was she awake this time or was it another lie?

She wasn't quite sure.

All she remembered was being surrounded in darkness, a hair-raising voice that gave her the heebie jeebies, and suddenly there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

She blindly reached for it. She could feel something warm on the other side. The woman's cackling followed after her.

 _Remember._

She picked up her speed. She was almost there.

 _Remember_.

The closer she got, the more memories that she thought she had lost began to return. Lance almost wept in relief.

All around her there was so much light, tugging at her.

 _Fight it. You're an Amazon. And Amazon's don't give up._

Haggar's voice turned to snarls, screaming at her in rage.

But it didn't matter.

That witch couldn't do anything to her anymore.

She was waking up.

Almost there-something cold and grimy seemed to grab hold of her just as she reached the other side and she felt a scream erupt from her throat and then-she opened her eyes to more darkness but she could distinctly see figures around her as she screamed her guts out.

No Haggar cackling in the background.

No voice in her head.

Okay, so she was definitely awake.

That's good.

Again though, _why_ couldn't she stop screaming? She was starting to get annoyed. Something else burst from deep inside her as well. Her powers. It felt comforting but she was not yet whole. She felt incomplete.

Probably thanks to the shackles on her wrists.

She was seriously starting to hate getting shackled.

There was movement to her left and suddenly something was clamped around her head. The power that had burst from within her disappeared and she was left with a deep loneliness so aching that the urge to cry was tempting.

All thoughts of crying, however, disappeared the minute she felt someone slap her across the face.

Her screaming ceased.

Oh thank god.

She could finally get her bearings.

Leah McLain.

Her name was Leah, and she was the princess of Cloyetera.

Next in line to take the throne and lead her people.

And boy was she was pissed.

She'd have to beat whoever had slapped her; it hadn't hurt, if anything it was like a mosquito bite, but she couldn't let people slap her and get away with it either.

Especially by a male.

The net screens behind her flickered, casting small bursts of purple light into the dark room every few seconds. It was disorienting.

The male to the left of her released an angry roar and launched himself at the Galra that had slapped her. The two resumed to roll around the small space, insults and snarls coming from the both of them.

His scent hit her nose right after he tackled the Galra and Lance's eyes widened.

Keith.

Keith was here!

He'd found her!

As Lance began to sit up, was she in a steel coffin she idly wondered, the ship took a sudden turn. She slipped and had to crouch and steady herself on the coffin's sides when she felt something slimy in the room.

Lance narrowed her eyes as they landed on a druid. Its head was twitching, turning all the way around, kind of like an owl.

She shuddered.

That wasn't right.

The second Galra in the room was suddenly in front of her, his furry arms reaching for her. Lance took hold of his head and slammed it down on the coffin's lid with a deafening crack.

The Galra didn't move.

She had to get out of this coffin; it was making her feel nauseous.

The druid standing by the entrance let out a snarl and began to twitch its way over to her on all fours. Lance had seen the exorcist only once and that had been enough thank you very much. She did not need a creepy druid doing the exorcist walk coming her way.

The thing suddenly climbed the wall like a spider and Lance resisted the urge to whimper. What the heck man? The druid launched itself at her with a screech, its long nails reaching for her and Lance scrambled out of the steel coffin with a tiny squeak.

The ship shifted again and everyone stumbled.

Lance hit her head on the small coffee table and groaned.

Keith and the Galra he was fighting were tossed in opposite directions with a painful groan. The druid was tossed to the left side of the wall, it's beak like mask cracking from the impact.

Lance scrambled towards Keith who was still groaning and blinking owlishly at the ceiling as he lay on his side. She seized the dagger strapped to his back just as the druid skittered towards her on all fours with a shrill scream and jammed the dagger right through its mask before it could reach her.

The druid made a choking sound and dispersed into a cloud of dust. As Lance spit out the cloud of dust that she'd inhaled (seriously gross) the last Galra let out a roar and ran towards both paladins with its sword raised high.

Keith stuck out a leg and tripped him. Lance used the opportunity to stab the Galra before it could get up.

Panting, she turned to Keith who was looking at her in awe. As if he couldn't believe that she was right there in front of him. His black hair was all over the place, had he not cut his hair since she put herself to sleep? His bangs reached his nose. He had a split lip and a bruise on the left side of his cheek but he looked stunning.

At least to _her_.

Her gaze softened and she began to reach for his face when the walls around them began to tremble with the friction of the atmosphere.

"Right, we're falling." Lance mumbled under her breath. She pulled his dagger from the Galra's back free and with one quick slice, cut the bindings on his wrists. As Keith massaged his slightly pink wrists, Lance used the wall for balance and headed for the screens in an attempt to stop them from crashing.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked from behind her.

"Trying to stop the ship from falling." She said as she reached the closest screen from her.

"Can you do that?"

"We're about to find out." She muttered as she gnawed on her lip. There was shuffling from behind her and suddenly arms dropped around her, forming a cocoon around her body so she wouldn't lose her footing. Keith rested his chin on top of her head; his stance widening as he locked his knees, bracing himself as much as he could while the ship shook and rocked around them.

When had he gotten taller than her?

Lance hit one of the screens until it lit up all the way and watched as codes and commands flickered and scrolled across the screen in the Galra language.

"The fuck does that say?" Keith muttered above her.

She jammed her elbow to his stomach and he released a grunt.

"Language."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

The arms around her tightened. "God, I missed you."

Lance smiled as her fingers jabbed at the screen. Her tone turned soft, "Missed you too Mullet."

She could feel his chuckles vibrating from her back with how close he was. God he smelled great. Lance shook her head. Focus.

As more commands began to scroll across the screen, Lance tapped her fingers over the screen as fast as she could. It seems hanging out with Pidge had taught her a few things. It's a good thing she'd listened to the green paladins lectures every now and then. She ignored what she didn't understand and swiped them away from the screen with a flick of her finger as the ship rumbled and began to grow hot.

"I'm in!" she shouted.

There was a crash behind them but she didn't dare turn away from the screen. Probably the dead Galra being tossed all over the room. There was no way to stop the ship from falling anymore, the engines weren't responding.

The outer shield however was still operational.

So were the emergency parachutes.

With a few more commands, the ship made a creaking sound before the one window that displayed the vastness of space and the other falling cruisers was blocked as the emergency shield wrapped around the ship. Hopefully that will lessen the crash just a bit.

"Done!"

Keith wrapped his arms around her stomach and hauled them both away towards the steel coffin that she'd woken up in. Lance released a startled squeak at being manhandled but didn't stop him.

The cabinets swung open and Lance flinched as canned goods and soldier rations spilled out in random directions. Keith deflected them away whenever they headed in their direction. Lance kicked the ones he'd missed away with her bare feet.

The plate that had been on the coffee table fell to the floor where it cracked into small pieces.

The ship was getting increasingly hot.

She could feel sweat beginning to form on her brow. Keith's breath became quicker as the ship grew in speed.

The red paladin tossed her inside the steel coffin none too gently before leaving her side. Lance clamped a hand on her mouth when she felt vile start to go up. She did not like this coffin. Something was wrong with it. Perhaps it had to do with the black crystals embedded on the sides.

Lance struggled into a sitting position and turned her head as she looked for Keith. Where was he?

The alarms in the ship grew louder. The lights turned a dark red and suddenly Keith was climbing inside the coffin with her. He turned her his way and placed his helmet over her head before motioning for her to lie down.

She did, ignoring the slight trembling in her limbs, and watched as Keith took hold of the lid and groaned as he began to close them inside.

The lid made a clicking sound when it was fully closed and she huddled closer to Keith as he lay down next to her. It was a tight fit, but it would have to do.

Keith wrapped a hand around her waist and turned on his shield before turning it upward so it would face the lid.

The shaking suddenly stopped, only to be replaced with a smooth, fast descent.

Lance's stomach knotted fitfully and she felt like she was being sucked into a wormhole.

The ship grew incredibly hot and she gritted her teeth and buried her head in Keith's armored chest.

"We're going to be okay Lance." Keith promised as he looked down at her. He was giving her that cocky grin that always set her heart hammering wildly in her chest. His blue-gray eyes were set in a determined edge as they gazed at her that she immediately believed his words.

She wanted to kiss him.

The helmet on her head made that impossible though.

There was a shudder as the sound of ropes hissing was heard.

Were those the parachutes?

Lance cast her fiancée a watery smile from inside the helmet he'd placed on her and brought a hand to his cheek where she tenderly ran her fingers from his cheek to his mouth before pain exploded in her head, and then the world went black.

* * *

What was going on?

Why wasn't the ship responding?

Lotor gripped both sides of his leather seat and watched as his generals scrambled around each other as they went from screen to screen in an attempt to turn the ships power back.

But it was no use.

The engines weren't working.

The ship was beginning to fall towards the white planet down below.

All power was gone, leaving the room blanked in darkness.

All except for the blaring alarm that rang out throughout the ship, indicating that they were in danger.

Lotor scoffed, like he didn't know that.

If only the darn thing would turn off.

At least they weren't the only ship being affected by that strange shockwave that had come from the black and red ship where he was sure the human girl Leah was being held captive in.

The battle cruisers that had turned their attention on his ship were also falling. Some had already burned and exploded before they could even reach the planet.

The paladins of Voltron were here as well.

He had seen four of the lions engaged in combat when they'd arrived. All except for the red lion. Had they sent the red paladin to retrieve Leah? Why?

Were they just doing it out of the kindness of their own hearts or did they need her for something else?

Lotor didn't know, but hopefully the red paladin would keep her safe for him. He still planned to save her, but first, he needed to save himself and his generals.

"Everyone!" he barked, his generals took hold of something to steady them before turning their attention to him. "Grab whatever weapons you can, emergency rations, and medical kits should already be inside the pods, and make your way to the emergency pods."

His four generals straightened and put a fist to their heart. "Sir!"

The fall was slow at first, but as time passed it began to pick up speed. The temperature in the room began to grow hot.

They had to hurry.

Nerves humming with adrenaline, he and Zethrid pried open the doors leading to the long corridor where they would be able to reach the escape pods.

Lotor almost sighed in relief as the doors easily pried apart and he ushered his generals to go ahead of him. Narti had scooped up Kova and cradled her to her chest as she ran down the corridor. The alien cat holding on for dear life.

Ezor shouted a thank you in his direction and followed after her friend, her multi-colored appendage swaying behind her back as she ran.

The ship rocked and Lotor would have lost his footing if it hadn't been for Zethrid and Axca steading him.

With one last pat to his back, Zethrid bounded away towards her two friends until it was just Axca and himself left.

His general ushered him down the corridor first and Lotor rolled his eyes and opted to run beside her instead. He was responsible for his crew, but Axca tended to be a bit overprotective of him.

He could take care of himself thank you very much.

Axca looked like she wanted to argue with him, probably pissed that he hadn't run ahead of her.

When they reached the end of the corridor, the control panel to open the door had been destroyed leaving the door opened.

Axca and Lotor ran inside to see that his three generals were already in their own podships, the lids tightly closed.

Axca put a fist to her heart before climbing inside her own white pod. The thing was only big enough for one person. Since the power was out, they'd have to manually open the hatch so they could launch.

It's a good thing Lotor had pretty good eye sight even in the dark or else he would have missed the metal lever on the other side of the room.

There was a crash from the room they'd been but Lotor ignored it as he gripped the lever with both arms and pulled with all his strength. Strands of silver hair fell over his eyes but he ignored it as the lever gave way and the hatch below the pods began to slowly open.

Lotor all but sprinted towards his own podship, double-checking that he had his swords strapped to his sides and clamored inside the pod.

The podship made a hissing sound as the door began to lower itself so it could seal him inside.

"We're all probably going to land in that white planet below," Lotor said as his generals turned their attention to him. They pods were stationed around each other in a circle. "We'll most likely land in opposite directions. I don't know what we'll encounter down there. All I know is that Haggar and her druids tend to visit this planet a lot so we might see a few of them."

Zethrid grinned her turquoise smattered lips at him, "If we see any druids can we kill them?"

Lotor grinned, "By all means."

Ezor smiled happily.

Narti inclined her head in his direction, the hood she was wearing obscuring her face as she gripped her feline friend to her chest.

The hatch down below opened further.

"If any of you see the girl on the picture, protect her. Keep her safe until we meet up again." Lotor continued, "The red paladin might be with her. Do not kill him."

He made sure to look at Zethrid when he said those last words.

The woman looked like someone had taken her favorite toy but she nodded, her lips twisted to the side.

"We'll meet again. I've personally chosen all four of you to join my cause for a reason. You are strong. You are fierce. I know you'll survive. Do not attack any civilians. Until me meet again."

His four generals nodded in determination, their fisted hands over their hearts and shouted, "Vrepit sa!"

It was their word for "onward."

Lotor placed a fisted palm over his heart and repeated the action, "Vrepit sa and safe travels!"

The hatch finally opened all the way and Lotor gritted his teeth as he and his generals were tossed into space from their pods.

Lotor's podship was shaking, before it suddenly turned blazing hot, and then it stopped only to be replaced by a fast descent.

He could see the white planet below from the small window on the podship. His generals were going to the same place but in different directions. The brightness from the window faded to a blinding white and then everything went dark.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Thanks to those who left one :)_


	24. Chapter 24

"Having a baby is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head." – Carol Burnett

Chapter 24

Something strange nudged Keith's neck, a tongue tracing against his hairline. The sensation of warm breath on his skin made the hairs on his arms rise, and he unconsciously moved into the touch.

"It looks like it likes it."

"Weird. What is it?"

A low groan slipped from his throat, and the tongue continued licking the back of his neck.

What a strange dream.

"Lance, I'm not even awake yet." He mumbled into the soft fabric underneath him. A pillow perhaps?

The tongue made its way to his cheek and Keith let out a small chuckle. "Lance, that tickles."

The feeling of rough scales scraped the shell of his ear and Keith's eyes shot open. That was _not_ Lance. He was definitely awake _now_.

As slowly as he could, Keith turned his head slightly to the left, and there, curling next to his back was a five feet long _something_ , reptilian tongue hanging from its mouth as it licked the shell of Keith's ear once again.

Keith let out the biggest scream of his life and scrambled away from the thing. He hadn't even known his voice could reach such a high note. The thing that had been licking his ear looked like the combination of a frog and an iguana. Its scaly body was red, fins were located on its back, its gray tail was swaying in a lazy manner, and two red eyes rested on top of its head.

Noticing his stare, the thing slithered away from the bed and scurried across the hardwood floor and slipped into the arms of a cat person.

Keith stared.

What. The. Fuck.

He could feel sweat on his forehead, his breathing sounded ragged to his own ears. "What-" he wheezed between breaths, and pointed a shaking finger at the frog thing as he willed his pounding heart to calm down. "What the fuck is that?"

There were actually _two_ cat people standing in front of him Keith realized. Looking around, he registered that he was in a medium sized room where he was currently lying on a twin-sized bed pushed into the corner. His armor was gone. He was wearing a tight gray shirt, black skinny jeans, and red socks. His gray boots were lying on the floor next to the bed. His black fingerless gloves were still on his hands, as well as the blue crystal necklace around his neck.

Where were his weapons though?

Keith turned his attention back to the cat people. They looked like cats but were the size of humans. Their bodies were covered in brown fur, two ears sticking out at the top of their heads. The taller one had black hair that looked like a crew cut, while the shorter one had curly brown hair framing his face. Both of them were wearing simple blue shirt, black pants for the taller one and light brown slacks for the younger one. Their tail's swayed in a lazy motion behind them.

The younger one that had scooped up the creature wrinkled his pink nose, making the white whiskers on his cheeks move, and said in a high voice, "That's Canklanker! Don't worry, he's friendly!"

"Cank what?" Keith questioned the boy, because it was obvious now that both cat people in the room were boys. His rapid pulse had calmed down but where the hell was he? Keith brought a hand to massage his skull and hissed. Was that a bump on his head? His head felt sticky as well.

How had he gotten injured?

"Yeah, you better not touch it. You were a little bruised when you crashed." The older one said as he looked Keith over with his red eyes, "Mom will patch you up once she's done with your friend."

Friend?

"She's pretty!" the younger one said in a dreamy voice. The iguana thing stuck its red tongue over the boy's surprisingly human looking hands and the boy lightly stroked its head in return.

"You guys took a harsh fall." The older once said and Keith turned his attention back to those red eyes. "You were mostly fine because of your armor but your friend only had a helmet on. Was practically dying when we found you two. Plus, its freezing and she was wearing a really light hospital gown."

Her?

Keith's eyes widened. That's right, they'd found Lance! The blood drained from his face as he recalled the previous events. Finding Lance. Fighting those Galra and those druids. Lance waking up. The ship beginning to fall and then Keith stuffing both himself and his fiancée inside the steel coffin in an effort to protect themselves as the ship began to fall on that white-ish planet below them.

Keith scrambled off the bed, almost tripping on the light blue blankets in his haste and gripped the little boys shoulders and shook him. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"Hey, watch it!" the older one all but growled as he pried Keith's arms from the younger one. "Don't manhandle my little brother!"

Keith turned his attention to him; his lips curled in a sneer, ready to punch him in the face before the older male cat put his younger brother behind him and turned to Keith, "She's just down the hall-"

Keith didn't wait to hear the rest. He ran out of the room.

Now that he was fully awake, he could smell her. He could never forget how Lance smelled, she was near. There was a wooden door just ahead of him and in his hurried state he all but broke the door as he skidded to a stop in a white tile room.

There was a startled scream to the right of the room and Keith whipped his head to see a middle-aged cat woman with dark brown fur, long black hair, pointy cat ears at the top of her head, and wearing a long sleeved red dress with a white apron tied around her very pregnant stomach. The woman was sitting on a stool where her upper body was slightly bent towards a bathtub.

"You shouldn't be moving around like that!" the woman scolded as she regarded him in worry. "You might have a concussion! Let me finish with your friend and then I'll patch you up."

Keith clenched his fists and took a menacing step forward. Sure she looked friendly enough, but he'd learned not to let his guard down.

"Where's my friend?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

The woman brought her human looking arms up in a placating manner to show him she meant no harm and opened her mouth to answer him when a familiar voice spoke first.

"K-keith?"

Heart hammering wildly in his chest, he walked the last few feet to the bathtub in a daze and took a sharp breath. Submerged up to her neck in green water was a shaking Lance. She looked deathly pale, her lips looked blue and she couldn't seem to stop shaking. Her now long hair mostly immersed by the green water. She still had that black tiara thing with a black crystal embedded in the center that the Galra guard had put on her before he slapped her.

There were no sounds, no words in him as he made eye contact with Lance. Her arms held bluish bruises but she was alive. She was here. It hadn't been a dream. He'd found his fiancée.

Keith's vision burned and blurred.

His face crumpled.

"I d-din't r-realize I looked that b-bad," Lance jokingly stuttered, her voice shaky.

The woman sitting on the stool looked between them both before declaring that she was going to start heating up some soup and shortly left both paladins to themselves.

The slightly cracked door closed with a click behind her and the Amazon turned her attention to him.

"C-correct me if I'm w-wrong," Lance said as she eyed him, "But y-you look l-like you c-could use a hug."

Keith was quiet for a minute.

Did he want a hug? He… _kind_ of did. Like a _lot_. He'd never been much of a hugger, only the occasional hug from Shiro or those group hugs that Hunk pulled him and everyone else into but those he hardly participated in.

The past few months without Lance had been brutal. It was like another part of himself was missing and he couldn't quite function well without it. He'd refused to allow himself to cry or give in to his sadness. He'd somehow found the strength to get up every morning and go through the daily motions before going to look for Lance in Red.

Shiro and the others had asked him if he wanted to talk but he'd all but ran from them or brushed them off. But now…

Now, Lance was here. She was back and all the emotions that he'd kept locked up deep inside were beginning to surge free.

Keith cleared his throat and gave a quick sharp nod.

And then Keith found himself enthusiastically wrapped up in Lance's arms. Water dripped from her arms and onto his back but he didn't care. Lance was warm, and solid, and he couldn't help himself.

He pressed his face onto Lance's naked shoulder and held her body tightly as if clinging for dear life. And if a few tears escaped from the both of them neither said a thing.

"I missed you Keith," Lance said, her voice raw with emotion. She was still shaking but it had lessened a fraction. Lance put a hand on the back of Keith's neck, running her fingers through his black hair. The gentle touch made him shiver.

"I missed you too, Princess Leah."

Lance managed a choked laugh and Keith inwardly grinned.

Keith didn't like relying on others, but Lance smelled like raspberries, vanilla, and _home._ For the first time in a very long time, Keith felt like he could finally breath properly.

He could feel the steady beat of her heart thrumming wildly against his chest. It was nice. Comforting.

It was very strange not to have her mind linked with his. Not to know her every thought. They'll have to fix that; perhaps they could get another mood bracelet from Cloyetera.

Lance's hand went up to his head, the shackles on her wrists evident as she brought her hands upward and he hissed when she found that spot that hurt. Mumbling an apology, she continued her trek up his hair and made a surprised noise.

Brows furrowed, he pulled back to see her gazing at the top of his head with a bit of awe and a whole lot of delight.

"What is it?"

Lance tightened her lips in an effort not to laugh and reached forward to pull at something on his head. Whatever it was that she pulled had him yelping in surprise. That only made her laugh.

"You have ears!" she declared with a toothy grin.

He had what?

"Let me touch them!" she insisted as she lurched forward, not caring in the least that she was naked. "You promised!"

Keith averted his eyes; he'd forgotten how god damn attractive Lance was. As much as he wanted to see more, he was more interested about the motherfucking ears she claimed that he had.

It was a joke right?

Only one way to find out.

Swallowing, he tentatively reached a hand to the top of his head and almost screamed. Holy fuck. Those felt like ears. Those were definitely honest to god, soft as fuck ears on his head.

"They're so cute!" Lance gushed with stars in her eyes. "Let me touch them!"

Looking around frantically, Keith spotted a mirror above a sink and all but sprinted towards it, he almost tripped in his haste plus he was wearing socks so that was bound to make him fall. Heart beating wildly in his chest Keith looked up at his reflection and almost had a heart attack. Standing at the top of his head were two purple furry ears. They were twitching frantically because of his mood.

What. The. Fuck.

Lance was right, the ears were beyond cute. Like, adorable status, like a newborn puppy opened his eyes for the first time level of adorable.

He literally wanted the ground to swallow him whole. This was embarrassing!

How the hell had this happened? And holy crap. Where were his human ears?

Gone.

They were gone.

What the fuck?

 _Oh my god. My human ears are gone and I now have cute purple ears at the top of my head. How the hell did this happen?_

While he was having a crisis he could still hear Lance's whining back in the bathtub before she huffed and suddenly she was standing in front of him in all her naked glory.

A puddle was forming at the bottom of her feet but Lance didn't seem to care.

What a rude host.

Lips formed in a pout, Lance put both hands on her hips and stomped her feet like a toddler demanding he give her back her toy. "Relax Keith."

Relax?

His ears were gone only to be replaced with purple furry ears and Lance was telling him to relax? Was she right in the head? This was no time to relax! This was the time to be screaming at the top of his lungs, this was the time to be having a heart attack, this was the time to call an adult, preferably Kolivan; it was definitely not time to _relax_.

Lance flicked his forehead and he let out a yelp, his hands flying to cover his forehead with a scowl on his face. She probably thought it'd been light, but it wasn't. He could already feel a bruise forming.

"You probably forgot to take your suppressant pills." Lance said when he turned blazing blue-gray eyes to her. "You can make them go away if you concentrate hard enough."

Keith blinked.

Really?

It was that simple?

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate when Lance flicked his forehead again.

"What the fuck Lance?"

"You promised I'd get to touch them!" she insisted with a pout.

Well, okay yeah he kind of had. He just never thought he'd actually pop Galra ears one day. Oh god. What if he got a tail too?

He shook his head. Nope. Going to stop thinking about that.

"P-put some clothes on!" he scolded her instead.

"There's nothing for me to cover myself," Lance said with a wave of her hand. "Now let me touch them!"

Lance made a grab at them and Keith screeched and bolted to the other side of the room. His new ears were sensitive! Lance narrowed her blue eyes, her stance became predatory and Keith audibly swallowed. That look was way too hot.

"Lance, no."

"Lance, yes!"

Letting out a battle cry, Lance pounced and then Keith was suddenly screaming. They fell in a tangled heap on the floor, kicking and pushing at each other. Keith's palm slammed against Lance's face in an attempt to get her away and squished her cheeks together in the process.

"Mierda!" Lance cursed as she squirmed under Keith's hands before letting out several more Spanish curses that he didn't recognize.

"Language young lady," Keith scolded with a laugh.

Lance let out a frustrated noise before her eyes turned challenging and Keith knew he was going to lose. In a move so fast that he couldn't see, Lance flipped their positions until he was under her and began to tickle him.

No fair!

Keith couldn't take it anymore and he threw his head back and let out a mighty laugh that had Lance laughing wildly.

However, it all came to a halt when the bathroom door opened and there stood the middle-aged pregnant cat lady looking quite scandalized. The woman's ears and cheeks turned bright red and she averted her eyes. "Do you guys have protection at least?"

Keith blanched.

"You youngsters have so much energy. Is there anything I can bring you? A light snack?"

Was this lady serious?

Lance scrambled off him with a screech and covered her assets, "It's not what you think!"

Chest heaving violently, Keith could feel warmth heating his cheeks, his heart screaming at him to get more air.

The woman giggled and Keith groaned, "I'll just leave these for you here. Take your time. Although, if you could be a little quieter that would be great. I have an eight year old after all."

The woman left a bundle of clothes on the toilet seat, looked at both paladins one more time with a suppressed giggle, and closed the door behind her.

As soon as her footsteps faded, Lance crumpled to the floor in a fit of laughter. "Did you see her face? Oh my god!"

Keith felt his mouth twitch upward and he found himself joining her. It _was_ pretty funny. Mortifying but funny. At least he'd been wearing clothes though. He grimaced, clothes that were suddenly drenched thanks to Lance.

He eyed the bathtub. It still looked pretty hot. Oh well, screw it.

He glanced back at Lance, her skin still looked a bit pale but at least her lips weren't blue anymore.

"Come on, I'll let you touch my ears if you get in the bath with me." Keith said as a compromise.

There was as splash to his right and Keith whipped his head to see Lance already submerged in the green water. How the fuck…

She made a beckoning motion with her finger and Keith fondly rolled his eyes and discarded his clothes on the floor before climbing in after her. Lance followed his moves closely, her yes practically devouring him. Keith inwardly grinned and added a swagger to his hips, snickering when Lance released a strangled sound.

The bath was made of marble and ornate golden carvings, a tub that looked more like a pool, bubbling and hissing, pouring the aroma of raspberries into the air.

As soon as he was in and the water reached his neck Lance crawled over to him and touched his ears. Keith stiffened and Lance made her touch gentler. That felt…really good.

The water was so hot he immediately relaxed.

Closing his eyes he settled back against the tile and allowed Lance to finish her ministrations. Her hands moved to his skull where she began to scratch him lightly and Keith purred.

Wait what?

His eyes snapped open and the sound was immediately cut off.

Lance looked like Christmas had come early. Her eyes were shining, her mouth set in a smile so wide that it had to hurt, as she reached forward to scratch him again. Keith was too dumbstruck to stop her and soon enough her fingers were lightly scratching him. To his horror, the purring resumed against his will.

Lance squealed in delight however, and Keith's horrified look was replaced by a soft smile in her direction. Fine, he'll keep the ears and the purring for just a little longer. If only to see Lance looking this happy again. It'd been a while since they'd seen each other after all.

Letting out a way too dramatic sigh, Keith continued his purring, even going so far as to increase the volume of said purring.

And watching Lance squeal and laugh made it all worth it.

* * *

Almost three months. That's how long Lance had been sleeping. It was surreal, waking up and finding out that months had passed since that day Lance put herself to sleep to get away from Haggar and her cronies.

She was glad that Shiro and Matt were okay and had gotten away. She bet Pidge was happy to have her big brother back, the guy was hilarious.

She didn't regret her choice. If she had the opportunity to do it all over again just to get her friends to safety and keep that old trout from taking her body, Lance would do it without hesitation.

She'd rather it be her captured and not her friends. She'd been trained all her life for all kinds of situations. Situations that she was sure her friends hadn't been trained for in the least. If they were to be captured and tortured they wouldn't be able to take it. Shiro had been captured once but even after his escape the first time, he'd look haunted. Part of his hair had turned white from all the stress! Keith wouldn't talk, mostly because he was too stubborn but she never wanted to put him in that kind of position. People like Hunk, or Pidge wouldn't last long at all.

So yes, if the situation called for it, Lance would gladly take their place instead. The only thing she regretted was the look of sorrow that was on Keith's face as he explained everyone's reactions, on how they were doing their best to find her. Keith most of all. He looked so distraught as he told her everything that had transpired since she'd disappeared. Keith should never wear that face. That face that looked like the world had ended. That was her fault. And it was the only thing she regretted.

He looked a little skinnier since she last saw him. Had he not been eating properly?

Unacceptable.

She'd make sure to make him eat everything on his plate from now on. There were other things to figure out as well. Allura was now the new pilot for the blue lion. Lance wasn't angry nor was she sad, not in the least. Allura deserved to pilot the blue lion; she'd always wanted to become a pilot for one of the lions as well. To fight against Zarkon for what he did to her home planet and her family. Something she'd confided in her during one of their sleepovers.

Allura deserved this. Lance wouldn't take that chance from her, she couldn't. It did however bring up a new question: What was she supposed to do now?

The only reason she'd joined the paladins in the first place was because she herself was a pilot for one of their lions, but now…now she wasn't. She wasn't as smart as Pidge, Hunk, or Matt when it came to technology. She could perhaps help out Coran with the castle and offer support fire but she wasn't all too sure of those controls in the castle.

She was the kind of person that would want to join the fight, not be in the sidelines while her friends battled the Galra Empire at the front lines.

Lance gnawed on her bottom lip as Keith scooped some water from a bucket and poured it down her head. She knew what she had to do, but Keith wouldn't like it. Lance herself wasn't too eager to do it either, she'd just reunited with her fiancée, she didn't want to leave.

But…she had to. Anywhere Zarkon went, Haggar would be there, casting her spells and stealing quintessence or sending more of her Robeast's after her friends. At her current level, Lance was positive that she would lose against that witch.

She had to go back home and train her powers with her mother. Discover the rest of her abilities until her mother deemed she was ready to take down that old crow.

Because Lance had just about enough of Haggar thank you very much. She was going kill that old bat; she'd pissed her off. Not to mention the fact that she'd kept Lance inside a steel coffin. Who does that? Jeez.

Lance was even afraid to go sleep thanks to that thing that called herself a woman. Who knew such a small trickle of magic could have her trembling in fear for almost three months?

Lance was afraid that if she didn't make some kind of noise at all times, Haggar's gravely voice would begin to speak to her in the recesses of her mind and she'd have a heart attack. Best not to tell Keith about her new fear.

Lance sighed, she didn't know how long her training would take her, but knowing her, it would probably take a while. Hands lightly scratched her head and Lance let out a satisfied moan, a headache had formed the minute she'd woken up.

Probably thanks to that tiara thing on her head. The shackles were back as well. Great, said no one ever.

She'll have to convince Keith to let her go once they made it back to the castle of lions. Lance had a feeling that he would say no or insist he come with her.

Both options were no good.

Oh well, hopefully she'll think of something before she dropped the big bomb, she had a feeling that if she said _Hey, I know we just saw each other for the first time in almost three months, but I need to leave the team and go back home for a while to train how to take down an evil old bat_ wouldn't go very well.

Turning around to face Keith she couldn't help but pout at the lack of purple ears at the top of his head. He'd let her touch them for a good solid five minutes before he closed his eyes and willed them to disappear.

Bummer.

She'd taken quite a liking to them too. Maybe if she were lucky, he'd make them appear once again. Perhaps even a tail!

Yes she decided. That would be frickin awesome.

"You done?" Keith asked as he swept the wet lock of hair behind an ear. Oh right, the _hair_. Lance was quite tempted to just cut it short but Keith had thrown a small fit when she mentioned it. Something along the lines of:

"No Lance."

"But its annoying!'

"It looks great."

"Like you know about great, yours looks like a combination of a mullet and an afro."

"Lance…"

"I'm cutting it."

"If you're good, I'll make the ears appear again."

"…fine."

Keith had bribed her! And she'd fallen for it!

Lance huffed; she'll get him back for it later. "Yeah, I'm done. We should get dressed and find out who those cat people are and ask them important questions!"

Keith nodded as he pulled his black damp hair behind him, "Like finding out where the hell we are and how to get in contact with Shiro and the others."

Lance nodded absently, "Yeah, but more importantly, can I touch their ears too?"

Keith groaned and he shook his head like a wet dog, effectively throwing drops of water in her face. Lance screeched but Keith only chuckled in response, as he got to his feet and out of the tub first.

"Hurry up, Princess Leah."

Lance threw a bucket at him. "Don't call me that!"

* * *

Keith was relieved to find his clothes only slightly damped when he put them back on but that would likely change with the temperature in the house. It was quite warm. Beside him, Lance was fidgeting with her white tunic and black skirt. Both were a size two big for her and she kept claiming that it was itchy. Not surprising since the owners of said clothes were cats.

She also kept fidgeting with her hair. She desperately wanted to pull it back but she had nothing on her so she just let it run down her back, her hands working out the tangles every now and then.

When the two of them finally made it downstairs it was to find the middle-aged cat lady and her two sons sitting on a wooden table with a bowl of soup in front of them. Other various plates adorned the table with different kinds of food. Keith didn't know what they were, they looked strange but the smell was intoxicating. His mouth instantly watered.

He was also pleasantly pleased when the iguana/frog thing wasn't in the room as well.

Both his Bayard and his dagger were waiting for him outside the hall when he and Lance exited the bathroom. At least that meant they weren't prisoners. Even Lance's small blue iPod that he'd stashed inside his armor was there. At least the thing hadn't been destroyed with their crash. Noticing their appearance, the woman smiled warmly, "I hope you two didn't make a mess up there. I just washed that bathroom."

Her older son choked on his soup at the implication.

The younger brother looked around in confusion, pulling at his brothers' sleeve in an attempt to get him to explain.

Lance and Keith locked eyes, both blushing a bright red. Okay, so they had kissed. Like twice. Maybe _three_ times but nothing had happened. When he and Lance decide to take that next step it certainly won't be in a house with a middle-aged pregnant cat woman and her two sons who could hear every little detail.

The woman frowned in worry, "You used protection at least?"

There was another choking sound from her oldest son and without even looking in his direction, the woman passed a glass of water to him who immediately downed it in one go.

Keith spoke first. "We didn't actually-"

"We wouldn't be rude enough-"

"I assure you there was no sex-"

"I mean, I kind of tackled him and the floor got really dirty and it was a lot of fun to mess around-"

Keith choked on his own spit. "Lance!"

The middle-aged woman chuckled as Lance looked at him in confusion, "Don't worry, I understand. I was young once too. Just make sure you use protection and make sure to eat plenty of food."

Lance straightened and beamed, "Yes ma'am!"

Keith groaned.

The woman got up from her seat and pulled out two chairs and gestured them to sit. They did. Seconds later, both he and Lance had a bowl of steaming soup in front of them. Lance's stomach growled and she nervously laughed before digging in. The little boy was looking up at her with a dreamy look, his food all but forgotten.

Keith snorted. That kid was totally smitten.

The living room looked like it had been swallowed by a rain forest. Grapevines curved up the walls and across the ceiling. It was strange, but the place still gave off this cozy feeling. Three leather couches surrounded a fireplace with a crackling fire. The walls had picture frames, family photos from what he could see.

"I haven't introduced us yet have I?" the woman said as she scratched her brown furred cheek in embarrassment. "My name is Kiyara Dossier. My oldest son is Dyron and the younger one," she pinched her younger son's cheek to get his attention, "is Mykal."

"Such interesting names," Lance said as she pushed away her empty bowl. She reached for sliced bread and took a wedge of cheese from one of the plates and shoved it into her mouth.

Kiyara giggled. "Well, in our own language my name is actually –" She made a serious of crackling and blowing noises and Keith stared. "But you can just call me Kiyara."

"My name is Keith and this is my fiancée Leah but you can just call her Lance." Keith sipped his soup as he finished the introduction and Lance offered a wave and a smile, "So where are we?"

Kiyara's face took on a somber look, "You're in the planet Zaebos. My sons found you on their way back from a hunting trip."

"There were a lot of booms!" little Mykal said with a wave of his hands. "So me and brother went to check out the closest one!"

Dyron moved his soup around with his spoon, "We thought it'd be someone to help us." He muttered bitterly. "Guess we were wrong."

Lance tilted her head, "Help you? From what?"

Dyron gnawed on his bottom lip, his tone a little angry. "From the Galra and the druids that have taken over."

Lance and he exchanged looks. Keith narrowed his eyes and leaned his forearms on the table before leaning forward, "Where are they? What exactly have they done?"

"They took our daddy," Mykal said with a sniff. Lance leaned across the table and ruffled his curly brown hair. The boy smiled at the touch and Kiyara shot her a grateful smile.

"They took all the men in the village," Kiyara continued sadly, "The Galra and the druids have been here for almost three years. For a while they had us all mining for some gray crystals that we found by accident. We don't know what they're for but the druids in particular hated them."

Dyron narrowed his red eyes, his ears standing on end. "I think those crystals affect them some way. Maybe that's why they hate them. They always did a thorough check to make sure we didn't take any with us. After a while they closed that whole cave and no one is allowed in the area anymore."

"It's after that that they took the men from the village," Kiyara continued, her hands nervously braiding her black hair. "We are not strong creatures, and we do not have many weapons, but we tried to fight back." She sighed sadly, "In retaliation they killed the family that had instigated it. The Connels. They gathered us all at the town square and made us watch. They killed everyone but the older daughter, Liya, they took her away."

Dyron pushed his empty plate away and crossed his arms over his chest, "The men in the village gave themselves away on the condition that they leave the rest of the villagers away. Since our father was the town medic, they allowed him to stay but about three months ago two Galra soldiers and a druid came for him."

"And you haven't seen him since then?" Lance asked quietly.

Dyron shook his head and mumbled something under his breath and grabbed a bread knife, spearing a slice with a little too much force. Keith wondered if he was visualizing the Galra soldiers or the druids with all that anger he was showing.

"Why haven't you called for help? Or sent a distress signal?" Keith questioned out loud and took the offered bread from Lance and bit into it.

"The Galra took out all forms of communication from us. They took our net screens, destroyed our tower that sends out signals and pretty much everything else that would be able to send out a message. They even put a particle barrier around the small planet so no ships are able to enter." Kiyara replied sadly.

"Unless you crash apparently." Lance muttered darkly under her breath.

"The Galra and the druids built a spiral tower a days away from the town where they hold the only form of communication. They built their own tower with its own unique form of communicating." Kiyara added.

Lance and Keith shared a look. That's where they'd have to go if they wanted to contact Shiro and the others then.

"We were hoping to get in contact with the people of Voltron," Dyron whispered in awe. Keith and Lance straightened in their seats. "I've heard some Galra soldiers talking about it and how they've been fighting the Galra and _winning_."

Lance shot Keith a proud grin and he bit the inside of his cheek. His memory over the last few months was a blurry mess. Most of his thoughts were spent in figuring out where Lance was and looking for her. They had saved quite a few planets along with Kolivan and his men but he didn't remember much, as soon as they were done he would board Red and go back out there to look for Lance.

"Well you're in luck." Lance said as she swung and arm around Keith's shoulders and gave it a squeeze. "The red and blue paladins are here to help."

The Dossiers looked up in surprise and Dyron narrowed his red eyes and slammed a fist on the table, his ears going flat. "This is no time for jokes!"

Keith frowned and turned to him, opening his mouth.

Lance suddenly tensed in her seat and a second later he understood why.

There was a roar that half deafened him, and the Dossiers screamed as snow burst into the room and an enormous, growling metal shape appeared in the doorway. Two Galra soldiers appeared beside it, their arms on their gun blasters.

* * *

Lance didn't know how the butter knife had gotten into her hand. The first few seconds were a blur of the snarling metal wolf, the shrieking of the Dossier family, the blistering cold cascading into the room, and Keith launching to his feet, Bayard already transformed into a sword.

This metal wolf was larger than the ones she'd seen when they rescued Slav from the Beta Traz prison all those months ago. This one was all sharp edges. Black instead of gray. As tall as Shadow, the size of a horse. Three metal claws protruded from its paws, those things looked deadly. Its red eyes were watching them closely, as if daring them to move.

The Amazon princess didn't feel like becoming the world's biggest biscuit anytime soon so she stayed still. Lance had seen her brothers play _Metal Gear_ and this wolf had the striking resemblance of _Blade_ _Wolf._ Lance was really starting to regret not paying more attention to her brothers when they played that game. Perhaps there had been mention of a weakness in there.

Bummer.

Its metal tail was thin but it kept sparking at the tip. Lance would be fine getting electrocuted; it wouldn't have much of an affect on her. The others though…

She and Keith somehow found themselves standing in front of the Dossiers who had huddled together. Kiyara was holding little Mykal close to her while Dyron stood in front of them protectively, his legs were shaking but he held his ground. Lance had to give him props.

The two Galra walked further into the room and checked something on a net screen before exchanging a look and nodding.

"You are to come with us blue paladin," said one of the Galra soldiers in a deep voice. Both Galra were wearing heavy black coats, furred boots and purple gloves. The one who had spoken had his silver hair loose minus the few strands that were braided. His eyebrows were curved and thin, Lance was kind of jealous. She desperately wanted to wax her eyebrows. "We have orders to bring you to the master druid. Now come and we'll leave your companions behind." The way he said companions with a sneer made her highly doubt that.

Stupidly, she took a step forward, keeping the table between them and snatched another butter knife from the table. Her weapons of choice kind of sucked but it would have to do.

The wolf snarled menacingly and lowered its upper body, ready to spring if the need called for it.

"The fuck she is!" Keith snarled as he raised his sword. "She's not going anywhere with you fuckers!"

The metal wolf bellowed in response, and the entire house shook, the plates and cups on the table rattling against one another. Mykal whimpered in his mother's arms.

"Mrs. Dossier, good to see you again." The second Galra soldier said pleasantly. This one was tall and lean, a purple tail with silver edges swishing behind him. He looked older than his companion. He had two red markings going down from each eye, and light purple stubble growing on his chin. He clicked his tongue in displeasure. "Harboring fugitives is a crime you know. Especially _two_ pilots of Voltrons."

Dyron sucked in a sharp breath.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be punished." He continued with a smug grin, his yellow eyes looking jubilant. "Perhaps we'll take one of your sons this time. I'm sure the younger one would last much longer than your husband."

Kiyara made a choking sound at the mention of her husband and cradled little Mykal closer to her. The poor boy was trembling, a few tears cascading down his cheeks. Kiyara's whole body was shaking as well and she looked on the verge of tears but she held the Galra's stare and glared with all her might.

"You will not." She snapped, her voice strong.

The two Galra soldiers only laughed but they left their necks exposed and Lance had just about enough of their crummy attitude anyway. She hurled the butter knife at the older one and watched in satisfaction as the knife lodged itself in the Galra's throat.

The older Galra made a choking sound, his hands going to his throat to stop the bleeding but it was no use. He was bleeding out fast. His companion roared and raised his gun blaster but Keith was suddenly there, knocking the gun from his hands and intercepting him with his Bayard. The Galra took out a curved dagger and met Keith's attack blow for blow.

The metal wolf snarled and turned to leap at her fiancée but Lance threw a plate at it and it turned its red glowing eyes to her. The creature stalked toward her. Its claws thudded as they embedded in the wood, one by one.

The Galra that Keith was fighting screamed in a shrill voice -maybe ordering the metal wolf to defend him, maybe trying to sing soprano – but Keith put a stop to it with another swing of his sword.

Lance turned her head slightly to the left so she could see Dyron, "Get your family away from here. Go hide upstairs, and lock yourselves in a closet!"

Dyron protested. "But-"

"Now!" she snapped. "Your family needs you! Keith and I can't afford to get distracted, now go!"

Dyron clenched his jaw but nodded once and turned to his mother and brother and began to usher them upstairs.

The metal wolf set a paw on the table, and it thudded beneath him. At least it wasn't going after the Dossiers she thought with relief. Looks like the wolf had some kind of manners after all.

Once Dyron and his family's footsteps faded upstairs the wolf launched itself at her. Its growl was loud and vicious. The thing threw her to the floor and she barely had time to fling her arms upwards and stop its jaws from embedding themselves in her neck.

Heavy. This thing was seriously heavy.

The wolf's metal jaw made a creaking sound and suddenly its tail wrapped around her right wrist and sparked shots of electricity. It didn't faze her. The wolf made a sound in the back of its throat. If Lance didn't know any better, she'd say that it was confused.

But that couldn't be true, it was a robot.

"Get the fuck off her!" Keith shouted in rage and suddenly the metal wolf was thrown to its side, away from her. He must have taken care of the other Galra soldier. Lance scrambled to her feet beside Keith and watched as the wolf shook its head and righted itself immediately.

Keith handed her his dagger, it wouldn't activate because she wasn't part Galra but it was certainly better than a butter knife. The metal wolf flexed its long talons and gnashed its metal teeth and lunged for Keith.

The red paladin ducked and lashed out with his Bayard and raked his sword across the metal wolfs belly. It hardly made a dent. Lance kicked at its head and tried to stab its eye but the thing threw a paw out and Lance was thrown across the room where she landed hard, a few family photos dropped to the floor where the glass broke.

Her head throbbed and she felt something warm trickling down the side of her face. Was that blood?

Okay, this wolf had to _go_.

Keith screamed her name and the metal wolf howled and raked its talons across Keith's chest, tearing his shirt and the pale skin underneath. Blood flowed.

Keith hissed and backpedaled towards the table and grabbed one of the high-backed chairs. With a roar, he lifted the chair and brought it down hard on the metal wolf's head. The chair shattered, and the wolf went down.

Catching her breath, Lance got to her feet, gripped the table and swung it down on the creatures' head. The metal wolf shook its head, obviously reeling from both blows. It roared loudly and lunged for them both.

Lance and Keith rolled in opposite directions.

The wolf looked at them both before rushing at her. Lucky her.

Scrambling for any kind of weapon she picked something up and lifted high in the air before throwing it at the wolf. What Lance had thrown was a piece of slice bread. The metal wolf looked at her like she was an idiot. She certainly _felt_ like one at the moment.

The metal wolf ran towards her once again.

Gripping the table once again, Lance lifted it high and swung it like a baseball bat. The metal wolf was thrown across the room with a deafening crash. Keith ran toward the two dead Galra soldiers on the floor and tossed Lance their gun blasters before he looked through their coats and pulled out what looked to be a stun gun.

As the metal wolf began to get to its feet again, Keith rammed the Taser into the metal wolfs neck and fired. Electricity surged through it, and the metal wolf was shocked backward, slammed into the wall where more family photos dropped, and lay still.

Lance shared a look with a panting Keith. "Is it dead yet?"

He was gingerly touching the back of his head, and she saw that there was blood on his fingers from his previous injuries. She'll have to bandage him up later, the same for his chest where the metal wolf had scratched him.

Keith cautiously walked over to the still wolf and poked it with his boot. The thing didn't move. Feeling bolder, he stepped closer and suddenly the metal wolf wrapped its tail around Keith's leg and released a spurt of electricity.

Keith shuddered and yelped. Lance brought out the gun blasters and began to open fire on the things face. The thing howled in pain and swung Keith around with its tail before throwing him at her where she collapsed with him on top of her. Keith's whole body was twitching and he was gritting his teeth in an effort to stop but it wasn't doing much good.

The thing sprang towards them once again and Lance covered Keith with her body in an attempt to protect him when Kiyara and Dyron suddenly appeared beside them, both of them holding one side of the handles from the giant pot they were holding.

With a roar, mother and son threw the pots contents at the wolf. The thing shuddered and electrocuted itself before throwing a paw out and threw Kiyara and Dyron to the floor.

Dyron screamed his mothers name and crawled over to check on her. Keith's body had mostly stopped its twitching as he grunted and shakily got to his feet.

The metal wolf was twitching, sparks shooting out from its head. Lance launched herself at the things back and clamped her hands around its neck. The thing buckled but Lance held firm as she began to dislocate its neck.

That only made it angrier. Lance kept twisting and pulling, "Now Keith!"

Keith ran toward them, raised his sword high, and snapped the metal wolfs head clean off its body. The metal body went limp and crashed to the floor with a thud, Lance on top of it.

She threw a half-hearted fist in the air. "We did it. Yay."

Keith managed a small smile and offered her a hand that she gratefully took to get to her feet. "You're bleeding," he said as he wiped some blood from her temple.

"So are you." She said with a wince as she glanced at his chest.

"Somebody help!" Dyron frantically shouted. The teenager was bent over his collapsed mother. Lance's eyes widened, there was a puddle of water near her. Had her water broken?

Forgetting their own injuries, she and Keith rushed over to check up on them. Kiyara had a gash on her temple, red blood running down the aide of her cheek but she was still conscious, crying softly in pain. Dyron looked mostly fine, only a bruise on his chin.

"The baby is coming!" Kiyara screamed. Everyone blanched.

Oh crap.

Where was another adult when they needed one?

Keith and Dyron looked around in a panic and Mrs. Dossier let out a scream.

Lance took a deep breath and took action. Someone had to.

"Okay listen up!" Dyron and Keith turned to her immediately. "I need you two to take Mrs. Dossier to another room. Preferably somewhere clean where there are no dead bodies."

"Ha! You're funny." Kiyara said deliriously.

Lance lightly slapped her cheek to make sure she didn't lose consciousness. "Mrs. Dossier, I'm talking don't interrupt."

Kiyara lightly chuckled and Lance turned to the still gaping boys and snapped her fingers at them. "Now!"

That got them moving. As gently as they could both of them took hold of an arm and began to exit the room. Lance ran upstairs where she collided with Mykal who was coming out of his room. She pulled him to his feet before cradling him to her chest. "Is it over?" he meekly asked. The tears he'd previously shed had all but dried at this point which was good because she didn't like seeing kids cry. It made her chest hurt.

"Yeah, it's over. We took care of it." She assured him before bringing his head back to her chest as she climbed down the stairs and led him to the room that Keith and Dyron had taken Mrs. Dossier to. She made sure Mykal didn't see any of the bodies splayed around the living room.

The room Keith and Dyron had chosen looked like the inside of an exam room in any hospital. Medical tools rested on tables. Cabinets were filled with all types of medications. Mrs. Dossier was prepped on a Gyn Exam table, her legs already spread as she moaned and writhed on the table.

Mykal poked his head out to see what the big fuss was about and Lance lowered her face to his. "You're mom is going to deliver your new sibling. Can you be brave for her and not panic while she does that?"

Mykal sniffed but his red eyes narrowed in determination. He nodded. Good.

She set him on the floor and he scurried over to his mother. Lance turned her attention to Keith and Dyron who were looking lost. That wouldn't do.

"I need blankets, a bucket of hot water, towels, and some more lights. A flashlight would be good."

Dyron nodded quickly and left the room with Keith in tow. The red paladin gave her shoulder a squeeze; he looked strained and a little pale but was doing a great job at not losing his cool before following after the other teenager.

Lance briskly walked over to Mrs. Dossier and wiped the blood from her temple with one of the cloths around the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm about to have a baby." Mrs. Dossier said between contraptions. Lance smiled weakly and pulled a few black strands of hair away from her clammy forehead. "Oh gosh. Daario was supposed to be here for this." She moaned as she gripped the bed sheets. "He'd been looking forward to delivering our child but now-" she choked and her voice cracked. "He's probably gone."

Lance shushed her and gripped one of her furred hands with her own. "We don't know that. That Galra may have just said that to hurt you. If he's out there, Keith and me will find him. I promise."

Mrs. Dossier gave her a wobbly smile and wiped a curly brown lock from Mykal's face when he popped up beside her by climbing on top of a chair.

Keith and Dyron returned to the room with the items she needed and Lance told them where to set up the things. Keith spread out one of the blankets on a small table located in the corner of the room while Dyron placed a lamp beside it and turned the light on.

They placed the bucket of hot water next to it before wheeling in a big circular light that she'd seen doctors' use and placed it next to Mrs. Dossier's legs.

Once everything was all set up, all eyes turned to her and Lance tried not to flinch. She'd never delivered a baby before. She'd read books about it but never actually participated in helping with the process. She knew how to sew a wound. How to mend bone. She knew the deepest intricacies of flesh and blood, and yet she did not know how to deliver a baby. She desperately missed her powers; not like they would be able to help her out in this situation though.

Lance froze.

In one swift motion Keith had both of his hands at Lance's face, squishing her cheeks together so she looked like a gaping fish. Her blue eyes widened and Keith squished her cheeks in a little softer, but kept his hands there. She didn't say anything, just stared at him expectantly.

For a moment there was silence, and then Keith spoke, his voice heavy and deep.

"You can do this."

Lance moved to protest, Keith had way too much confidence in her, but Keith narrowed his blue-gray eyes and squished her cheeks harder.

"You can do this." He repeated. "I know you didn't finish all your training when it came to heling but I know you Lance. You're capable of doing anything when you put your mind to it. You had doubts about being able to read peoples minds with your powers but hey, guess what? You did it and soon enough you were snooping around everyone's minds, even Coran who you instantly regretted because he was thinking of which speedo to get for when we went on vacation." Lance weakly laughed at that. "You wanted to know more about hand-to-hand combat and you learned. Hell, you might be better than me by now. You were able to make a shield around your body and put yourself to sleep, something you doubted you could pull off. Guess what? You made it happen. You can do this. I'll be right here if you need me. I won't leave you alone."

For some reason, those words raised a lump in her throat. The words were meant to be reassuring, so why did she feel the urge to cry?

Instead, she lifted both hands up and squished Keith's cheeks together so they could match. God, she loved this man. "Don't let me freak out." She said as best she could as Keith still held her cheeks together.

Keith tried to smile but with Lance squishing his cheeks together he looked darn ridiculous. She laughed and Keith's hands fell from Lance's cheeks and to his sides. She hugged him tightly, so much that she feared she might break his bones but Keith didn't protest, if anything he hugged her just as tightly.

She stepped back and after thoroughly cleaning her hands all the way up to her elbows she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and allowed herself to let out all her self-doubt in the privacy of her own mind for the next five seconds. She couldn't afford to lose her composure for the next part. When she opened her eyes, she was ready.

"Okay." She said firmly. "Let's deliver a baby."

* * *

Lance was amazing Keith thought as Mrs. Dossier squeezed his hand with the strength of a thousand mothers and he nearly cursed out loud at the grating feeling in his bones. Across from him, Dyron who was holding his mothers other hand looked like he desperately wanted bash his head in. The teenager was harshly biting his lower lip, his tail standing on end.

Mykal who had stepped on a chair wiped some sweat from Lance's forehead with a cloth where he was 'helping her out' by wiping the sweat off her and throwing out cheery compliments. It did little to assuage the problem considering that the sweat appeared just as quickly. Lance seemed to take some kind of comfort in the little boy's presence though and Keith liked the boy a little more for that.

Lance had already pushed back Mrs. Dossier's red dress as far back as it was capable and was getting her ready. She kept throwing out encouraging words to the woman whenever she had a strong contraction. The light from the moveable light was on full brightness so Lance could see…err down there.

Lance's dark brown hair had been tied into a tight bun so it would not constrict her vision. She'd hastily wiped the blood from her temple; a few smudges remained though they had already dried.

She gave Mrs. Dossier a stern look but said kindly, "Kiyara, you have to breathe. Your contractions are nearly two minutes apart. When I tell you to push, you have to push." Mrs. Dossier shakily nodded and tried to calm her wildly beating heart. Keith squeezed her hand and she sent him a grateful smile. When Lance deemed that her breathing was better she spoke again. "On the count of three: One, two, three!"

Mrs. Dossier screamed and pushed with all her might. Her face seemed to lose all blood and Keith idly wondered if that was normal.

"You can do it Mama!" Mykal cheered from his position, his curly brown locks swaying with the motion. "Go Lance go!"

"Come on mom, you got this." Dyron said encouragingly, he placed his other hand on top of the one holding his mothers hand and squeezed.

"Lance?" Keith questioned. "You doing okay?"

Lance sent him a shaky thumps-up.

Mrs. Dossier screamed, her whole body trembling and she let out a few creative words out in another language as she continued to push. "You're doing great!" Lance encouraged. "I can already see the head!"

"Barely?" Mrs. Dossier squeaked. Lance urged her to continue to push and Keith felt that his arm was going to be snapped off with the overwhelming pressure that Mrs. Dossier was pulling at his hand.

Mrs. Dossier began to sob from the pain and Lance said something that had her weakly laughing before the woman's face contorted in pain once again and she let out another blood curling scream.

The image of the baby's head trying to pass through such a small opening paired with the agonized cries of the birthing mother almost did Keith in. His world began to turn grey around the edges, and his breathing became shallow and fast.

Oh god. Don't let me faint.

Lance glanced at him from where she knelt and frowned. "You better not faint on me Keith. And if we ever have a baby of our own and you _do_ faint I won't let you forget it."

Keith's face turned warm. The thought of him and Lance having a baby made his heart constrict in fear, mostly because he couldn't see himself as a father. He didn't think he'd be a good one. But at the same time, the thought of him and Lance starting a family of their own one-day made him deliriously happy.

Keith's breathing evened out and he closed his eyes and counted to ten. Mrs. Dossier screamed once again and suddenly another shrill cry overlapped with hers and Keith's eyes snapped open. Mykal had gotten down from his chair and hastily handed Lance one of the towels. Lance who was holding a small kitten with light brown fur all over its body and a small patch of dark brown hair beside its little ears. Its little tail was wrapped around its body.

Lance somehow convinced him into cutting the umbilical cord. Keith had protested and insisted that Dyron should do it but the boy looked like he would throw up at any second.

While the feeling of cutting the cord was somewhat unnerving as fuck, the wonder of having witnessed the beginning of a new life was amazing. Keith was grinning from ear to ear from not fainting and watched as Lance gently toweled off the newborn baby before wrapping him in one of the clean blankets and handed it over to Mrs. Dossier who was undoubtedly tired. Her eyes were outlined by shadows and her body seemed frail and sickly.

"Congratulations Mrs. Dossier, it's a girl." Lance said with a smile as she handed over the baby to her mother.

Mrs. Dossiers tired eyes lit up and she eagerly took the bundled baby and gently rocked her. Keith and the others surrounded her and watched in fascination. Dyron and Mykal made cooing noises at their new baby sister. "Hey there." Mrs. Dossier said, her voice slightly rough from all the screaming. "Welcome to the world little Leah."

Lance startled and she looked at the woman with wide eyes. "Are you sure? There are so many other options-"

Mrs. Dossier shook her head and smiled warmly at her. "Yes, but none of those seem right. Leah sounds like a strong name for a girl, don't you think?" Lance seemed at a loss for words, she looked like she wanted to cry. "Do you want to hold her?"

Lance swallowed and cautiously took the precious baby and gently rocked her. The sight of seeing Lance holding a baby brought a strange feeling to Keith's chest. The baby made a cute little noise and Lance weakly laughed before she handed little Leah back to her mother.

As soon as she did, Lance crumbled to her knees, as all the adrenaline seemed to seep from her. Keith immediately knelt by her side and noticed that she was trembling.

"Lance?" he asked worriedly, one hand on her shaking shoulder as she tried to even out her breathing. After a few seconds she looked up at him with a tired but proud smile.

"I did it." She whispered in awe. "I delivered a baby."

Keith grinned and brought a hand around her shoulder to pull her close to him before kissing her sweaty temple. "Yeah you did. I told you, you're a badass."

Lance laughed into his chest and lightly punched him. "Language."

Keith only laughed heartily in return.

* * *

It had been about fifteen minutes since the ship Keith and Lance were in had disappeared inside that white-ish planet. Shiro had seen the outer shield surrounding the ship before it disappeared, probably Lance's doing since Keith couldn't understand the Galra language yet, so they would probably be fine.

The other battlecruisers had not been so lucky. Some had blown up before they even reached the planet. What worried Shiro at the moment were Lotor and his generals. He'd seen the escape pods that exited his ship, all five pods fell towards the white planet in different locations but the pods had not burned up on the way there.

Shiro and the others had tried entering the planet but something wouldn't give them entry. Coran and Matt said it was some kind of particle barrier that was currently surrounding the whole planet.

Pidge had been both pissed and impressed at the fact that the planets inhabitants had managed that little stunt but Shiro was mostly irritated.

His friends needed their help and they wouldn't be able to offer any aid because of some stupid barrier. A purple beam of light headed right towards the Black lion that he was piloting and he barely avoided getting his ass handed to him by being distracted with his thoughts.

Right.

The two Robeast were still trying to kill them. What the hell?

These things were a lot stronger than the previous ones they had fought. These had extra robotic limbs and two crystal shields. One at the back and one at the front.

Those shields were annoying as fuck.

They were like boomerangs. One of the Robeast had thrown one at the castle of lions. Coran and the others had easily avoided the attack but they didn't foresee the thing making a turn and hitting them head on before returning to its owner.

Matt said the particle barrier around the castle wasn't going to last much longer, at most it could take two more hits from those crystal shields before they lost power.

What's worse was that they couldn't form Voltron to take care of the Robeast's because they were missing Keith.

Hunk had already thrown up inside his lion. Shiro winced; Coran was not going to be happy about that.

" _I can't believe how strong these new Robeast's that Haggar made are. What a cunt!" Pidge exclaimed from Shiro's screen where he had a clear view of all his teammates._

Shiro blanched, while Hunk shrieked. _"Pidge! Language!" clutching his chest like a scandalized old lady._

" _Somebody hit her for me!" Matt screamed through the comms._

" _What's a cunt?" Allura asked curiously, her blue eyes innocently wide._

Shiro was not answering that. Keith was probably to blame for this new word, Pidge tended to repeat all the curse words that the red paladin said in a daily basis.

Shiro was going to give his adoptive little brother a stern talking to when he saw him again.

" _What? It's true, you're all thinking it!" Pidge retorted, and she looked stubbornly bull-headed that no one else was agreeing with her._

Okay maybe, but not in those exact terms.

From his position he could see the two Robeast charging up for another attack. Shiro and the others were huddled together. He drummed his fingers over the controls and he bit his lower lip.

What to do?

" _Paladins!" Coran shouted over the comms, "Another ship is fast approaching!"_

Shiro narrowed his black eyes. "Are they friendly?"

 _The castle advisor shrugged helplessly in his screen. "I'm not sure. They're not responding to our message."_

Awesome.

Just what they needed.

A headache had already formed at the back of his head and he groaned. Shiro just wanted to lie on the couch and watch a movie with Allura while he ate the last stash of mac and cheese that he had hidden from the others and not worry about anything for a while.

He desperately needed a vacation.

" _It's here!"_ Hunk cried. " _Should we attack it?_ "

Shiro turned to his screen to get a better visual at the new. It looked like one of those warships. It was a large spacecraft, not as big as the castle of lions though, it was a royal blue in color and accented with lighter colors.

From what he could see, the ship had a panoramic view of the outside environment. That was probably the bridge.

The ship headed right for the Robeast and Shiro and the others watched as a cannon appeared at the top of the ship. The thing looked like a claw as it gathered blue energy and fired.

The shot headed straight towards the Robeast's and he and the rest of his friends watched as the shot suddenly turned to five shots and surrounded the two Robeast's on both sides and formed a blue square shield.

The Robeast's purple eyes dimmed and they slumped forward where they lay motionless in space.

Shiro gaped.

" _What the fuck just happened?" Pidge exclaimed._

Shiro didn't bother scolding her for the use in language.

There was a beeping sound from the corner of his screen. A message. Shiro hesitated for a second before he clenched his jaw and pressed the button to accept the call.

" _What the heck are you guys doing? Go destroy them!" a woman screamed at him._

Shiro straightened in his chair. That voice was very familiar, where had he heard it before?

Another voice joined the familiar woman's voice in Spanish. This time it was a male. " _No entienden o que?"_

" _Hello? This is Shiro right?" the woman asked._

Shiro found his voice. "Yes. Who is this?"

The woman on the line snorted and Shiro's brows went up. He definitely remembered that snort. _"I don't see you all for a few months and already you forget the most beautiful woman you've ever met? Well, besides our princess of course."_

Shiro leaned forward in his seat, his eyes wide. "Reyna?"

She chuckled. " _Finally remembered me? Goodie. Now stop gaping like an idiot." Shiro opened his mouth to argue that she couldn't possibly know that since she couldn't see him but Reyna cut him off. "Don't argue, I don't need to see you to know what expression you're making." She snorted, and the sound was so un-lady like that it had Shiro wincing. "Men. Honestly. Now go defeat those two robots, the shield will only last for five minutes before their power returns!"_

Shiro glowered at his screen. He wasn't gaping like an idiot thank you very much. _"Yes you were. My woman intuition tells me so."_

Had he said that aloud?

" _Nope. I just know." Reyna said with a cackle._

Oh yeah, this was definitely Lance's best friend.

Amazons. Honestly.

"All right guys!" Shiro shouted to his friends. "We got less than five minutes-"

" _More like three minutes because you decided to argue with me." Reyna interjected smugly._

Shiro felt his right eye twitch and he corrected his words with a barely restrained voice. "Less than _three_ minutes." He said and bristled at Reyna's low-pitched chuckle. "To defeat those Robeasts before they get their power back. Let's kick some metal butt!"

" _Fuck yeah!" Pidge bellowed with a cheer._

 _Hunk looked at her with a pout. "Seriously Pidge, language!"_

" _I take it the new ship is friendly?" Allura asked him as she and the others followed him in their own lions and began to fire at the immobilized Robeast's._

"It's Reyna." He replied as he slammed the Black lion on one of the now dim crystal shields and destroying it.

His friends made sounds of surprise at the familiar name.

" _Oh I like her."_ Pidge said as she fired a shot from the Green lion and Shiro watched as vines wrapped around the dim crystal shield before it began to get crushed as the vines tightened around it.

So did he added silently.

In no time at all, Shiro and the others had completely destroyed the two Robeast's and just because he could Shiro fired off another blast and the two Robeast's caught on fire.

His friends cheered.

" _Burn baby, burn!" Pidge joyously shouted._

" _Well done Paladins!" Coran shouted at them._

Once the remains of the two Robeast's were gone and scattered around in space, Shiro opened up his communications again so they others could hear.

"Thanks for the help Reyna." Shiro said as he tried to run a hand through his hair before remembering he was wearing a helmet. He lowered his hand to his lap. "But why are you here?"

Instead of Reyna's voice answering him, a male voice answered him instead. The man had a Spanish accent as he spoke to him in English. " _My name is Javier McLain. I'm Leah's father, I believe its time we had a talk."_

Shiro and the others blanched. Lance's father? Holy crap.

" _Oh man," Pidge muttered nervously. "We're in for a scolding aren't we?"_

Hunk was biting his nails anxiously, his eyes wide already trembling in fear for the scolding he claimed they were in for as well.

Allura looked a little nervous but not as much as Shiro.

Oh man.

Shiro gulped.

Something told him that Lance's father wasn't going to be too happy with him once he found out that Shiro hadn't been able to save his daughter.

The one time he desperately didn't want an adult, one appeared before his eyes.

This was going to seriously suck.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Make my day :)_


	25. Chapter 25

"He fell silent. For several moments they all did, and the quiet had the feel of a deliberate thing. Then Eddie said, "All right, we're back together again. What the hell do we do next?"  
― **Stephen King** , **The Dark Tower**

Chapter 25

Javier McClain was a tall man. His features were sharp, elegant, and Shiro will admit, handsome. It's clear that he and Lance were related. The man had close-cropped dark brown hair, baby blue eyes, and had the same caramel skin like his daughter. It was quite clear that the man worked out. The muscles protruding from the tight black shirt he was wearing was proof enough.

Currently, Lance's father was looking around the castle; his gaze drifting to the lions, the blue lion to be more specific, and Shiro was currently trying to keep his cool. Each step the man took was assured and steady, graceful and grounded.

The man had not spoken yet, just stared at the gathered inhabitants of the castle before letting his gaze fall to his surroundings.

Upon exiting their ship, Reyna had given him a wide smile that could only be described as trouble. The Amazon had not come alone though. Her girlfriend Adina had come as well. Shiro liked Adina; she was kind and didn't tease him like her girlfriend or Lance.

For a while Shiro had thought that all Amazons were just rude and liked to tease _him_ in particular but then came Adina with her kind smile and offering apologies on her friends behalf and Shiro began to believe that there were some good Amazons after all.

Shiro, however, did not expect five other men to exit the ship along with Mr. McClain as well. The black paladin had a feeling that these five men were Lance's brothers. One of them was currently glaring daggers at him. This one was tall with dark brown shoulder length hair, dark blue eyes, his arms crossed over his chest.

The hell was his problem?

Shiro let his gaze drift to the other four men in the room. Three of them looked exactly identical. Same short black hair, same chocolate brown eyes, same caramel skin, they were even the same height. Triplets perhaps?

These three were looking around the hangar bay, talking in hushed tones as they looked at the lions. The last sibling was tall and lean with short chestnut hair, black glasses perched on his face, and strikingly blue eyes. His eyebrows looked well groomed and just like his brothers, he was handsome. This one looked to be the youngest. Currently, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his blue eyes glued to the book that he was reading without a care in the world.

The one that was glaring at him suddenly chuckled and said, "Come on. We don't bite guys. Unless you want us to."

Surprise sparked through him, setting his feet moving a little closer. After hesitating once more, the rest of the castle inhabitants stepped closer as well. Pidge and Hunk kept looking at the triplets in wonder. Kolivan had left a little while ago to bring Slav to the castle of lions in hopes that he would be able to help with the barrier around the planet that Keith and Lance had landed on.

As if Shiro needed more reasons to have a breakdown. He'd almost gotten to his knees to _beg_ the Blade of Marmora leader to find another way to help them that didn't involve Slav, but Shiro didn't do that. He was the leader of Voltron and he had an image to withhold.

He did however throw a small tantrum in his head. Imagined Slav dying in the most painful ways possible and internally cried at said reminder that Slav was coming back with Kolivan in just a few hours.

Lord have mercy on him.

One of the triplets snorted, his mouth settling into a wide smirk. "Last I heard, Mikey, no one has ever taken you up on that offer."

Mikey whipped his head around, his brown shoulder length hair moving with the motion. "Shut your trap Colt! Neither have you!"

Colt just snorted and crossed his arms over his gray sweatshirt. He opened his mouth and Mr. McClain whipped his head in their direction and gave them a stern look. The two immediately looked away.

Allura cleared her throat and took a step forward. "Mr. McClain, Amazons and Lance's brothers, welcome to the castle of lions." It was clear that his girlfriend was nervous but she always felt the need to make people comfortable. "What brings you here?"

"Yeah." Pidge piped in as she narrowed her brown eyes at them. "Aren't six of you supposed to be on Earth?" Matt elbowed his little sister but she was not deterred as she turned to the two Amazons in the room. "You guys too. No offence, I love you guys but why are you all here?"

Reyna snorted and moved a stray of violet hair away from her face and rolled her yellow cat eyes. "For Lance duh. One of the Blades contacted us a few hours ago saying that they'd found her and we were on our way to check it out."

Mikey narrowed his blue eyes. "Where's my baby sister?"

All eyes turned to him and Shiro tried not to fidget in place. He cleared his throat and began to explain. He told them about going to their current location. Coming up with a plan to get to the ship that Lance was being held in. To Keith reaching the ship as Shiro and the rest kept the enemy distracted with their lions and finally to the ship along with the other battle cruisers falling down that white planet that had a barrier surrounding the whole area and keeping them from going any further.

Throughout his whole speech Mikey just seemed to grow angrier but Mr. McClain remained relatively calm throughout the whole story.

When he was finished, everyone remained silent.

Then Reyna snorted and crossed her arms over her black and purple kimono armor. "If our princess is with him, then I'm sure Keith will be fine. Those two work well together."

Adina nodded beside her girlfriend. Her now long black hair was braided behind her back. A green butterfly hair clip rested on the left side of her head. "Lance and Keith will be all right. The only problem we have is the barrier around the planet."

The young man who was sitting on the floor reading his book looked up at that. "I can help with that."

Pidge and Matt looked at him dubiously, but that only made the young man smile wider, his dimples on both sides of his mouth making an appearance. One of the triplets wearing a blue t-shirt and faded jeans put an arm around him and grinned. "Aiden here is wicked smart, he'll be useful trust me. By the way my name is Alan."

Shiro turned to Colt who waved beside his brother; he was wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans. The last triplet was wearing all black minus the blue headphones around his neck. That one walked up to Shiro and shook his hand. "The name is Kyrian, it's a pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the intrusion."

Well this was going well. Shiro managed to conjure up a smile as he shook the man's hand. His smile almost dropped when Mr. McClain finally stepped up and began to inspect him. "You are Shiro Takeshi correct?" Shiro nodded and Lance's father looked behind him, his baby blue eyes searching for something. "And which one of you is Matt Holt?"

Matt straightened and was immediately at Shiro side. "Right here sir!"

"At ease." Mr. McClain said, his arms behind his back. Matt did not relax, if anything he stood straighter. Javier McClain looked them both up and down, his expression blank and Shiro swallowed nervously. After what felt like forever and Shiro was sure his friend was going to piss himself from the silent stare down, Mr. McClain enveloped them in a crushing hug. "Thank god you're both okay. If my baby girls' sacrifice had been in vain I wouldn't have been able to stand it. I'm glad you're both all right, Leah will be pleased."

Mikey shot his father an incredulous look. "Dad!"

Mr. McClain shot a glare at his son. "Hush. You know no one can make your sister do anything she doesn't want to."

"Unless you bribe her." Colt muttered under his breath.

Aiden's lips twitched.

Mr. McClain continued as he released his hold on both Shiro and Matt who looked rattled. "She chose to save these two young lads. I'm sure Leah is fine, your mother trained her personally."

At the mention of Queen Lexi, Mikey paled and shuddered. "Okay, fine. But I'm definitely the first to exit this castle when we make it to that planet. No way I'm leaving my baby sister alone with some guy."

Kyrian snickered. "You mean her _fiancée?"_

Mikey glared daggers at him. "I don't remember giving my blessing to him. I refuse to hand over my baby sister to some hooligan!"

Mr. McClain raised a brow at his son. "Shouldn't _I_ be the one giving out the blessing?"

Mikey swept his hair behind his shoulder and turned his head away from his father.

Pidge narrowed her brown eyes at him. "Hey! He's not some hooligan!"

"Yeah!" Hunk added, expression equally angry. "Sure he's moody and stuff and sure he steals all the granola bars but he's a good guy!"

Shiro whipped his head to the yellow paladin. "He does what now?"

Mikey pointed at Hunk while he looked back at his father. "See? He says the guy steals granola bars! Leah loves those!"

His four brothers groaned.

Colt sent Shiro and his friends an apologetic look. "Sorry about him, he has a sister complex. Feel free to ignore him, _we_ do."

"You're all just jealous because I know our sister the best." Mikey argued.

Alan scrunched up his face. "Reading her diary is cheating."

"No it's not."

"Dude, it so is."

"You're all just mad that I was able to help her out when she got her first period. If I hadn't read her diary, she would have been too scared to say anything about it."

Aiden grimaced. "See? Creepy."

Colt tapped his chin as he shared a look with Kyrian. "Didn't she turn red and flee from him?"

Kyrian nodded, his eyes closed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yep. She was so embarrassed she didn't leave her room for days the poor thing."

Mikey mumbled something under his breath that Shiro was sure was less than complimentary but didn't say anything else.

Pidge's lips twitched upwards.

Hunk looked scandalized, so did Allura.

Coran was already laughing.

Matt looked like he was desperately trying not to laugh but a few chuckles made it out.

" _Anyway,"_ Reyna snapped as she shot Mikey a glare that he returned full force. "Ignoring Mr. Creepy over there, we're here to help and bring her back home. The Queen wants her daughter back."

Allura smiled warmly. "Oh that will be great. Let's have a light lunch before we set to work though, how does that sound? We're still waiting on someone who specializes in barriers to arrive."

Adina clasped her hands in front of her and smiled in gratitude. "That would be great. We ran out of food pretty fast, we're starving."

Reyna rolled her yellow cat eyes as she looked over at the McClain's who turned sheepish. "Tell the truth Adi, those savages ate everything within minutes."

"We were starving!" Colt exclaimed with a wave of his arms.

"You said we could help ourselves." Kyrian added with a pout.

Reyna rounded on them. "I didn't say eat everything!" She stomped her foot and Shiro could feel the vibration from where he was standing. "I had some stashed brownies in there and you ate them!"

Aiden gaped and pointed at his father. "Technically, _he_ ate those."

Mr. McClain looked at his son in betrayal and winced when Reyna turned her angry eyes to him. He scratched his head in embarrassment. "Disculpame. I'll buy you new ones."

Reyna sniffed and crossed her arms. "Adi made those for me."

"Leah's are better." Mikey muttered under his breath.

In a flash, Reyna had her curved daggers out. "I'll beat the crap out of you if you badmouth my darling again."

Mikey raised his fists. "Bring it."

Okay, time to step in.

Shiro opened his mouth. "Why don't we all go to the kitchen and get some food instead? We'll discuss what to do when we're full."

There were a few mumbled agreements and Allura eagerly stepped up to guide their guests to the kitchen. Aiden saddled up with Pidge and Matt where they began to talk about removing that barrier. Reyna put her daggers away thanks to Adina's probing but still scowled in Mikey's direction. Coran saddled up to the triplets and was deep in conversation with them.

They seemed quite pleased at whatever the castle advisor was saying to them.

Mikey was talking in hushed tones with his father who just rolled his eyes at him. So far so good. At least no fights had broken out and Shiro and Matt hadn't gotten a beating. Allura intertwined her hand with his and gaze it a squeeze.

Upon entering the kitchen they were bombarded with Lance's pets. Shiro wondered if loving all types of animals was a McClain family trait. And if loving the McClain's was just a thing that all animals agreed on as well. Must be because upon seeing the animals the McClain's smiled widely and went to embrace them.

Kaltenecker the cow saddled up to Aiden where Shiro swore she smiled. He hadn't even known the animal could smile at anyone who wasn't Lance. The triplets swarmed around Nagini and Nagg who made themselves bigger, they looked pleased.

Nyx was making cooing noises at the two Amazons and Mr. McClain. The man looked mystified as he ran his hands over her shiny feathers.

Shadow laid his head on Mikey's shoulder and the man actually managed a smile as he ran his fingers over the blue fur.

Keith wasn't going to be happy about that. It'd taken him days and Lance's prodding to make the wolf not bite the red paladins arm off but Lance's brother didn't even do anything and already Shadow seemed to love him.

There was a beeping sound echoing throughout the castle and Coran swiftly left the kitchen to go check on it while Hunk began to prepare some food.

" _Good news everyone!_ " Coran's voice said through the speakers seconds later as everyone began to take a seat at the long table. " _Kolivan and Slav are a few minutes away_!"

Shiro and Pidge groaned.

Great, just what he needed.

Deep breaths Shiro. You can do this.

His gaze turned to the people in the room where Reyna and Mikey were already glaring at each other once again, the Amazon flashing her weapons at him once again.

Lord have mercy on him.

* * *

"You really shouldn't be on your feet Mrs. Dossier!" Lance said as she rocked little Leah on her arms while Mrs. Dossier rummaged through the clothes in her closet. After delivering the woman's baby, Keith and her had gotten rid of the two Galra bodies and tossed them inside the basement. Honestly, they should have just buried them outside but Mrs. Dossier would not allow them outside in this god-forsaken cold with the right frickin clothing. Her words not Lance's.

Currently, the woman was looking for some clothes for Lance to wear while Dyron and Mykal had taken Keith to his room to lend him some of his clothes to wear. Keith didn't seem very reluctant to leave her side but when Mykal brought out those big teary eyes, the red paladin had given it quite easily. A while ago she and Keith had announced that they were going to go to that spiral tower that the Galra made in order to get in contact with Shiro and the others.

Hopefully they would be able to find Mrs. Dossier's husband as well as the other men in the village when they got there.

She had also told them the way there was dangerous and full of all kinds of creatures. When Lance asked exactly what _kind_ of creatures they had to look out for the woman had been unsure.

All she'd said was that people who had gone through that forest hadn't come out again. All they'd heard was screaming in the distance and some kind of animal and then nothing.

Just silence.

Well wasn't that encouraging?

"Nonsense, my dear." Mrs. Dossier said with a wave of her hand as she threw some clothes onto her red silk bed where it joined the other three pairs of clothes that she'd already taken out. "I took some pain killers and some nice green tea with organic honey. The pain is all gone."

Lance frowned. She didn't think that was anything to brag about. At least the woman wasn't bleeding or anything. Right?

Lance took a quick look at her now green dress and found no trace of blood. She didn't smell anything resembling close to blood either. She exhaled. Good.

"I'll pack you a few snacks for the trip. And some bandages as well." Mrs. Dossier continued as she flashed her a warm smile. The woman bent down toward her ear and winked. "I'll even add some you know what's so you and your fiancée can have a good time if you know what I mean."

Lance almost choked on her drink of green tea with organic honey and who knows what else and rose to her feet with a bright blush adorning her cheeks, then inclined her head to her. "Thank you very much Mrs. Dossier. You're really helping us out here, but I still think you and your sons should go to a friends house and get some rest."

"We will, don't worry dear."

Lance gnawed on her lower lip but resigned herself. Mrs. Dossier could be stubborn, at least she'd promised to take her family to a friend's house when she and Keith left. Looking down at little Leah, Lance smiled. The baby was adorable and so well behaved.

She wasn't much trouble and as soon as Mrs. Dossier had fed her she'd fallen asleep immediately.

"I found it!" Mrs. Dossier suddenly exclaimed. "This is the perfect outfit!"

Lance glanced over at the outfit she was holding in her furred hands and blanched. The woman smiled and draped the items on the bed with an innocent smile that didn't fool her for a minute. Sitting on the bed was a silver-gray corset, the color of biting steel as it glinted from the overhead lights. Night-black leggings and some black boots with silver buckles greeted her as well.

"It's snowing outside!" Lance exclaimed as Mrs. Dossier opened her hands for her to hand her little Leah. "I can't wear this! I'm surprised you even have something like this!"

Mrs. Dossier giggled and rocked her daughter gently in her arms. "I used to be so wild back then. And relax; I'll give you a coat. A girl has to look good for her man."

And then she winked.

Again.

Lance was going to freeze to death. That much was clear.

"Go on and put it on! I'll do your hair afterwards."

Stifling a sigh, Lance picked up the outfit and went to try it on in the small bathroom in the room. The outfit fit surprisingly well but Lance still felt like a hooker. She'd better keep that to herself though; she wouldn't want to upset her host.

She wondered how Keith was doing. After the whole delivering a baby crisis was done, she'd stitched up the wound on his chest where that metal wolf had scratched him. Thankfully it hadn't been too deep, and the bruises on him would fade with some ice.

She'd even cut his hair. He'd been immensely relieved. She hadn't cut a lot, he still had a mullet, but at least his hair didn't look like it was turning into an Afro.

Mrs. Dossier had bandaged her shoulder for her as well. Lance sighed as she exited the restroom, she really missed her powers. As soon as she stepped out Mrs. Dossier turned to look at her and squealed in delight. "Oh you look lovely!"

And then the woman brought out a thin black sweater and Lance was one hundred percent sure that she was not going to last very long out in the wild.

* * *

Keith was in love. Standing right in front of him was a red and black hover bike. He almost squealed. The thing was beautiful. It looked exactly like the one he used to have back on Earth. It had the appearance of a regular motorcycle but it had two wings on each side to help it hover.

All together the thing resembled a small plane but Keith loved it. And the sound of that motor…fucking awesome.

"I've already put your bags and some snacks in the trunk. Be careful and –" Dyron hesitated and cleared his throat. "If you find my dad…"

Keith nodded and placed a black fingerless glove on the teenagers shoulder. "Lance and I will look for him. I promise."

Dyron gave him a small smile and hefted his backpack over his shoulder. The gray beanie hat he was wearing covered his black hair and ears. Stepping back the teenager went to check on the other two bags he and his family were going to take with them to their friends house and double-checked that he hadn't forgotten to pack anything else.

Keith let his gaze drift to the stairs in the basement where Lance was still at the house with Mrs. Dossier, little Leah and Mykal.

What was keeping her so long?

Sighing, Keith leaned against the hover bike and crossed his ankles as he waited. Dyron had given him a black turtleneck; he wore the same black tight jeans that he'd woken up in, as well as his gray boots. The black-buttoned cashmere coat was a nice touch. The red scarf was a little itchy but it would keep him warm so he shouldn't complain.

Honestly, Keith just wanted to go outside already. It was snowing! Living out in the desert he'd never had the chance to see snow before. He'd seen it on the news but that didn't really count.

Was it as cold as people claimed? Could you eat it? And building snowmen, could he do that too? He didn't know but he was eager to find out.

Footsteps began to descend and Keith turned his attention towards the noise to see Mrs. Dossier all bundled up in a red coat. Baby Leah was fast asleep in her mothers arms where she was wrapped in blue blankets while little Mykal held onto the end of his mothers coat in a blue parka, a dark blue beanie hat and some black gloves.

Lance followed after them and Keith felt some of the tension leave his body at her presence. The Amazon was wearing a black wool coat with a fur trim. Brown gloves adorned her hands, black boots, and a dark brown beanie hat rested on her head. Her long hair looked tamed now, straighter and neater. She was stunning. Keith was just glad that most of her color had returned and she wasn't so pale anymore.

Lance patted Mykal's head and gave him a hug, the boy practically melted at her touch. Keith couldn't blame the kid. Lance was beautiful.

Noticing him she turned those striking blue eyes to him and Keith felt his breath hitch as Lance came to his side and placed a black and red striped beanie on him and grinned. "There. Wouldn't want to mess up that mullet of yours."

Keith fondly rolled his eyes. His hair felt lighter thanks to the haircut she had given him. His chest didn't hurt as much either. Stitching the wound close had sucked though.

"Are you guys sure you don't want us to escort you to your friends house?" Lance asked the Dossiers with a worried frown.

Mrs. Dossier waved a gloved hand at them. "Don't worry about it, it's just a short walk we'll be fine. You two better start heading out soon before it gets dark."

"Watch out for the Gasspawns." Dyron said as he lifted the other two backpacks on his shoulders and scrunched up his face. "They look adorable but if you get close to them they'll spray you and you'll smell like rotten Bloxians."

Lance made a face. "There are Gasspawns here? They're terrible! If you so much as look at them they spray you!"

Keith arched a brow in amusement. "You've seen one?"

Lance nodded as she shuddered. "Yeah. They're like skunks but the spray they release is so much worse."

Something worse than a skunk? Keith hoped they didn't run into one anytime soon.

Back at the front, Mrs. Dossier stuffed a few pastries, dried fruit, something that looked like beef jerky and who knows what else into a giant purse. Satisfied, the woman stood up and all but shoved it at him.

"Here, you'll need this." The woman nodded in satisfaction. "Oh, that looks really good on you."

The purse was a bright pink tie-dyed with a cute symbol stitched in the wooden beads. Keith looked at it in horror.

Lance's lips tightened but Keith could practically feel her amusement from where he was standing. He was about to hand the purse over to her instead but Mrs. Dossier clicked her tongue, took the purse from him, and placed the strap on his shoulder.

"You can't hand it to her." Mrs. Dossier said with a stern look. "It'll clash with her outfit, you carry it."

"Yeah Keith." Lance said with a smug look in his direction. "You wouldn't want it to clash with my outfit, right? Besides, it looks _so_ much better on you!"

Was Lance trying to get murdered?

Resisting the urge to smack his future wife he forced on a fake smile and thanked Mrs. Dossier for the gift. She looked pleased. Dyron looked torn between laughing and feeling sorry for him.

When the basement door was finally opened he and Dyron pushed the hover bike outside and Keith got his first look at the outside. Lance had seen snow before, but it was still a pleasant surprise when they stepped outside and saw nothing but white. Keith's eyes widened as he gaped at his surroundings.

"Holy shit."

"Language." Lance said as she stepped beside him, her hands laced behind her back. A part of him was still hesitant to take that last step outside but then Lance stepped forward and spread her arms wide to bask in the cool temperature and Keith swallowed once before finally taking a step forward.

A surprised yelp left his lips as his foot sank into the thin layer of snow. Was this normal? A winter breeze ruffled his hair through his clothes and hair, the feeling refreshing compared to the humidity of the house they were just in.

Curious, he bent down and poked the snow with one finger. It was cold. Feeling bolder he picked up a handful of snow and weighed it in his arms. It was really cold. He wondered if he could eat it. Shrugging, he took a bite and immediately spat it out.

"Humans are strange." Dyron whispered to his mother.

Mrs. Dossier hushed him with a look. "Perhaps they eat snow in their home planet, don't stare, it's rude."

Cheeks flushing in embarrassment, Keith stood up with an awkward cough and brushed the remaining snow from his palms.

"Well, this is where we leave you." Mrs. Dossier said with a smile. "Thank you both so much and I hope you get in contact with your friends."

"Come back to visit!" Mykal said as he pulled at Lance's coat with pleading red eyes. "Promise? Please?"

Crouching down, the Amazon scooped the little boy in her arms and rubbed her nose with his. "We'll visit. I promise."

Mykal grinned and settled his chin on Lance's shoulder.

"Sorry about the mess." Keith said with wince.

Dyron shrugged as he pulled out a dark blue scarf and wrapped it around his neck. "Mom wanted to redecorate anyway. Thanks for saving us from the Galra and that thing."

Keith and Lance shrugged. It was their duty, they were paladins of Voltron. They would have done it to anyone.

Mrs. Dossier suddenly stepped forward and wrapped him and Lance into a tight hug. "Be careful you two. And good luck."

For some reason Keith felt like he had a lump in his throat.

With one last squeeze, the woman let go and took little Leah back from her older son. Waving one last time, the Dossiers walked away and soon disappeared into the snowy path.

As soon as they were gone Lance hopped on the bike and patted the seat in front of her with a smile. Walking over to her he took off the pink purse strapped to his shoulder and shoved it in her face. Lance snorted and dissolved into giggles as Keith swung a leg over and took a seat in front of Lance before moving his fingerless gloved hands to the handles.

"But Keith –" Lance protested between giggles. "It'll clash with my outfit!"

Keith revved the engine and began to drive. Lance put her arms around his waist, her body still shaking with laughter. "Keep that up and I'll toss you off this bike."

"You'd miss me too much."

"I don't know," Keith mused with a grin. "A few minutes of silence wouldn't be so bad."

A total lie but Lance didn't need to know that.

"You wound me mullet. Right in the heart." Lance jokingly said as she tightened her hold on him.

Keith smiled.

* * *

The forest Keith drove them to was the kind of place people got murdered in, or at the very least where a creepy cabin with an evil witch would be waiting with the promise of treats. The noises they heard from random directions certainly weren't making her feel any better either. She was positive that she'd heard wailing.

When they'd first entered the forest, it hadn't been that bad. It was kind of pretty from what she could see as they sped by but as they got farther in the place began to change. Even the air began to give off this acrid odor instead of the sweet fragrance that had lingered in the air before. The forest suddenly felt otherworldly. Some trees were bent at odd angles.

The spiral tower they were heading in to was hard to miss. The thing was tall, like reaching the clouds kind of tall. Lance wasn't sure but the thing looked like a flower ready to bloom. Vines the color of purple were wrapped around it making the whole thing a little more visible.

It was still quite a distance away though, they'd have to stop and make camp somewhere soon it was already getting dark.

"I see a cave over there." Keith shouted in front of her. "We can take shelter there for the night."

Lance had to squint just to find the darn thing. But there it was mostly hidden by leaves and bent trees. So they went forward beneath the archway of carved, crude stone, and got off the hover bike. The place was surprisingly big. It was big enough to house the two of them and the hover bike a few feet from them with no problem at all.

They set to work immediately.

First things first, make a fire. They'd need pieces of wood to do that. Keith offered to go fetch some but Lance refused to stay in that cold creepy cave by herself. They crept on cat-soft feet into the snowy path, their hands intertwined as they looked around for any wood.

It had started to snow. Keith blinked and shook his head like a dog every time a snowflake landed on his face. Lance laughed, watching Keith was amusing. He'd been very disappointed when he found out that snow wasn't edible.

Lance snickered. "Then you'll definitely love Cloyetera during this time. You know those islands that are floating above the city?" Keith nodded, curious. "The snow that falls up there is edible, once it reaches the ground its no good though."

Keith's eyes bugged out. "Really?"

"Yup. During Christmas time we all take turns and bring a plate and a spoon and lift it high in the air to catch some falling snow."

If Keith had a tail, it'd be wagging in excitement right about now. "What's it taste like?"

"Like cotton candy."

"No fucking way!"

Lance threw a punch in his direction but he expertly dodged it with a snicker. With a huff Lance went a little farther ahead to look for more firewood and Keith went in the other direction but not too far.

Making sure that he wasn't looking her way, Lance quickly scooped up some snow, rolled it into a ball and threw it at the back of his head.

Keith cried out in shock and looked around frantically for the source. His blue-gray eyes went to Lance but she seemed preoccupied with picking up some twigs and making faces with them on the snow.

Keith narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Turning his head just a touch, he went back to scooping some twigs of his own, Lance still in his peripheral vision. The sound of birds made him look up to see baby blue birds perching themselves on a tree to watch them. The birds were rather large with brown eyes, blue plumages, a bluish white-feathered chest, gray beaks and a dark blue sparkling tail from behind them. They looked beautiful.

The sound of movement to his right made him whip out his Bayard and he turned his head quickly only to have a snowball to the face. Keith startled and wiped the offending snow from his face and turned to Lance. She didn't even try to act innocent this time, she was openly grinning at him, her right hand still outstretched in his direction.

Oh, it was so on.

Snatching some snow from the ground as quickly as he could, Lance burst into laughter and ran, but not before hitting him with another snowball to the back of his head.

What the hell?

By the time Keith had finally made a decent snowball, Lance had already hit him with three. No fair! He was a first timer, and making snowballs was hard! The snow bit into his fingers; numbing them by the time he finished making one.

Fuck it.

Bending down, Keith grabbed a handful of snow and cradled it to his chest and began to chase his fiancée.

"Come on mullet!" Lance yelled in front of him. "You're just going to take that from me? Hit me I dare you!"

Keith threw a handful of snow at her but Lance expertly dodged, the girl even twirled away just to spite him. Grumbling under his breath Keith took out his Bayard and deflected the snowball she threw at him.

Lance gaped at him. "That's not fair!"

Keith wolfishly grinned, his Bayard raised and ready. "All's fair in war."

Lance narrowed her eyes in challenge and let the twigs on her hands fall to the floor before scooping some snow in her hands. She had two snowballs done in record time, Keith was kind of jealous.

Taking a pitchers stand, Lance raised a leg in the air and threw the snowball at him. The force was enough to make him stumble a few steps back but he managed to hit it. The thing dissolved and Keith shot Lance a triumphant grin only to have the second snowball hit him square in the face.

With a growl, he bounded toward her and Lance released a squeal and ran further into the dark forest. If Keith hadn't been so preoccupied in catching his fiancée he might have thought twice before delving into the dark forest when the sun was already setting.

Lance ducked his head every time he threw a snowball at him. Snowballs sailed back and forth, most of his missing while Lance's made their way to his face, his chest, his head and pretty much everywhere else.

His fingers were numbed from the cold but he hardly noticed, as Lance finally seemed to run out of snowballs. Crouching to her knees she began to scoop some up quickly, her body already twisting to throw another snowball at him but he was ready this time.

As soon as Lance's face came into view, he threw his sloppy looking snowball at her and watched in amusement as it hit her right in the face and knocked her on her ass.

Lance looked at him incredulously and that was it for it Keith.

He threw his head back and let out a mighty laugh as Lance looked at him with a pout before launching herself at him. He barely had time to catch her before the two of them toppled backwards into the cold snow laughing.

Keith wrestled his way to the top and started to pelt Lance's laughing face with fistfuls of snow.

Lance squealed and flailed her arms in an effort to protect her face but it didn't seem to help much as she continued to laugh.

"Ok, ok, I give! I give up!" Lance shouted with a wheeze.

Keith threw one more snowball at her before stopping and stared down at Lance, half out of breath, flushed, and still laughing. She was beautiful when she smiled and Keith felt his heart beat a little faster at the sight.

"Your hands are red!" Lance screeched at him and Keith suddenly found his hands taken hold of so Lance could inspect them. "Fingerless gloves were a bad idea to begin with. But noooo, someone had to look cool for his new hover bike."

He grinned and leaned down a little. "You thought I looked cool?"

Lance flushed and averted her eyes. "N-no! You're hearing things!"

Liar.

Huffing, Lance brought his hands closer and started to rub them together and blowing hot air in an effort to warm them up. Keith's body suddenly felt too hot. Lance was too good for him.

Lance tensed under him and Keith gripped his Bayard and looked around the dark forest. "Did you hear that?"

No he had not. He'd put away his Galra ears so his hearing was back to that of a regular human. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly got off Lance and allowed her to sit up as he strained his ears to listen.

"It's…laughter." Lance said as she saddled up next to him, the two gun basters already gripped in her hands. She pointed a brown-gloved hand to the right. "That way. I hear voices; at least I think they are. I can't hear what they're saying from here."

"Let's go investigate then."

Lance nodded and followed after him as quietly as she could.

It was fully dark now. Which was weird because he was sure they had left the Dossier household in the afternoon. They'd only been traveling for about two and a half hours tops so why had the sun already set?

Perhaps the time here was shorter than what he was used back on Earth.

Weird.

Keith was so distracted; he would have walked right into the creatures' camp. Fortunately Lance pulled him back by his collar.

They crouched next to a fallen log and peered into the clearing. Gathered around a blazing fire were about a dozen bare-skinned creatures with blood veins and dark spots around their bodies. Two large bat like ears rested on either side of their heads. Their hands only had three light pink claws as fingers. Keith didn't know what they were saying but every time they opened their mouth he caught a glimpse of sharp fangs coated in purple blood.

Lance made a gagging noise. Keith couldn't blame her, those things looked disgusting. The smell coming from them wasn't exactly pleasant either. If they were to stand up, he had a feeling that they would surpass both he and Lance in height. Hanging from a spit over the fire was a man. At least, Keith thought it was a man.

It certainly sounded like one but the long silver hair made him rethink his opinion. It was definitely a Galra, he could tell by the black uniform he was wearing. The creatures were already chewing and tearing off chunks of meat with their claws from…holy crap.

Was that…?

Lance tugged at his coat urgently and whispered into his ear. "Is that a Galra soldier they're eating?"

Keith swallowed. Yeah, that was definitely a purple furred hand he was seeing from one of the creatures' grip. Shredded clothes lay around the floor and yeah okay that was Zarkon's sigil on a patch of cloth.

Bones lay scattered among the clothes.

Lance and he had stumbled into a cannibal bonfire. Gross.

He chanced a glance to Lance, who was just as surprised and grossed out as he was.

The man on the spit yelled something, probably a plea for his life or something unpleasant judging by the tone, but the monsters only cackled.

Creepy.

"We have to help him." Lance whispered to him. "We should distract them and then hurry off and get that Galra down while they're away."

Keith nodded. "I'll distract them."

"How?"

"I'll kill them, that'll distract them."

Lance pinched his cheek for that little comment and Keith had to tighten his lips before he gave their position away with a pained yelp.

"I have an idea." Lance said with a grin as he scowled in her direction, his cheek already throbbing. "But we'll need to go back for your purse."

" _Satchel_."

"Saw whatever you want but that's a purse."

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Keith whispered doubtfully at her minutes later.

Lance shrugged as she brought out the plastic wrapped beef jerky from Keith's bright pink purse. "Probably. These things give off a really strong scent so those creatures should notice them as soon as we unwrap them."

Keith gnawed on his lower lip and slowly nodded. Her gaze went back to the clearing where the creatures were still eating parts of that Galra. Others were milling around on the floor, shoving each other, occasionally letting out this wail like noises that almost made Lance piss her pants. One of them had gotten to its feet and holy crap was it tall. The thing had to be at least seven feet. The creature was currently spinning the man on the spire as the man threw obscenities at it. There was something familiar about that man…that silver hair. She was sure she'd seen that hair somewhere before but she couldn't recall where. She couldn't see his features very well from this distance but she could definitely see the purple skin so it was obviously a Galra.

Lance glanced back at the other creatures where they were giving each other high fives, tying plastic bibs around their necks, and stomping their fists on their pale pointy knees.

She and Keith shared a wide-eyed glance. Keith opened his mouth first. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing or is the smell just making me see things?"

Lance rubbed her eyes and looked back at the creatures to see one lay out a blanket on the floor where the others immediately got up and sat on, their expressions eager and salivating as they glanced back to the Galra still on the spire with saliva pooling from their mouths. Knives and forks were soon passed out among the group. The knives looked more like giant machetes.

"If you mean how they just popped out some bibs so they wouldn't get dirty, gave each other high fives and are passing out the silverware as they sit around in a blanket ready for their meal then yeah I see it too."

" _What the fuck?"_ Keith whispered lowly.

The scene would have been comical if it wasn't for the fact that they were about to indulge themselves on a living person. A Galra soldier but still.

Lance's stomach twisted nervously and she had to swallow the vile making its way up her throat. She gripped the three pieces of beef jerky in her hands and started getting up from her crouch when Keith tugged her back down by her sleeve.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her.

Lance looked at him in confusion. "I'm going to distract them."

"The fuck you are." Lance rolled her eyes and was ready to argue but Keith snatched the jerky from her grasp and stood to a half crouch. "I'll distract them, you get that guy down there." Lance didn't see why Keith couldn't do that himself and she opened her mouth to ask him just that when he cut her off again. "Besides if that guy can't walk or is injured you're the only one among us who can carry him and get out of there in a flash."

Okay, so he had a point.

She sighed in defeat and nodded. "Fine. Just be careful. As soon as you're far enough from their camp unwrap the jerky and toss it away. Don't engage them in a fight, you hide and then make your back. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be careful."

Pulling his face to her she placed a quick scorching kiss to his cold lips and let him go. Keith left in a daze, she grinned.

Turning her blue eyes back to scene before her, Lance tugged on her beanie hat and pushed it further down so it would cover her cold ears. Despite the gruesome scene before her, Lance suddenly felt hungry. She'd been looking forward to eating that jerky. She pouted dejectedly, oh well. Sacrifices must be made.

The creatures before here suddenly shot to their feet and began to sniff the air. Keith must have unwrapped the jerky. After a few more sniffs, most of them bounded in the direction the smell was coming from and disappeared from the camp. All except for the one still spinning the Galra male on the spit.

Lance bit her lip. She could probably handle one all by herself. As quietly as she could she tiptoed to the right, using the bushes and bent trees to hide herself until she was behind the creature.

Part of was a little surprised that it hadn't noticed her yet. Judging from the other ones that had left to check out the beef jerky, it was pretty obvious that they had a great sense of smell.

Maybe the heat from the fire had something to do with it?

Oh well. Not her problem.

Picking up a handful of snow from the ground she quickly made a snowball and tossed it a few feet away from the creature. The things bat like ears twitched and it turned its direction towards the noise. Lance threw another snowball close to her location and watched in satisfaction as the thing neared her hiding spot cautiously. Just a little more.

She shook the leaves in the bushes where she was hiding and the thing narrowed its eyes and took the last three steps toward her hiding spot. Lance jumped and threw herself at the creature, tackling it to the ground. The thing opened its mouth to scream for help, but Lance pulled out one of the gun blasters and placed it on the creature's chest, hopefully where its heart would be, and pulled the trigger.

Green blood oozed out of the creatures chest and it lay still.

Lance was so glad she'd discovered that button for silent mode on the gun blaster. Putting the gun blaster inside Keith's pink purse, she got to her feet and strapped the purse on her shoulder before bounding off towards the gaping man on the spire.

"It's you." The man exclaimed in awe at the sight of her. His voice had an accent to it; it was both pleasant and familiar.

Lance frowned. Had all the Galra on this planet been given a picture of her in order to capture her?

As quickly as she could she began to inch the spit toward her and away from the blazing fire with a painful grimace. The thing was hot to the touch; she couldn't imagine how uncomfortable it felt for the Galra soldier.

Lance pulled one last time and the spit fell to the snow where the man let out a small groan. Hopefully the cold snow would ease some of his discomfort. Bending down she began to work on the bindings when she finally got a good look at him.

Light lavender skin, long silver hair with a single forelock hanging down his face. Her gaze went to the rest of him; he had sharp features, a handsome face, and long limbs.

She'd totally met him before.

Where though?

A memory of sitting together at a restaurant at the space mall flashed through her mind and her eyes widened.

"Lotor?"

Lotor smiled sheepishly, his body still strapped to the spit thanks to the rope. His black armor looked torn and melted at certain spots. "Long time no see Leah."

She began to work on his bindings before speaking. "Why are you here?"

"Believe it or not, I'm here to rescue you."

Lance blinked and her mouth twitched upwards. "Oh. Well this must be awkward."

He sighed dejectedly, his mouth twisting to the side as he glared at the sky. "You have no idea."

Lance giggled as she made quick work on his bindings. Lotor slowly sat up with a wince so she offered him a hand that he gratefully took. "You can make it up to me if I ever get in trouble. Heck, I'll even let you to carry me bridal style to make you feel better."

Lotor slowly grinned, his yellow eyes with blue irises twinkling in amusement. "Deal."

The sound of footsteps made them both turn in the direction the noise was coming from to see Keith running towards them. Lotor placed himself in front of her, his pose protective.

As soon as Keith was close enough to see them his eyes widened in recognition and he pulled out his Bayard and made a dash towards Lotor, his blue-gray eyes furious.

What the heck?

"You bastard! Get the fuck away from her!" Keith screamed as he swung his transformed sword towards Lotor.

The Galra male took hold of her hand and moved them a few feet away from the enraged red paladin. Lance looked confused.

"Keith? What's going on?"

Lotor slightly turned his head so he could see both her and Keith at the same time. "You know him?"

Lance frowned at him. "Yeah, he's my fiancée."

"Lance, get the fuck away from that fucker!" Keith snarled as he watched Lotor with narrowed eyes, his feet inching closer. "That's Prince Lotor, Zarkon's son, he's the one whose been giving us trouble lately."

Lance's eyes widened. _This_ was Zarkon's son? Keith had mentioned him to her while they were washing each other back at the Dossier's house but she had not thought that the Lotor he'd been talking about was the same guy who she'd had a pleasant talk with all those months ago.

Lotor narrowed his eyes at Keith, his stance defensive.

The sound of inhuman growls suddenly erupted into the sky, the sound getting uncomfortably close to them. Lance stepped away from Lotor so she was visible to both fuming males. "We don't have time for this. We have to go, those things are coming back!"

"Not with Fabio I'm not!" Keith shouted angrily.

Lotor frowned and crossed his arms. "I don't know what that is but I'll assume it's an insult. I'm afraid I have to agree with Leah on this. We have to go, this is no time to fight amongst ourselves. I'm not here to hurt you."

Keith growled low in his throat, the sound sounded more Galra than human. Was Keith unconsciously letting out his Galra side because of his anger? So not the time. "I don't believe you!" he snapped back at the prince.

Lotor and Lance cocked their heads at the sound of footsteps coming closer. The Galra prince sighed in irritation as he pinched the bridge of his nose and prayed for patience in the Galra language. "Everything I did was because of my father." Lotor said slowly in a voice reserved for bratty children. "I don't have anything against you and the rest of the paladins. I just attacked your group so my father's supporters wouldn't suspect anything. I'll admit I've done some terrible things but I've also saved plenty of lives." Keith said nothing, just kept glaring. "If I had wanted to, my team and I could have killed you more times than I could count. Your group was having trouble forming Voltron, I could have easily taken you all out with how disorganized you were but I didn't. We left you guys alone after a convincing battle in front of plenty of witnesses."

Lance hadn't been there for when Lotor and his team had attacked Keith and the castle of lions but Keith _had_ mentioned his confusion at the Galra Prince's actions. Keith had been confused as to why Lotor and his team would not deliver the killing blow when they were so close to beating them but figured the guy just wanted to continue toying with them.

Something told her to that she could trust him. He certainly sounded sincere enough. Keith would probably argue that she was being naïve and too trusting of others and yeah that was true but she wanted to trust that not all people were bad. Her instincts were telling her that Lotor was someone she could trust and her instincts were usually right.

"Keith, I believe him." Keith looked at her in betrayal, she winced. "I've met him before and he seemed like a really nice guy. Let's just let him tag along with us, besides we can't just leave him to these cannibals." She made her voice sound pleading. "Can't you put your hostility aside for one minute?"

Keith rolled his eyes. "Yeah, all right, I'll stack it at the top of my anger."

"Keith!"

"Fine!" her fiancée finally said as he threw his hands in the air. "But I still don't like him. His hair looks stupid!"

Lotor took a menacing step forward and jabbed a finger in his direction. "Okay, you've crossed the line! My hair looks fabulous!"

Lance face palmed. Seriously?

"Shut up Chewbacca!"

"The fuck did you call me?" Lotor screamed at him.

Keith ignored him and clipped his Bayard to his pants before turning to her. "I'll let Rapunzel come with us for now but I still don't trust the fucker."

Lotor spluttered indignantly, his gaze turning to her. "He's insulting me isn't he?"

Lance's lips twitched upward but the sound of footsteps was getting closer. They had to go _now._ "Let's just go, we don't have time to for this!"

Lance turned on her heel and starting running back in the direction of the cave where they'd hidden the hover bike and their other belongings. Two sets of footsteps followed after her and she inwardly smirked before the sound of growling echoed throughout the whole forest and Lance turned her head so she could see behind her.

Those things were now in sight, their long tall bodies sprinting unnaturally towards them at full speed. Letting out a squeak, Lance rummaged through Keith's purse and found a granola bar that Keith had been eyeing and tossed it behind her.

The creatures came to a stop as they all snarled and fought with each other for the granola bar. Keith let out a wail. "Lance! I was going to eat that!"

"Not today!" she said between breaths.

"Why didn't you toss those cookies then?" Keith accused as he and Lotor picked up their pace to sprint alongside her.

Lance looked at him like he was an idiot. "Because they smell delicious and I've had my eyes on them since we left."

Keith did not seem pleased by that explanation. Lotor looked between them both with an amused smile. Sending the Galra Prince a grin, she jammed her hand inside the purse once again and pulled out one of the gun blasters and tossed it to him. He caught it with ease and sent her a look of gratitude.

She could already see the cave, but the snarls coming from the creatures sounded close once again. Sharing a look, the three of them picked up their pace and all but threw themselves inside the cave where Keith hopped on the hover bike and turned it on while Lance and Lotor picked up the two backpacks with the rest of their stuff from the floor and headed for the bike.

One of the creatures appeared at the edge of the cave, white foam coating its mouth as it snarled at them. The thing headed straight for Keith but Lance and Lotor lifted their gun blasters, aimed, and fired.

The creature crumbled to the floor with a gurgle, tripping the creatures behind it. Some were smart enough to jump over the mess and kept running towards them.

Lance and Lotor opened fire as they reached Keith's side and hopped on the hover bike. Lance behind Keith and Lotor behind her. It was a tight fit.

Keith revved the engine and they were off. One of the creatures stepped in their way but Keith just pushed the pedal and ran over the thing like it was nothing.

Lotor whistled, impressed.

As they made it out of the cave, sounds of rage followed after them. Lance couldn't pinpoint the exact location they were coming from, the howls sounded from every direction.

"They're definitely coming after us," Lotor said as he turned his head to check behind them. His hair was failing around in every direction and he pulled at the strands with a huff. "Doesn't this thing come with helmets?"

"Helmets are lame." Keith answered from the front.

Lotor scoffed as he tightened his arm over Lance's stomach while his other hand gripped the gun blaster so he could shoot at any time. "You know what's not lame? Safety."

Lance snickered as Keith groaned in front of him. "He's not wrong."

Keith sent her a pout before turning his gaze back to the forest in front of them. "Whose side are you on? Me or fucking Fabio over there?"

"I'm neutral. And you shouldn't be talking. Your hair is a mullet."

"Is he always like this?" Lotor asked her curiously.

Lance offered him a sheepish shrug. "Sorry, he didn't have a great childhood."

Lotor nodded like that made total sense. "Ah, I see. I could tell."

Keith whipped his head to look at him with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean you could tell?"

"It's the way you stand." Lotor explained.

Keith looked at him in outrage. "The way I stand?"

Lotor nodded, the hand holding the gun blaster letting off a shot in to the right of them. There was a pained yelp and a crash. "No one with a good childhood stands like that."

Keith looked like he was debating whether to throw the Galra Prince off the hover bike or just stab him with his Bayard. Probably the latter. Lance bit her lip in an effort to hide her chuckles. Lotor was hilarious.

The sounds of running footsteps could be heard from the right of them and Lance released a shriek as one of the things suddenly jumped at her from where it'd been hiding in the bushes. Up close she could see its bloodshot eyes, long matted silver hair and pointy claws. Lance raised her gun blaster and fired but the thing jumped over them and landed on the other side where it ran at their pace, four more creatures appearing beside it.

If the thing wasn't chasing after them to make a meal out of the three of them, Lance would have given that leap a ten.

Beautiful.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Lotor yelled as he and Lance fired shot after shot. Some of their shots made contact but when one creature fell another took its place within seconds.

Keith shot a quick glance at the Galra Prince. "We could toss some nonessential weight."

"That's a great idea!" Lotor said. There was a pause and Lance and Keith snickered as Lotor's eyes widened and then narrowed to slits. "Okay, so that was directed at me." Lotor twisted his mouth to the side. "Jerk."

Lance giggled, she could see Keith's lips twitching upward. He probably took that as a compliment. Lance shot a quick glance to the front where she could see a light at the end of the forest. There was no way they had reached the end of the forest yet though. Mrs. Dossier had told them that the way to the spiral tower was filled with nothing but the forest.

Lance sighed irritably before she saw movement to the left and she turned her gun in that direction and fired. There was a pained yelp and a whimper but another creature replaced the one she'd just taken down. "One of these days It'd be nice to do go on a normal mission with you." Lance said as a monster leaped at her before she shot it down and it crashed into another one sending both creatures to the snowy floor.

"What do you have in mind?" Keith yelled over his shoulder.

Lance shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know we could deliver something to a planet where its inhabitants are so friendly that they'll throw a parade at the sight of us."

"Oh, come on, this is way more fun." Keith teased at the front.

"I will concede that I do feel more alive when I think I'm about to die."

Keith scoffed. "You're not going to die. Rapunzel over there probably will, one tug at his hair and he's a goner."

"Hey!" Lotor shouted angrily from the back. "Stop bad-mouthing my hair just because you're jealous!"

"Who's jealous you fucker?"

"You are! Otherwise you wouldn't be insulting my hair!"

Keith opened his mouth to retort but Lance cut him off by raising her voice. "Ladies! Calm yourselves, you're both pretty but let's face it, I'm the better looking one amongst the three of us."

Neither male argued.

The creatures howled angrily and Lance jumped in her seat. Oh right, they were being chased. Keith narrowed his eyes and pushed the pedal harder. His moves were slick, confident, and practiced. Lance swooned.

He maneuvered his way through the trees, flying in a zigzag in an effort to lose the creatures but just when they think they'd gotten rid of them, they suddenly reappear.

"Hey Chewbacca!" Keith yelled. "Lean to the right!"

Lotor growled low in his throat but did as he was told. The hover bike swerved to the right just in time, if they hadn't they would have crashed into that giant boulder with signs on it. Who the heck put that thing there?

Lotor released a panicked sound. "There's a cliff!"

Lance's eyes widened. Well that explained the signs.

Keith grinned and sped up. "Yup."

"Keith, what are you doing?" Lance shouted as she squeezed Keith's waist so tight that she was sure she'd be leaving him with bruises.

"Just trust me!"

With another burst of speed, Keith guided the hover bike towards the cliff and careened right off it.

Lance and Lotor released girlish screams and held on for dear life.

"Keith!" Lance screamed.

"We'll be fine!" Keith screamed back at her, his voice sounding muffled thanks to the rushing wind. "Probably."

"What do you mean probably?" Lotor yelled back at him.

Keith opened his mouth to answer when Lance saw the frozen lake underneath them.

The three of them shared a frantic look.

"Oh shit." They muttered at the same time before there was a deafening crash and they were engulfed in freezing water.

Lance's head throbbed and just as she was losing consciousness, she vowed to give Keith an earful about jumping off of cliffs.

It was common sense that jumping off cliffs was a bad idea!

Figures Keith would be the one to have a few screws missing.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_


	26. Chapter 26

"It's spider season. Every year, right about now, thousands of the godless eight-legged bastards emerge from the bowels of hell (or the garden, whichever's nearest) with the sole intention of tormenting humankind."  
― **Charlie Brooker**

Chapter 26

Crashing into a frozen lake or dealing with cannibals? No contest.

Sure the crash knocked her out for a bit and sure she was bleeding from her temple but hey, at least creatures that looked like the chupacabra weren't gnawing her on. Not that she'd ever seen one per se, but she had heard stories.

She was probably close.

Coldness enveloped her. The freezing lake was enough to wake up her up with a start. She must have only been out for a few seconds but the gills that allowed the Amazons to breathe underwater had materialized on both sides of her neck. She could feel them.

She could breathe.

Blinking away her dizziness as best as she could she searched through the lakes depth. Keith and Lotor had to be close. It'd be better to see if the water weren't so dark and the waves so unsettled. Regardless, she could still make out two forms a few feet away from her. Both of them were flailing their arms in an attempt to swim to the surface but they seemed to be losing more ground instead of gaining any. Lotor had his right arm wrapped around Keith's middle while his other hand tried to get them up to the surface. Her fiancée had one hand on his mouth and nose, his face contorted in a grimace. He was clearly running out of air.

Lance swam to meet them, the current wasn't strong enough to steer her away from the direction she wanted to go. Reaching one hand forward, she reached for Keith's face with her fingertips and brought his face close to hers. Leaning down she pressed her lips against his, she had plenty of air left in her lungs, and gave it to him.

Satisfied that he wasn't going to drown any time soon, she gripped his and Lotor's arms and kicked with all her might to the surface. She couldn't see the spot that they'd originally fallen in so she just punched the ice three times and made her own exit instead.

Lotor and Keith's faces broke the surface first and they greedily took in a lungful of air. With another grunt, she all but threw both males on the cold surface none too gently before following after them. The cold hit her once she was out of the water and she shivered violently on her hand and knees.

"W-we'll be f-fine." Lance mocked as she glared at Keith who was sprawled on his back. "T-trust m-me."

Keith flipped her off.

Lotor smacked the offending finger with a glare.

Keith huffed, his breathing shaky. Good. "We're all right aren't we? No cannibals to eat us either, I call that a win."

Lotor pushed himself into a sitting position and wrung his long silver hair. His limbs were trembling, his lips a hint of blue. "My hair is ruined thank you very much. I wouldn't call that okay."

Keith scoffed as he pushed himself to sit cross-legged. He hastily pushed back his damp hair away from his face. "It's an improvement."

If looks could kill, Keith would have been obliterated by the look Lotor was giving him. Lance sighed. Men.

Looking back to where they had just emerged from she grimaced. She'd have to go back for their stuff. What a pain.

Letting out a sigh that was probably overly dramatic, she'd fallen off a clip she deserved to be as dramatic as she wished, Lance crawled back to the hole and before both males could stop her, she dove back in.

She was definitely going to get hyperthermia at this rate. Finding the hover bike didn't take very long; it was at the bottom of the lake. She could come back to that right after she found the two purple backpacks and the two gun blasters. She didn't like being weaponless, she was already cut off from using her powers, she didn't want to be even more defenseless.

Oh, how she wished she were at least wearing her armor for more protection but oh well.

Sure she could punch anything hard enough to inflict some major damage but sometimes it was better to shoot from a distance, there were things that even _she_ couldn't stomach touching.

Like insects. She didn't want to touch any of those slimy creatures with their creepy legs, their way too many eyes, and if they flew – forget about it.

Scanning the dark water once again, she finally caught sight of something familiar and headed right for it. It was the two bags. Nice.

The two gun blasters weren't too far either.

Yay.

Kicking her legs up to towards the whole she had made, she flung the objects to the surface before diving down to get the hover bike. Reaching down, she gripped both levers and began to kick her way up to the surface. The hover bike wasn't too heavy, she'd carried heavier things than this before, the only problem was the current. It kept steering her in another direction. Lance grit her teeth and kicked harder.

After what like forever, Lance's face broke the surface and she turned her head to make sure both males were still where she'd left them and felt her eye twitch instead.

Lotor had Keith's body pinned to the floor with his own as Keith threw obscenities at the Galra Prince to let him go so he could make sure that she was okay. Lotor kept insisting that Lance would be fine because she could breathe underwater thanks to the gills at her neck but Keith didn't give a damn. He was going to go check on her anyway.

Lance felt both flattered and annoyed.

Clearing her throat, both males turned to look at her in surprise before their faces broke into a wide grin. Keith elbowed the Galra Prince in the face before crawling over to her on all fours.

Lance winced. Poor Lotor.

Gripping her face, Keith turned her head side to side with a grimace. "Are you all right? You're hurt! Why the fuck did you dive back in?"

Lance rolled her eyes, her hands still clutching the hover bikes levers where it was still submerged underwater. "Why did we drive off a cliff? Are you an idiot? Why is your hair a mullet? I have questions too!"

Keith glared but his mouth twitched upwards.

Rubbing his nose with an irritated glare aimed at Keith, Lotor walked over to them, his armor completely drenched, and offered her a hand.

Grinning, Lance lifted the hover bike and handed him one of the levers instead. Lotor almost fell in because of the unexpected weight but Lance and Keith helped push the hover bike out of the water and onto the surface.

They were all shivering and all three of them sported a bruise or two but they were alive. After Keith was done fussing over her, he went to check if the hover bike was still working.

Fortunately, her temple had stopped bleeding. It still throbbed and she had a major headache but at least it was better than bleeding out.

With her body back on the surface, the gills disappeared.

While Keith went to do that, Lance and Lotor looked through the backpacks while Lance stuffed her gun blaster in Keith's pink purse. It seemed the backpacks that Mrs. Dossier had given them were waterproof which was really good because the woman had stuffed a few extra layer of clothes for them. Double Yay.

They were encased in a small black box that had confused her but Lotor seemed to know what to do. There was a button hidden on the back that would make them appear. Sweet. They'd have to find a place to stay for the night and then they could change their clothes.

The snacks were still there as well. She was starving.

"So why are you here?" Lance asked Lotor as she rubbed her arms and looked over at Keith where he was fussing over the hover bike with a grimace. She settled down on the floor and crossed her ankles. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad we have one more person to watch our backs but shouldn't you be with your father?"

Lotor sighed as he combed through his hair before settling down next to her on the small patch of dirt cross-legged. "That's right, you haven't heard." Lance tilted her head. "My father has made me public enemy number one. He put the order out to kill me on sight in all the universe."

Lance's blue eyes widened. "Holy crap. What a dick!"

Lotor's mouth twitched before he glared out into the distance. "Yes. I imagine it's that witch's doing."

"Ugh, Haggar? I hate that wrinkly old hag."

"Same. She's corrupted my father, and he's given her practically everything she ever wanted. She's free to do her crazy experiments, make her destructive robots, and who knows what else."

"I just hate her because she's messed with me and my friends by sending her Robeast's after us. That, and she wants to take over my body."

Lotor whipped his head to look at her in horror. "What? Is that why you're so important?"

Lance nodded absently, her fingers tapping out a random beat on her leg. "Must be. A few months ago she almost captured Shiro and me but I managed to get him to safety and put myself to sleep by putting a barrier around myself. No harm would come to me as long as I remained asleep. All I had to do was wait for Keith to find me and I would wake up."

"Fascinating. I'm glad she didn't get her way. Anything that witch wants, I tend to destroy or take."

"Ah, is that why you came to rescue me?"

The Galra Prince nodded. "One of my generals dug some info and found out that a girl was being transported with some tight security. Most of them were druids so I figured Haggar was involved. As soon as my general showed me a picture of you, I knew I couldn't let that old hag get to you."

Lance put a hand to her heart. "Aww, thanks for coming to my rescue. Though, it was the other way around."

Lotor groaned and he rubbed his face with both hands. "Don't remind me. It was humiliating waking up to being spun in a spit by some cannibals."

Lance only laughed and lightly punched his shoulder. "You can return the favor if I ever get in trouble. You were trying to save Keith despite the fact that he called you names and was the reason we drove off a cliff in the first place so you're doing good so far."

Lotor smiled and he lightly pushed her back. "Like I said, I never wanted to hurt the paladins of Voltron. I just didn't want my father to be suspicious of me." Lotor looked over at her curiously. "So you have powers?"

Lance grinned as she began to explain what her powers were. Lotor seemed intrigued and mentioned one of his generals that also seemed to have powers. Apparently the woman was suppose to be a druid but Haggar turned her away and that's when Lotor asked her to join his team.

Since the woman had the makings of a druid, she could probably remove Lance's shackles and the tiara on her head to get her powers back. Only a druid or Haggar herself could remove the darn things. Luckily for Lance, Lotor's generals were somewhere in this planet as well so they would probably run into them eventually.

If they were as smart as Lotor claimed they were, then they were probably making their way to the spiral tower as well. Nice, she couldn't wait to meet this Narti lady and have her take these things off her.

"Wait, you're a princess?" Lotor blinked in surprise.

She nodded sheepishly. She hadn't meant to hide it but people usually acted differently when she told them. They tended to suck up to her but since Lotor was a prince himself, she figured it'd be okay to tell him.

Lotor look both pleased and surprised at the same time. "Most princesses I've met wanted me to join them in their tea parties or were looking for a man to take care of them."

Lance made a face, gross.

"Oh. Are you disappointed?"

"Hell no. This is way better."

Lance grinned as she got to her feet. It seemed Keith was done checking over the hover bike. "Oh, Lotor. You and I are going to be great friends. Soon we'll be doing each others hair."

Lotor got to his feet after her and smiled. His shaking had mostly seized and his lips were no longer blue. "Oh, good. You're not doing a good job so far."

Lance glared and punched him in the gut. Lotor doubled over with a wheeze as she huffed and made her way over to Keith who was looking quite smug. "Does this mean we can kill him?"

Lance punched him in the gut too. "We can't solve all our problems with murder Keith! And no, he's staying." Keith glared as he tried to catch his breath but Lance was used to his glares by now to be affected by them. "Now come on, we have to find some shelter because I really want to change clothes. Mrs. Dossier packed us a few extra clothes just in case."

She glanced up at the sky, it had stopped snowing but the air was still freezing. Lance could see her breath in front of her whenever she sighed. Her lips felt chapped.

A shadow passed overhead.

"Is that an eagle?" Keith asked as he looked up at the sky.

"Eagle?" Lotor asked as he made his way over to them.

"That's no eagle," Lance said with a grimace.

It was definitely larger than any eagle she'd ever seen, she couldn't quite tell what color it was because of the darkness but she was sure it looked green, it's wing span was at least twenty feet across.

"There's another one!" Keith pointed. "Wait. Never mind. I see three, no four. And okay, yeah, I think we should get the hell out of here."

The creatures circled the area they were in like vultures. Some even flew a little lower so she could make out glowing purple eyes, sharp beaks, and vicious talons. What was even creepier was the fact that they were all looking at her. The Amazon knew she was attractive, there was no denying that, and yeah sure she loved attention but not from creepy creatures that looked like they wanted to eat her.

As if dealing with the cannibals hadn't been enough.

Lance gripped Keith's pink purse and slowly took out the gun blaster before handing the purse to Lotor so he could do the same. Keith had already transformed his Bayard into a sword. "I don't think they're friendly. We should go."

Keith slowly inched his way to their vehicle and climbed on the hover bike, his eyes glued to the creatures' overhead before he turned the machine on.

The sound of the engine was startling in the once quiet field and the creatures gave a frantic cry and swooped down towards them.

Lance and Lotor bolted the last few feet towards the hover bike, their gun blasters aimed at the creatures coming towards them. Just as they reached the hover bike, something grabbed her arms and she was lifted into the air. Her vision blurred. There were too many shapes for her to make out her surroundings.

She could hear Keith and Lotor cry out her name before the sound of the hover bikes engine rumbled and followed after them. Lance squirmed. The talons wrapped around her arms were sharp, she couldn't free herself or lift the arm that was still gripping the gun blaster.

She yelled –mostly out of frustration. This was so not her day.

The horde of flying creatures had joined them, leaving both Keith and Lotor alone. Lance was really starting to hate being so popular. The creature gripping on to her rose higher and higher in the cold wind. As her vision began to clear, she could make out the spiral tower in the distance, the black collars wrapped around the creatures necks, and her brown beanie falling from her head only for it to be carried by the wind to who knows where.

Lance pouted. She'd really liked that beanie.

Sniffling, she turned her eyes towards the others creatures and inspected the collars. She briefly wondered if the druids and the Galra were the ones controlling these things. Something whistled by her ear and the creature holding her gave a shriek and let go.

Lance screamed.

The sound of more bullets pierced the sky as she fell and the other creatures released frantic shrieks of their own. Lance put her hands in front of her as she crashed through tree branch after tree branch until she slammed into a snowbank. She groaned and rolled to her back. This planet sucked.

The sound of a hover bike coming her way made her stand up with wince. Nothing seemed broken at least. She flexed both her legs and her arms and they seemed okay. The gun blaster was still in her hand. One glance at the sky showed that Lotor was still shooting at the creatures as he and Keith made their way over to her.

She'd better start making her way over to them too she decided. As she began to move towards the sound of the hover bike, a creature sprang out from behind the brush, opened its mouth, and let out a terrifying roar that practically shook the tall trees.

Lance covered her ears as the sound was echoed from all around the forest. It was one of those cannibals that they'd first run from. Wincing, she opened one eye and gaped. That cannibal was wearing her beanie!

What the heck?

The brown beanie sat on the creatures head, covering its bat like ears. It was definitely taller than her but it was slightly hunched, its pale arms hanging loosely in front of it. If it wasn't currently bearing its fangs at her, Lance might have thought the creature looked cute with her beanie on its head. But it was, and Lance didn't feel like sharing her beanie with anyone at the moment.

"Hey you! Give that back!" Lance screamed as she stomped towards it. The creature roared at her. Lance slapped it across the face. The creature looked at her in shock. "Give. It. Back." Two more creatures sprang from the brush and ran towards her. Lance didn't even turn before lifting her gun blaster and letting off two shots. The things crumpled to the floor with a thud. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed the gun blaster at the creature's head. "I won't ask again."

The creature all but threw the beanie at her before running back into the forest. That's right, no one messes with Lance. Especially when she was in a mood.

The sound of flapping wings alerted her that she had company. Lance growled in irritation, put her somewhat damp beanie on her head, and began to shoot down the creatures. Others shots soon accompanied her own and the sound of the hover bike and Keith shouting her name had her moving.

Keith drove the hover bike to a sudden stop a few feet away from her and Lance ran towards it as Lotor covered for her. As soon as she was close, the Galra Prince moved over so she could sit behind Keith, not once stopping his barrage of shots.

Keith drew his Bayard out and sliced off the wing of one creature that got too close to him. Lance shot the other behind it and grinned smugly when it went spiraling into a tree. The red paladin sent her a proud grin before starting the hover bike and began to fly them away.

The creatures followed after them. The sound of wailing soon joined their shrieks and moments later the cannibals made another appearance. Lance and her companions groaned.

"Anyone know what the heck these things are?" she yelled as she gestured to the flying creatures.

"They look like Duskwings!" Lotor said as he shot another one down. "But they look mutated."

"Well, I hate them!" Lance yelled as she shot at one of the cannibals that leaped towards her.

"You better not drive us off another cliff!" Lotor yelled at Keith.

The red paladin scowled. "I'll do what I want!"

"Keith." Lance warned.

Keith clicked his tongue as he ran over one of the cannibals. He was getting a little too good at that. "I won't jeez."

Lance glanced up at the sky. A storm was coming, the clouds in the sky looked black as they crowded together. The wind began to pick up speed, and the air began to go down in temperature.

They needed to find shelter soon.

"What if we take shelter over there?" Lotor suddenly shouted as he pointed at something in the distance. Keith and Lance turned in the direction the Prince was pointed to and squinted. Was that a watchtower?

It was situated atop a low-lying peak that overlooked a solid wall of monstrous mountains. It looked to be made of hard stone.

"Keith?"

"Already on it." Keith said as he suddenly changed directions and headed for the watchtower in the distance. The cannibals and Duskwings stopped following after them once they were within thirty feet of the thing. That…was disconcerting.

Something felt off. Why had they stopped chasing after them? Lance scanned the barren slopes of the planet Zaebos – a wall of boulders and shards of rocks greeted her. There were no longer any trees here. No signs of streams either. It was eerily quiet.

The hairs on her arms stood on end.

Oh no.

Something very bad was probably waiting for them there. Why else would those creatures stop chasing after them?

Lance bit her lip; should she say something? She chanced a glance at her companions and thought better of it. Lotor and Keith looked tired. Their hair was still plastered to their cheeks, their clothes were still damp, and they were sporting some bruises.

Lance was sure she didn't look any better.

She glanced back at the watchtower and hoped that whatever was in there wasn't too difficult to deal with. They needed to take shelter soon.

* * *

The upper levels of the watchtower looked to have been destroyed by the weather, leaving only three floors above the ground. There was a winding stairwell in the center that was coated in dirt and a bit of snow. Lotor couldn't see or hear any signs of life around the area as the red paladin Keith circled the watchtower twice.

It was strange and it put him on edge.

Leah and Keith seemed to share his sentiments. The two of them were watching everything with a cautious eye as they did one last drive around the tower. Good. At least they had some good instincts. Something was waiting for them inside, he could feel it.

Keith parked the hover bike a few feet away from the tower before he cut the engine and they climbed off.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who's getting a weird vibe from this place." Keith muttered bitterly next to Leah.

The Amazon princess glanced at the darkening sky and hefted one of the backpacks on her shoulder higher before shoving the pink purse to Keith who looked at it in disgust.

Lotor didn't see what the red paladins problem was with that thing. It looked quite stylish and it fit well with his outfit. If Leah had it, it would only clash with the outfit that she was wearing.

The temperature was starting to drop. The clouds had gotten darker. They needed to get inside before it started raining. Lifting the other backpack over his shoulder, Lotor answered. "You're not the only one. We should be cautious. We have no idea what awaits us in there."

Both of his companions nodded and Leah took out the gun blaster and held it in front of her as she began to move towards the watchtower. Keith followed after her, his Bayard already transformed into a sword where it gleamed in the dark.

Lotor followed their example as he approached. The place must have been enormous once upon a time. One could tell from the huge scattered chunks of the tower lying around on the floor. The three of them shared a look before nodding. Keith took the first steps through the archway, then Lotor and then Lance as she covered the rear.

The place was dark but there were bits of lights from random spots, pieces that had broken off or been damaged. So far so good.

"Are those stairs?" Leah asked as she pointed at something. Lotor followed her gaze towards another open archway that lead down into a dark stairwell.

"So it would seem." Lotor said, his eyesight was better than his two companions. Seeing in the dark wasn't too hard a feat. Keith took a step towards the stairs when Lotor suddenly gripped his elbow.

Keith gave him an irritated look over his shoulder.

Lotor resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "The place could be laid with traps. I've read about watchtowers like this in old books. Let's take things slow, and trek quietly."

The red paladins eyes flared but one look at his fiancée and he settled down. "Fine."

Behind them, Leah began to pick up small rocks before stuffing them in the pockets of her coat. Good idea. Lotor did the same. Once that was done they slowly made their way down the stairs, Lotor's ears straining for any noise besides their quiet footsteps.

Picking up a small rock from inside the pocket of his armor, Lotor threw one of the rocks down the rest of the staircase, heard it bounce and crack and –

There was a faint _click_ , and Lotor took hold of the red paladins collar and hurled them both backwards towards Leah where he sent them all sprawling on the floor. There was a sound from the bottom of the stairwell, followed by another thud, and then nothing.

The only sound heard was their heavy breathing. Lotor tilted his head, listening. "Hidden bolts." He said as he licked his suddenly dry lips. "I think that was it."

Leah whistled lowly. "That's great, and thank you very much for saving us but can you both get off me now? You're not exactly light."

Quickly scrambling off his feet, Lotor got to his feet and offered his hand to the Amazon princess who took it with a grateful smile. Keith rolled his eyes.

They continued their trek down until they saw the barbed iron spikes embedded on the walls. Keith winced. "Guess we _really_ owe you our lives."

"You think there will be more waiting for us down there?" Leah asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Lotor frowned as he gazed at her. She looked on the verge of crumbling to her knees. Not that he could blame her, she'd been targeted more than once by strange creatures and she'd had to dive back down into the icy lake just to save them and get their stuff back. "Probably. Let's just take this slow."

Leah reached inside her pocket and pulled out another small rock. Crouching, she rolled it down the floor and all three of them waited with baited breath but they were met with silence.

Shrugging, they continued their trek, Lotor guiding them through the dark. A few more bolts shot out from the walls but they were able to avoid it with ease. At one point, Lotor had stepped on a tile that had opened up the floor. He would have fallen to his death if it wasn't for Leah and Keith clutching his arms and hauling him back.

One look at the bottom confirmed that there were spikes jutting out from the ground. Lotor wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure that Keith was warming up to him.

Exhibit A: He kind of thanked him from getting himself and Leah skewered to the wall by barbed spikes.

Exhibit B: When Lotor almost fell in, the red paladin had been the first to reach him before Leah took hold of his other hand and helped lift him up. Afterward, the red paladin had glared at him and told him, "Watch where you're going you asshole! You almost died!"

See?

Progress.

Lotor had already become fast friends with the Amazon princess and they had shared a few jokes amongst themselves when the silence continued to stretch on. Keith hadn't seemed pleased, mostly because they switched to the Galra language and he didn't understand what they were talking about but also because he was probably starting to like him.

Lotor was sure of it. Whenever they switched to the English language and Lotor told a joke, he would see Keith's lips twitching. He was going to turn that into a smile soon. He'd meant what he said, he never wanted to truly hurt the paladins of Voltron but if he targeted them then all the other Galra would take that as a sign for them to leave the Paladins alone because they were his prey.

As the minutes began to drag by, the sound of thunder and rain made their presence known. The wind grew in volume making the broken beams on the ceilings spark every now and then. Whenever the sound of thunder was heard, Leah would glance at the ceiling with a longing look. Keith seemed to sense it from where he was at the front and stepped back to lace his free hand with hers to give it a squeeze and a promise that they would get her powers back even if he had to cut a goddamn druids arm to do so.

Leah had snorted and smiled. Keith had then grinned and stepped closer to her and then Lotor had to look away from the sudden glow that they seemed to emit. These two were soulmates. He'd been a little surprised when he first saw the glow but after watching them interact he really shouldn't have been.

He was glad that Leah had someone by her side that loved her as much as the red paladin seemed to show. Lotor hadn't even known he was capable of showing such a tender look but here he was proving him wrong. He hoped that one day he would find someone like that as well.

Eventually, the path led them to what looked to be a dungeon. There were a few open cells with their doors ripped off. Scattered bones lay on the ground, some looked like Galra. Others he couldn't quite place.

He and Leah threw some rocks on the floor, some on the walls as well as the ceiling but nothing sprang out and nothing came to attack them.

"You guys think we can take shelter here?" Keith asked as he threw his own set of pebbles on the walls.

Lance gnawed on her lower lip, her face turned upright where she was taking a whiff of everything in the room. "I don't know." She said slowly as she took a few cautious steps forward. "Something smells off. It smells like death and yeah it's probably because of the scattered bones but my instincts are telling me that we're not safe."

"You're instincts are usually right." Keith said beside her. "Let's check the place out just in case. Be prepared for anything."

Lotor and Leah nodded before going to some of the open cells to check them out. Scattered weapons lay among the bones. Some of them still looked sharp. Bending down, he scooped up a long dagger and tested its weight. Deeming it satisfactory, he picked up a decent looking scabbard and put it inside before clipping it to his armor.

He was better with swords than with guns anyway.

Keith growled from across the room minutes later. "I'm not finding anything here. Only weapons and more bones. What about you guys?"

Leah walked to the center with a huff. "Nope. Nothing. But something still feels wrong, I don't think we should stay here."

Keith turned to her, his eyes narrowed as he looked at their surroundings. "Maybe we should go back upst-"

Lotor whirled when he cut off and he went utterly still.

Leah put her hands at her hips and frowned at them both. "Guys, what's wrong?"

Keith swallowed once, his hand on his Bayard tightening so much that his knuckles turned white. "Lance, whatever you do, don't look up."

Leah's expression turned blank. "There's something up there isn't there?"

Keith and Lotor nodded, their eyes glued to the spot above her. Taking a deep breath Leah shut her eyes, counted to five, opened her eyes and looked up. She went ramrod straight at the sight before her.

"You all look quite scrumptious. I've been dying for some good meat." The giant spider at the ceiling practically purred.

Leah released a small whimper, and promptly fainted.

Oh, Quiznack.

* * *

Keith wasn't surprised in the least when Lance fainted. It's why he told her _not_ to look. But this was Lance, and whenever someone told her not to do something, she did it anyway just to spite them.

Bet she was regretting it now.

The spider on the ceiling was way bigger than the ones they'd seen from planet Boabee. The thing slid from the ceiling and onto the floor where it towered over Lance. Keith resisted the urge to charge at it. If he did Lance might get hurt in the process. Best to get that thing as far away from his fiancée before he went for her.

This spider was white and blue, its multiple eyes the color of obsidian. It was bigger than Shadow, and Lance's wolf was as big as a horse. The spider bent its face down towards Lance, it's fangs twitching, and Keith and Lotor tensed, ready to fling their weapons at it, but the spider just took a long whiff.

"This one smells absolutely fantastic," the white spider moaned, her voice lovely and soothing despite being so freaky looking. That's probably how it lured its victims. Her long eight white legs clicked against the floor as she hunched forward. "It's been a while since I've had a woman to eat. Usually only males come in here so this will be a nice treat. Perhaps I'll eat her last to savor her flavor."

Keith sized up the stairwell behind the spider; the small open spaces where light emitted from the outside or any other kind of exit but found none. Damn.

He had to get Lance away from that thing.

Keith inched forward; his Bayard gripped tightly in front of him. "Aren't you an Akhenaton? I thought you guys were vegetarians."

The spider hissed, its legs clicking angrily on the floor. "Those things may be related to us, but they disgrace us with their new diet! They are fools, forming an alliance with the paladins of Voltron, trading with other species – we were born to _devour_ you!"

Beside him, Lotor's new dagger lifted a fraction.

Lance stirred where she lay sprawled under the spider.

"We are Bekhanatons." The spider continued, its obsidian eyes narrowing to slits. "And right now, you three are my meal for the day!"

Then the spider launched.

Lotor open fired with his other hand and Keith ran towards Lance who was starting to get up. Keith scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. Lance released a startled squeak and barely managed to catch the gun blaster he threw at her.

"Keith, what's going –" Lance shrieked. The spider was crawling along the ceiling, Lotor's shots almost hitting but the thing was swift.

"If I put you down, will you faint again?" Keith yelled at his fiancée as he ran into one of the open cells while Lotor kept the spider busy. Lance audibly swallowed but shook her head after a slight hesitation. Keith lowered her to the floor. Lance's hands were shaking, her grasp on the gun blaster loose. She looked deathly pale. He gripped her cheeks together so all she could see was himself. "Lance, focus! I know you hate insects, heck who doesn't? But we need to kill that thing if we want to take shelter here for the rest of the night. Didn't you want to change your clothes?"

Lance slowly nodded.

"Weren't you hungry?"

Lance nodded again.

"Are you going to let that god damn spider stop you from doing any of those things?"

Lance narrowed her blue eyes. "No."

"I can't hear you. What was that?"

Lance growled low in her throat and lifted the gun blaster in her hands. "I said no!"

"Good. Then let's go help Tarzan over there!"

Lance frowned. "He has a name Keith."

"Is this really the time to be having this conversation?"

Lance rolled her eyes, her arms crossed over her black coat. "Fine. But you have to stop calling him names Keith, its rude."

"I hate to step in your conversation, really I do, but could you guys save the small talk and give me some god damn help over here?" Lotor screamed at them both as he dodged one of the spiders spit.

The thing landed on the wall where it began to dissolve. Oh great, the spider could throw acid spits. Just what they needed. Lance fired off a shot, and then another but the spider moved so fast that the hit intended for its eyes landed on one of its legs instead. The thing fell from the ceiling and Keith rushed forward and struck a brutal slash toward the already injured leg.

The spider shrieked, green blood spurting from the wound and Keith rushed in to deliver the killing blow when the spider suddenly slammed its legs on the floor so hard the whole place shook.

Keith lost his balance and fell to one knee when the spider hurled a spew of silver webbing at him and pulled. The thing pulled at the web and threw Keith towards one of the open cells. Before he could land to what would have been a harsh landing, Lotor was suddenly there, catching his body as they both got thrown towards the wall with a grunt.

His head throbbed. Lotor released a small grunt and pushed him off lightly as he began to remove the webbing covering him. The sound of Lance's startled squeaks got him to his feet immediately but he instantly regretted it. He swayed where he stood, and he braced a hand on Lotor's shoulder to keep himself steady.

He suddenly felt sleepy. He wanted to curl up on that cold floor and just sleep the day away. And why shouldn't he?

Ever since he woken up he'd been attacked by Galra soldiers and their pet metal wolf, got chased by some cannibals, almost lost an eye because of those Duskwings, almost got skewered by barbed spikes and now he had to deal with a huge ass spider that threw acid spit at them?

Keith deserved a good rest.

He was vaguely aware of being shaken but he paid it no mind. Sleep was beckoning him and Keith eagerly followed after it.

Someone growled close to him. "Just remember that this is for your own good."

And then his head snapped to the right. His cheek was throbbing. The fuck?

"Not enough? Fine by me, I've been wanting to hit you for that vulgar language."

His head snapped to the left. He was instantly awake. Focus came back to him and he groaned as he cupped his throbbing cheeks.

"Are you awake now?"

Keith rapidly blinked his eyes, the webs around his face making it hard to see but he could vaguely see that Lotor was standing in front of him looking irritated.

He didn't know why the fuck he was irritated; Keith's the one who just got bitch slapped.

Keith narrowed his eyes to slits. His cheeks hurt! As if he needed more bruises. "Bitch! Did you just slap me?"

Lotor rolled his yellow-blue eyes but sighed in relief. "Finally. Help me take this this web off of you, it's making you drowsy."

Keith scowled but he began to yank the web on his chest off while fucking Lotor tried to take the ones covering his head. "How are you doing over there Lance?"

"Oh, you know." Lance said with a hint of hysteria in her voice. "Just fighting a freaking _spider_! Pretty sure I pissed myself, and I'm _this_ close to fainting because this spiders breath is rancid."

"You wench!" the spider hissed at her.

"Hey! It's the truth! Breath mints, ever heard of them?"

The spider roared in rage.

The sound of shots being fired followed after and the spider shrieked in agony. Keith grinned as he started pulling off the rest of the spider's web of him in a hurry. He couldn't see very well but it sounded like Lance was kicking ass at least.

That a girl.

"Got it!" Lotor shouted. "Now let's go help out Leah with that spider."

Keith lifted his Bayard and scowled. "Just call her Lance."

"But her name is Leah."

"She prefers Lance."

"Whatever, I'll ask her once we're done."

Keith didn't say anything as he and Lotor exited the open cell just in time to see Lance take hold of one of the spider's four remaining legs and hurled it harshly against the wall.

He and Lotor descended on it before the spider could get back up and cut off its head with two harsh strikes. Green blood oozed from the wound and Lance released another shriek when the body began to twitch frantically.

"Burn it or something already!" Lance cried where she was standing as far as away as she could.

Keith looked around for anything that could be used to make fire but the sound of sparks caught his attention and he turned to see Lotor clashing two rocks together. Moments later, the spider was on fire, it's limbs still twitching but it soon began to slow as the fire continued to build.

The smell coming off the dead corpse almost made him gag. Lance crumbled to her knees and Keith was instantly at her side ready to pull her close.

She was shaking.

"It's dead Lance, you did good."

Lance managed a shaky smile and leaned into him. "Stupid spiders, they're the worst."

Keith grinned against her hair. "At least this one didn't have wings."

Lance groaned in his chest. "Disgusting creatures."

"You look like you could use a hug." He teased.

Lance looked up, tears threatening to spill at the corner of her eyes. "Yes please."

Keith held his arms out awkwardly, he wasn't much of a hugger, and Lance lunged forward and practically molded herself against Keith. He pulled her close, one hand at her back and the other on top of her head where he ruffled her hair.

That elicited a small laugh out of her but it seemed to be what she needed because she pulled back and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks Keith."

"We're staying the rest of the night here right?" Lotor asked as he came to stand next to them. The Galra Prince looked like someone had run him over with a car. He had bruises on his face and arms, his hair looked like it hadn't been washed in years, bits of twigs and dirt smeared on it, and his black armor was practically shredded.

He and Lance didn't look any better. They looked like a bunch of savages that had been living out in the forest for who knows how long. Keith bit his cheek, best to keep that to himself. Lance was always worried bout her appearance and by the sounds of their recent arguments so did the Galra Prince.

"After everything we've been through?" Lance asked as she looked back at the burning spider. "You bet we are. I'm going to make s'mores with that fire!"

Lotor grinned as he pulled his long silver hair behind his shoulder. "You and I are going to be great friends. I can tell."

Lance grinned and Keith rolled his eyes.

* * *

Lance had taken off her damp clothes and laid them next to the fire before she put her head on Keith's lap and passed out. The red paladin had to cover her with one of the spare coats that Mrs. Dossier had packed for them. Thankfully, Lotor had looked away when Lance had come back to them in all her naked glory and curled up on Keith's lap, which is good because Keith would have punched him otherwise.

He'd have to talk to Lance about putting clothes on in front of company; he'd almost choked on his own spit when she'd come out of the open cell she'd used to remove her clothes. Or maybe she was just tired and hadn't even noticed.

She hadn't eaten anything either. He'll have to wake her up later to make sure she eats something.

Beside him, Lotor took out some bottles that contained more of that green tea with honey, some granola bars and shared them with Keith.

They ate in silence, watching the fire and the small remains of the spider before Keith spoke up, although it was hesitant. "So I guess I should thank you."

Lotor looked at him from the corner of his eye. "For what?"

The Galra Prince had changed clothes as well. He'd thrown what remained of his armor into the fire and changed to a black turtleneck sweater, some slacks and put on a gray wool coat. His hair looked much tamer now.

Keith hadn't changed, just removed the coat he was wearing and put it close to the fire where it could dry. He tightened the red scarf around his throat.

Keith's mouth twisted to the side. "For having our back I guess. You had plenty of opportunities to kill us but you didn't. So…yeah. Thanks."

Lotor looked startled, his eyes wide in shock. Then it turned into a pleased smile. So much so that Keith wanted to punch him in the face. "Does this mean you'll stop with the nicknames?"

Keith snorted, the guy looked so hopeful that Keith just _had_ to burst his bubble. "Not on your life Fabio."

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_


	27. Chapter 27

"The captain is supposed to go down with the ship"

"Unless the first mate knocks him out and throws him in a lifeboat."  
― **Neal Shusterman**

Chapter 27

At first, she thought she was dreaming.

A part of her still thought she was, while the other part insisted that the smoke she'd inhaled from the burning corpse of that spider last night was making her hallucinate. She glanced at her two companions and noticed they looked just as wide-eyed as she did.

Okay, maybe all three of them were hallucinating.

They had to be.

How else would one be able to explain the forest of trees, the road paved with opalescent stones, smooth as a polished mirror and the ginormous three-leafed clovers the color of red wine that stretched out high into the sky?

Just last night the whole place had been desolate. No signs of life. No streams. No trees. The place had been devoid of all of that and now suddenly it was teeming with life?

Heck, it wasn't even snowing anymore!

No signs that it had ever snowed at all actually.

The leaves on the trees were different shades of color. Blue, orange, pink, and red. The sun was high in the sky, the weather nice and cool. The kind of weather that was perfect for a day at the park or just any day where one could take a leisurely stroll.

Keith stepped forward and rubbed his blue-gray eyes. "Okay. What the fuck?"

Lance automatically flicked his forehead for the offending language as her blue eyes darted through the maze of trees, to the road that stretched farther than she could see, and to what she though were Duskwings flying high in the sky only these looked smaller; friendlier.

Not so mutated like the ones that attacked them last night.

Lotor stepped next to a seething Keith and frowned. The change of weather made his light purple skin chine. "This…is planet Zaebos…right?"

"I…think so." Lance murmured uncertainty. "Let's look for the hover bike and see if it's still where we left it."

"It fucking better be." Keith muttered under his breath as he angrily pushed aside the leaves and tree limbs that crossed his path.

The Amazon frowned. It looked like Keith was still in a pissy mood. Nothing new there though, he always woke up in a mood. Which is why he always went to the training deck before eating breakfast, it let him vent out his frustrations. Earlier, when she'd woken up it was to a pouty Keith growling at her to put some goddamn clothes on because she was completely naked and if Lotor saw her in this state Keith would have to beat him senseless until the memory disappeared from his mind.

Lotor had looked offended and told her to please put some clothes on because he was finally starting to become friends with the red paladin and he didn't want his efforts to go down the drain for something so small.

Keith had vehemently denied that they weren't friends yet, if anything they were acquaintances. Lotor had waved a light purple hand in his direction where he was facing the wall and just said _See? Progress._

Lance had watched the whole interaction with a tiny grin as she got dressed, she didn't remember not putting on clothes before going to sleep honestly. Perhaps she _had_ been tired. One thing she was utterly grateful for was the fact that she hadn't had any nightmares about Haggar talking to her in her head.

She'd been a little worried about it when she first woke up and was afraid of going to sleep at all lest she not wake up for another few months but after everything that had happened…she'd been completely pooped.

She didn't remember much after the spider was down. She remembered getting out of her wet clothes and curling up on Keith's lap before the dancing flames made her shut her eyes. Even as she slept she could feel the comforting hand of the red paladin stroking her back, her hair, her cheeks. It was nice, and it grounded her.

She didn't remember what she'd dreamt but she's positive that Keith was in her dream; the sound of his comforting laugh echoing around in her head was music to her ears.

She slept well.

Back in the present, Lance and Lotor reluctantly followed after Keith into the colored forest. Bits of pine needles stuck to her black boots, her feet leaving damp footprints as she walked further in.

Lance sniffed the air. It smelled sweet, like cotton candy.

Her stomach growled.

Lotor raised a silver brow at her and she flushed. "Shut up." She muttered.

He gave her a roguish grin as he reached a black-gloved hand and moved a branch out of her way. "I didn't say anything."

She glowered and pushed her brown beanie lower to cover her now red ears. "I have a big appetite okay. I had to share with you both so yes, I'm still hungry."

Lotor grinned and looked around the colored forest before plucking out something purple with blue spikes sticking out of it and offered it to her. Lance looked at the item dubiously and the Galra Prince shrugged, plucked another similar item and bit off a piece.

Pink juice dribbled down his sharp chin but he didn't keel over or break out in hives. He moaned dramatically and Lance rolled her eyes before snatching the other fruit in his hand and bit off a piece.

Her eyes lit up.

"Is this a grijawan?" Lance exclaimed happily as she took another bite. "They look totally different but they have the same taste!"

Lotor nodded as he finished his own fruit in three more bites. "I've seen these in some other planets. This is what they look like during winter apparently."

"Nice." Lance yelled at Keith who was walking in front of them and tossed him another grijawan. The way his eyes lit up when he took his first bite made her smile. Keith had given her most of his share of food and only eaten about three cookies yet he hadn't complained once.

She made sure to pluck a few more from the colored trees and stuffed them inside one of the purple backpacks before continuing with their trek.

Minutes later, covered in pink and red leaves was the hover bike. Keith breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the leaves off with his black fingerless gloves, the pink purse strapped to his shoulder falling to the floor with the movement.

Keith didn't seem to care as he swung a leg over and took a seat at the front. He removed the black-buttoned cashmere coat and stuffed it inside the pink purse when Lance handed it to him. He looked good in just that black turtleneck sweater and tight jeans. It hugged his lean body quite nicely. Lotor looked at her in amusement.

Crap. Was she staring?

Keith had a smug look on his face as he stretched his hands high up, the sweater rising with him to show a hint of pale skin. Lance audibly swallowed and averted her eyes.

"Something wrong, Princess Leah?" The way Keith said the word princess gave her goosebumps and she glared at him. Judging by the amused look both males were giving her, she was sure it didn't look threatening.

She cleared her throat and removed her own coat with a huff before stuffing it inside one of the backpacks. Lotor had showed her how to fit it into that small box. Just put the box close to the clothes and it would automatically suck the clothes inside.

Pretty cool actually.

She'd have to tell the science division back in Cloyetera sometime, they'd be thrilled.

Lance glanced back at the towering red three-leaf clovers with a thoughtful expression. She wondered if she could get a better view if she landed on one of those. Their surroundings had changed but that didn't mean there wasn't anything threatening somewhere in this new colorful forest.

Perhaps a killer rabbit with really sharp teeth would appear. Or perhaps she'd find a bunch of animals having a tea party somewhere further in. Or maybe a giant caterpillar with a cocky attitude would be lounging up there, waiting for her while he smoked on a pipe. Or maybe…Lance needed to stop thinking about Alice in Wonderland.

Her father always said she had an active imagination; she took that as a compliment. It made looking at the world more fun. Life was an adventure, it's thrilling and exciting. Sometimes its even boring, but it should never be serious. She had read that in a book a long time ago and she wholeheartedly agreed.

Yes Lance thought with a grin. She was definitely going to stand on top of those three leaf clovers. To get a better view. Not because she was secretly hoping that she _did_ see an arrogant caterpillar smoking on a pipe. Not at all.

…

Okay…maybe a little.

Can you really blame a girl?

Someone made a strangling noise behind her and Lance turned, fists up high ready to hit an enemy only to stop and stare.

Both males were looking at her with wide-eyes. Keith looked like he was seconds away from having a seizure as he raised one trembling finger and pointed at her. "The _fuck_ are you wearing?"

Lance frowned. What kind of question was that? She was obviously wearing clothes and…oh. Right. Looking down at her outfit she couldn't help wanting to wrap her arms around herself in embarrassment. She'd forgotten that the only extra outfit that Mrs. Dossier had packed was that silver-gray corset, night black leggings and the black boots with the silver buckles on them.

Her other clothes had still been a little damp so she had no choice but to put these unholy clothes on. With the new change in scenery, she'd completely forgotten that she was wearing it. She had thought that it would still be snowing and so she wouldn't have to take off the coat she was wearing and show what she was wearing underneath.

The outfit hugged her body nicely showing off her curves and yeah okay she looked really _really_ good but she also felt completely exposed. She couldn't help feeling like a hooker.

Did Mrs. Dossier really wear this when she was young? Had the woman been in a gang or something? Jeez.

It's a good thing she turned down the spiked collar.

Not wanting them to know that she felt completely out of her element, Lance struck a pose and held back a snicker when Keith practically fell off his bike. "Like what you see?"

The slightest flush worked its way into Keith's cheeks. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded rough and so undeniably sexy that it felt like her heart was doing summersaults. "Is that a serious question?"

Lance made a noise like a half-choked screech and she was one hundred percent sure that she was blushing. "I-I see." Her voice sounded unsteady even to her own ears.

Keith just grinned though and Lance shyly smiled back. The way he was looking at her made the breath she was holding rush out of her in a near sigh, accompanied by that familiar tingle of excitement at the sight of that crooked grin that she always loved.

Oh, if only Lotor weren't here…

Speaking of Lotor…the Galra prince looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment. He was studiously looking at his nails like they were the most interesting things in the world and loudly coughing to get their attention.

Keith threw him a harsh glare and just like that the moment passed. Lotor rolled his eyes as he swept his long silver hair behind his back. "Anyway, now that you guys are done screwing each other with your eyes-"

"You're just jealous!"

"Shut up Fabio."

"-anyone have any idea what happened to this place? I'm pretty sure that this forest wasn't here yesterday."

Keith shrugged where he leaned on the red hover bike, his hand lazily throwing his Blade of Marmora dagger in the air. Lance inwardly groaned, could Keith get any cooler?

He's not even looking and somehow he hasn't managed to stab himself! Lance is sure that if she herself were to try it she would end up with a serious injury to her person.

Lotor cleared his throat once again and Lance turned her blue eyes to him and gave him a sheepish grin. She'd been staring again. Not like it was her fault though. Keith looked eerily good this morning. "Maybe it's like those old stories where the evil witch puts a curse on the kingdom and the only way to turn it back to normal is to kill the witch?"

Both males looked at her with a thoughtful frown.

Keith licked his lips, his black brows furrowed together as he tapped his chin. "So you think because we killed that spider last night, the curse –" he made sure to make quotation marks with his fingers. "- is now gone and the forest returned to its normal state?"

Lance shrugged helplessly. Hearing him say it out loud made it sound like she was nuts. "I don't know. It's just a suggestion."

"Well, it's the only suggestion that actually sounds possible." Lotor murmured as his blue-yellow eyes flickered back to her. Lance smiled.

"We should get going." Keith said after a few minutes of contemplating silence, his eyes taking in the new surroundings as he gripped his dagger to his side. "We still don't know what this new place has in store for us but we should be on our guard. The tower doesn't seem very far. We should be able to reach it by the afternoon."

"I'll scout ahead." Lance announced with a hand in the air. She was getting impatient; those three-leaf clovers were calling her name.

Keith frowned and he cast his eyes downward for a few seconds before nodding to himself as his blue-grey eyes met her own dark blue. "Be careful. Don't do anything reckless."

Lance scoffed as she handed Lotor the other backpack. "When do I ever?"

"You want me to seriously answer that question?"

"Shut up Keith."

The light bantering was familiar and it left them both grinning at each other. Lance gave his cheek a quick peck, gave Lotor a fist pump (more like forced. The guy had no idea what she wanted him to do but he seemed to get it eventually) crouched slightly, and took a giant leap towards the three-leaf clovers.

She almost missed it but managed to hold on to one side of a red clover before lifting herself up. The wind was stronger this high up. Her hair was flowing behind her; Lance was certain that if she weren't wearing the brown beanie her hair would be all over her face.

She tapped the red three-leaf clover with her boot. It was surprisingly sturdy. As she looked around her shoulders drooped and she resisted the urge to pout like a three-year old. There was no caterpillar smoking on a pipe anywhere.

Shame.

"Do you see anything?" Keith yelled from below.

Lance jumped, startled out of her thoughts. "Let me check!"

There was a scent in the air Lance had never experienced. Cloyetera always smelled like raspberries, vanilla, and moon lilies, but the air here was mostly sweet with a bit of tangy citrus.

She hated citrus.

It was completely different from yesterday. The air had smelled a little sweet but mostly cool. Once they entered the forest that smell soon disappeared only to be replaced by something acrid and gag worthy. She briefly wondered if it was drugged, she had smelled different types of drugs before and their scents were something similar.

Its what made people want to keep taking them.

The smell was addictive.

She shook her head; if this air were poisoned she would have been affected already. Her gaze swept over the distance to see the tower that thankfully still looked like a flower ready to bloom. The purple vines wrapped around it were still glowing making it hard to miss.

There were more colorful trees leading most of the way there, a road nestled between the trees. More red three-leaf clovers stationed among the trees as well. Towards the end of the forest she could see sand so fluffy and white, from the distance, it looked like icing on a cake. She could picture running her hands through it.

She was just about to tell her companions that there was nothing but more trees when something caught her eye. The cobbled road stretched farther than she could see, but she was sure she could see shops along the way. Or were those houses?

They looked mismatched, rounded, some painted shades of jewel or pastels. Her interest piqued she shouted back to her companions. "There are a few small houses ahead, I'm going to go check it out!"

"Lance wait!" Keith yelled but it was too late. Lance leaped to the next three-leaf clover and to the next and to the next.

The sound of the hover bike's engines followed after her.

* * *

Something about this place had his instincts on high alert. At least when the trees were bent at odd angles and the air smelled of something foul, Keith knew that danger lurked ahead. The place had looked like the forests he'd seen in horror movies where the stupid couple would go and try to have a quickie only to get murdered by a guy with a chainsaw or god forbid, a fucking clown.

Thankfully, no clowns had popped up only cannibals that had tried to eat them but hey, better than a clown. With these new colorful trees, sweet smelling air, and an actual road leading the way, all Keith could feel was dread pooling at the pit of his stomach.

He cast his eyes upward a little ways ahead where Lance was jumping from clover to clover with a maniacal grin on her face. She seemed to love the new surroundings it seemed. That outfit…it had his belly clenching, his heart picking up.

Maybe one day he could convince her to wear the corset again. _Just_ the corset. Keith felt a heavy flush spread through his entire torso at the imagine in his head, blazing in his cheeks. He unconsciously looked up to where she was still jumping, her head thrown back as she let out a loud whoop of joy and did a twirl in mid-air just for the heck of it. She was beautiful. He couldn't seem to look away, he could look at her forever and never get tired of it, but then Lotor tightened his hands around his mid-section in warning and Keith looked back down at the road and swerved to the right just in time to dodge a tree with pink leaves.

"I know she's gorgeous but try not to kill us." Lotor drawled from where he was seated behind him. His hands loosened their hold on Keith and he leaned back. "You're the driver after all."

Keith resisted the urge to throw the Galra Prince off the bike. He could totally do it and make it look like an accident but he refrained. Lance would probably scold him. Just because he was somewhat getting along with the Prince didn't mean he wouldn't punch him for making snide comments.

Lance suddenly jumped down from where she was farther ahead. Her figure disappeared through the vibrant trees and Keith revved the engine to go faster. As the bike kicked off the ground, the familiar swoop-and-tug of defying gravity gripped Keith's belly. They passed a blur of colors ranging from blue, pink, orange and red until he finally caught sight of Lance's silver-gray corset, the color of biting steel glinting from the sun.

His fiancée was standing in the center, her hands on her hips as she impatiently tapped her boot on the cobblestones as she waited for them. Keith heaved a sigh of relief. At least she waited for them instead of going off on her own and getting into trouble.

It seemed Lance was maturing just a bit.

Once they were close enough Keith allowed the bike's trajectory to even out, bringing them to a smooth stop three feet in front of her. Lotor got off first and stretched his arms in front of him before Keith turned off the engine and climbed off after him.

"What is this place?" he asked while looking around. The place had rounded shops of various colors; some looked like someone had broken in and stolen everything. Others looked old and bent, as if they would collapse at the slightest touch. Their open signs were clattered on the floor, others had the CLOSED sign nailed to the doors but were slightly bent at an angle. Keith didn't know what sort of place this was but surely Mrs. Dossier would have mentioned there being another town further inside.

Neither of his companions answered.

Lance looked like she was itching to go inside some of the shops while Lotor looked around with narrowed eyes. The Galra Prince took out the two gun blasters before handing one to Lance and putting away his own inside his black coat.

"We should check the place out. See if there's any supplies before going ahead." Lotor said as he pressed forward, past the bent shops and onto the most peculiar looking ones. He and Lance went in separate directions after stuffing the purple backpacks and that god-awful satchel ("it's a _purse_ Keith" Lance so kindly reminded him) inside the hover bikes trunk and went to check out the shops.

Keith tried a few doorknobs, but nothing budged.

He peeked through some of them by looking through the glass windows but the places looked desolate inside. He saw cobwebs on most of the shelves and a whole lot of dust. It was clear no one had set foot in most of these shops for quite a long time.

After a few more minutes of searching they reconvened back in the center. Lance looked quite put-out at the fact that there weren't any animals having a tea party, whatever the fuck _that_ meant, and Lotor just shook his head and said he hadn't found anything either.

"Time to move on then." Keith said after revealing that he too hadn't found anything remotely interesting. He'd been hoping to find food but if there had ever been any in the first place then someone had taken it a long time ago.

It's as they were walking back towards the hover bike when he felt it. He could feel eyes on them. Lance and Lotor must have noticed it too because they stopped beside him. Locking eyes with his two companions, Keith faked a yawn and pretended to stretch. He twisted just slightly, to try to crack his back –

And swore he saw a flash at the corner of his eye.

Too quick.

But he saw it.

He knows he did.

Lance sniffed the air and narrowed her blue eyes, her voice sounding awfully loud in the sudden quiet. "We're not alone."

Lotor took out one of the pebbles still inside his coat pocket and threw it hard and fast towards an overgrown orange bush. A yelp and a curse followed before a figure got to his feet and growled at them.

It was a Galra.

And he wasn't alone.

"That hurt you little shit." The Galra that Lotor had hit with the pebble growled as it rubbed its dark purple forehead.

More figures follow after him, Keith doesn't know how many there are, he lost count after seven.

All of them were wearing the black and purple skintight uniform that all Galra soldiers were required to wear. Lance and Lotor registered the fact that they were armed several split seconds before Keith did, their bodies already braced for battle.

Another Galra stepped forward, his yellow eyes narrowed as he pointed a clawed finger at Lance. "We're only here for her. If you hand her over quietly we might give you a head start before killing you."

Again with this shit?

The words ignited a burning fury within him. He'd just gotten her back, like hell he was going to let some goddamn Galra take her back to that tower where the druids were waiting. Lance could handle herself, he knew that, but without her powers he couldn't help feeling a bit overprotective.

Lotor looked over at Lance from the corner of his eye. "My, aren't you popular?"

Lance shrugged and sighed exasperatedly. "It's a curse. I mean, just look at me."

Keith's lips twitched in amusement. Only Lance would start cracking jokes during crucial times. The Galra that Lotor had hit with a pebble earlier staggered back, his purple ears flat and his yellow eyes narrowed as he pointed at Lotor. "You're Zarkon's son! If I kill you, your father will give me anything I want!"

The other Galra gathered shouted in agreement.

Lance glanced over at the Galra Prince with a smug look. "My, aren't you popular?"

Lotor rubbed his purple forehead and flicked his silver bangs from his eyes a little too flamboyantly for Keith's taste. "It's a curse for us royals it seems."

"I wonder what they think about Keith." Lance mumbled under her breath. Glancing over at their enemies, the Amazon princess cupped her hands over mouth and shouted. "What do you guys think of Keith?"

"I'll kill the son of a bitch! He cut down my wolf!" One of the Galra standing by one of the bent shops snarled, its yellow teeth showing.

Lance and Lotor grinned at him. Damn royals. "You're popular too Keith."

"Yay me." Keith deadpanned. His eyes met Lance and Lotor's eyes ever so briefly. And then, as naturally as bees swarm and follow their queen, they ended up back to back. Moving as one unit, trusting the other to have their back, knowing that they'll keep each other safe.

One look from Lance, and all three of them knew what to do.

When had that happened, that they could read each other so well?

The three of them lunged forward to meet their enemies.

Keith's mind focused on the battle. Warmth spread over his body as he brought out his Marmora dagger. The blade emitted a burst of white light, the pulse rippling from the blade matching his own steady heartbeat.

The blade was no longer the shape of a knife; it'd turned into a sword. Long and curved, one edge inlaid with a glowing purple light, the other edge deadly sharp. Perfectly balanced, like it was made just for him. There was a light humming frequency coming from it that only he could hear.

The pop of every bullet, the flash of swords from the enemies side, the smell of blood mingling with the sweet smell of citrus – every sense was heightened. He was acutely aware of everything going on around him. His muscles were burning, tendons threatening to tear, joints straining – he was made to battle. One Galra came at him, his sword raised to stab him but he sidestepped, crouched, and twisted his sword through the leg of the Galra. The man went down with a painful yelp, Lotor appearing at Keith's side to stab the Galra through the chest and deliver the killing blow.

Keith gave him a grateful nod before the Prince lunged himself at another enemy. Lotor's speed was incomprehensible, overwhelming, the sword he picked up from the spiders dungeon just a blur.

Keith couldn't help feeling impressed. He thought Lotor was good with a gun but watching him now…it's clear that he's better with a sword. Leagues better. It's nice to know that he's on their side at least.

The sound of breaking glass on the other side of the path showed that Lance had flung a Galra inside one of the shops. As the Galra began to sit up, Lance swiftly took out the gun blaster and fired off a shot before ducking and swiping the feet off another Galra that had been coming her way.

This Galra in particular looked bigger than the others but Lance was not deterred. She's always liked a challenge. Lance lunged, impossibly fast, her gun already pointed at the Galra's abdomen, and shot.

She twirled as she rose up to face another one. She tossed the small silver dagger that Lotor had picked up for her from the spider dungeon to one hand to the other and held it like a pro. Two more Galra rushed at her and Lance actually did a cartwheel away from them, flung the dagger and Keith watched as it embedded itself into one of the Galra's neck.

As the remaining two Galra went after her, Lance ran towards them and bent her back backwards to avoid getting slashed in the face before landing on her knees, twirled and shoot both Galra in the face.

Well shit.

That was fucking hot.

Looks like his companions were doing fine. Satisfied, Keith turned back to his own battle to see the muscular Galra that had claimed he would kill him come his way. Keith slightly crouched, his sword ready to fend him off when another purple blur crashed into the Galra and tossed him to the floor.

"You're welcome!" Lance shouted from where she was fighting. Keith felt his mouth form a full on smile, a burst of laughter erupting from him as he threw his head back and laughed. Lotor and Lance let off two shots in his direction when the two groaning Galra on the floor were beginning to get up.

Turning his head, he noticed another Galra trying to sneak behind Lance while she was kicking the shit out of another Galra and Keith threw his sword toward the male. There was a pained yelp as his sword embedded itself in the man's calf and he fell to one knee. Lance bitch slapped him and kneed him in the stomach. "Thanks babe!"

"The _fuck_ did you call me?"

"Babe. Don't like that one? What about cuddle muffin?"

Keith made a choking sound.

"That one is _perfect."_ Lotor snickered from where he was still fighting off a few remaining Galra.

"Don't encourage her!" he snapped as he retrieved his sword from the now dead Galra's corpse and punched another one that came his way without looking.

"This is a good chance to pick names anyway," Lance shouted, her face looking at him as she shot at anyone who came within three feet of her without even looking. "Cinnamon Bun. Puddin'. Rockstar. Sexy Pants. Baby cheeks. Boogabear. Oh, I learned this one from Shiro! What do you think about Kawaii?"

Lotor was laughing up a storm and Keith felt his face blazing in embarrassment. He may have taken out his anger on some of the enemies and cut them a little too harshly but he didn't give a fuck. "Lance, I love you but shut the fuck."

Lance snickered and suddenly yelped. Keith whipped his face to see Lance engulfed in purple light where she was being lifted into the air. He and Lotor ran towards her and leaped, by some miracle they managed to snag her flailing arms and they crashed to the hard ground with a groan.

Was that a tractor beam? Keith glanced up at the sky where he and the others were still sprawled on the floor and gaped. "Is that a pirate ship?"

"Where?" Lance sat up in a flash, throwing a groaning Lotor to the floor none too gently. He was probably fine. The ship in the sky had one black and purple sail with Zarkon's sigil and a few banks of oars. It was about twenty feet long with a face of Haggar's wrinkly old face as the mast. Gross. Whoever designed it had no taste whatsoever. Haggar's face was open in a scowl, her yellow eyes were narrowed. It was probably meant to look threatening but it just looked like she was constipated.

The bottom of the ship opened and a purple light was aimed at them. Keith and his companions rolled in different directions to try and avoid getting sucked into the air. Moments later the sound of gun blasters going off was heard from the ship and Keith had to take cover behind one of the shops.

Sounds of glass breaking echoed around the field. After a while Keith cautiously peeked his head to the side to see Lance launch herself away from the building she'd been hiding in and leaped on the closest buildings roof and then to another. Lotor fired off shots to give her some cover from the remaining Galra on the ground before Lance reached the tallest building and lunged towards the ship.

She was off by a few feet; Keith could only watch as she began to fall but Lance whipped something out and pointed it at the ship. Was that a grappling hook? She must have snatched it from one of the Galra. The thing attached itself to the side of the ship and Keith watched in astonishment as her figure quickly climbed up the railing and disappeared.

Seconds later, a Galra soldier was thrown into the sky where he screamed bloody murder before the red paladin heard a splat and everything went quiet.

More soldiers followed after the first one, sounds of guns being fired, shouts and curses, and Lance's cackling were clearly heard as well.

It looked like Lance would be fine so Keith took out his sword and ran to help Lotor finish dealing with the remaining enemies.

* * *

Destroying the Haggar mast on the front of the ship was a team effort. Nobody wanted that trash on board. It had taken a few good hits from the gun blasters and a few screaming Galra thrown at it to make it look like rubble but they had done it.

Lance had taken over the ship pretty quickly, she'd been a little pissed off to find out that there were in fact no pirates on board. In a fit of fury, she had grabbed hold of the first Galra soldier that had come her way and tossed him off the ship. Since it seemed to be working she repeated the action to the rest of the crew.

Poor fuckers.

Keith couldn't help falling a little more in love with her for the action. It's something he would do in a fit of rage too.

Once he and Lotor had taken care of the enemies on the ground, after a bit of exploring, Lance had found the device to operate the tractor beam and beamed both of them, including the hover bike on board.

There was purple blood scattered on the floor, holes in random spots from the gun blaster as well, clear signs that a battle had taken place but it doesn't bother Keith in the least as he and Lotor made their way upstairs to where Lance was steering the ship.

The lower deck was nothing impressive. Just a few cages to hold prisoners and some Galra uniforms.

They hadn't crashed so far so maybe Lance knew what she was doing. The sound of static startled them. Lotor narrowed his yellow-blue eyes, his purple pointy ears twitching, before scooping down and picking up an earpiece from the floor.

' _Do you have her?'_ a raspy voice asked through the comms.

The voice sent a chill up his spine.

Druid.

Lance and Keith whipped their heads towards him and the Amazon princess grinned and motioned for him to give her the little device. Frowning, the Galra Prince handed her the small device and stepped closer to hear. Keith did too, what was she going to say?

Grinning mischievously, Lance lifted the device closer to her mouth and began to speak. "I don't know who you are but I know exactly what you want. If you're looking for your little army, don't. They're all dead so no, they don't have me. My name is Leah McClain and what I have are a very particular set of skills." Keith's eyes widened, the urge to laugh so sudden that he had to cover his mouth with both hands to stifle any noise. Lance looked so _serious,_ he felt he should at least let her finish. "Skills I've acquired over many years and a whole lot of training, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. And that's _without_ my powers; just wait till I get them back. If you hadn't sent your little cronies and those disgusting creatures after me, I might have let you go but you've thoroughly pissed me off. I'm coming. I will find you, and when I do, I will kill you."

There was a moment of stunned silence from the other end before there was a hiss and the speaker on the other end spoke. " _Good luck little paladin."_

And then the line went dead.

As soon as it did, Keith burst into hysterical laughter and doubled over. "Did you seriously just use the lines from _Taken_ to threaten him?"

Lance flipped her long dark brown hair over her shoulder and smiled. "I've always wanted to say that to someone. I saw an opportunity and I took it."

Keith just continued to laugh. Oh, man. Lance was the best.

Keith would have never been able to pull that speech off without bursting into hysterical giggles.

Beside him, Lotor looked at them with a befuddled expression and crossed his arms. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

Lance clapped his back reassuringly. "Don't worry dude, I'll show you the movie when we get off this planet."

Lotor tapped his sharp purple chin and crossed an arm over his chest. "There's a movie about this? And I'm invited?"

"Of course. We're friends after all."

Lotor looked deeply touched at the statement and his face softened. Lance had that affect on people.

"Now then, you guys ready to take down some creepy druids in need of a serious trim and some Galra soldiers?"

Keith grinned ferociously as he cracked his knuckles. "Bring it on."

Lotor leaned against the railing and let his head hang back, his silver hair flailing behind him with the rush of wind. "This will be fun. Hopefully my generals will be there as well."

"Leave the steering to me!" Lance declared with both hands clasped behind her head. The ship began to go down and both males had to shout at her to take over. She did after a few more seconds and told them to chill.

Oh, god.

He hoped they made it to the tower in one piece.

* * *

As a prince of the Galra Empire, Lotor prided himself in knowing three things: how to fly absolutely anything, how to stay hidden, and how to fight with any weapon. The first was a breeze. He'd been trained since birth on how to fly all types of ships. He had a knack for it, and it always brought him comfort. He could close his eyes and he'd still be able to feel the stars orbit around him no matter where he was.

The third thing was no problem either. He was used to battling with every type of weapon the Galra had in stock. He was good with a gun but put a sword in his hands and you'd better say your goodbyes.

The second, however, was proving to be a problem. Mostly because he had teamed up with Lance and Keith. Don't get him wrong, he liked them. He was slowly but surely melting the red paladins heart, he could feel it. But he was particularly close with Lance. She was a royal just like him but she was a different type of princess. A better one. More tolerable and way more fun than all the others he'd met over the years.

Lance could _fight._ She didn't cower and let everyone else take care of the problem for her. She did it herself. And she was remarkably good at it. She was extraordinary. But she loved attention. And so trying to be sneaky was practically impossible. Lance had a strong presence; you couldn't help but notice her.

If he'd been back at his father's ship, his tutor would have told him to leave the group at once. He would say that she would be his downfall so better to leave and manage on his own. Then again, his tutor always looked like he had a stick up his ass so he probably wouldn't understand Lotor's joy at being in both of his new companion's presence or Lance's jokes.

It truly was a shame.

He didn't remember the last time he'd laughed this hard. If he'd been with his generals, none of them would have tried to crack a joke during battle. Perhaps Zethrid would have attempted it but then Axca would shut her up with a glare and tell her that 'Prince Lotor wasn't interested in her crude jokes.'

Everyone in his team needed to chill. They were so serious but if he even attempted a joke, they'd take him to a healing pod because _clearly_ something had to be wrong with him.

Lotor had jokes! He liked hearing them and he liked making them. No one seemed to understand that though, at least when he attempted it with both paladins they didn't look at him weird.

Keith just looked like he was pissed at himself for allowing his lips to twitch upward. Lance would laugh and add another line or look at him in approval.

It was nice.

Lotor turned his attention to the front where Lance was still steering to see the emerging tower. It _did_ look like a flower ready to bloom. It was made out of silver, purple glowing veins wrapped around it, and now that they were closer he could see the spiral staircase around the whole thing leading all the way to the top.

It was floating, a cabin in colors of black and purple below it. When he'd gone to the Earth store back at the swap moon he had purchased a book that had all of Earth's flying machines. This tower reminded him of a blimp, like the ones he'd seen in the book. Only in this case, the balloon was a really huge silver ship that looked like a blooming flower but yeah pretty much the same.

He'd never been to this planet before so he didn't know what to expect. Considering that Haggar liked to come to this planet a lot though, it was probably full of her druids and her crazy experiments.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Even without being here, that witch caused him nothing but trouble.

The closer they got, the more they could see the purple particle barrier surrounding it. How were they planning on getting inside? Were they going to infiltrate from the bottom cabin and make their way up?

He voiced those questions to Lance but she just grinned and remained quiet.

Keith fidgeted where he sat cross-legged on the floor and muttered under his breath, "Well, that's not good. I can already see us doing something dangerous."

Lotor could not help but agree with the statement. Straightening in his spot, he gripped the railing as hard as he could. Whatever Lance was going to do couldn't be good.

He wondered if he should start praying for his life.

Lance made no move to hide their arrival. Lotor wasn't surprised but he couldn't help but think back to his tutor where he vehemently told him to stay hidden while on missions. Stealth was always good and it usually brought success.

Better throw those teachings out the window.

Gunfire exploded through the valley below. He leaned over the railing, squinting down at the Galra soldiers shooting at them. They'd probably thought they were coming from below. Had they not _seen_ the ship flying in the air?

He shook his head, if his father hadn't made him public enemy number one, he would have told him that their soldiers needed to be retrained.

Bunch of idiots.

They were _still_ shooting at them.

Twenty yards away, the tower had begun to glow, a few windows opening to reveal cannons.

Keith scrambled to his feet, and grappled the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. "Lance, they're going to fire at us! Do you see those cannons?"

"Yep, I see them." Lance said casually, looking up at the approaching tower. "Relax, I got this."

If anything, her answer to his question only made him turn a little green. Again, Lotor couldn't blame him. "How do you plan on making it through the particle barrier?"

Lance shrugged her right shoulder. "By crashing into it."

"Ah, that makes sen –" Lotor cut himself off and looked at her incredulously. "Wait, what?"

"So this is how I die." Keith muttered as he looked up at the sky. "I wonder if I'll see Elvis on the other side."

"Tell me you're not serious!" Lotor shouted at her with wide eyes. Lance turned to look at him, her face the most serious he had ever seen. Her blue eyes were dark and determined; her shoulders were squared while her hair danced wildly in the wind. Coupled with the tight silver-gray corset, the black leggings and both gun blaster and dagger strapped to the belt she'd stolen from downstairs, she looked fierce.

A true warrior.

Even the tiara and the shackles on her wrists managed to make her look strong.

"It's true Lotor, because –" she turned around and Lotor almost had a heart attack. She was holding the brown steering wheel in both hands. The _steering_ wheel that was supposed to be attached to the ship. The _steering_ wheel that could have been used to help them out run the cannon blasts. –"this came off and it won't reattach itself so yeah. We're going to crash."

"Lance what the fuck?" Keith screamed at her in horror.

Lance glared at him and put one hand at her hip, the other one still holding the brown steering wheel weakly in her grasp. "I don't like that tone."

"It's the _steering wheel,"_ Keith stressed. "We need that to drive the goddamn ship!"

Lance sniffed and looked away. "It's not my fault the thing was so weak that it came off when I tried to turn it to the right."

They were going to die. He just knew it.

–"If anything you guys should be praising me. How the heck do you think I felt when this thing came off? But did I freak out? Nope. Acted totally cool about it. I deserve _some_ praise."

Oh god.

The ship began to fall, which was lucky for them because the cannon blasters would have hit them if they were still up high. Those cannons were hard to adjust so it would take them a few minutes to arrange them to a new position.

It was a really slow fall though.

Unfortunately, they were still headed towards the blooming tower. The tower that was surrounded by a purple particle barrier. An explosion thundered through the ship, sending the three of them to the floor.

"Who's shooting at us?" Lance cried, strands of dark brown hair obscuring her face. She pulled them away with an annoyed grunt. Her beanie hat had been lost to the wind it seemed.

"Don't you mean, who _isn't_ shooting at us?" Keith shouted back, one hand holding her forearm to stabilize her.

Lotor looked at the skies, one hand braced on the floor to steady him. "There!" he pointed. "There are three battle cruisers circling ahead!"

Lance and Keith turned their eyes in the direction he was pointing at and scowled. The Amazon princess looked around the marbled floor and dove for the brown steering wheel that had fallen from her grip, rolled to the railing on the other side of the ship and crouched.

"Lance, what are you doing?" Keith shouted, his black hair flying all over the place. Lotor's own hair wasn't doing any better. He'd finally fixed the damn thing!

Lance didn't answer, just watched the skies in deep concentration. Lotor and Keith followed her gaze. Its as the battle cruisers were close enough together that Lance shot to the center and threw the steering wheel with such force, the wind whistled.

The steering wheel hit the black battle cruiser in the center and promptly blew up. The other two battle cruisers that had been close enough to it caught on fire and began to fall, black smoke coming off them in waves.

"Oh hell yeah!" Keith shouted in glee.

"Very well done." Lotor said though the chaos.

Lance grinned and shouted at them to stay there before running to the small deck downstairs. He and the red paladin exchanged curious glances and wondered what she was up to. It was only a matter of time before they crashed on the particle barrier. The ships sail was already on fire, its black smoke covering most of the blue sky.

The sound of something shattering on the bottom deck turned their attention in that direction just in time to see the red hover bike crash through the small door only to land on the upper deck with a thud.

Keith let out a wail.

Lance's head popped up from below and cast them a dirty look. "Well? Get on the dang bike!" Both males scrambled to their feet, Keith at the front, Lance in the middle and he himself bringing up the rear. "Now drive us to the back of the ship and hold that position!"

Keith didn't question her and did as he was told. Its as they made it to the back that the ship crashed into the particle barrier. The ship made a creaking sound, it sparked and then flames erupted from the front.

The particle barrier shimmered. Lance took out her gun blaster and began to fire at it while Keith did his best to hold their position at the far end. Lotor immediately understood what the Amazon was trying to do. The particle barrier wouldn't go down but if the ship continued to crash into it then it would create a small opening. Big enough that the hover bike would be able to go through.

Lotor pulled out his own gun blaster from inside his coat and began to fire in the same spot that Lance was shooting at. The ship was disintegrating quickly; he and Lance began to fire faster. The ship was halfway gone when the particle barrier shimmered and a small hole opened up. "Now Keith!"

The red paladin pushed the lever and tilted the handlebars forward.

They plummeted into a dive – straight down, the world blurring in a sea of flames and black smoke – the small opening was beginning to close, he and Lance continued to fire, one arm wrapped tightly around the person in front of them and held on for dear life. Four feet, three, feet, two, one –

– Keith yanked the bike upwards, a growl on his lips, and they tumbled through the other side of the barrier just as it closed. The slightest flick of the wrist was all he needed. Lance let out a whoop of joy only to be cut short as the hover bike began to tilt downward.

"Keith? What's going on?" Lance yelled nervously.

Keith's eyes flickered to the controllers and then to the back before cursing under his breath. "Damn it, part of the engine was cut off!"

Well, that's not good.

More cannons began to fire in their direction, but Keith managed to maneuver them out of the way just in the nick of time. Glancing back, Lotor spotted black smoke coming from the rear, he pulled his hair in front of him; he didn't want it catching fire.

"That window is open!" Lance shouted, her finger pointed at the center where Lotor could indeed see a window. A bay window to be exact. Keith grunted but managed to fly the hover bike in the direction she was pointing at.

The sound of alarms rang throughout the whole area, the purple vines wrapped around the tower turned a vibrant red, he could see figures moving around frantically inside the tower from the small windows.

More battle cruisers began to descend on them.

"Everyone, hold on!" Keith shouted a second later before they crashed into the window, broken glass landing on top of them and onto the floor. The engine cut off abruptly and they were thrown off the bike in random directions of the room.

Lotor landed painfully on his side, something crashing into his head almost knocking him out. Two collective groans of pain came from his companions, Lotor let out a relieved sigh only to cover his head a moment later as the hover bike blew up.

Lance and Keith shouted for each other and then shouted for him as well before the cold floor he was lying on cracked and he and the others plummeted to the next floor below with a scream on their lips.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! You can also find me in Archives of Our Own!_


	28. Chapter 28

"This is the part in the movie where that guy says, "Zombies? What zombies?" just before they eat his brains. I don't want to be that guy."  
― **Holly Black** , **Kin**

Chapter 28

Lance's head was _throbbing_. There was a ringing in her ears blocking out most of the noise around her, everything sounded muffled. As slowly as she could she turned to lie on her back and winced as sharp pain ran through her back. Her elbows stung. There was smoke everywhere, a huge hole on the ceiling from the floor they'd just fallen from. Ash rushed up around her in a cloud. She coughed in it, squinting her eyes against the bright purple light coming from the floor they were just in.

That window had _not_ been open; the broken shards lying around her were proof enough.

Ash coated her mouth, it tasted like cinders.

Where were Keith and Lotor?

Shakily, she got to her feet.

The room looked like a medical room. There were heart monitors thrown across the floor, medical cabinets with spilled pills on the black tiled floor. Beds tossed on their sides faced the wall. The hover bike was in the center, still burning a bright red.

Lance put her hands in front of her in an effort to block some of the heat, her blue eyes looking around in desperation. Where were they?

She walked forward and coughed. They had to get out of this room before the guards showed up. Lance swiped the smoke away from her and – there!

Two figures laid on their sides across the room, bits of glass scattered on top of their prone bodies. Lance headed in their direction, coughing up more smoke.

She reached Keith's side first and knelt by his side to cup his face in her hands. His black brows were furrowed in pain; he had a cut on his right cheek where it was still bleeding. There was a bruise on his jaw and he had a black smudge on his temple.

Beside them, Lotor groaned as he rolled on his back and opened his yellow-blue eyes with a grimace. "Let's not do that ever again." He groaned out, one hand splayed across his chest, the other covering his eyes.

Lance managed a smile. "Deal."

Turning her attention back to Keith, she tapped his cheek a few times until his eyelids stirred. Blue-gray eyes met her own relieved blue and he owlishly blinked at her. "Elvis?" Lance smacked his left cheek a little more harshly and he came instantly awake. Why was it always Elvis? He sat up with a wince before finally spotting her. As gently as he could he cupped her cheeks in his finger-less gloved hands and blinked. "Lance?"

She sagged with relief, her fingertips lightly wiping some of the blood running down his cheek. "Hey mullet. You scared me there."

Keith smiled, that crooked little grin that spoke of mischief and charm. It both infuriated her and made her want to kiss him. "Can't get rid of me that easily."

"I'm okay too, just putting it out there." Lotor grumbled sarcastically as he sat with a wince. His temple was bleeding, his hair looked like it'd been through a tornado, and his coat had bits of glass stuck to it.

Keith blew a strand of black hair away from his face and rolled his eyes. "Awesome."

Lance flashed her fiancée a sickly sweet smile that had him gnawing his teeth. "That's Keith language for 'Yay. You're alive." Keith shot her a dirty look but she just flashed him another honey-sweet smile. "We have to get out of here before the guards come looking for us. Think you guys can stand?"

Both males nodded and Lance left them to it before striding over to the door. She could hear shouting, the shrill of alarms, and – footsteps.

Her mouth went dry, her heart thundering. She glanced back at her companions. Keith was slightly swaying on his feet; Lotor had an arm slung over his middle, his face etched in a grimace.

She smelled a hint of blood, but not enough to have her freaking out yet.

Lance was sure she had injuries as well. She was tougher than both her companions but she'd been tossed to a wall by a metal wolf, fought off a couple of cannibals, been snatched by some Duskwings, crashed through a frozen lake, fought a bunch of Galra and a frickin huge spider, and now crashed into enemy territory all in two days.

She was tired, hungry, and just wanted to go back to the castle of lions. Her home. She wanted to cook with Hunk again while she told him her really creative puns. She wanted to see what new experiment Pidge had come up with and ruffle her hair because she secretly liked it. She wanted to exchange stories with Coran and see who'd done the most adventurous things so far. She wanted to have another sleepover with Allura and do each other's hair. She wanted to play dance dance revolution with Matt because she was pretty sure he'd give her a challenge. She also wanted to play a prank on Shiro; it'd been too long. Perhaps hide his underwear in the freezer this time. More than anything though, she jut wanted some alone time with Keith.

Perhaps they'd just laze around and talk. Maybe they'd spar or maybe…they'd do something else. Something she really, desperately, wanted to do. It was about time anyway. Only problem would be Shiro. That guy had a sixth sense or something. How else would he show up just when things were starting to get hot and heavy with a box of condoms and a no nonsense face?

They had to get out of here first.

Urgency laced each word.

Those pounding footsteps were getting closer.

Lance whirled back around and desperately searched through the room. She marched over to the medical cabinets strewn on the floor and lifted them up. She slid two in front of the door. This one looked like a regular door, you had to turn the doorknob in order to open it.

Hopefully it would buy them some time.

Lance clapped her hands. "All right ladies, we don't have a lot of time so let's hurry it up. We're going back upstairs."

Keith nodded while Lotor looked up at the hole they'd made with a thoughtful frown. "We had two objectives right?"

"Yeah." Keith said. "Look for those prisoners from the village and find the communications room to get in touch with Shiro and the others."

"And then after we do all of that," Lance added with a grin. "We go all the way to the top and beat the bad guy."

Keith frowned where he swatted some of the dust from his clothes. "How do you know they'll be at the top?"

Oh, poor delusional Keith. Lance shook her head and looked at him with a pitying stare. "Because the bad guys like to look down at us. Where else would they be?"

Lotor tapped his chin, his face looking solemn. "She has a point, my father is the same."

Keith rolled his eyes, crouching and putting his hands together in front of him. "Yeah, well your dad is a dick. Now who is going first?"

Lotor inclined his head to her and Keith looked her dead in the eye when he asked the question. It made her want to roll her eyes but she resisted and walked over. "Gee, guess I'll go first then."

Honestly, Lance didn't need a boost. She could just jump up there no problem but whatever. The sound of footsteps was getting closer, they had to hurry. Lance put her right leg on Keith's palm, one hand holding on to his shoulder to lift herself up when a dark chill went down her spine and Keith and Lotor went ram rod straight. She almost fell on her face but managed to stand up straight.

Crap.

Druid.

They'd taken too long.

"And just where do you think you're going?" A raspy voice said, its voice echoing around the whole room. It was disturbing. Lance could only watch as the druid materialized into the room, black robes and pointy beak mask on its face. The nails still looked like they seriously needed a trim. Was that a thing that all druids were required to have?

Lance could just imagine Haggar gathering a bunch of young Galra, a checklist on her hands, as she looked them up and down. 'Creepy aura: check. Creepy voice that made people want to piss themselves: check. Long, long nails to scratch someone's face off: check. A stink so bad it brought tears to your eyes: check. Congratulations, you're a druid now.'

Lance almost laughed at the imagine but this was no time for laughter. She'd missed him. How the heck had she _missed_ a Druids presence? If the slimy existence hadn't been enough warning then the smell should have given the thing away.

Did druids even bathe? The last one Keith and her had taken down before they crashed in this planet had smelled like old goat and cheese. This one was no better. It smelled like stale fish. Or rotten eggs left in a sunny room. Or someone farted in a closed room and didn't bother to stop.

Point being, Lance should have been able to at least _smell_ this thing coming. But she hadn't. And that was a bit worrying to be honest.

Lance took a step forward, her hand inching its way to her gun blaster and immediately froze.

Damn.

What she would give to have her powers back…

The sound of multiple footsteps had her eyes going to the ceiling just in time to see about eight Galra soldiers jump down from the room they'd fallen from. They were surrounded.

This just kept getting better.

The druid took a step forward, its black cloak trailing on the floor behind it as it walked, and stopped in front of her. It cupped her chin between its clammy dark purple hands. Keith released a warning growl where he stood frozen beside her.

"Get your goddamn hands off her you freak!" Keith said fiercely. He was breathing hard, his temper close to snapping. Lance could just barely see the Galra ears make reappearance on her fiancée's head. The Galra surrounding them turned their weapons on him.

"Keith, calm down." Lotor advised, his voice sounded strained. Sweat was running down his temple, his body was shaking. Not from fear, Lance was sure of that. Lotor wasn't the kind of person to get scared despite being overwhelmed by enemies. He was probably trying to regain control of his body.

Closing his eyes, Keith took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. "Patience yields focus," he muttered under his breath. He repeated it three more times before the fluffy ears disappeared. Some of the tension left the Galra surrounding them.

They lowered their weapons just a fraction.

And removed their own set of weapons from Lance and her two companions.

Lance turned her dark blue eyes to the druid holding her chin. "So. You're not the one in charge here right? What now? Are you going to take me back to your leader?"

The druid chuckled, at least that's what Lance hoped it was, and gripped her chin harder. "We were going to knock you out for the soul transfer but not anymore." Lance narrowed her eyes. "I've changed my mind. I want you to feel everything we're going to do to you. You'll be screaming at us to stop, _pleading_ , but we'll refuse." Lance faked nonchalance but the thing must have seen right through her fear because it chuckled and squeezed her chin, its long nails pinching into her skin. "As for your comrades…well. They're not necessary." Its head turned towards Lotor. "Not even the ex Galra Prince."

"You druids are a pain in my behind." Lotor growled. "You'd best not underestimate us just because you have your grip on our bodies."

"Threaten her again," Keith sneered at the druid, his blue-gray eyes blazing in hatred. "And I'll fucking kill you."

The druid made a strange sound from its throat, probably a scoff or something douche sounding and snapped its fingers. A burly Galra yanked Lotor by the scruff of his collar and stuck a gun blaster against his back. Another two did the same to Keith who spat curses at them when they began to manhandle him towards the door. The rest of the Galra soldiers followed after them except for one and the druid who was _still_ cupping her chin.

Lance couldn't see because of the mask it was wearing but she was sure that the druid had a smug look on its face. The druid reached a hand and hauled her by her hair towards the door. It seemed the two cabinets she'd placed had been tossed to the side. Her body was still not listening to her but the druid guided her to the door by making her legs move.

The hair pulling was unnecessary in her opinion.

God, when she got her hands on that slimy little shit-stain of a druid, she'd –

The Galra soldier harshly placed his gun blaster on her back, making her almost fall to her knees. Keith's ears had reappeared at the top of his head, Lance could see a shade of purple on his throat and slowly rising, his body shaking, beads of sweat running down his temple.

Keith Kogane was livid.

Lance and Lotor were right there with him.

The druid leg go of her hair and turned to one of the Galra. "Alert the other druids and tell them to prepare the room for the soul transfer, we have the blue paladin. I will personally call lady Haggar and tell her the good news."

The Galra nodded and tapped the device on his ear to relay the news but frowned. "Communications seem to be down sir Yemra."

"Probably because they crashed," The burly Galra who was still holding onto Lotor's collar said and eyed Lance and her companions in distaste. "They'll be back in a few minutes. Just go in person for now."

The Galra placed a fist to his chest, bowed, and hurriedly left the purple-lighted hallway. Their captives led them through the other end of the hallway. Awkward silence followed. If Lance had control of her body, she'd be fidgeting. Or she'd make a joke to diffuse the awkwardness but she certainly didn't feel like making her enemies laugh.

They didn't deserve to hear her amazing jokes. And they were _definitely_ not worthy of her using her pick-up lines on them either.

It was truly a shame.

For them.

She was quite good if she said so herself.

"Lance, are you okay?" Keith quietly asked her, his tone full of concern. The purple skin had receded but the Galra ears remained. Adorable.

Lance managed a smile, her blue eyes locking on his. "I'm fine. What about you two?"

Lotor sighed and rolled his eyes where another Galra was dragging him beside her. "Peachy. Having a gun at my back is always a thrill."

The burly Galra harshly pulled at his hair but Lotor didn't even flinch.

Lance and Keith scowled. The red paladin turned his eyes to the Galra Prince, his eyes quickly skimming over him to make sure he was okay before swiftly looking away. Honestly, why couldn't Keith just admit that he already thought of Lotor as a friend?

Men.

The druid hissed at them all to shut up and muttered incoherently under its breath.

"Stick up his ass." Lotor muttered under his breath.

Keith's mouth twitched but he quickly wiped the expression off his face when Lance turned her smug blue eyes at him.

They dissolved into silence once again but this time it only lasted for a few seconds before an explosion thundered through the blooming tower, the lights flickering, dimming to a scarlet red. The rattle was so fierce; it knocked them all to the floor.

The druid's control on them slackened.

Lance stumbled to her feet, grabbed the druid by the shoulders, and kneed it in the face. The sounds of grunts from behind her confirmed that her companions were fighting their own guards.

The Amazon only had eyes for the druid though. She had to take him out before anyone else; she didn't need the thing halting their movements again. Luckily for her, druids were pretty weak when they couldn't use their magic. A few punches to the face and a slam on the wall, and the druid was finally down for good.

She scooped up her weapons from one of the Galra and clipped them to her belt. "Anyone have any idea what that was?"

Lotor tucked his gun blaster in his coat, flipped his hair over his shoulder and moved to stand beside her. "Hopefully, it was my generals."

"You guys okay?" Keith asked as he briskly walked to their side, he stepped on the druids' prone form, and stopped by their side. He gave Lotor a discreet look before he marched over to her and gripped her face both ways and looked her up and down before he seemed satisfied.

Lance pressed her forehead against his and lightly pecked his cheek. "I'm okay mullet. Nothing like killing a druid to make one feel better."

He huffed out a laugh. "And you said we couldn't solve all our problems with murder."

Lance groaned and pushed his face away. "Shut it."

"And you?" Keith asked the Galra Prince, a slight frown on his face.

Lotor placed a hand on his chest and looked at the red paladin in wonder. "Are you actually worried about me?"

Keith scowled. "Shut the fuck up."

"I'm rubbing off on you. Just admit it."

"I swear to god –"

"Ladies." Lance interrupted with a shit-eating grin. "Can we talk about this later? We got some prisoners and a communications room to find."

Both males sobered up at that and the Amazon nodded, turned on her heel and took four steps forward before the floor opened up from under her and she fell through with a scream.

Lance really hated this planet.

* * *

The second Lance had taken that fourth step, Keith heard a familiar click and immediately rushed to her side, a warning on his lips, but it was too late. The floor had swallowed up his fiancée and no mater how much Keith pounded the shit out of the floor tile or tried to lift it, the thing wouldn't budge.

God damn it.

"Keith, calm down." Lotor's voice pierced through the fury burning in him. Giving up on the floor, Keith stalked through the hallway, hands bunched into fists.

Calm down? How _could_ he?

Lance had fallen to god knows where, probably surrounded by more fucking druids and goddamn Galra soldiers and Keith wasn't there to help her!

How the fuck was he supposed to calm down?

The way that druid had threatened her, like it was eager to _break_ her – Keith had snapped. If the thing hadn't been controlling his body, Keith would have shanked it. He thought of all the ways he would kill that reeking sack of shit – all the ways he _could_ –

Lance had taken care of the thing though. So he did the next best thing, slaughtered all the Galra soldiers surrounding them with the help of Lotor.

And just when he was finally in control of himself, his body relaxing at the sight of Lance safe and in no immediate danger, the floor opening up from beneath had taken her from him.

"Keith. You're Galra side is showing. Calm down." Lotor repeated as he easily matched his pace.

Damn those long legs of his.

"I'm trying." He growled, he could feel the tip of his ears twitching at every sound, his nails now turned into claws pricking his skin hard enough to draw blood. He tried, but he was angry. Worried. So goddamn worried.

He had to find Lance.

He hadn't been there the first time she'd faced off against the druids and Haggar herself, something he deeply regretted. He knew he hadn't had much choice in the matter but he couldn't help blaming himself. Lance had been terrified, crying helplessly and all he could do was watch through her eyes before that witch kicked him out of Lance's head.

He wasn't going to let Lance endure anything like that ever again. At least Lance had taken out that druid before it could contact Haggar. They didn't need that wrinkly old bitch coming and make matters worse.

It's too bad they hadn't been able to get the druid to take Lance's tiara and shackles off her though. Apparently the thing had to be alive in order to get the things off.

Bummer.

Keith concentrated. Anger would make him careless. That, at least, helped him come to his senses and calm the rest of him.

His claws returned back to his regular human nails, the purple skin faded, and the ears at the top of his head were gone. It was weird. But it didn't hurt. Keith smiled.

There.

He was getting better at this.

Perhaps when this was over he wouldn't need to take the suppressant pills anymore.

Fingers crossed.

It was strange that they hadn't encountered anyone else though. Before they'd crashed he had seen blurry figures moving inside but now that they were inside the building itself, they'd only encountered a few soldiers and one druid.

It put him on edge.

He was about to turn the next corner when a hand yanked him back. Keith bit back a curse and turned angry eyes to the Galra Prince who had stopped to look at some picture embedded on the wall.

Keith couldn't make much sense of it. It had a bunch of scribbles and it was written in Galra so what was so interesting about it?

He yanked his arm back and took out his Blade of Marmora blade in case anyone came upon them. "What are you doing? We have to find Lance!"

Lotor made a humming noise before turning those yellow-blue eyes to him. "This is a map." Oh. Well that explained why he was looking at it so intently. "Anyway, it seems we're in the sixth floor. Lance must be somewhere at the bottom."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Keith snapped. They were wasting time! Lance could be out there fighting a bunch of druids while he and Lotor were looking at a goddamn map.

Lotor sighed and prayed for patience. "I _know_. I'm just looking for shortcut. Calm down."

Keith stilled, eyes slowly raised to meet Lotor's own amused ones and bit his lip. "Oh. Well. Good." His face felt warm. And he was pretty sure his voice came out more like a squeak than anything else. He tried not to squirm. His body was still in fight or flight mode and all this standing around wasn't doing him any good.

After what felt forever but was actually two minutes, Lotor stepped back and started down the opposite hallway; it should lead straight to a dead end where a hidden door was waiting for them. Lotor claimed that all bases usually had them in case of emergencies.

Good enough for him.

As they passed another corridor, he heard the sound of gun blasters going off.

They slowed to a stop, weapons drawn, and bodies tense.

Tilting his head to listen, Lotor put his back to the wall and Keith followed his example. The sound of footsteps was getting louder. They were thirty, no at least thirty-five feet away but walking fast. Whoever it was, was heading here.

Now that they were closer, Keith could hear the sounds of battle. He wondered who it was. It couldn't be Lance; he saw her fall somewhere down below.

Had Lotor's generals made it to the tower?

Or were they just more Galra soldiers for Keith to take his anger on?

He hoped it was the latter.

The footsteps were fifteen feet away and closing. They sounded like they were in a hurry.

When they were just three feet away, Keith rounded the corner and slammed into a Galra soldier. A woman.

The woman looked at him for a moment, dumbfounded.

Keith's eyes furrowed. That uniform looked eerily familiar. "Do I know –"

Suddenly, the woman shoved him against the wall, pressing a forearm against his neck. Lotor yelled out something before a blur of orange ran past to intercept with Lotor.

"Paladin of Voltron," the woman hissed, her blue-yellow eyes narrowing in anger. Keith tugged at the hand on his neck, wheezing as it became difficult to breathe.

"Axca stop!" Lotor ordered where he was standing next to a lean tall woman with orange skin and an orange free-flowing appendage with hints of blue and yellow resembling hair cascading down her back.

The Galra woman holding him hesitated and glanced at the Galra Prince one more time before her light blue face pinched and she swiftly let him go.

Keith dropped to his knees, coughing. "The fuck is your problem?"

"Such language." The woman in orange murmured as she crouched down to his level, her wide baby blue eyes looking at him in interest.

"Sorry about that." Lotor said as he helped him to his feet. "These are two of my generals. The one who almost killed you is Axca and the woman standing next to me is Ezor."

Keith rubbed his neck; the woman covered in orange skin, Ezor he reminded himself, was waving at him with a wide smile. The other one, Axca, had already stridden over to Lotor's side and was inspecting him from head to toe.

There was something about her that seemed so familiar. But what? Keith squinted at the woman. Realization hit him like a punch in the stomach.

"It's you!" he wheezed, and immediately tried to clear his throat. "You're the pilot I saved in the Weblum!"

Axca turned and gave him a once over. She was a young lean humanoid Galra woman with light blue skin and dark blue hair. Her hair was cut short with long bangs swept to the side of her face. Four small black horns protruded from her scalp near the back of her head and she was currently aiming a big ass gun blaster at him with a scowl on her face.

Huh. So the pilot he'd saved had been a woman.

"Sir." She said in a honeyed voice. Her words were directed at Lotor but not once did her gaze leave Keith's. "Should I kill him?"

Keith narrowed his eyes, his blade lifted a fraction. "Try it."

Lotor rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Stand down Axca. He's a friend, don't hurt him."

Both women startled at the word friend but Axca lowered her gun to her side and bowed in Lotor's direction. "As you wish my Lord."

Ezor suddenly leaned very close to him that Keith had to hold the wall lest he fall on his ass. "You're Prince Lotor's friend? Really?" Were her eyes sparkling or was he seeing things?

This woman was way too close for comfort. "Friend is a strong word. We're acquaintances."

"But slowly becoming friends!" Lotor added with a grin, his with fangs showing. "You almost killed my soon to be friend Axca!"

The woman looked at him in disbelief.

The hand not holding her weapon twitched. Probably restraining herself from checking the Prince's temperature to make sure he was okay.

Ezor simply giggled into her hand where she was lightly dancing on her feet. She was a bit too perky for his taste.

"Where are Narti and Zethrid?" Lotor asked his generals.

Ezor tilted her head and frowned. "We all came in together but then a bunch of druids came and we got separated from Narti."

"As for Zethrid," Axca continued as she completely turned her back on Keith, completely dismissing him. Rude ass woman. "She stepped on a wrong tile and the floor opened up and swallowed her. She must be in the lower levels somewhere."

Lotor smirked and turned to Keith. "If I'm correct, then Zethrid and Lance will probably meet up by the time we reach them. Those two will be fine if they're together."

Keith narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward, his eyes on the newcomers. "How do you know she won't just attack Lance like this one just attacked me?" he asked as he pointed a finger at Axca who rolled her eyes at him.

"Mind your manners around the Prince!" Axca snapped at him, her giant black and blue gun blaster one again aimed at him.

Keith took out his blade and held it in front of him as he took a fighting stance.

Ezor giggled. "You guys are so much fun."

Lotor turned his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep, deep breath. "All of you need to stand down. Axca, lower your weapon. Under no circumstances will you attack him or anyone else from the castle of lions"

"But sir –"

"But nothing! We're making an alliance with them, I'm pretty sure killing off their paladins won't ensure that."

A muscle in Axca's jaw fluttered. This bitch was asking for it. "Understood."

"And to answer your question." Lotor said as he directed his gaze back to Keith. "Before we crashed, I gave the order to all my generals that we were rescuing Lance, they already know what she looks like. If Zethrid or Narti find Lance, they'll keep her safe. You have my word on that."

Keith didn't like it, but Lotor hadn't lied to them so far. He nodded and eyed Lotor's two generals with a watchful eye. Ezor didn't seem threatening so far, as for Axca…it looked like she hanged on the Prince's every word.

Hopefully his other two generals would heed the last command that Lotor had issued them before they crashed in this planet.

A floating metal triangle box screeched around a corner, followed by another and another.

"Hey, its those bots we were running from!" Ezor said in a chipper voice, her mouth set in a wide smile. "That took a while."

"Time to go." Keith said just as three battle sentries came running around the corner as well. Axca lifted her giant gun blaster and fired off two shots, bringing four of the flying triangle bots to the floor.

Ezor took a running leap where she landed between the three battle sentries, their weapons aimed at her. She punched her free hand into one of the sentries' metal chest, twisted, and pulled back.

Something black and gleaming came out with a sight of wires and optics. She crushed it in her grip, and the battle sentries red glowing eyes dulled. It slumped to the floor.

She repeated the same thing to the other two robot sentries as Axca finished off the last of the triangle bots.

"Holy shit." Keith gave Lotor an incredulous look. "Remind me not to piss them off."

Lotor glanced over at him and grinned.

"Okay." Keith said as he looked over their small little group. Maybe this little trek wouldn't be so bad after all. At least they had some strong new allies with them. He gripped the blue crystal necklace in his palm. "Let's go find Lance."

* * *

These four walls were going to drive her mad.

She tried another combination on the keypad, but it blinked red again. If only she had Lotor or Keith with her. Then the stupid door would open up by just having them press their palm on it.

She'd even tried kicking it and punching it but it had no effect on it either.

Lance sighed and slumped to the dirty floor, her back to the metal door that wouldn't budge.

After she'd stepped on that wrong tile and had the floor close from above her, Lance had landed on a slide that was a little too creaky and dirty for her taste. She didn't know where the slide had intended to take her but she'd spotted some kind of door on one side of the wall and immediately dove towards it.

Pressing herself against one side it swung open pretty easily and she tumbled through.

Her elbows hit the hard ground and she hissed at the sting. Like she needed more injuries. Shakily, she got to her feet and looked around her new surroundings.

It was a room, but not like the usual rooms she'd seen the Galra use in their ships. This one looked burned, charred wood crumbled against the floor, resembling a bed and chairs. Bits of trash lay on the floor, as well as old food that had clearly gone bad from what she could smell.

"Hello?" She nervously rubbed the red crystal necklace around her throat as she reached out her hand to skim the wall, and felt her way through the darkness. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the new surroundings. "Anyone out there?"

No response.

Lance swallowed nervously and shut her eyes, this was the part in the movies where the monster would make its appearance known by letting out a low hiss or some kind of growl and then the person would look up at the ceiling and go, 'Aw fuck.'

Oh, please don't let there be a monster up there she silently prayed. No grudge lady either. And please please _please_ no person who's been possessed and doing the exorcist walk. She didn't think she could handle it if any of those creatures were up there.

Lance counted to three and glanced at the ceiling. She sighed in relief. No monsters, just a dirty ceiling that a had a huge stain on it.

Lance stared.

Was that blood that she smelled from the ceiling?

Oh god.

She had to get out of here!

Cautiously, she stepped over the blackened wood, the bits of trash on the floor as well as the moldy food, when movement caught her eye. She looked up with a start but it was only her own reflection in the full-length mirror. The glass was fractured, split into dozen pieces. Her gaze wondered to the floor and found three more cracked mirrors haphazardly thrown on the ground.

Either someone didn't like their own reflection or they just decided to break all these mirrors for the fun of it.

Something snapped behind her.

Lance lurched forward and grabbed a piece of the mirror and whirled towards the noise. She only remembered that she was already carrying weapons when she'd already turned around. No one was there though.

Perhaps she was just being paranoid?

As she began to trudge forward to examine the rest of the room, her thoughts drifted to her companions. She really hoped Keith and Lotor were all right. Knowing her fiancée, he was probably already looking for her and blaming himself for her sudden disappearance.

It wasn't.

At least Lotor was with him. She felt a little better knowing that. Lotor was a good fighter, she'd seen so first hand, even fought beside him. Lance had thought that the Galra Prince was good with a gun but once he switched to a sword he became deadly.

It was truly impressive.

The sound of footsteps had her on high alert.

She froze.

There was something in this room with her. Slowly, she tilted her head and listened as hard as she could. There were definitely footsteps, they were slow and meticulous but what had her wound tight was the lack of a heartbeat or the exhale of breath.

Was it a fighting sentry?

Nervously licking her lips she trudged forward, one hand going to her belt to unclip the gun blaster. She wanted to be ready just in case. There was another door at the far end of the room; she'd almost missed it because of the broken desk lying in front of it.

She was about to head toward it when she felt something shift from behind her. Gripping the gun blaster in her hands, Lance whirled to face whatever was behind her only to recoil backward with a gasp.

Standing in front of her was a fighting sentry, its metal shining and bright red eyes aimed in her direction. It had the appearance of a skeleton only it had metal skin and a triangle shaped face. Normally, she'd have no trouble with a measly fighting sentry but this one was different.

As soon as she'd turned around the thing opened up its chest where a black crystal the size of her fist was attached with some wires. The energy coming off the thing almost had her crumbling to her knees.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't think.

She couldn't fight.

Black veins appeared on her arms as she stumbled back from the thing. A weak gasp left her lips, and a cold fear washed over her. It felt like someone had chained her up, silencing her every move. Her every thought. Her vision went black for a second and the gun blaster fell from her unsteady grasp.

She scrambled backwards toward the door behind her, her vision blurring. The sentry stalked toward her, its footsteps thunderous in her ears. She could barely hear the rasping of metal as it drew its own gun blaster and lifted it in her direction.

She wanted to fight, crush its metal head and watch it slump to the floor but her limbs wouldn't move. Something cold and hard touched her back.

The door!

She pulled at the door, her hand flying up towards the knob where she twisted it and tumbled through into a cold bathroom. The fighting sentry fired off a shot. She dodged its first attack when it launched itself at her. Lance put her arms up and gripped the metallic shoulders to keep it at a distance. Her stomach twisted and she tasted bile coming up her throat.

Sweat ran down her temple, her strength waning fast. That black crystal was way too close for comfort. Grunting, she threw out a leg and threw the thing off her.

The sound of metal hitting the floor was loud in the otherwise quiet room but the fighting sentry didn't stay down long. Her own breathing sounded loud even to her ears. Lance rolled to her feet and snagged a metal tray from the floor just in time. The fighting sentry had fired off another shot but it only hit the metal tray instead.

As it ran toward her again, Lance lifted the metal tray high and slammed it against the side of its face as hard as she could. The thing stumbled sideways, its metal neck cracking open where she could see a mess of wires sticking out.

She hit it again and ran back in the previous room she'd been in. She tripped on a piece of moldy food goo but she pushed herself back up and kept running. Spotting her gun blaster she quickly scooped it off the ground and fired off two shots towards the sentry.

One shot hit its metallic knee and it slumped forward on one leg. The other shot hit its head but the thing gripped its head and snapped it back in place before turning to face her.

She almost cried out in frustration.

What will it take to bring this thing down for good?

Her back hit something cold and she startled and whirled, her gun blaster ready to shoot but it was only the first door with the scanner.

A dead end.

She slammed her hands against the sealed door with a cry of rage.

This wasn't fair.

Why did she have to deal with these things?

She just wanted this to be over already!

She wanted _Keith_.

The fighting sentries footsteps were getting close. It approached slowly, like it had all the time in the world. The closer it got, the weaker she felt. Was this it? Was this how she'd die? Without saying goodbye to Keith and the others? Without seeing her mother and her friends back in Cloyetera? Without getting to go home?

Well if she was going to die, she certainly wasn't going to do it with her eyes closed and her back to the enemy. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lance turned around and met the things red eyes head on.

How would it kill her? Would it shoot her to death? With that crystal sapping her energy from her, she was pretty sure that her skin wasn't as strong as it usually was. One hit in the head and she'd be out.

Or would it strangle her?

Whatever the choice was, she wasn't going down without a fight.

Keith wouldn't like that either.

Keith.

The name brought his face to her mind. That cocky little grin that meant he was going to do something stupid like drive off a cliff or set something on fire. That ridiculous mullet of hair that she loved to hate. That soft look he got whenever it was just the two off them. How his whole face would light up when he laughed. Even his angry expression was adorable. It always looked more like a pout to her. It made her want to pinch his cheeks.

She eyed the sentry and narrowed her eyes.

 _No_.

She would _not_ die here.

Think Lance think.

How could she get out of this?

She eyed the door behind her, the thrashed room before her and then the sentry. More specifically, its metal arms.

Galra usually made their doors with scanners that way only a Galra would be able to pass but sometimes…sometimes the fighting sentries were given access as well. So they could do the chores that Galra thought were beneath them.

Would the door open if the fighting sentry put its metal arm on the scanner?

Only one way to find out.

Her ears perked at the sound of spitting sparks. Was that coming the sentry? It was just a few feet away, maybe two.

She hadn't survived crushing into this planet and a bunch of weird creatures trying to eat or maim her just to be taken out by a measly fighting sentry _here_. One way or another she was going to get back to Keith and Lotor and get the heck out of this planet.

She was so done with this place.

The fighting sentry lunged.

If a fighting sentry thought she was going to be taken down that easily, it had another thing coming. She was an Amazon. And a princess to boot. She'd been trained all her life on all the different ways to take down an enemy. With and without her powers.

She would not lose.

She sidestepped, spinning away as it brushed past her, slamming its metal fist on the metal door so hard that it left a dent.

Dang.

Even _she_ hadn't been able to do that.

For some reason that made her angry.

As it began to turn in her direction Lance took out her dagger and jumped on its back. She almost lost her grip when she accidentally brushed her hand against its chest where the black crystal was embedded but held on.

Her head was pounding.

Black spots clouded her vision.

Her hold on her dagger began to slacken.

She had to be quick.

Gritting her teeth, she plunged the dagger on the side of its neck and held on for dear life as the thing slammed her against the wall, the metal door, and the broken full-length mirror in the middle of the room.

Cold metal hands gripped her hair but Lance continued stabbing its neck until she saw a set of wires poking out. Its what she'd been waiting for. Taking a handful of wires, she pulled with all her might.

The sentries' movements became frantic.

Lance pulled harder, the metal neck going sideways the more she pulled. The wires burned the tips of her fingers but she refused to let go.

Gripping its head Lance twisted and after three more tugs, ripped the head off and toppled to the floor with the thing on top of her.

She kicked it away and scrambled a safe distance, satisfied when it didn't move again.

She wasn't sure she could stand at the moment so she just lay sprawled on the floor, her ragged breathing evening out to something more calm. Steady.

She threw one fisted hand in the air. "In your face _bitch_."

Thank god Keith wasn't here, he'd be smirking at her for swearing.

When she felt that she could stand, she hefted herself to her feet and walked over to the fighting sentry on the floor, its head a good feet away from its body, and grimaced.

She needed those hands.

Sighing in defeat, she gripped its right hand and dragged the body to the metal door, all the while blinking rapidly so she wouldn't topple to the floor herself. What little strength she'd regained was slowly draining from her the longer she stayed within distance of the thing.

She had to hurry.

Heaving a sigh of relief upon reaching the door, Lance placed one of the metal arms on the scanner and waited with baited breath to see if her theory was right.

One second passed.

Two seconds.

After three seconds passed, the scanner turned green and the door swished open.

Lance slumped in relief and tossed the sentry on the floor before exiting the room, taking a huge deep breath once the door slid close, trapping the sentry and the black crystal attached to its chest on the other side of the door.

Her strength was coming back.

Now that she was outside that room, the shrilling sound of the alarm almost gave her a heart attack.

Jeez.

Why hadn't they turned off that thing yet?

Where the heck was she anyway?

The light in the whole hall kept blinking a crimson red. Lance was really glad that she wasn't prone to seizures. Looking both ways, she turned to the right and briskly walked in that direction, not exactly sure where she was going but as long as it took her far _far_ away from the fighting sentry, all the better.

With her gun blaster clutched in front of her she waded through the blinking hall. Why were the halls so empty?

The further she went in, the more she began to understand why. Most of the Galra soldiers were slumped on the floor. Their necks twisted unnaturally. Others were missing heads.

Lance gulped.

Who could have done this?

Well she could have done it, she certainly had the strength for it, but she'd been locked up in a trashed room thank you very much.

Grimacing, she stepped over the prone bodies, openly gaping at the wounds. Some looked like they'd been munched on. Blood splattered the walls. Where those limbs and organs too?

Don't freak out Lance.

Whatever it is couldn't be as bad as facing that robot with the crystal that drained her energy right?

She seriously hoped not.

The sound of rapid gunfire made her jump. It sounded like it was coming from all directions. Then she heard the voices. The screams that were cut short.

Running footsteps bounded their way in her direction. Lance tensed and readied her gun blaster.

Five feet.

Four feet.

And suddenly Lance's vision was filled with hulking shoulders and massive arms. It was a Galra woman. Her powerful body was covered in dark armor, purple blood splattered on it but it didn't seem to come from her. On both sides of her head were two large bat like ears with pink on the inside; they looked soft with all that purple fur on them. She had a strong cut jaw, big hands and she was coming her way.

The woman was built like a tank!

Upon noticing her, the woman turned her yellow-black eyes on her and came to a stop.

"It's you!" the woman said, one purple finger pointed her way. Lance lifted her gun blaster and the woman's turquoise stained lips widened into a wide smile before rushing her. The Amazon fired off two shots but the woman easily dodged them. Before Lance could fire off more shots, the woman had picked her up and slung her over her shoulder like a stack of potatoes. "Lotor will be happy to know that I've found you!"

At the mention of the Prince's name she stopped her struggling and rapidly blinked at her. "Are you one of Lotor's generals?"

"Yup." The woman said before she resumed running. "You seen him around?"

Lance's hair covered her face and she flipped it away with a growl. Stupid long hair getting in the way, what she would give to cut it off already. "He's upstairs, I have to get back to him and Keith!"

"Sweet. I don't know who this Keith is but I'll get you to the prince."

"Oh. Okay cool. I'm Lance." Lance said, her eyes going back in the direction the woman had come from where she could still hear screams and gunfire. Who were they shooting at? "What's your name and what the heck were you running from?"

"The names Zethrid. And I'm running from –" Whatever she was going to say was cut off as five more Galra soldiers showed up from where Zethrid had come from, their faces panicked.

At the sight of them, they barked at them to run, and Zethrid obeyed. Lance was just about to ask what they were running from when she finally spotted them. Their sickly, purplish skin hung loosely on their bodies. Their yellow eyes looked glazed. Some had their legs bent unnaturally so they were just dragging themselves forward. Others had different limbs attached to them. Like instead of the normal Galra ears, they had cat ears like the ones the Dossiers had. Some even had brown or black cattails instead of their normal purple tails. Their gaping mouths were capable of unhinging much like a serpent would.

What disturbed her the most was the lack of heartbeat.

One of the Galra soldiers sprinting behind them fell and Lance could only watch in horror as those things descended on him, their mouths opening wide to latch onto an arm or a leg. Pretty much everywhere.

The others kept sprinting in their direction.

The man's scream was cut of with a gurgle.

Holy crap.

Were those Galra zombies?

What was with this place?

"Umm Zethrid? Where are we going?" Her voice sounded small even to her own ears.

"Anywhere but here." Zethrid muttered under her breath as she dodged the dead bodies that Lance herself had passed not even ten minutes ago.

More Galra soldiers were soon turned into food when the hideous creatures leaped (seriously, what the fudge?) and took a huge chunk from their throats until only she and Zethrid remained.

There was a giant metal door coming into view and Lance almost heaved a sigh of relief when she noticed that someone would have to twist the giant steer attached to it to open it. The Amazon took out her gun blaster and began to fire off shots. She'd seen enough movies to know that when facing a zombie, you aim for the head.

Most of them she got but others leaped away and crawled along the walls. She shuddered and ordered Zethrid to put her down. Lance would give her cover while she pried the door open. Zethrid hesitated but complied before dropping her to the floor.

As Zethrid began to twist the metal steer with her big hands, Lance continued firing off shots. Why did she always get the worst jobs? So not fair. Why couldn't she ever face something that didn't want to eat her or kill her on sight? Was that too much too ask?

 _You're the one who wanted a life of adventure_ , a little voice said in her head.

Lance winced.

That was true but she certainly never thought she'd have to face off alien zombies!

The creatures let out inhuman shrieks every time she shot them down but more and more of them began to appear. Was there no end to them?

Zethrid gripped her forearm and hauled her through the door. As the creatures began to reach them, she and Zethrid pushed the door closed just in time. Banging ensued, and soon enough dents were made.

"That won't hold them for long." She said, stepping backwards with Zethrid.

The woman begrudgingly nodded and narrowed her eyes. "Let's get out of here before they make us their next meal."

Lance silently agreed and turned to see their new surroundings. The hall had black tiles, the lighting still red but what had her smiling widely was the many cells that went as far as she could see.

Without waiting for Zethrid, Lance briskly walked forward and inspected each one. Zethrid jogged next to her and grumbled something under her breath. Judging by the scowl on her face, it probably wasn't something nice anyway.

Why were there so many empty cells? Where were the prisoners?

A skittering noise made her stop so suddenly that Zethrid bumped into her. The woman was at least two feet taller than her.

Zethrid opened her mouth but Lance shushed her with a sharp hiss. "Did you hear that?"

The Galra woman frowned but tilted her head, her bat-like ears twitching in an attempt to hear whatever Lance was hearing.

"I don't hear anything." Zethrid murmured and crossed her arms.

Lance frowned, gnawed on her lower lip, and continued her trek of looking for the prisoners but only found more empty cells.

Then she heard the groaning.

A bolt of fear shot up Lance's spine and she gripped the gun blaster so hard her knuckles turned white. "Please tell me you heard that."

"I didn't hear squat. You sure you're not hearing things?"

Lance scowled and opened her mouth when the groaning returned.

Zethrid jumped and looked around. "Okay, I definitely heard _that."_

Suddenly she and Zethrid were back to back, Lance raising her gun blaster while Zethrid lifted her fists, her black-yellow eyes searching the ceiling for any movements. The groaning grew in volume. And if that wasn't enough, the lights suddenly went out.

"Oh hell fucking _no."_ Zethrid exclaimed with a groan.

"Aaaand we're going to die." Lance drawled.

"I ain't dying in no prison." Zethrid growled and clamped her forearm in her big hand and began to herd her further in. Lance could only let herself be pulled. She couldn't see in the dark very well but Zethrid could. She was a Galra and Galra had very good eyesight, even in the dark.

The groaning faded the further they delved in. Both of them heaved sighs of relief. The lights flickered and the purple hue returned once again. Okay, that was good. But they weren't completely out of the woods yet. Those things were on their way; somewhere up in the air ducts.

Zethrid and her had to find the prisoners before those creatures bust in and ate them. As the two of them continued their search, Zethrid explained what she'd been through. She'd managed to find her three teammates after crashing. Thanks to Ezor going to the village to scout, they'd found out that the villagers had seen another pod crash inside the forest. Hoping it was Lotor, the four of them had gone in search of him but only found his pod and what looked like evidence of a struggle.

Zethrid and the others followed the trail before deducing that Lotor had made his way to the tower and so they headed inside themselves. They had to fight off a few creepy creatures, some Galra soldiers, and almost drowned but they'd made it.

"We stole one of the battle cruisers and crashed it as close as we could to you guys." Zethrid explained as she walked. "We got in pretty easily but were soon met with a bunch of druids where we got separated from Narti. We were going to look for her when I stepped on a tile and found myself in some medical room."

Lance frowned. If she'd just continued going down the slide would she have ended up in a medical room too instead of that creepy room with the battle sentry that almost killed her?

"Anyway, I got out." Zethrid continued. "Got rid of the soldiers who tried to kill me and then found myself in this room with a few druids. There were a bunch of dead bodies in there, I could smell it. I don't know what they did but the druids chanted something and then the whole place was surrounded by groans. Those things got out of caskets, groaning as they walked, but no heartbeat." Zethrid suddenly shuddered. "I think the druids wanted to use those things to capture us because they started giving out commands but they went ignored."

Lance swallowed. She had a pretty good idea of what happened to those druids but she made herself ask anyway. "What happened to them? The druids?"

"They were eaten."

Lance let out a gush of air, the hand not clamped in Zethrid's grip skimming along the wall as she walked. "Figures."

"Damn druids. Now we're the ones who have to deal with them."

"Awesome sauce." She muttered under her breath.

"Awesome sauce?"

Lance flushed and stammered. "It's just a saying."

"Well, I like it." Zethrid said, Lance wasn't sure but she could swear she saw a grin on the woman's face. "Awesome sauce huh. Got a nice ring to it."

Zethrid's ears twitched and the woman stilled. Lance was about to ask what was wrong when she heard it too. Voices. Galra soldiers perhaps?

Putting a finger to her mouth for silence, Lance flattened herself against the wall behind a corner and peeked her head to see what they were dealing with. It was a bit far but she could hear voices. Were the prisoners in that direction?

The Amazon bit her lip and almost let out a curse when Zethrid made to go over there. Lance pulled her back by the belt at her waist. Lotor's general scowled, her fangs showing, and Lance rolled her eyes and pointed at the cameras. The cameras that were _on_.

"Shit." Zethrid cursed. "The ones we passed on the way weren't on. If they see you, they'll bring more guards. You have a bounty on your head."

Lance blinked. "Am I on a wanted poster? How much am I worth?"

Zethrid wrinkled her nose. _"What_ are you talking about?"

"Just curious to see how much I'm worth." Lance said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Like, I know I'm not worth as much as the lions of Voltron…but am I worth at least _one_ lion?"

Zethrid looked like she wanted to strangle her as she heaved a giant sigh before taking out a wrinkled paper from her belt and shoved it at her face.

Lance scowled and took the paper with both hands to observe it. It was a picture of her. Well, almost. She hit the paper with one hand. "They didn't get my nose right! What's wrong with these people? My nose isn't that big!"

"Looks fine to me." Zethrid muttered.

Lance punched her in the gut and watched in satisfaction as she let out a groan. The reward on the bounty was one wish from Zarkon granted. Lame. As Zethrid growled something vulgar under her breath, Lance looked down the hall again. Compared to the cells that they just passed, these looked grey, cold, and dirty. Water dripped from somewhere, and the air smelled sickly damp. The only light in the place was a harsh, flickering yellow.

An idea formed in her head and she turned to Zethrid with a grin. "I have an idea."

* * *

The new corridor was narrower than the ones they'd passed. But at least there were no groans from the ceiling so that was a plus. Zethrid pushed her along and Lance had to bite back a retort when she almost fell on her face. This was all part of the plan.

These soldiers probably didn't know that Zethrid was an intruder yet so they wouldn't suspect her as she made her way over to them with Lance in tow.

Zethrid had bound her wrists behind her back with the grappling hook she'd taken earlier that day to board the flying ship. The Amazon made sure to keep her head down, her hair spilling to cover most of her face. She already had injuries and her clothes looked disheveled so hopefully they would let them pass.

At the sound of their approach, the three guards spun in their heels and raised their weapons at them. At the sight of Zethrid, they lowered their weapons and sigh.

"Fresh blood?" One of the soldier chuckles, taking a single step toward them. The man pulled at her hair and Lance had to bite her cheek before she decked him. Instead, she glanced to the cells where huddled bodies could be seen. The prisoners! "Is this one of the intruders that snuck in?"

"She's kind of scrawny." The other soldier said as he too stopped before them. "What about the rest? Need any help up there?"

Zethrid doesn't answer, just glowers. "Open the cells. We have to move the prisoners to a new location."

The third soldier furrowed his thick purple eyebrows and stepped forward. The other two exchanged confused glances. "I didn't hear anything of this. On whose orders?"

"The druid Yemra." Zethrid said in a bored tone.

The guards exchanged glances once more. The one that spoke first opened his mouth. "Are you su –"

"Orders are orders, and I have mine." Zethrid replied, her chin jerking toward the cells. "Now open them up."

"Are they after the prisoners?" the other one asked, scratching his purple chin where she could see some stubble. "Wouldn't it be better to wait for them here and ambush them?"

"The _cells_." Zethrid repeated, her voice hard.

"Yeah, yeah." The second one grumbled. He elbowed the other two and they turned together, facing a cell each.

"On your feet you scum."

"Come on, get out. I don't have all day."

"Time to take the dogs on their walk."

Lance clenched her hands where they were behind her back, itching to let loose on these three officers as they take out their keys and near the doors. The sound of chains rattled the floor as the prisoners slowly got to their feet. The cells yawned open and Zethrid stepped forward. Its what they were waiting for.

"Thank you so much." Lance said as she raised her head and shot the guards a grin. "It's so much easier when you have the keys."

The guard with the thick eyebrows stopped short, as if shot. He blinked once, not believing his eyes. Before he could react, Zethrid picked him up and threw him high in the ceiling where she heard a sickening crunch. His body fell to the floor, the crunching of bones so loud that the prisoners whimpered.

The other two dove for her with a growl. Lance uncoiled the grappling hook from her hands and used it as a lasso as it wrapped around one of the guards. With a smirk, she hauled him toward the other guard where they fell in a heap on the floor.

Before they could get up, Lance took her gun blaster and fired off two shots. Zethrid whistled in appreciation.

With that done, they both flooded into the first cell as fast as they could. The prisoners cowered back at the sight of Zethrid. Some even whimpered.

Lance raised her hands in the air to show that she meant no harm. "Please. We're not here to hurt you. We're here to rescue you."

Silence.

Zethrid growled and stepped forward but that only had them releasing shrieks. Lance shot her a look and Zethrid threw her hands up and took a few steps back. "My name is Lance." She said, turning back to face the prisoners. "I'm a paladin of Voltron. I'm here to rescue you. Your families want you back."

For a moment she was only met with silence once again but then there was shuffling from the back and the men with cat ears parted to let another male step up. This one had curly brown hair matted to his damp forehead. He had squared glasses perched on top of his pink nose, his dark brown fur was standing on end as he regarded with narrowed red eyes. Despite being a head shorter than her, the man had a presence around him. Something about this man reminded her of little Mykal. "Prove it." The man said in a strained voice.

Lance licked her lips and took a wild guess. "Are you…Daario?"

The man's red eyes widened then narrowed to slits. "Maybe. Who's asking?"

Lance almost wept in relief. "Your wife Kiyara misses you. So do Dyron and Mykal."

The man staggered back like she'd shot him. "H-how do you know that?"

"Because I was with them just yesterday. They helped me and fiancée out when we crashed. They really miss you." She licked her dry lips. "So does your daughter."

The man sucked in a sharp breath. "Did you say…daughter?"

Lance nodded and smiled. "I delivered her myself. You're going to like little Leah, she's so beautiful."

Mr. Dossier wiped the tears that threatened to spill as he sagged against the wall. "Leah. Oh, that's a beautiful name."

"Do you believe me now?" she asked the other prisoners. "I promise, I'm here to take you back. Trust me."

The men looked at each other and whispered to themselves. Even the prisoners from the other two cells watched with baited breath. Lance looked over all the bodies with a sad look. There were about thirty-five prisoners here. Some had clearly not made it.

"E-excuse me." A timid voice said from the cell to the right. "A-are you human?"

Lance turned her head and blinked in surprise when a human male stepped forward and gripped the bars as he leaned closer. The man was way too skinny for her liking. He looked like a skeleton; she could see all his bones protruding from the brown prison jumpsuit he and the other prisoners were wearing.

He had long gray hair and a gray beard, rectangular glasses perched on top of his nose. His eyes were looking at her with hope. "Have you seen another human around? M-my son." His eyes teared up. "My son, he had brown hair, brown eyes. His name is Matt Holt and –"

Lance's eyes widened. No frickin way. "Are you…Samuel Holt?"

The man's brown eyes widened and he furiously nodded his head. Well, holy crap. Just call her the 'Holt Finder.' She grinned and offered up a genuine smile. "I happen to be friends with your son. As well as your daughter."

"Katie is here?" Mr. Holt asked, his voice raising an octave. "Is she safe? Are they both all right?"

Lance put a hand to her chest. "You have my word Mr. Holt. They're both safe."

As soon as the words left her mouth it was like a weight had been lifted from the man's shoulders as he lowered himself to the floor and cried. "I'm so glad. Thank you. Thank you."

Lance felt like crying herself but she and Zethrid still had to get the prisoners out of here. She backed a few steps so everyone could see and hear her. "I know you're all tired. Some of you may even have injuries, but I need you all to get up and follow us. We're getting out of here."

"What about her?" one of the men asked.

Lance furrowed her brows at the man. This one had beady red eyes, part of his black ear cut off at the edges. The Amazon followed his gaze and frowned at the cell. This one had no bars, just a little window.

It reminded her of the cells where she and Matt had been locked up at one point. Gnawing her lower lip, she turned to Zethrid who nodded.

"Everyone follow me!" she barked with authority. The prisoners jumped and hesitated but one nod from Lance and they were moving. Zethrid herded them like sheep, pulling many of them by the hand when they were too slow. Her eyes flickered over everything and everyone, counting.

Lance had to push many of them toward Lotor's generals when they instead came to her. Many came and hugged her. Some of them even cred and kissed her cheeks in gratitude. Others even asked if they could join the fight to take these Galra down. They looked like they were in higher spirits already. As Zethrid started leading them to what was hopefully an exit, Lance walked over to the cell with Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier hot at her heels.

No amount of probing or pleading would make them leave her side so she just sighed and allowed them to come with her. "Who is she?" she asked as she peeked through the window. It was pitch black inside. She couldn't see much from where she was standing.

"A Galra." Mr. Holt answered, the poor man looked like he'd be knocked over by a little wind. Mr. Dossier eyed him and stepped closer, his hands outstretched in case the man did topple over. "They called her a traitor. I don't know what she did but she wouldn't tell them anything. She's been here for a few weeks."

Lance nodded and glanced at the chart taped to the wall.

 _ **Name: Unknown.**_

 _ **Race: Galra.**_

 _ **Threat Level: SS**_

How interesting. This one didn't need a key so she just took one step back and punched it. Her fist left a dent so she punched it a few times before a small hole opened up. She pushed one hand through and pulled backwards. The metal door came away with a groan and she tossed it to the side.

Ignoring the gaping look both males were giving her, Lance walked inside. As soon as she did, a small light bulb turned on at the ceiling, illuminating the room in some really poor lighting.

The woman was chained to the wall in a spread eagle position. Her wild and tangled hair was down, covering her face as she looked down on the floor. The woman barely moved as Lance entered the room.

"My name is Lance. I'm a paladin of Voltron." The woman didn't react. "Anyway, my friends and I came to get the prisoners out of here. "You're free to join us if you wish. But I need you to decide now. I know it's not a lot of time, but we have to leave soon." She hesitated. "There are…creatures out there that want to eat us. I'm sure they'll be reaching us soon." Still no reaction. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like becoming a meal anytime soon so I'm going to go. There are people I want to see again. My fiancée Keith in particular."

The woman twitched.

How strange. Did she know Keith? Was she a Blade of Marmora member as well?

She took another step forward and put a hand out when the two males behind her made to follow. "Do you know Keith? Keith Kogane –"

The woman snarled and leaped toward her but the chains kept her locked in place. Violet eyes were looking at her in hatred. The woman had light purple, lavender skin. Her hair was a darker shade of purple; the back of her hair was a shade of magenta. There was a dark purple stripe on her neck that curved around her face, giving it the appearance of having two stripes that reach up to her eyes. Lance held her ground. The woman spat at her. "How do you know that name?"

"I know that name because he's my fiancée." Lance said, her hand going to her belt where the gun blaster was. Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Who the heck are you?"

The woman's violet eyes widened and slowly took her in. Unlike the other prisoners, this woman wasn't wearing a brown jumpsuit. Instead she was wearing the tight black Galra armor though it was ripped in certain spots. The woman sharpened her gaze and stepped back to lean on the wall. "How do I know this isn't a trick? You say you're a paladin of Voltron but you're not wearing their signature armor. That and you smell like Galra."

Lance resisted the urge to roll her eyes and crossed her arms with a huff. "Well that's probably because our companion is Galra. So is my other friend who's with the rest of the prisoners. Plus, my fiancée is half Galra too so there's that as well."

The woman blinked slowly as she took all that in. Zethrid shouted at her to hurry up where she was waiting with the rest of the prisoners. The Amazon pinched her nose and turned back to the woman who was…smiling?

Weird.

"So are you coming or not? Kind of in a hurry here, no offence."

The woman nodded and heaved a heavy sigh. "Very well. I will go with you."

Finally.

Lance stepped forward and began to work on the metal bindings on her wrists first, acutely aware of the woman's intense look as she gazed at her. The Amazon tugged the metal shackle from the woman's wrist and balled it into a corner of the room before going to work on the other one. That stare was starting to unnerve her. Lance cleared her throat and talked as she worked. "By the way, you never said your name. And how do you know Keith?"

The woman licked her lips and stared her right in the eyes. "My name is Krolia." That name sounded familiar. Where had she heard that from? "And I'm Keith's mother."

"Ah, okay that makes sen –"

Lance gaped.

Krolia stared.

Lance made a choking sound.

Krolia grinned.

What the fudge?

With shaking fingers, she tugged the last shackle and stepped back. "Seriously?"

Lance had _so_ many questions. Like, where the heck had she been this whole time? Why was she chained up in this prison? Why had she left Keith behind? Were mullets hereditary? So many questions were running through her head but now was not the time for them. Besides, Keith deserved to be here to hear most of these answers anyway.

Krolia rubbed her sore wrists and grimaced. The woman was tall. Taller than both her _and_ Keith. The red paladin wasn't going to be happy about that. He'd just surpassed Lance in height, a great feat for him but now here his mom was and not only was she alive but she was taller than him.

Now that she took a closer look, she could definitely see the resemblance between her and Keith. The woman was hot! Even looking ragged and dirty, she still managed to look gorgeous. Her hair looked like a mullet as well. Oh my god. Was she attracted to mullets? Was that her _thing_?

Krolia nodded, the corner of her mouth twitching at her still shocked face. "Seriously. Is he here? I can prove it if I touch the Blade I gave him." She blinked. "He…does have it right?"

Lance nodded and visibly jumped when Zethrid barked at her to get her pretty butt moving. Lance growled and moved towards the doors. "Yes, he does. Now let's go! We're running out of time!"

The three adults followed after her as fast as they could, Lance was all too aware of Krolia's intense stare at her back. She could hear the groaning now.

 _Crap. Crap. Crap._

Everything echoed horribly in this block, the groans sounded more like howls, and they were coming from the ceiling. "If only we'd found the communication room." She muttered as she ran.

"The communications room?" Mr. Dossier huffed out as he ran beside her. "I know where that is."

Lance whipped her head to him and grinned. "Show us the way then!"

She gave him a little push to the front and yelled at Zethrid and told her the good news. The woman grinned and jogged to their side before slinging the poor man over her shoulder. "Show me!"

He did.

Lance hooked an arm around Mr. Holt who was lagging and planted him on her back where she proceeded to give him a piggyback ride. The man released a startled yelp but held on for dear life as Lance picked up her speed, Krolia watching the ceiling with narrowed eyes.

"What is that?" she asked with a hiss.

"Nothing good." She muttered.

There was a door up ahead, two guards planted outside. At the sight of their group, they lifted their weapons but Zethrid crashed into them before they could fire.

A few kicks to the head and they were out. Quickly placing Mr. Dossier on the ground, Zethrid placed her palm over the scanner and shoved herself inside when the doors swished open.

The sound of gunfire, followed by Zethrid's unmistakable laughter, was heard before there was only silence. After a few seconds Zethrid popped her head out. "Come on!"

The inside was a rectangular room of impenetrable, glass; filled with screen upon screens, control panels, and three dead guards. Overhead, a siren screamed to life.

A thunderous slam made everyone in the room jump and she instinctively ran back to the hall with Mr. Holt and Krolia hot on her heels. For a moment all she could hear was the blaring sound of the alarm before suddenly the sound of skittering feet and groans were heard.

The Galra zombies were here.

"Everyone inside!" she barked at them, the door closing after her.

Most of the prisoners were already whimpering, others pacing along the room and muttering under their breath.

Everyone but Mr. Dossier, Mr. Holt, Krolia and Zethrid. They were all looking at her for their next orders. Lance tapped her chin and looked over at the screens. Most of them were showing static but the ones from outside were still showing images. Soldiers were out, weapons drawn as they stood guard. Battle cruisers still roamed the skies.

Even if they managed to get the prisoners out, they'd still have to fight enemies waiting outside. Most of the prisoners didn't look like they were in any condition to fight either. They needed a ship of their own.

But where?

A sudden realization hit her. Voltron! Keith had said that he had come with the rest of the team but if what Mrs. Dossier had said about the barrier surrounding the planet was true…then they couldn't get in.

She glanced at Mr. Holt and narrowed her eyes. Matt and Pidge had said that their father was smart. They'd often be doing experiments in their garage where they would create all sorts of inventions. Could he do it? Could he take down the barrier?

" _Paladins of Voltron."_ A raspy voice said through the speakers. _"As well as the rest of you intruders, you've given me no choice. Your repeated attempts to escape capture have gone long enough. Since you refuse to turn yourselves in, we'll have to make you."_

Lance and Zethrid exchanged looks. This couldn't be good.

" _We've been saving this little project of ours for a while but I guess now is a good time to test it out. We'll be attacking that little village."_

Mr. Dossier and the rest of the males shouted in dismay.

" _If you intruders manage to turn yourselves in before our beast reaches the village, we might just decide not to kill all those helpless woman still there."_

Lance gritted her teeth, her hands clenched into fists.

" _Our beast will arrive at the village within the hour. You have until then. Oh, and do be careful of our other beasts running amok. They're quite hungry."_

The connection cut off.

"What do we do?" Mr. Dossier asked, his red eyes were open wide with fear. Fear for what might happen to his family back in the village.

The rest of the males were shouting obscenities in another language. Others had slumped to the floor as they covered their eyes.

Just then a loud roar went off. It was so loud that it shook the whole building. Lance would have fallen on her butt if it weren't for Krolia steadying her.

Her gaze went to the screens and her blue eyes widened. The creature outside was clearly a machine but it looked like a T-rex. It had powerful and bulky legs, a long body, and a heavy tail with razors sticking out at the edge. Twin cannons were affixed to the side of its neck. The top of its head had another cannon, this one smaller but no doubt deadly. Its red eyes glowed bright. It was huge. Almost as tall as the tower she was currently in.

The thing opened its jaw and let out another deafening roar that had her and the rest of her companions covering their ears before it began to march away. Lance turned to Mr. Holt and then back at the screens before turning back to him once again.

"Do you think you can send out a message for me?"

Mr. Holt jumped in place, his brown eyes going impossibly wide. "I-I think so. But I might need some help, everything here is in Galra."

Krolia and Zethrid stepped up. "We can help with that."

"Okay." Lance said and shooed them towards the consoles before turning to the rest. "As for the rest of us. We're going to make a barricade. Anything heavy, I want you to stack it in front of the door!"

The men nodded and set to work. They picked up the chairs and stacked them against one another. Others dragged cabinets over where Lance lifted them upright and stacked them in front of the door as well.

Luckily there was no way for the creatures to get inside through the ceiling. No air ducts seemed visible here.

"I think I got it!" Mr. Holt shouted where he was sitting, his gaze on the monitor in front of him. Krolia and Zethrid stood on either side of him, pointing out what a certain word meant every now and then. "Who do you want me to contact?"

Lance was at his side in three quick strides. If she knew Shiro and the others as well as she did, then they must be trying to find a way to get rid of the barrier surrounding the planet. They would have called for help. Probably from Slav, no matter how much Shiro hated the guy.

Slav liked to use to the big monitor at the screen so he'd probably be there. Lance had no intention of talking to that little bugger quite yet but there _was_ someone else. Someone who had given Lance her own coordinates for her personal laptop just in case Lance couldn't reach the castle for whatever reason. Someone who was always on her computer. It didn't matter if it was dinnertime or if she had to use the restroom.

Pidge was _always_ on her laptop.

Decision made, Lance leaned in close and turned to Mr. Holt. "Okay, here are the coordinates I want you to input."

* * *

This barrier was a pain in the _ass_.

Whoever had made it must have been a genius and it seriously pissed her off. The fact that there was someone else out there who was smarter than her irked her to no end. Leaning back on her seat, Pidge stretched her hands high in the air and let out a pleased groan when some of the tension was released.

She'd been working on how to take this barrier out for the past five hours. Matt and Aiden were a great help. Lance's older brother was a genius, he was as smart as she and Matt herself but no matter what the three of them came up with they came out with zilch. Nada.

It seriously set her on edge.

Slav had arrived hours ago with Kolivan and the rest of the Blades and had taken over the big screen at the castle like he owned the place. Fucking piece of shit.

That little turd had almost given Shiro a seizure.

Upon seeing him, the black paladin's eye had started twitching and his hands kept clenching and unclenching at his side. Probably imaging strangling the guy. Pidge couldn't blame him. Luckily, Allura had taken Shiro away from the room before he could actually kill the guy. Mr. McLain followed after them in worry.

Upon seeing the triplets, Slav had gotten into their personal space and began to fire off question after question. Lance's brothers were only in the room with Slav for about two minutes before their faces turned into sneers and they looked like they wanted to deck him.

Reyna and Adina wisely left the room, the latter pulling her girlfriend away with force when Slav said something about Reyna being bigger and wider than what most Amazons were known to be. Reyna had raised her daggers high in the air and looked ready to murder him.

Mickey threw a harsh glare at Slav and left as well. Muttering something about going through Lance's picture book that he had apparently brought to pass the time.

What a freaking weirdo.

The triplets made a hasty escape as well and headed to the training room, eager to check it out. Kolivan and his six Blades went with him. Slav made as if to follow them but Coran stepped up and directed the alien worm to the bridge but not before Slav wormed his way out of the castle advisors hands and enveloped Pidge in a fierce hug.

Pidge almost cried.

Matt fucking laughed.

That traitor!

She thought they were family and he just let her suffer like that. Who does that? A fucking traitor that's who.

Afterwards, Pidge and Matt found themselves in her room, legs crossed and heads bent as they gazed at their laptops. Aiden had gone off with Hunk to get something to eat and stretch his legs.

The only sound heard in the room was the clicking of the keyboards as their hands flew over the keys on a fast speed.

Pidge decided to sit on the ground while Matt took over her bed and leaned back against the wall.

Her room was quite messy. Junk food littered the floor. Her bed was unmade, her green blanket close to falling on the floor with one more push. One of the Christmas lights that she'd hanged on the ceiling was flickering so she'd have to fix that soon.

Her laptop let out a beep and Pidge growled. Slav had been trying to talk to her every twenty minutes so they could catch up. Pidge kindly told him to fuck off but he was not deterred. They had to take down this barrier so they could save Keith and Lance! If this asshole kept interrupting her, Pidge was going to shank him. The beeping continued and Pidge let out a curse before finally clicking on the notification to answer the call.

"Listen up, you sick son of a bitch –" Whatever else she wanted to say was cut off with a choking sound as she gazed at the person in front of her. This was _not_ Slav.

The man on the screen had gray hair, a gray beard, and rectangular glasses to help him see. He looked so much older than she last saw him. Too skinny. But there was no denying who she was looking at. "Dad?" her voice choked on a sob and she had to put a hand to her mouth lest she start shouting.

Sitting on her bed, Matt lifted his brown eyes to her with a frown. "What did you say?"

Without even turning to her brother, she made a beckoning motion with her hand to get Matt to come over. "Dad is that you?"

Her dad began to cry, one hand reaching out as if he could touch her. Pidge did the same. "Katie? Katie, is that you?"

Matt sucked in a sharp breath, all but falling next to her on the floor on all fours. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes and his voice cracked. "Dad? W-where are you?"

Her father cleared his throat, wiping the tears from his eyes. It was him. This was her dad. Pidge leaned in close and gripped the edges of her computer. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand lest they fall on her computer and fuck it up. "Dad, where are you? We'll come get you! Just tell us where you are!"

She could see movement from behind him. The sound of an alarm going off in the background and something purple. Were those hands clamped on the back of his chair?

"Are you okay?" Matt asked, his voice urgent as he kneeled in close. His eyes were wide, tears still rolling down his cheeks but he made no move to wipe them.

"Listen," her father said, his eyes hardening. Pidge and Matt straightened. Whatever their father was going to say was important, they could tell from the glint in his eyes. "I don't know how much time I have but you're both with the rest of the Voltron team right?"

Pidge and Matt nodded. She leaned back and pointed at herself. "Yup. I'm the green paladin. Why?"

"Are you and your team hovering above a white planet right now?"

Again they nodded.

Her father let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "Good. That's good. Listen, I'm going to lower the barrier." Pidge and Matt exchanged wide looks. "Unfortunately, you'll only have minutes to make it down before it goes up again. I need you to tell the rest of your teammates and then let me know so I can put the barrier down. Can you do that?"

Pidge and her brother nodded. Her father was in that planet too? They were so close! One measly barrier was the only thing stopping them from reuniting.

Her father turned his head and talked to someone at the side. Pidge narrowed her eyes and leaned in. "Who is that? Is someone threatening you?"

She was going to kill anyone who dared threaten her father. No one messed with her family and got away with it!

"Jeez, Pidge." A familiar soothing voice said from the side. "I wouldn't call it threatening. More like instructing him."

And then her father moved to the side and blue eyes met her own shocked brown. Lance McLain had the audacity to grin at her across the screen. She even waved. Her friend had a few bruises, she looked tired but alert. Her now long brown hair looked tangled. Was that a corset she was wearing? How scandalous.

Lance's cheeks turned pink. She'd probably figured out what Pidge was thinking just from the look she was giving her. "S-shut up." She muttered in embarrassment, her hands going around herself in an effort to cover herself. "It's the only clothes I could borrow."

Matt let out a wolf whistle and Lance groaned and covered her face. "I wholeheartedly approve!"

Pidge laughed, happy tears running down her cheeks. Lance was all right. Even after all this time without seeing her, she was still the same person she always was. She and Lance could always tell what the other was thinking of by just one look. It seemed some things hadn't changed. She'd found both her brother _and_ her dad. Pidge didn't know how, but she swore that one day she was going to make it up to Lance. Starting with getting her off that planet and back home so Pidge could hug the shit out of her.

Lance's face softened and she discreetly wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes before clearing her throat. "I miss you too Pidgey. We'll have to save the tearful reunion for later. I need you guys to do something for me."

"Anything." Pidge and Matt answered immediately.

Lance opened her mouth only to be cut off by huge banging. The sound was followed by groans. Lance and her father turned pale. Whatever had _Lance_ paling couldn't be good. The Amazon was practically fearless, with the exception of spiders, she usually jumped into danger. Keith usually at her side.

"What was that?" Pidge growled.

Lance didn't answer, just turned her head to talk to someone else. "I need you guys to hold the fort. Do _not_ let any of those things get in." There were sounds of affirmative before the Amazon turned to the right. "Zethrid, you and Krolia find a way out of here. There are usually hidden passages in this place. Find one."

"You got it." A deep alto voice said.

"Very well." Another female said.

Finally, Lance exhaled, her eyes half shutting before she turned to them, her blue eyes hard as steel. "Those were Galra zombies."

Matt made a choking sound. "You always attract the most interesting creatures Lance."

"Zombies?" Pidge asked, her nose twitching as she frowned. "Are you fuckin with us?"

"Young lady, you watch that mouth of yours!" Her father screeched from beside her friend.

Lance and Matt looked at the heavens and mouthed 'thank you.'

Traitors.

"Yes. I'm sure Pidge." Lance said, her voice quivering at the end. "I saw them pounce on a few Galra and eat them."

Holy shit.

Galra zombies?

What next? A killer doll by the name Chucky goes on a killing spree? Actually, that would be pretty cool. Hunk would have a heart attack.

"So what do you need us to do?" Pidge asked once again. The banging got louder and Lance winced.

"Right." Lance exhaled and leaned forward. "Listen carefully, there's a few things I need you guys to do once you land."

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! We're almost done guys, just 6-7 chapters and this story will come to an end :)_

 _And welcome to the fandom Shiranai Atsune! Thank you so much for the reviews!_


	29. Chapter 29

"Nothing is impossible to kill. It's just that sometimes after you kill something you have to keep shooting it until it stops moving"  
― **Mira Grant** , **Feed**

Chapter 29

"So Lance and Keith are alive after all!" Shiro said, a big wide smile on his face. It looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Beside him, Allura wiped a few stray tears from the corner of her eyes and squeezed his hand. Minutes after talking to the Amazon, Matt and Pidge had gathered the rest of their crew to the bridge to relay the good news. More like took over the castle speakers and screamed at them to get their asses to the bridge but whatever, same thing. They didn't have much time, probably minutes, seconds, before their father put down the barrier surrounding the planet Pidge and the others were currently hovering on top of.

Unfortunately, the connection had cut off so they had no idea when exactly the barrier would go down. There had been a particularly loud bang from Lance's side and then the screen went dark. Pidge gnawed on her lower lip. Dad would be okay. Lance would keep him safe and from what she could hear, her friend had other people with her. They could hold out until they arrived.

"But she's dealing with…" Hunk took a shaky breath, his voice turning into a squeak at the end. "Zombies?"

"Galra Zombies." Matt clarified with a grin.

Hunk scowled at him. "That's not better."

"What's a zombie?" Adina politely asked, her hands nervously braiding her long black hair. Aiden and the triplets turned to explain with matching grins.

"And she found your father!" Coran added, his orange mustache twitching upwards. "That's our Lady Lance for you!"

Pidge waved her hand dismissively, her face pinched in annoyance. They were wasting time! "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Galra zombies. Figures Lance would find some fucking zombies." Shiro threw her a warning look. She wisely ignored it and turned to Allura. "Anyway, we have to be ready for when the barrier is down. Lance and dad said we would only have minutes. Probably."

Allura and Coran nodded and quickly made their way to their positions. Allura in the center to guide the ship and Coran below where the screens were to check the scanners for any sign of danger. Kolivan and his Blades were checking their weapons. Adina and Reyna had changed to a purple and blue kimono, the latter twirling her swords in the air with a feral grin. These kimonos looked a little sharper and whenever they moved, Pidge swore they gleamed.

Slav was stuffing his face with some of Hunk's homemade muffins to his displeasure. They were for everyone the yellow paladin insisted. As long as it kept the little turd quiet, Pidge was willing to sacrifice as many muffins as it took. Sacrifices had to be made.

Mikey McLane, for his part, wanted to hear every damn detail about his little sister. Did she look healthy? Did she need her stuffed penguin? Was she eating right or should he bring a snack? He kept coming back to one point: "But she didn't want to talk to me?"

"It wasn't like that." Matt said, his hand raised in a placating manner. "She was in a hurry so we didn't have time to tell her that you and the rest of her family was here."

"The good news is that she's alive," Pidge added as she crossed her hands over her armored chest. Thank god for those transparent bracelets, it made getting dressed so much easier. "So is Keith last she checked. Plus, she found our dad and the rest of the prisoners so she's already a hero in my book."

Mikey nodded absently. "But she didn't want to talk to me?"

Mr. McLane swatted his arm as his four brothers groaned in unison. Jeez, this guy had such a big sister complex that it was a little disturbing. It made the green paladin pity her friend. Lance had to deal with this every time she went to Earth?

If it were Pidge, she would find excuses to stay away or if she had no choice but to go back she would be out of the house as long as she wanted. And Pidge _hated_ the outdoors! The sun was way too blinding for her taste.

Thank god Matt wasn't as weird as Lance's brother seemed to be. Yay for small blessings. As the castle began to move, fucking finally, Pidge made sure to keep her brown eyes on the planet. There would hopefully be a sign that the barrier was down.

Right?

She sincerely hoped so.

Lance had told them what they had to do once they arrived. She wanted Pidge and the rest of the paladins to get on their lions and stop some fucking T-rex robot from destroying a small village where some of its villagers had helped her and Keith out when they crashed. While Pidge and the others dealt with that, she wanted Coran to bring the castle as close as they could to that tower she and the others were so she could hand over the prisoners to Coran and the rest.

Pidge was all for getting her father away from that zombie infested place so she was totally down for that idea. Pidge herself wanted to be there when they got their dad back but Matt assured her that he would take care of him and the rest of the prisoners. She'd see her father soon.

Something shimmered on the surface of the planet. Pidge immediately straightened and briskly walked to the front to get a better view. Matt and the others followed closely, their eyes trained on the planet before them. The surface of the planet shimmered again; only this time it was the whole planet. The barrier was down!

Pidge's eyes widened and she whipped her head to the Altean Princess. "Allura, now!"

Allura nodded and narrowed her blue eyes. "Everyone hold on!"

That was all the warning they got before the castle took a sudden nosedive and everyone stumbled into each other. The force knocked her on her back, so hard that for a moment she saw stars. If not for Matt and Shiro holding on to her, Pidge feared she might have fallen further down. The alarm sounded seconds after.

"Sorry!" Allura yelled through the chaos.

It's only afterward that Pidge remembered they had seats where they could have strapped themselves in but oh well.

Reyna had an arm around Adina's waist while her other hand gripped the back of one of the nailed chairs to keep them from falling. Kolivan and his Blades seemed to be doing just fine holding onto the wall. Even the McLane's were doing fine. All five siblings had gathered together with Mr. McLane in the middle to keep him from losing his balance. Slav on the other hand was not so lucky. He'd already sprawled on the ground, his six arms covering his head, muffins scattered all over the floor and rolling downward.

Shiro sent him a smug look over his shoulder.

Hunk let out a wail at the loss.

Pidge bit back a curse and held on to her friends lest she lose her balance again. In front of her Hunk made a gagging sound and covered his mouth with his big hand. "I think I'm going to hurl!"

"Don't you dare Hunk!" Coran yelled at him. "I just mopped those floors young man!"

Hunk said something else but the noise around her threatened to split her head, roaring like a train, screaming with the voice a thousand shrieking banshees. There was some kind of opposition and Pidge turned her head to see Allura struggling to keep the castle going further down. Beats of sweat had appeared at her temples but she refused to lift her hands from the controls to wipe them away. A stray silver lock untangled itself from the tight bun on the top of her head but Allura didn't seem bothered.

Pidge crossed her fingers for good luck. _Come one, come on._

"Princess!" Coran shouted through the noise, his light purple eyes looking on the verge of bugging out of his head. "We're getting some resistance!"

Allura grunted in answer but kept on pushing the castle downward. Wind roared all around them and suddenly Pidge saw something blue begin to shimmer around them once again. The barrier was coming back!

Shiro seemed to have noticed it too for he tightened his hold on Pidge's back and turned to his girlfriend. "Allura!"

"I know!" she said through gritted teeth, her eyes narrowed in defiance. "We're almost through!"

The ship began to shake and Pidge swore when she almost fell again when there was a startled squeak at the back. Confused, Pidge and the others turned around to see Slav falling towards them. Or more accurately towards Shiro.

The black paladin swiftly moved out of the way and practically crawled to Matt's other side and Slav landed on _her_ instead. The little turd looped his six arms around her stomach and knees and held on for dear life. Oh _hell_ no. "Slav, you'd better get off me this second or they won't find your corpse."

It was actually impressive how fast the little turd let go of her, his eyes wide as he brought his six hands up in surrender before latching onto Hunk who was too busy trying not to throw up to notice the extra body attached to him. "You know there's a 98.99% percent chance that we might die!"

Everyone ignored him.

Pidge turned to Shiro. "And you."

Shiro arched a dark brow at her. "You're a dick. I saw what you did."

Shiro flushed and awkwardly cleared his throat. Matt laughed, the traitor. She'd get them both back for that little tidbit later. Perhaps get Lance to help just to spite them. The castle gave off another rough shake that had them all groaning, then the lights suddenly dimmed before leaving them all in complete darkness for what felt like forever.

When the lights finally turned back on and her vision had cleared, all she could see were clouds. The more they descended the more she could see the sun in the distance going down. It painted the sky shades of red and pink. Pidge skimmed her eyes over the new surroundings, taking note of snow and were those giant three-leaf clovers?

What the hell?

Pidge couldn't tell if it was winter or summer in this planet. One side was covered in snow and the other half looked like the forest in Alice in Wonderland.

"What are you doing?" Adina said, her voice unnaturally loud to be heard over the alarm still blaring from the speakers. Allura promptly cut it off. "It's not safe to be walking yet."

There was clear worry in her voice, but Mickey McLane doesn't seem to care as he used Aiden and Alan's shoulders to steady himself as he gets to his feet. The castle was slowly starting to stop its shaking, Allura trying to make the descent to something smoother now that they'd managed to make it inside the planet.

Mikey flipped his brown shoulder length hair over his shoulder and started striding to the door. "To get our sister back."

Shiro frowned where he was still holding onto Pidge lest she fall and decided to speak. "We're almost to the ground. Just a little longer and –"

Whatever else Shiro wanted to say was cut off as Mickey snapped his head to look at him, his handsome face etched in a scowl. "Yeah, well I can't wait that long. I'm going to get her back."

One of the triplets, Colt she remembered, snorted and narrowed his brown eyes at his older brother. "And how are you planning to get there from this high up?"

Mikey rolled his dark blue eyes and looked at him like he was an idiot. It only had Colt bristling. "By using Nyx."

Colt snapped his mouth shut at that.

Adina tapped her chin with a small frown on her lips. "That…could work."

True. Nyx could get Lance's older brother down there quite easily, she's sure of it. Lance had told her and Hunk stories upon stories of how Nyx was able to fly under any condition. It didn't matter if it was snowing or there was a god damn tornado with thunderstorms in the distance, Nyx could get them out of there no problem.

Reyna heaved a giant sigh and rolled her yellow cats eyes at Lance's older brother before she rummaged inside the sleeve of her kimono, took something small out and flung it at Mikey who snatched it from the air with not too much difficulty.

Curious, Mikey opened his palm and stared at the transparent blue bracelet with a small frown. "I don't need a friendship bracelet before I go."

Reyna bared her teeth at him, her eyes scrunched together and looking like she wanted nothing more than to test her daggers on him but refrained when Adina placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Reyna heaved another sigh. "It's for Lance. It has her armor and weapons. Make sure you give it to her."

Mikey blinked once and gave a sharp nod before stashing the bracelet on the back pocket of his jeans. "I will."

"And Mikey." Reyna said, her eyes suddenly serious.

Mikey straightened and squared his shoulders. "Yeah?"

"Keep her safe. We'll join you once we land."

Mikey gave another sharp nod, his eyes set in determination. "I will."

Kyrian raised his hand for a fist bump and Mikey obliged. "You got this dude."

And then he was gone.

Hunk exchanged a curious glance with everyone. "Think he'll make it?"

Mr. McLane lifted his head up at that, his baby blue eyes twinkling as he puffed out a laugh. "If there's one thing my children are, it's that they are stubborn. He'll make it. I'm sure of it."

He looked oddly proud and Pidge couldn't help but feel a twinge at that. The look reminds her of her father. As if sensing her mood, Matt ruffled her hair and gave her a wide smile. "We'll get him back Katie. Just a little longer."

Pidge managed a watery smile back as her friends turned to her with matching grins on their faces and sniffled. She would _not_ cry. She'll save that for when she had her father standing in front of her. The castle was now gliding smoothly to the floor and Allura deemed that it was all right to stand once again.

Finally.

Pidge wasted no time in grabbing Matt's arm, practically dragging him as she all but sprinted to the window to get a better look at their new surroundings. Matt stumbled after her but managed to regain his balance as he saddled up next to her so they could look down. Lance had mentioned a tower that looked like a flower ready to bloom. That's where Lance, Keith and her dad are.

"There!" Matt suddenly shouted and Pidge jumped and whipped her head to follow where he was pointing. Her eyes widened. It does look like a flower ready to bloom. Sure it has some kind of glowing red vines wrapped around it, a few battle cruisers flying around it, and Galra soldiers roaming the ground, at least she thinks those are Galra soldiers, but she's sure that that place is what Lance described.

"That must be the village." Shiro commented next to her. Pidge feels a chill go down her spine for some reason, which is weird because this is _Shiro_ but decides to ignore it as she follows his gaze. She has to squint and press her face close to the glass but she can just barely make out tiled roofs.

"Guys?" The slight tremble in Hunk's voice has everyone turning to look at him. The yellow paladin looked wide-eyed, his face derived of blood as he gulped and swallowed before lifting a trembling finger at something down below. "What the heck is that?"

Pidge followed his gaze, as do the others, and all of them took a sharp breath because walking or more accurately, stomping, towards the village is a motherfucking T-rex. Oh look, Slav already fainted. Once again Lance was right on the money. She described the thing perfectly. It looked exactly like a T-rex just the robot version of it with what were those? Blasters hanging on its shoulders?

Seriously what the fuck Haggar?

And here Pidge had thought Lance was exaggerating. Not that anyone could blame Pidge for being doubtful. Lance had a tendency to be overly dramatic about everything and anything but yeah. Not this time.

God damn it.

How do Lance and Keith always get themselves in these weird situations?

She's honestly a little jealous. Pidge wanted to see some Galra zombies too she couldn't help but think with a pout. Maybe once they got Lance back Pidge could go on a simple errand with her. This is Lance she was talking about. Even going to the market, Pidge can tell that something would happen with Lance at her side.

"All right guys." Shiro said and Pidge immediately straightened to look at him. So do the others. Shiro has the ability to garner everyone's attention without having to work for it. The black paladin looked determined, his face serious as he looked at his gathered audience one by one. "Here's Lance's plan. The rest of the paladins and I will be going down there in our lions to try and stop that –" his voice faltered as he tried to come up with a name to describe the T-rex down there.

"Metal T-rex?" Pidge supplied helpfully.

"Lord of destruction?" Matt added with a grin.

"Unholy creature?" Hunk added with a sheepish smile.

Shiro's lips twitched but he cleared his throat. "Metal T-rex." He said eventually and Pidge sent a smug look at her brother who just rolled his eyes at her and pushed her face away. Rude. "Coran, Matt, and the rest of Lance's family will stay here to receive the prisoners from Lance."

Coran raised his hand. "About that, did Lady Lance tell you _where_ to pick up the prisoners?"

All eyes turned to Pidge and Matt, the latter sheepishly scratching his head with an awkward grin. "Not exactly?"

"What?" Hunk screeched as he rounded on them. "How will we find them then?"

The others voiced their distress as well. Pidge clenched her fists at her side, she should have asked before the connection was cut off but they hadn't had time.

"Everyone, calm down." Shiro said in a raised voice. "Lance is resourceful, I'm sur she'll find a way to let us know where she is."

"Yeah," Xylian piped in as she jabbed Jonaz in the ribs with her elbow. "She'll probably set off a flare or something."

Jonaz nodded back eagerly, his silver ponytail bobbing up and down with the motion.

Antok and Leylee snorted and rolled their eyes. Pidge stared, Antok's eyebrows now looked like he had a fat caterpillar on his face. Lance was going to have a field day with him when she came back. "Don't you mean she'll set of an explosion?"

Kolivan breathed deeply through his nose and shared a look with Ulaz and Thace who sheepishly grinned. "If Keith is with her then its very possible. Those two are always setting something on fire."

Pidge and the others laughed. That was certainly true; Keith and Lance weren't exactly subtle.

Coran chuckled, his head bobbing up in down. "All right, I guess I have my answer. I guess we know the plan then."

"Actually," Kyrian interrupted as he glanced at his family. All of them nodded back. "Colt, Alan and I will be joining the Amazons to go help our sister." Shiro didn't look like he liked that idea but before he could voice his disagreement, Kyrian barreled on. "Don't underestimate us. We may not have gotten powers but we still have the strength of an Amazon and we're quite sturdy. We'll be fine, our parents have trained all of us the same way."

"Dad and I will board the ship we originally came in and head to the village in case you guys need backup." Aiden added with a grin, his glasses slightly tilting to the right.

Shiro gnawed on his lower lip but once the McLane's sported the puppy eyes at him, big wide eyes, bottom lips sticking out, he easily caved. Damn, these guys were good.

"We will take a separate ship to the village and evacuate the villagers just in case." Kolivan said, the man already looked like was ready for anything what with all those weapons strapped to his tight black body suit that he and the rest of the blades are wearing. His long silver hair was braided behind his back and he glanced at Ulaz and the rest of his Blades who nodded.

Shiro sighed and turned to Aiden. "I want you and Mr. McLane to go with them. The villagers may not be all too trust worthy if it's just Kolivan and his team. They might think it's a trick. If everything else seems fine, then you may go ahead and help us out."

Aiden glanced at his father who nodded back. "Yeah, okay we can do that."

"Remember guys, Keith isn't with us at the moment." Shiro added. "We won't be able to form Voltron."

Hunk scratched his cheek. "Maybe we won't need to?"

Shiro nodded and Pidge tapped her fingers against her leg in anticipation. "You guys ready?"

Various sounds of affirmative sounded back and Pidge cracked her knuckles and grinned. "Let's go kick some shiny metal ass."

Matt let out a shriek. "Seriously Pidge, language!"

* * *

When Lance was a little girl she saw her first zombie movie courtesy of her brothers. It was a few months after her terrible picture day and she and her mother had gone back to Earth for a few weeks. Her hair had thankfully grown back thanks to the tonic the healers had given her. Her brothers made sure both their parents were out of the house lest they get in trouble for showing her and Aiden, who were eight and a half and ten years old at the time, a gory movie that their parents would have disapproved of.

Lance remembered being excited. This was the first time she could stay past eight! She felt like a rebel. Aiden could stay up till _nine_ , which was _so_ not fair. Just because he was two years older than her jeez. Anyway. Back to her point.

The movie was in black and white and again Lance was ecstatic. Her older brother Mikey feared that this would be too much for her but she just pouted and whined and he had given in pretty quickly. All throughout the movie, her excitement quickly died down and she remembered latching onto Aiden's own trembling hand for he too was afraid but neither of them refused to admit it out loud.

That's when the zombies in the movie found a way inside the house where the humans were currently hiding in and any semblance of control that Lance had slid away and she began to cry. Aiden joining her shortly afterward.

They didn't finish the movie.

Her other four brothers had scooped them both up and tried to console them. Murmuring things like 'don't worry, I won't let them get to you' or 'zombies aren't real, it's just a movie.'

Lance had been a little miffed. Her mother had told her that when she was older Lance would be queen. And as a queen, it was her duty to protect her people. She had powers for god's sake!

Sure she wasn't in complete control of them quite yet but still. Just the other day she had sneezed and accidentally opened up all the cabinets and thrown all the dishes to the floor where they shattered in tiny little pieces with her powers. And if that wasn't enough, she'd accidentally zapped a stray cat with her lightning. It didn't die but it certainly didn't let her pet him anymore either. Her parents had said it wasn't her fault but she had been embarrassed. She should have better control than this!

Heck, the sight of a spider had her screaming bloody murder and she'd go pull at any of her brothers to bring out the _chancla_ because there was a spider in the room and Lance refused to step foot inside until it was dealt with.

And when she watched _The Exorcist_ …oh man. Those weeks were painful for everyone, mostly for her older brothers, they were grounded for showing her and Aiden that movie. Every little noise had her jumping and screaming in place. Picture frames flung from the wall with her powers and landing on someone. Light bulbs erupting thanks to her lightning.

It was not pretty.

Again, her family said it wasn't her fault and she would get better. In the meantime, they would protect her.

Her friends and family were always protecting her and it wasn't fair. She wanted to protect them as well. It was something she would have to do when she became queen anyway. So Lance had broken free from her brothers' embrace, got up on the coffee table and put her hands at her hips. She schooled her face into one of the fiercest and bravest faces she could muster and declared that she didn't need to be taken care of. Let the zombies come. She would take care of them. If they thought they were getting anywhere near her family and friends then they had another thing coming.

She remembered her brothers looking at her in awe. The triplets have flipped out a camera from who knows where and started taking pictures. Mikey had wiped a tear from his eye and declared that he felt safer already and Aiden…he was looking at her in so much reverence that it had her puffing out her chest in pride.

Looking back, Lance couldn't help but feel oddly proud of her eight and half year old self. Back in the present…eighteen-year-old Lance would gladly cower behind her brothers and let them take care of the zombies _for_ her. She might have felt different about it if she had her powers but she didn't.

She tugged at the shackles at her wrist and grimaced. If these things weren't there, holding back her powers, then Lance would totally be kicking butt right about now.

But again, she couldn't.

All she had was her strong Amazon strength, and a gun blaster at her side. Oh and her dagger. Can't forget the dagger. Lotor had gone to the trouble of finding her one after all. She didn't think she could take on all those zombies banging outside the metal door with just those two weapons _and_ protect the thirty-five prisoners as well.

Maybe if Keith and Lotor were here to help it'd be another story. At least that way there would be more fighters to help out.

She glanced back at the blank screen next to her and gnawed on her lower lip. She'd been talking to Matt and Pidge, giving them instructions of what to do when they got to this planet when the Galra zombies on the other side had made a huge dent on the metal door from the other side and the lights had briefly gone out for a good thirty seconds. She had counted.

The prisoners had gone frantic.

Some started wailing.

Some of them started praying.

Someone shouted, " _We're going to die!"_ Only for Zethrid to slap him across the cheek and tell him to calm the _fuck_ down.

Good she thought with a huff.

Lance didn't need that kind of negativity in her life.

Lance herself had been oddly silent. On the outside it looked like she had no worries whatsoever, poker face on with no signs of breaking, but in her head, she kept repeating one thing over and over again.

 _Fuuuuuck._

This place was bringing out the worst in her.

Then the lights had turned back on and she willed those thoughts away as the screen turned back once again and Mr. Holt looked at her questionably. He could still bring the barrier down but it might not last very long before it covered the planet once again.

Lance had absolute faith in her friends though and she was sure that they would make it, so she crossed her fingers, said a little prayer in her head, and gave Mr. Holt the go ahead.

Lance counted silently in her head, her fingers anxiously tapping a random rhythm on her black jeans and waited. She was vaguely aware of everyone holding their breath and silently counting out loud as well when there was another loud bang coupled with more groaning and the lights dimmed again. Lance almost cursed. Thirty-eight seconds.

She really _really_ hoped that Pidge and the others had made it. She shook her head. What was she talking about? _Of course_ they had made it. All of her friends were way too stubborn for their own good.

She was vey much proud of her little family.

The constant banging and the rise in volume brought her back to the present. Right. Galra zombies.

Time to leave.

But how?

She turned to Zethrid and Krolia who had gone back to check for any signs of a secret entrance. Judging by their annoyed looks, they probably hadn't. She glanced back to the rest of the occupants in the room with a thoughtful expression before turning her blue eyes to the three dead Galra bodies in the corner of the room.

She tried to get everyone's attention but it didn't seem to work. Annoyed, Lance took out her gun blaster and fired off a shot at the ceiling.

Instant silence.

She smiled. "All right, show of hands, how many of you can shoot a gun blaster?" The prisoners shuffled their feet and looked at each other before four of them raised their hands slowly. Lance pointed at the Galra bodies in the corner. "Go pick out a weapon." They did.

Krolia took one as well, said she was good with a gun. Zethrid refused to take one; she'd rather punch everything in sight with her fists. Lance shrugged. To each their own. Her eyes went to the screens, skimming over them until she found the screen projecting what's happening on the other side of the room they were in.

It was not good.

There were definitely Galra zombies outside. Way too many actually. So many that she can't make them out individually. They were all clustered together, groaning, their meaty hands pounding the door with so much force that she was sure the metal door wouldn't last very long at this rate.

"There's a draft coming from this wall!" Krolia suddenly shouted.

Oh thank god.

Lance made it to her side with Zethrid, Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier hot on her heels in a few quick strides. The wall before them was smooth, it looked the same as the rest of the place but Lance could definitely feel a draft coming from the other side.

"How do we open it?" she asked, her hands already running through, knocking in areas to see if any of them were sensitive.

Zethrid cracked her knuckles and stepped forward. Her body was wide enough that Lance and the others had no choice but take several steps back so she could inspect it. "Let's just make our own exit."

That was all the warning she gave before she brought back a fist, and slammed it so hard on the wall that she made a dent. Zethrid punched it a few more times until there was a small opening. Lance grinned and leaned forward to see what the other side looked like.

It was dark but she was sure there were stairs leading down. The Amazon princess grinned and helped Zethrid punch the rest of the wall away. Sweat soaked through her shirt, despite the cool air from the room, but Lance didn't let it bother her.

It looked like catacomb. Pitch black, spider webs on the ceiling but Lance was sure that there were stairs leading down to who knows where. It doesn't matter. Anything was better than here.

Lance turned to Zethrid and gripped her massive forearm in a death grip. "Go in first, you'll be leading the prisoners. After half of them are down, Krolia will go down along with the rest of the prisoners. I'll bring up the rear."

Zethrid pursed her turquoise colored lips, narrowed her eyes and gripped Lance's forearm with her other arm with the same strength and nodded. "Don't die, I'm starting to like you."

Lance grinned and patted her back, or at least tried. Zethrid was tall but Lance managed to pat her lower back. The Amazon turned to the rest of the prisoners and relayed her plans. Within minutes the prisoners were scrambling after Zethrid. After seventeen of them had passed, Krolia went next, the gun blaster in her hand locked and loaded and ready for use. Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier were the last two to go in, insisting they keep her company.

Lance shooed them inside and said she would catch up soon. There was something she needed to do first. They hesitated but after another reassurance they finally went inside the catacomb, Mr. Dossier helping Mr. Holt since his eyesight was better in the dark.

Lance waited for the echo of their footsteps to fade before scrambling forward towards the door and picked up the stacked cabinets and hauled them to the new exit they had just made. She picked up three and began to pull them close from the other side in an effort to hide the new hole they'd just made. It wouldn't hold them long, but it would give them some time at least.

Satisfied, Lance inched forward toward the tunnel, one hand on her gun blaster while the other gripped the red crystal necklace around her neck. The sharp edges brought her comfort and made her think of Keith. She'd get back to him soon.

Lance couldn't see very well in the dark so she let go of her necklace and stretched her hand out to feel her way through the dark. She could hear the rest of her companions further ahead so she picked up her pace.

That's when she heard a scrape from behind her. Her blue eyes flickered past her shoulder, not once stopping her decent but could make out nothing. She gripped her gun blaster and lifted the safety off just in case. Her pulse thudded in her ears. She swore she heard a growl, like that of some sly, hungry creature.

 _Happy thoughts,_ her inner voice screamed at her. _Don't freak out._

Lance took a deep breath and let it out. Right.

"Lance?" Mr. Holt whispered a few feet away.

"I'm here." She whispered back and closed the distance between them. She stretched her hand forward until she was met with his thin hand. He gripped it tightly in his grasp. He was shaking, so she gave his hand a squeeze.

Another hand landed on her shoulder and Lance stiffened but it was only Mr. Dossier. "We thought we lost you back there."

Lance grinned, and despite the darkness she was sure that he could see her perfectly fine. "Can't get rid of me that easily."

They caught up to the others after a few more feet, Krolia and Zethrid calling up to her in relief. "Find an exit yet?"

Zethrid growled in annoyance all the way at the front. Guess that's a no. Suddenly, there was another scraping sound and then Lance was blinking against the sudden light. Krolia had found some torches it seemed. Nice. She passed one to her and the other to Zethrid at the front. It made her relax a little.

On her right, Mr. Holt shuffled along, his steps a bit stilted to keep pace with her and Mr. Dossier. He noticed her staring and managed to pull a tight smile. He gave her hand a squeeze but she still felt worried over him. He was already breathing hard and it hadn't been more than ten minutes.

Mr. Dossier put a hand to his back and urged him forward, his red cat eyes glancing at him back and forth to make sure he was doing all right. That's a chief doctor for you she thought as she urged them ahead of her.

A thunderous slam made her jump and she turned her head, her ears straining to hear. Dozens of footsteps echoed from the way they just came, followed by snarling, groaning, and wails.

Within seconds, Lance and her entourage were running, bolting deeper into the catacomb, Zethrid desperately looking for an exit at the head of the line. Up ahead, the tunnel split. One side was narrow but it angled sharply upward, the path scrambling over a few steps punctuated by gentle slopes of packed dirt. The other carried on like this one, wide and flat, with the slightest incline.

Knowing her luck, the right way was probably the steeper path. Sure enough, Zethrid chose the narrower path, insisting that she could feel a draft further ahead. This time, Lance wasn't the only one to curse under her breath.

The path wasn't difficult, but it sure as heck slowed them down. They could only walk five abreast, instead of the ten as before, making the decent cramped. The groans and wails grow louder and louder, and way too close for her comfort.

They hurried as best as they could but it wasn't long before Lance saw movement from behind. Taking out her dagger, she pushed Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier forward, handed them the torch, and went to deal with them. So far it was only four of them. Five yards away, their noses turned upward as they sniffed for them. Before they could move any further, she took out the dagger and quickly stabbed them in the head. The four of them went down quietly, one after another, as easy as stealing candy from a baby. Something wet and cold sprayed from them, blood she assumed, and already she could feel bile rising up her throat.

The smell alone was disturbing.

 _Don't think about it. Just get rid of them._

She wiped the blood coating her fingertips on the wall but the smell still lingered.

It'd be better not to use the gun blaster for now. The less noise she made the better. As quietly as she could, Lance lowered herself to a crouch and felt around for any pebbles or rocks. She found only two. The creatures were getting closer. Hoping this worked, Lance threw one of the rocks the way they came and waited.

The footsteps came to a slow stop. She threw the other one in the same direction and almost wept in relief when the creatures released wails and groans and went back the way them came. When the sounds of their feet faded, Lance got up and as quickly and as quietly as she could, felt her way back to the others.

They'd gotten pretty far already. She could just barely hear their muffled voices, their shuffling feet. Some of the steps were uneven and high. Since she didn't have the torch to light the way for her, it caused her to stumble and scramble.

At least its not wet, otherwise she'd be in real trouble. After what feel like days but was only minutes, the path flattened and she could just begin to see the dim light from the torches up ahead. The path led to a wider tunnel with rounded metal walls and three more openings.

Awesome.

 _Strangers trying to kill me. I don't have my powers. Got separated from Keith and Lotor who were probably freaking out. Got thirty-five scared prisoners who are probably injured. Galra zombies want to eat them and their escape route has three exits that could probably lead them straight to the enemy. That's great. Great job Lance._

Lance picked up her pace and went to join the others who smiled in relief at the sight of her. Krolia had looked like she was getting ready to go look for her; she was already halfway to the entrance Lance had just emerged from.

Krolia didn't say anything but her shoulders sagged before she turned to yell at Zethrid, her violet eyes looking over Lance for any signs of injury. "Now we can go."

Lance perked up and walked forward towards Zethrid, Krolia close to her side. "You guys found a way out?"

Zethrid wiped the beads of sweat running along her purple cheek and gave her a feral grin. "Oh yeah, we found an exit. I scouted ahead, two of these are just dead ends but the last one leads to a ladder at the end. There's a hatch at the top, I don't know where it leads but I heard voices."

Lance nodded grimly. "Anything is better than Galra zombies. Let's hurry."

Half of them were already following Zethrid through the tunnel when the inhuman growls suddenly grew louder, uncomfortably close to them now.

"Run!" Lance screamed.

Her companions didn't need to be told twice, they scrambled forward, tugging each other forward when they faltered. The four men who had picked out a gun blaster rushed to her side, their faces pale but determined as they clicked the safety off their weapons. Their tails were wrapped around their stomach so as to not get in the way.

Lance glanced over her shoulder. The Galra zombies weren't in sight yet, but she was sure it wouldn't take them long to discover which way they had gone. Lance and her companions weren't exactly inconspicuous.

She slammed into Mr. Dossier's back when she turned to face forward again. He turned and steadied her before she could hit the ground. "Why have we stopped?"

Zethrid strode to her side with a grim face, Krolia at her side, the woman looked ready for battle. She looked so much like Keith that Lance had to look twice. "There are definitely soldiers up there. I'll try and deal with them and clear things up for us but –"

"But you don't know how long that will last." Lance finished for her.

Zethrid grimly nodded.

"Krolia can go with you." Lance suggested.

Krolia whipped her head to scowl at her. It was such a Keith look that it was uncanny. "And what about you? If anything happens to you my son won't be happy. I refuse to lose my daughter-in-law when I haven't had the chance to know her yet."

Lance could feel her cheeks flush at the statement but she cleared her throat and looked over her shoulder. Those things would be on them soon. "I won't be alone, there are four other men who have weapons on them. You and Zethrid take care of the guys upstairs and we'll hold on till then."

Krolia scowled, she didn't look the least bit happy but nodded. She and Zethrid turned towards the ladder at the far end before Krolia paused and returned to ruffle Lance's hair to her embarrassment. "Don't die."

And then she and Zethrid were gone. They climbed the ladder, opened the hatch and seconds after the sound of shouts and gunfire broke out upstairs.

Hopefully they'd be all right.

* * *

Lance wedged her torch into the ground in front of her, drew her gun blaster, and prepared to greet the ravenous creatures coming their way. The other four men lined up beside her so they formed a line. The rest of the prisoners, Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier, moved further back towards the ladder. Ready to climb when Zethrid or Krolia gave the all clear.

The Amazon glanced at the four trembling men beside her and patted the one next to her on the back. He stumbled and rapidly blinked his red eyes at her. "Relax. All you need to do is aim and shoot. We're almost out, you guys aren't leaving without a fight right?"

The men looked at each other in astonishment and nodded. They rolled back the gray sleeves from their jumpsuits and straightened their backs, one foot forward and one inched back. "No we're not. It's time we get some revenge for what they did to our people."

The men in the back echoed their agreement, some even bent down to retrieve rocks to be used as weapons.

The creatures were within sight now, sprinting at them in full speed.

However, to Lance's immense relief, this was a smaller group of them. Perhaps the other half had gone on the other paths. Lance lifted her gun blaster; the four males did the same, aimed and fired.

Three of the creatures fell, tripping those behind them. Some were smart enough to jump over their fallen allies and kept running towards them, their jaws already opened wide, blood dribbling down their chins.

Lance and the other men kept firing.

"Do you guys deal with these kind of creatures all the time?" One of the men screeched next to her, his eyes impossibly wide as he continued shooting.

Lance shrugged, and shot at one of the zombies who had been trying to climb the ceiling. She didn't need them doing the exorcist walk thank you very much. "We like to keep things interesting."

"And fatal." Another man muttered under his breath.

It only had her laughing.

"You guys should have seen the giant spider!"

"Spider?" they screeched.

"And don't get me started on the cannibals!"

"I don't think I want to go outside anymore." One of the prisoners at the back whispered to his companion.

"Think about our wives and children man! Get a grip!" He shouted back at him.

The man on the right of her let out a screech and Lance turned just in time to see one of the creatures leap at the man. The man fired off a shot but missed and stumbled back. From this close, Lance could see the bloodshot eyes, the sagging purple skin, and the stitches that held up the skin from a cat person on one side of its face.

Lance fired off a shot but the thing was quick. Her shot hit its arm and it came clean off where it landed on the floor with a splat. The creature didn't even flinch, and even with only one arm, the thing was fast as it crawled towards the man who had fallen backwards.

The creature leaped only to stumble as a few rocks hit it on the face, courtesy of the prisoners in the back. Lance took the time to shoot it in the head, satisfied that it didn't get up again. She'd been so busy trying to keep that one man safe that she didn't notice when one of the creatures jumped at her. Lance fell on her back, the gun blaster flying from her hand.

Shark like teeth bit into her shoulder, and Lance almost screamed. Some of the men rushed forward but Lance all but barked at them to stay back and keep shooting. All the noise had attracted the other creatures that had taken the other tunnels. She could hear them coming.

Her left hand reached around the creature's throat, squeezing and pushing those knife like teeth out of her skin. Her right hand blindly searched the ground for her gun blaster, she would have gone for her dagger but the creature on top of her was heavy.

The creature gnawed its teeth at her, its breath so rancid that it was a struggle not to throw up. Where the heck was her gun? All she could find were pebbles and that wouldn't be enough to kill the creature currently trying to make her its next meal.

Footsteps rushed to her side but Lance couldn't turn her head to see whether they were friendlies or more creatures coming her way. There were two battle cries and suddenly the creature on top of her slumped forward, its head bashed in.

Lance pushed and wiggled to get the dead weight off her when two pairs of arms hooked themselves under her armpits and pulled, dragging her away from the creature. Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier looked at her in worry, Pidge's dad tossing a particularly big rock covered in blood to the ground before rushing forward to move her hair away from her face while Mr. Dossier checked on her injured shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Lance furiously blinked and nodded, her blue eyes going to the other men who were doing a very nice job of handling themselves against those creatures.

The sound of something ripping caught her attention, her eyes going to Mr. Dossier who was currently ripping off part of his sleeve to stop the bleeding from her shoulder. Honestly, Lance was surprised that the creature had actually managed to break through her skin. Amazons had very tough skin, it took quite a lot for one to get injured but this creature did it with ease. And that was just terrifying.

"If I had some disinfectant it would be better," Mr. Dossier grumbled beside her. "But for now this will have to do, hopefully you won't get an infection."

"Pretty sure she'll need a rabies shot." Mr. Holt mumbled under his breath.

Lance stifled a laugh and turned to Mr. Dossier as he finished wrapping the make shift bandage over her shoulder. Her injury burned but she resisted the urge to hiss, Mr. Dossier already looked pale enough. She looked him in the eye and put on her most serious expression ever. "Just give it to me straight doc, am I still pretty?"

Mr. Dossier huffed out a laugh and was about to respond when Zethrid's voice was heard loud and clear despite the chaos around them. "Get your butts up here, we cleared the area!"

Light burst from the tunnel, temporarily blinding them.

"Go!" Lance shouted to her companions. Mr. Holt threw her gun blaster at her and Lance got to her feet, only swaying once at the blood loss before regaining her footing. She ignored the concerned look from Mr. Dossier and pushed him and Pidge's dad forward, towards the ladder at the far end where Zethrid's face could be seen at the top.

The men rushed past her, taking turns to climb up the ladder while Lance and the other men with weapons kept firing, taking down anything that leaped at them, slowly backing away in the process. One of the creatures tripped on the torch that Lance had set on the ground in what felt like ages ago, immediately catching on fire.

Naturally, the thing kept coming towards them despite the fact that it was enveloped in flames but its movements were drastically curbed. The other creatures behind it were soon enveloped in flames as well and eventually they crumpled to their knees and didn't move.

Okay. So fire works, just takes some time.

Nice.

There were still plenty of other creatures left though, and these seemed a little smarter than the previous group, considering the fact that they easily avoided the creatures that were still in flames and rushed for Lance and her remaining group.

"Lance, hurry up and climb!" Zethrid barked at her. Lance startled and realized she was the only one left; the ladder was just a few feet away. She rushed to it and began to climb, the others at the top urging her to climb faster.

Jeez.

How long was this ladder anyway?

She could hear snarling behind her and despite knowing that it was a really bad idea, she looked back. And immediately regretted it. There were quite a few of them climbing after her, some falling when they lost their grip but definitely gaining on her. Her shoulder throbbed but she urged herself to climb faster. She could already see Zethrid's outstretched hand and her face, which was etched in a scowl. Krolia was next to her, the gun blaster aimed below, ready to shoot any of the creatures that got too close to her.

A few more feet later Lance clasped Zethrid's arm and let herself be pulled up. Krolia and the other four men with weapons fired off a few more shots down below where Lance heard a few splats hit the floor before the other men closed the lid and all but dragged a huge cabinet to place on top. The sound of fists pounding on metal was heard soon after but Lance couldn't help but sigh in relief as Zethrid gently lowered her to the floor.

She let out a low whistle as she touched Lance's shoulder, which was still bleeding and throbbing. "Yeah, you might want to disinfect this."

Lance cringed. "I just hope I don't turn into a zombie myself."

Mr. Dossier shook his hand in a so-and-so motion and shrugged his shoulders, his tail lightly swaying. "There's a fifty-fifty chance."

Lance scowled at the response. So did Krolia and Mr. Holt. The rest of the men took a few steps back. Seeing this, Mr. Dossier put his hands up and tried to placate them. "She's strong though! She'll be fine!" Everyone heaved a relieved sigh. "Probably."

This time Lance wasn't the only one that threw him an angry look. Krolia rolled her violet eyes, ripped part of her own dark sleeve and tied it around the already bloodied rag that Mr. Dossier had put on earlier. "That should hold until we can find some proper medicine."

Lance nodded absently and mumbled a quiet thank you before dragging her eyes to their new surroundings. Windows. Three giant windows, overlooking the outside, surrounded them. She could still see battle cruisers flying around, the sun already setting giving the sky a purple hue.

There were about eight dead Galra soldiers piled in the corner of the room, some with bullet holes and others with necks snapped.

The dashboard looked like someone had taken a gun to it and emptied all the bullets on it. Video screens and radio equipment were also thrashed. If Pidge and the others were already here, which she was positive they were, then Lance needed a way to give them their location. But how?

"We have to go." Zethrid mumbled as she stepped beside her and placed one of her massive hands on her not injured shoulder.

Lance heaved a resigned sigh and nodded. She needed to find Lotor and Keith; hopefully they were having a better time than she was.

From somewhere down the hall, she could hear shouting. Footsteps. They echoed strangely in the room they were in but growing closer with every heartbeat. Coming for them.

"They know we're here." Krolia hissed, looking back. She and the others, who now had weapons of their own, turned the safety lock off their guns and aimed them at the door. Even Mr. Holt and Mr. Dossier had a gun, though they looked uncomfortable holding it.

"Hey, that ship looks different!" The man who Lance had saved earlier suddenly yelled as he pointed at something out the window. Lance frowned and turned her head just slightly so she could view both the entrance where a door used to stand and the window.

Something white flashed her peripheral vision and Lance rapidly blinked. Was that?

About eight arrow-shaped shadows raced through the sky, their purple wings cutting in and out of the clouds. They screeched and twisted around a massive white flying figure. A figure that looked strangely familiar. Something blue and trailing smoke darted out of the white figure and hit one of the cruisers head on. Lance and the others watched as it collided with another cruiser sending them both crashing to the ground. A bloom of red and orange exploded a second later, killing the fleeing Galra soldiers who had been running away.

Whoa.

"Are they on our side?" One of the men asked, his red eyes wide and hopeful.

"Maybe." Zethrid replied, her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out who that was. Three more cruisers went down after the first two and as the white figure flew closer, Lance felt a smile tug on her lips. She knew this ship. It was only natural; it'd been her home for the past year and a half. It was the castle of lions.

Lance was about to give her companions the good news when a shot rang out, making her and the others jump. The Galra soldiers were here. And they greatly outnumbered them. Dang.

Her eyes went to the window; the castle of lions was getting closer. It looked they were circling the area. Probably looking for her and her companions. She grit her teeth, there had to be a way to inform her friends of her current location before they flew past them.

Too many soldiers to count stepped forward as one, their guns ready and eyes bright, ready for battle. They flanked their leader in practiced motions, taking up positions on both ends of the room making escape impossible. A man with long braided silver hair cascading down his back stepped forward. His yellow eyes fixed in a constant glare. Those eyes landed on her and he grinned. Lance disliked him immediately.

"Oh, hello. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere." Lance said, attempting a sheepish smile. "Is this the bathroom?"

"Don't move." One of the men ordered as his gun flickered to her.

"I don't think it is." Krolia answered in a deadpan tone

Lance scowled. "Bummer. I really do need to go though."

"Finally found you Ms. McLane." Their leader chuckled. "Give yourselves up and we'll kill you quickly."

Zethrid cracked her knuckles and bared her teeth at him. "Try it."

Lance glanced back at the window; the castle of lions was beginning to turn the corner. What to do, what to do? How could she signal her friends before they rounded the corner?

Her eyes flickered to the soldiers with their guns aimed at them and an idea formed in her head. It was a stupid idea but it would certainly get her friends attention. She hoped. Turning her gaze back to the Galra leader, Lance shrugged and dropped her weapon before kicking it away from her. "Okay, we surrender."

Everyone stared in shock.

The Galra soldiers were clearly not expecting _that_. They looked at each other in confusion, their leader clearly baffled as he rapidly blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Zethrid hissed beside her, her tone both annoyed and bewildered.

"I have a plan." Lance murmured quietly enough that only Zethrid could hear as she raised her hands above her head. "Trust me."

Zethrid openly scowled but after a moment's hesitation, she dropped to her knees and put her hands behind her head. Krolia and the other looked around in confusion, some in betrayal, but Krolia only had eyes for her. Lance didn't know her future mother-in-law all that well yet but she tried to convey to Keith's mom that she had a plan.

After what felt like forever, Krolia gave a small sharp nod and dropped her weapon, her hands going above her head. The others slowly followed, and Lance tried not to break character when they glanced at her dishonesty. She felt bad for them, and she could feel the anger radiating from them but she had a plan, and for it to work, she needed the soldiers to drop their guard just a smidge.

The leader looked at her with narrowed eyes but he jerked his chin and two soldiers stepped forward, one taking out cuffs, probably for her. The other soldiers stepped forward, their gun blasters now strapped to their belts as they walked towards the rest of Lance's companions.

She glanced back at the window. The castle of lions would soon disappear, she had to hurry. Lance breathed deeply in through the nose and out again through the mouth. Once the two soldiers were close enough, Lance took hold of their wrists and hurled them as hard as she could to the window. There was the sound of them screaming, the glass breaking, and then stunned silence on the enemies side.

Zethrid and Krolia didn't was any time. They took hold of the soldiers approaching them and hurled them outside, the latter snatching her gun blaster soon after and began firing at the soldiers who were still in shock. The men on their side quickly caught on, leaping for their own discarded gun blasters to defend themselves while Krolia and Zethrid backed them up. If that didn't catch her friends' attention then she didn't know what else she could try.

"You little wench!" The leader shouted and suddenly Lance had a gun blaster aimed in her direction. Her gun was a few feet away; she was about to dive towards it when a strong gush of wind made everyone stumble.

" _Lady Lance and companions, get down!"_ Coran shouted through the speakers. The castle of lions was here. Lance and her companions dropped to the ground immediately and moments after the sound of more glass breaking and what sounded like a machine gun being fired echoed throughout the whole room.

She didn't dare lift her head to see but she could hear screams. The prisoners on her side whimpered and Lance covered her head as bits of glass went flying. Zethrid and Krolia covered her, their bodies a heavy weight that she didn't mind.

"Everyone stay down!" Zethrid shouted over the noise, adjusting her grip on her and Krolia. She was practically crushing the both of them to her massive body.

Mr. Dossier was covering Mr. Holt's body with his own right next to them, both of their eyes shut tight. After what felt forever, the sound of gunfire disappeared only to be replaced by Coran's chipper voice. " _Hmph, that'll teach those hoodlums not to mess with our friends! All clear Lady Lance!"_

With a groan Lance and the others slowly got to their feet, wiping any glass from their bodies. The soldiers no longer a problem, Coran seemed to have taken care of them. Turning away from the carnage, Lance walked over to the window where the castle of lions was floating. The side where the door was suddenly swung open and a ramp was lowered until it touched the window. Matt's face appeared right after it. At the sight of her, he wildly waved at her and quickly crossed the ramp to envelop her in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" He cried as he buried his face in her neck. Lance weakly laughed and hugged him just as tightly. Matt Holt looked good. His brown hair still looked messy but it was clear he'd gotten a haircut. He was still pale but he didn't look like a walking corpse. Lance couldn't see what he was wearing under his dark gray cloak but she was sure she felt a chest plate under it. He smelled of aftershave and men's deodorant; it was a smell that was league's better than what he smelled like when they first met. "I never got to thank you for saving me from that hell hole. So thanks. Thanks for saving my life."

"It's good to see you Matt." Lance glanced back to Mr. Holt who looked like he was on the verge of tears and gestured him forward. "There's someone else you'll want to see more than me though."

Matt pulled back and his brown eyes met his father's own teary ones before he all but sprinted toward him and crushed him to him. The two of them were soon in tears as they talked over each other with wide smiles. Lance gave them a moment and turned back to the ramp before turning back to the prisoners. "Okay guys, this is your stop. My friends will take care of you then take you back to the village."

Relieved murmurs passed through the prisoners, all of them either shaking her hands in gratitude while others hugged her and thanked her. Mr. Dossier enveloped her in a tight hug and suggested she come have dinner with him and his family once everything was over. Zethrid and Krolia also received the same gesture to their sheer embarrassment. As the first man placed a foot on the window to climb the ramp a giant blue blur jumped from the ship, scaring the men half to death before it bounded to her, making her crash to the ground with a heavy weight on top of her.

Zethrid and Krolia stepped up to help her but Lance waved them away as she hugged Shadow's gigantic head to her chest as the wolf licked her face, soon covering her in saliva which was yeah pretty gross but she was already a dirty mess, what's some saliva going to do?

"Oh, I missed you boy. Have you been well?"

Shadow merely continued licking her, his sea green eyes twinkling and Lance couldn't help but smother him in kisses. Had he gotten bigger or was she imagining things?

"Figures she'd be more excited to see an animal than us." A familiar voice said in amusement.

"Guess she hasn't changed all that much." Another voice replied.

There was a snort. "Come on, give us a little love too. We haven't seen you in years Lei-Lei."

Lance's eyes shot wide open. She _knew_ these voices.

The Amazon patted Shadow's side, a sign for him to get off and she all but stumbled to her feet only to choke back a sob at the three figures standing a few feet away looking at her in amusement.

It had been four years since she'd last seen them. She'd been fourteen at the time and yet they were still at least three feet taller than her. They had the same caramel skin she did. Short black hair with short bangs, same chocolate brown eyes that they had inherited from their mother. They wore matching expressions as she took them in but there was no denying it. These were her brothers. Colt. Kyrian. And Alan.

They looked leaner, more muscled. Older. They were wearing the same black tight shirt, blue jeans and black boots that passed their ankles but it didn't matter. Lance could always tell them apart even if no one else beside their family could. They may look the same but each of them had small characteristics that helped her tell them apart.

Kyrian's eyes would crinkle at the corners when he laughed.

Colt had an obnoxious laugh that she'd learned to love.

Alan had a quieter demeanor than his brothers; he was a little calmer than the other two.

Kyrian arched a perfectly curved brow at her and spread his arms wide. "What? No hug?"

That was all Lance needed to hear before she lunged herself at her brothers who soon engulfed her in a tight hug. Alan ruffled her hair. Colt teased her and tickled her sides and Kyrian murmured reassurances into her hair. They made sure not to put too much pressure into her shoulder. She couldn't help but cry. She didn't know what they were doing here or how they got here in the first place but it didn't matter, it'd been so _long_.

Her brothers were here and after what felt like a long time but only after she got separated from Lotor and Keith did Lance truly feel _safe_. She tried to speak but she was sure it was all nonsense as she babbled on, her hands clenching Kyrian's black shirt so tightly in her grasp that she feared she'd surely rip it.

Her brother didn't seem to care either way.

"Hey!" Another voice boomed, this one female and also familiar. "Give me some of that love too!" Lance pulled back to look over Kyrian's shoulder and released a surprise laugh at the sight of Reyna and Adina, the latter already in tears as she took Lance and her brothers in. Lance spread her arms for a hug and Reyna bounded over, lifted her high in the air and crushed her to her. "I knew you were too stubborn to die." Her friend mumbled into her hair, her voice raw with emotion.

Lance smiled and hugged her just as tight. "Are you crying?" She teased.

Reyna huffed and sniffled, her face hidden in Lance's hair. "No."

That was a complete lie. But Lance wasn't going to call her on it, after all, she was crying too. Lance lifted her head from Reyna's cool shoulder and locked eyes with Adina's own hazel eyes. Her friend had gotten prettier since the last time she'd seen her. Her black hair now reached her back where it was braided, her heart shaped face looked smoother. She seemed a little more confident. She wasn't nervously fiddling with her hands and looking at the ground. She remained eye contact.

Lance lifted a hand in her direction and Adina squeezed it with her own. "It's good to see you again your high –" Lance arched a brow at her and Adina delicately cleared her throat and corrected herself. "Lance. I meant to say Lance."

"Now that's better." She teased and pointed at her braided hair. "You'll have to teach me how to do that, I'm starting to get really annoyed with this long hair."

Adina giggled, covering her mouth with her other hand, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she stepped back and did a slight bow. "It would be my honor."

"Not to ruin this beautiful reunion," Colt said with a smile. "But did Mikey not make it yet?"

Reyna lowered her to the ground and Lance cocked her head at her brother, her blue eyes impossibly wide. "Mikey is here too?"

Alan nodded as he idly scratched Shadow's ear as the wolf sat next to him, patiently waiting for their conversation to end. Such a good boy. "Yup, he left a heck of a lot earlier. I'm surprised he isn't here yet."

Reyna let out a long suffering sigh, crossed her arms over her purple kimono armor and rolled her yellow cat eyes. "If I knew he wouldn't make it to her first, I wouldn't have given him the transparent bracelet in the first place!"

Adina giggled. "He's going to be _so_ mad."

Her three brothers grinned. "Ain't that the truth."

Lance glanced back at her friends and family, Matt and Mr. Holt made their way over, and smiled. There was something else she wanted to ask. Was her father here too? What about Aiden? And her mother?

Kyrian answered the question for her with a crooked grin. "Aiden and dad are here too. They went with the rest of your team and the Blade members to evacuate the villagers. Mom is back in Cloyetera."

Alan ruffled his black hair and sighed. "Trust me, she wanted to come but dad convinced her to say. Promised that we would bring you back. Only then did she relent."

"I thought she was going to punch someone." Colt shuddered.

Her mother did have somewhat of a temper. She was usually calm and collected but if it involved her children, she lost all sense of calm and anyone who stood in her way had better watch out. Noticing that Krolia and Zethrid were just awkwardly standing in the back, Lance grinned and beckoned them over to make introductions.

Reyna and Zethrid circled each other in interest before complimenting each other's impressive biceps and declared right then and there that they would challenge the other to an arm wrestling match when they had time. Lance and Adina grinned at each other. Those two had become fast friends.

Her brothers seemed quite interested to know about Krolia, after all she was Keith's mother and would soon be Lance's mother-in-law. Krolia seemed quite amused by the amused glances her brothers were throwing her way.

Jeez.

She needed to find Keith soon. No way was she going to be embarrassed without him.

Matt and his dad introduced themselves to the others as well. The man seemed more at ease with his son by his side, he kept glancing at him like he couldn't believe he was really there, his thin arm was tightly holding onto Matt's gray cloak lest he disappear on him again.

" _As much as I love tearful reunions," Coran's voice cut through the speakers. "We have some company, everyone all aboard! Quickly now!"_

Coran was right. More cruisers were coming their way. Lance turned back to the remaining prisoners and urged them to climb faster. Matt helped his father climb the rest of the way where Mr. Dossier was already waiting.

When they safely made it inside Matt reached a hand out and beckoned them over. Lance shook her head and gave him a sad smile. "I'm staying. I still have to find Keith. And there's someone I definitely have to kill."

"Then we're staying too." Reyna said as she perched her shoulder on Lance's head to her displeasure. "She might disappear on us again if we leave her alone.""

"Us too." Kyrian said as he cracked his knuckles.

Lance frowned and opened her mouth to argue but Alan reached over and tweaked her nose, instantly quieting any response she was going to say as her brothers towered over her. "If you think we're leaving you here to deal with these assholes –"

"Then you've got another thing coming." Colt finished.

"Don't worry," Alan said, his chocolate brown eyes mischievous. "We did the same training as you. We got this."

"I still have to find Lotor and the rest of my team, so I'm staying." Zethrid added as she crossed her arms over her black armored chest.

"And I have to keep you safe and meet my son." Krolia added with a smile in her direction. "There's no way I'm leaving now."

Lance sighed but nodded. Her friends were just as stubborn as her, there'd be no use arguing now anyway. She turned back to Matt. "We'll be fine. Take care of your dad and the rest of the men, we'll see you again later."

Matt nodded and narrowed his eyes. "That's a promise! Good luck!"

Lance and the others stepped back as the door swung close, the particle barrier surrounding the castle just in time as the battle cruisers reached them. Coran flew the castle a distance away from them and began to engage in battle.

Coran and the others would be fine. They could easily take care of a few cruisers coming their way without too much difficulty.

"All right," Reyna said, her voice loud and clear to be heard despite the noise outside. "Let's got find your boy!"

"Yes," Colt added as he wiggled his brows at her. "I want to see this so called fiancée of yours."

Lance groaned and covered her face.

"We need to give him the talk." Kyrian added with a wolfish grin.

"Please don't." Lance begged.

Alan shrugged good-naturedly "Hey, at least we won't be as bad as Mikey."

Lance shuddered. He had a point. Her oldest brother was a tad overprotective of her.

Shadow padded over to them and lowered himself so they could get on. It would be a tight fit but at least the halls were wide enough for Shadow to pass through with no problem.

After much cursing and elbowing each other in the face, they had all managed to climb aboard her wolf. Lance was sitting on Zethrid's lap at the front with Reyna and Adina behind them, the latter sitting on her girlfriends lap. Krolia was right behind them, while her brothers took the rear.

Shadow didn't seem to mind the added weight as he lifted himself in one smooth move. Zethrid howled and whooped. Her brothers echoing the sentiment. Lance made sure to hold onto Shadow's blue fur and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's go find Keith!"

And then they were off. Lance had forgotten how fast Shadow could be, he was bounding down the hall in a much faster pace than Lance and her companions had been. They easily passed three halls, Shadow seeming to know where Keith was just by scent. The Varg had sensitive noses; she had no doubt that he'd find Keith and Lotor.

She remembered talking to Kolivan about Shadow's species. Not only were they strong, but some had powers. Lance hadn't spent enough time with Shadow to know what his was but hopefully it would be something cool.

The new halls passed by in a blur. Sometimes a Galra soldier would come out of a room only to be trampled on by Shadow before they could reach for their weapons and defend themselves. Lance had her own gun blaster tucked in her belt, ready to use in case things got hairy.

They'd just entered a new room that looked like a training room, huge windows on all sides, training equipment at the far end, and two more rooms that were probably the restrooms, when the ceiling above them cracked and something bulky and heavyweight fell down, sending Shadow crashing to the ground. Lance and the others tumbled off and groaned.

Oh, great.

What now?

Lance coughed and moved her hand in a shooing motion to get rid of the smoke. She could hear the others groaning and cursing so they were definitely fine. Something heavy had fallen from the ceiling but what? She inched forward on her knees, her hands skimming the ground when she touched something wet and clammy.

She immediately recoiled when the thing moved. A wave of dizziness washed over her; fear settled in the pit of her stomach. She knew this feeling and it was not good. She could already feel her strength draining away. As the dust began to clear and the others began to get up, Lance looked up at the creature in front of her and froze.

"Oh. My. Crap."

* * *

 _So how about that season 6? Wasn't it AMAZING! So much better than Season 5! Tell me what you guys thought, I'd love to hear your thoughts!_

 _And yes, there will be Valkyries, I have played God of War and I want them there!_

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_


	30. Chapter 30

"I think I need you to save me this time."  
― **Cassia Leo** , **The Way We Fall**

Chapter 30

The first thing Keith thought when he saw the creatures were _oh shit._ That thought quickly changed to a _hell yeah_ when the creatures attacked the Galra soldiers instead of him and his companions. And the third thing Keith thought when those creatures turned their sights on _them_ were a colorful _holy fucking shit!_

Keith didn't know what the _fuck_ these things were, but he'd just witnessed them eat a few chunks of Galra soldier so he was betting on zombies. Lotor and his generals couldn't hear a heartbeat from them whatsoever. God, what was with this goddamn planet? This place was soon becoming one of the worst planets he'd ever been on. It might just push planet Acme off of first place. That planet was bright, its inhabitants looking more like those creepy dolls with eyes that follow you everywhere than aliens. And the pink! So much pink. It put Allura's room to shame.

Keith remembered twitching a lot. Pidge too. He felt like he was in the Teletubbies show, it was disgusting. After coming to planet Zaebos though, he wouldn't mind going back to planet Acme, at least no one attacked him there. Only tried to dress him up which honestly? He would rather deal with that then with this.

Ezor had screeched at the sight of those Galra zombies and fled. Keith didn't blame her, he and the others followed closely behind her. He had to find Lance quickly. Had she encountered these creatures as well? Was she faring well or had she fled like Keith and his companions were? Had she found the prisoners? Made contact with Lotor's general Zethrid? Had she found the communications room and contacted their friends?

Keith didn't know but he desperately hoped that she was safe.

He had so many other questions too. But the most important one of all: If you got bit, did you turn into a zombie too? Because Keith was so not okay with that. The creatures seemed easy to kill, just a really hard hit to the head, or dismemberment, and they're done. He'd seen _The Walking Dead_ , he knew the drill.

These creatures however, were more like the creatures from _Resident Evil._ They were incredibly fast, and if that wasn't hard enough, they could climb and run along the ceiling. They'd only made it one floor down, along the way they had to deal with a few Galra soldiers, a bunch of fighting sentries and a swarm of flying bots.

Nothing they couldn't handle. It was only after they reached the first bottom floor that they began to have problems. They'd found a bunch of dead Galra soldiers scattered around. Purple blood marked the walls; Keith swore he saw a few limbs among the bodies.

Ezor and Axca thought it might have been Lance but he and Lotor immediately dismissed that idea. Lance didn't kill like that. There'd be bullet wounds on the bodies instead. No. Whatever had done this to these men, it certainly wasn't Lance.

It was only after walking further along that they heard the sound of screaming. Gunfire. Those screams were cut of mid scream and replaced with groaning. One glance at each other and they immediately went the opposite direction. Only to be met with Galra soldiers. Nothing they couldn't handle but before they could deal with them, those creatures had dropped from the airshaft and descended on the Galra soldiers.

Keith and his companions had been ecstatic until those creatures turned to them. Axca and Lotor had opened fire and managed to hit them in the chest but despite leaving gaping holes in their bodies, the things didn't even flinch. Keith and Lotor managed to get a few swipes with their blades but that didn't work, that is until they aimed for the head. Just when they thought it'd be okay, more of them suddenly dropped from the ceiling, outnumbering them quickly. They had to flee.

Super.

Which brought them back to the present. Turning on their heels, Keith and his companions booked it down the hall as fast as their weary feet could carry them. This was ridiculous! He was exhausted, hungry, and just running on pure adrenaline and the power of stubbornness and determination to find Lance.

"Over there!" Lotor cried, pointing at something in the distance. "An elevator!"

"Will that thing even work while we're attacking their base?" Ezor yelled back, her baby blue eyes wide as she looked back at the creatures gaining on them.

Axca narrowed her blue eyes as she gripped her giant gun blaster, keeping pace next to Lotor. "Only one way to find out!"

Keith picked up his pace and was the first to reach the elevator doors. He all but broke the down button with how much he pushed it but nothing happened. There was no sound of the motor to indicate that the elevator was moving. No light lit up when he pushed the button.

Ezor reached his side and banged her orange colored hands on the doors, groaning in frustration when nothing happened. Lotor and Axca turned their backs on them and began to fire at the creatures coming their way. Bringing his Bayard out, Keith quickly turned it into a sword and neatly sliced through the seam between the two lift doors. He jerked it perpendicular so they doors could be wedged open. Ezor stepped next to him and together they pried the doors wider, quickly making their way inside.

Ezor yelled at Lotor and Axca to hurry, the two of them sliding through before the doors closed once again.

"What now?" Keith yelled through the noise. The sound of pounding fists echoed loudly in the elevator.

Lotor stepped to the box with the buttons and pried it off, digging through a mess of wires before he found what he was looking for. "Now we go to the next floor down."

Moments after, the elevator began to dip down, Lotor pulling at a hidden lever to guide them down. Keith heaved a relieved sigh and leaned on the wall to catch his breath. "Okay," he panted, wiping the beats of sweat from his forehead. He'd long since removed the black turtleneck, leaving him in his black t-shirt. "What the fuck were those things?"

"Disgusting, that's what they are." Ezor shuddered as she hugged herself where she sat on the floor.

"I don't know." Axca mumbled quietly, her breaths coming in quick as she closed her eyes and leaned back until her back hit the cool metal wall. "But whatever they are, they're on no ones side. They attack anyone."

Everyone winced when they heard the thunderous bangs from the creatures up above.

"It might be because of the druids." Lotor thoughtfully said, his white hair had been tied into a ponytail thanks to Axca giving him a hair tie. The Galra Prince was breathing pretty heavily as well, one hand one his side. All that running had only made the wound open up even further. Blood coated his shirt, he had discarded the long jacket he and Lance had given him earlier that day, leaving him in a black tight shirt.

"What do you mean?" Ezor asked with a frown.

"Those creatures are clearly dead." Lotor explained, his yellow-blue eyes looking at them one by one. "Some were missing body parts but they still kept coming. We shot them but that didn't stop them either. Only the druids are capable of doing something like this."

Keith swallowed nervously. Goddamn druids. Why couldn't they leave things alone?

"I really hope Lance didn't encounter any of them." Lotor continued, bringing Keith's attention back to him. "At least not alone. Hopefully she made contact with Zethrid."

Keith clenched his jaw. He hoped so too. They'd been separated for hours now. The last time they'd passed a room with windows, the sun had already begun to set. He hoped those villagers and the Dossier family was all right. He and the others had heard the announcement from the druid and then the thunderous roar that came after it.

One thing that he knew for sure was that the enemy hadn't captured Lance yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't have given them that ultimatum. The Amazon princess was still out there, evading capture and that was all right with Keith. Gave him more time to find her.

He just hoped she was all right.

The sound of what sounded suspiciously like a machine gun rang down below, startling them. Lotor paused to listen, his head cocked just slightly to get a better read on the situation. The sound of broken glass echoed down below, followed by explosions from outside the floating building they were in. Could that be where Lance was?

Keith turned to Lotor who nodded, pulling on the lever to go further down once again. Ezor and Axca stood up straight, eyes on the door, ready to sprint if the need called for it. The sound of the machine gun was soon cut off and then there was silence. This elevator ride was one of the slowest he'd ever been on; he'd seen grandmas walk to church faster than _this._

The only good thing about it was that they could catch their breath. Doubling checking that he still had his Blade of Marmora blade with him, he crossed his arms over his chest and anxiously tapped the metal floor with his boots.

"We'll find her Keith." Lotor reassured him with a smile.

Keith scowled and breathed through his nose. "Damn straight."

Ezor grinned, Axca rolled her eyes and gripped her gun blaster, taking the safety off.

After what felt like forever, he was sure it'd been more than twenty minutes at least, Lotor let go of the lever and together, he and the prince pried open the doors by wedging Keith's Bayard between the seams, Axca and Ezor pulling and tugging the rest of the doors wider.

Keith went out first, his Bayard out, then Lotor, Axca and Ezor covering the rear as they sprinted through the bright-lit room and past the empty rooms. The cameras were all but dangling off their own wires, blood splattered along the walls. Keith passed them all until they got to one with windows on all sides, broken shards scattered over the floor, and a whole bunch of dead Galra soldiers on the floor, their bodies covered in bullet holes. There was a giant metal cabinet placed in the center of the room where the sound of groaning and dull thuds seemed to echo from below.

"We're not opening that right?" Ezor practically squeaked as she backed away.

"Hell no." Keith answered, his eyes surveying the room. Had Lance been here? Had she been the one to place the giant cabinet there? She was certainly strong enough to do it. "We have to move on."

Lotor nodded, already turning on his heels when the sound of something crashing further away was heard. Coughing and groaning followed the sound, but these didn't sound mindless. Something that sounded suspiciously like a dogs pained whimper made Keith blink. What was an animal doing here?

Time to find out he decided and sprinted out of the room, his three companions hot on his heels. Multiple people started cursing, and then the sound of gun blasters going off followed them only to be muffled out by a disturbing shriek that sounded more banshee than human.

They were almost there. The sounds were coming further down the hall, a fight had clearly broken out. His heartbeat was going crazy, his legs begged for him to take a rest but he pushed himself forward. Not yet.

He all but skids to a stop at the entrance and gaped. Dust covered the room; it looked like a gym with all the training equipment in the back. Multiple people that were clearly _not_ Galra soldiers were surrounding some kind of creature.

It was huge. What looked like giant warts covered its whole body, they were red and looked on the verge of bursting. The red paladin couldn't make out its face, it looked like an exact copy of _Clayface_ from the Batman comics that he had seen. Its brownish skin was heavily dragging, some parts falling on the ground with a coughed and tried to clear some of the dust away to get a better look at the rest of the inhabitants of the room only to feel his eyes widen at the first people to catch his eye.

It was Reyna!

And Adina too!

What were the two Amazons doing here? Both of them looked pale as they backed away a few steps. Adina had her palm covering her mouth, her whole body shaking. Her hair had gotten longer since the last he'd seen her. Reyna looked no better, she looked like the slightest gust of wind would knock her over, she too was shaking, her grip on her two daggers going slack.

The creature in the center released a roar and Keith along with everyone else in the room had to cover their ears. It was like someone was dragging their nails on a chalkboard only the sound was multiplied three times. There were startled shouts as the creature lunged, knocking three males who were clearly triplets, to the ground.

Two Galra women lunged at the creature, the tall and slim one taking out a gun blaster to shoot at it while the Galra women with a body built like a tank aimed a punch at the creatures face only for her fist to be sucked in its face.

The woman growled, trying to pull her arm back to no avail.

"Let go of her you, clay thing whatever you are!" A familiar voice screamed before the sound of another gun blaster being fired was heard. The creature roared and suddenly it was like a hose had gone off on the Galra woman. The thing threw her off, its face showering her with brow liquid before going back to its body and rounding on the person still attacking him which now that he got a good look, he could see that it was none other than Lance.

His relief turned to immediate concern the moment that thing rounded on her. The closer it got, the more Lance began to pale. She scrambled backwards, her grip on her gun blaster going weak as her whole body began to tremble. She looked on the verge of passing out.

Something was wrong.

Could she not get up? Was she that injured?

Keith took out his Bayard and went after her, Lotor and his companions following closely. The creature turned, what Keith could have sworn were eyes narrowing on its face before it spread its arms out and more brown liquid came flying off it in random directions. It was like a bomb went off.

Keith dodged as best as he could, but one of those sludge's knocked him backward. He wasn't the only one.

Lotor and Axca had been thrown quite a few feet away where they lay sprawled on the ground, the latter trying to get the brown sludge off them. Lotor was trying to reach the gun blaster that his general had dropped. Ezor was stuck on the wall where she whimpered and scowled at the same time.

The two Galra women were groaning where they lay on the ground, covered in brown goo.

Adina and Reyna were hit as well, though not as much as the wolf next to them. Wolf? Was that Shadow? What was he doing here?

Keith growled in frustration, his hands working fast as he tried to remove the brown sludge so he could go help. It felt like Plato, only it was five times heavier and it could make some serious damage.

"Lance! Get away from her!" One of the triplets screamed, his two brothers cursing as they tried get up. The creature didn't listen as it marched over to where Lance lay on the floor, her eyes already drooping before the creature stooped down and pulled her from her right leg.

Lance blearily blinked at the creature where it was dangling her in front of it. Her eyelashes fluttered. She looked so pale. Keith struggled, almost there. He just needed to free his legs now. " _Chingate_." She muttered.

Keith didn't know Spanish but he was pretty sure that was an insult. The creature seemed to think so too because it roared in anger and before anyone could stop it, it hurled her out the window where it broke and Lance fell with a scream.

Everyone cried out in alarm but Keith didn't pay them any attention. He was free. He got to his feet, slid under the creature's legs and flung himself out the window after his fiancée.

Keith felt a brief moment of pure terror flood his body because _hello,_ he'd just jumped off a goddamn window!

Further down, Lance let out an ungodly scream, and Keith's thoughts focused only on her. He had to reach her!

"Lance!" he screamed through the whipping wind. His hair was flying everywhere, his shirt felt like it was going to rip any second but that didn't matter. "Lance! Take my hand!"

Lance opened her eyes from down below and looked at him like he was an idiot. "Keith? Why the heck did you jump?"

Keith rolled his eyes and flung his right arm towards her. "Just take my fucking hand Lance!"

"You're an idiot!" She screeched, her long hair was wildly moving, eyes wide as saucers but she reached a hand out. " _Idiota_! _Tonto_! _Porque_ _brincastes_?"

Tucking his arms to his sides, Keith willed himself to go faster until he was just a few feet away and flung his arm towards her. Lance latched onto it after two failed attempts and Keith pulled her close. Keith smiled and then Lance slapped him. "Lance, what the fuck?"

"Why did you jump? Idiot! It's the mullet isn't it? It's telling you to do bad things! We're going to die because you listened to it!"

They were not going to die. No matter what Lance's shrieks were implying. He had a plan. Sort of. The sun had already set; he could just barely see a few Duskwings flying in the distance. It was kind of pretty actually. Lance slapped him again. "Keith!"

Oh right. Lance. He couldn't let Lance and himself die.

Gripping Lance's waist even tighter, Keith reached her belt and took out her dagger, immediately stabbing it against the metal wall, sparks shooting down as he tried to get a good grip. That's when he noticed the purple like vine. Keith could have slapped himself. The vines!

He'd forgotten the purple vines wrapped around the whole tower, if they could just reach it…

Lance was still screaming but he couldn't focus on that at the moment. He had a life to save. Two lives. He had to reach one of those vines. Wind brushed against Keith's face, drying his eyes, it was a struggle not to close them. It's a good thing he was stubborn. Turning back to Lance, who was still cursing at him in Spanish, he told her to maneuver their bodies to the right as much as they could. They were quickly running out of metal walls. The whole tower was floating after all.

Lance called him something probably not nice but flung her body at his count, Keith using her dagger to stab it inside the walls before they repeated the motion. After two more turns Keith gripped a purple vine and held on for dear life. The thing seemed sturdy enough.

Lance sagged against him in relief, her arms going around his neck. "You're still an idiot."

Keith could only grin as he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. "Yeah, but I'm you're idiot."

Lance groaned loudly and bit his shoulder. With the Amazon gripping him tightly, Keith began to climb the vine, from what he remembered there were also a spiral staircase surrounding the tower. If he could get them up there, they might find a way inside again. The sound of an air jet made his stomach plummet with dread and Keith and Lance tensed at the same time. "Tell me that's not a battle cruiser coming our way." Lance whimpered into his neck.

"Ok, I wont." He paused. "But it is."

"…This planet sucks."

Keith began to climb as fast he could with Lance's added weight but he knew they wouldn't make it in time, still…he couldn't just give up that quickly. Lance lifted her head and wildly looked around until she saw the arrow shaped cruiser already aiming its cannon at us. "Hey, that pilot is totally grinning at us!"

"Asshole." Keith groaned, his limbs were trembling, beats of sweat rolled down his cheek. They weren't going to make it.

The cruiser released a shot coming their way and Keith had no choice but to let go.

It was either that or get hit dead on and be killed immediately though falling to their death was no better.

He shouted.

Lance screamed something rude in Spanish.

Keith cursed in English.

And then he heard the most beautiful sound ever. Wings. Flapping wings. Familiar wings. Claw like talons gripped the back of his shirt and Lance lost her grip on him. Keith shouted but she managed to snag onto his legs as she looked up in wonder. Instant relief washed through him as he felt Lane's death grip on his legs. "Nyx?"

Keith looked up with a wild grin, locking eyes with a familiar bird's blue eyes. Nyx's golden feathers seemed to glow as she gave a screech, her wings flapping to keep them afloat. "Shit, that was close." A male voice said.

Lance balked, she was already climbing up, Keith helping her until she was gripping his shoulders tightly. "Mikey?"

"No more donuts for you." Mikey said from on top of Nyx.

Lance flushed and said something in Spanish. Judging by the offensive tone the male spoke back in, it hadn't been nice. Rolling her eyes, Lance lifted her disheveled head and glared at him. "And you! You are absolutely _insane_! Who the heck just jumps out the window from a floating tower that is at least a good hundred feet from the ground? Why did you do that? You could have died!"

Despite the tantrum that Lance was flinging his way, Keith couldn't help the relieved grin from taking over his face as he tweaked her nose to her displeasure. "That's a stupid question, because I love you obviously."

Lance flushed, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to come up with something to say.

"Besides," he said with a shrug. "We made it."

Lance's frown, more like a pout, transformed into a soft smile. She hugged him tighter. "Yeah, I guess we did."

Keith's heart did a somersault and he really, desperately, wanted to close the distance between them and just kiss her. He wanted to wipe the blood from her face, fix her hair, pick out the brown goo still clinging to her, but he could hear the battle cruiser coming back. Later he vowed. They'd have time for that later. For now he settled on just one phrase. "I missed you."

Lance beamed, her smile so blinding it put the sun to shame. "I missed you too mullet."

Keith fondly laughed at the nickname. It felt so good to laugh.

"Hey, quit your flirting!" Mikey shouted at the top. "I haven't given you my blessing!"

Keith blinked and Lance rolled her eyes with a groan. Who the hell was this guy anyway? And what did he mean by blessing? He decided to ask.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Mikey screeched. "You kiss my sister with that mouth? I know what you really are! You're a no good _idiota_ who steals granola bars! I'm onto you!"

How the hell did he know about the granola bars? Keith was sure he'd been discreet. And sister? Was this Lance's brother? "The fuck did you call me? Show me your face you fucker!"

"Watch your tone you granola thieving jerk!"

Lance groaned dramatically and glared at the top. She looked close to pulling at her hair in frustration. "Can we _please_ deal with the battle cruiser coming our way and deal with whatever the heck you guys are on about _later_?"

Both males protested. Keith didn't know what this asshole's problem was but he was no thief! The granola bars were for _everyone_. If Keith wanted to take more than twenty and hide them under his bed inside a box then it was totally justified.

"Shut it!" Lance snapped at them both, her tone leaving no room for argument. Both males instantly shut their traps. "Nyx, be a darling and get us away from the cruiser okay?"

Nyx gave a screech and began to fly away, whenever the cruiser got too close, Nyx would open her mouth and shoot lightning at it. Sweet. Mikey threw a spear towards it only to miss by a long shot. "You missed? How could you miss?" Keith hissed at him. Lance threw him an angry glare but Keith ignored it. He was still pissed at being called a thief. "It was five feet in front of you!"

Mikey started saying something in Spanish only for Lance to snap something back to him. He only grumbled in response. Nyx's talons were starting to hurt his back; he could feel his shirt starting to rip. Lance noticed it too. Her added weight wasn't helping. "Hey Nyx, when the cruiser gets a little closer I want you to fling me towards it okay? And don't drop Keith in the process!"

"You can totally drop him," Mikey whispered to Nyx, though Keith heard it quite clearly. "I won't tell."

"Why the fuck are you such an asshole?" Keith yelled at him. The red paladin still couldn't see what Lance's brother looked like and it was really starting to piss him off. "You don't even know me!"

"Because you're dating my sister!" he barked back.

Keith couldn't help how smug his next words were. "Don't you mean _engaged_?"

Mikey McLane screeched like a scandalized old lady. "That word doesn't exist!"

"Guys!" Lance snapped at them. "Focus!"

"Sorry." Both males grumbled.

"Oh, my god." Lance whined. "I've turned into Shiro."

Keith snickered but at the sight of Lance's bloody shoulder he immediately tensed. How had he not noticed that till now? "What the hell happened to your shoulder?"

Lance looked at him side ways before Nyx suddenly flew forward and flung her body towards the cruiser circling them. Keith almost fell but Nyx tightened her claws on his shirt, Lance herself let go of him and landed on the cruiser, holding on for dear life, and yelled back her response. "One of those creatures bit me!"

Keith blanched. Was Lance going to turn into a zombie? He quickly went through all those zombie movies he'd seen in the past. Wasn't the person suppose to get really really hot? What else? Think Keith, think! "Are you craving any human flesh?"

Lance looked at him incredulously. It was a perfectly justified question honestly. Lance quirked a crooked grin at him, her eyes going upward to her brother before returning to him. She wiggled her brows. "The only flesh I desire at the moment is you." Keith didn't need to look in the mirror to know that he was blushing. "I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of you."

And then she winked.

Mikey screeched but it sounded like background noise with the thundering beat of his heart echoing loudly to his ears. God damn it Lance. So not the time. It answered his question though. Kind of.

The battle cruiser that Lance was on tried to shake her off but Lance wouldn't budge. Her hair was flying in every direction but she pulled back a fist and punched through the screen. The sound of metal breaking and screeching as it was pulled apart was music to his ears.

The pilot inside cursed, Lance took hold of his shoulder and tossed him out with a grin. The last thing Keith heard was the man screaming his guts outs before Nyx flew closer and Lance dove into his waiting arms. "Nice job."

Lance shrugged, her hands going around his shoulders. "He had it coming." She tapped Nyx's talons to get her mounts attention. "Take us back to our friends Nyx. You know Reyna's scent, find her!"

Nyx bobbed her head and in seconds they were moving. Nyx was fast. Really fast. It'd been a while since he'd ridden her. The higher Nyx flew, the more Keith could hear voices. Familiar voices. Their friends were still up there fighting that clay creature. How were they going to kill it? Punching and blasting it with bullets didn't seem to work. The Amazons couldn't fight with it in the room either though. At least that's what it looked like. Why was that?

Lance answered him with a grim expression. "I think it has one of those black crystals inside it. Like the one on my tiara but bigger." Lance's hand when to the tiara on her head but immediately retracted her hand with a wince. "If we get too close to it, our powers start to drain. Our strength fades. It makes us want to lose consciousness. I faced a robot sentry with a black crystal in its chest earlier." Keith tensed, and he sucked in a sharp breath. "I barely managed to beat it but new creature may be carrying a bigger one inside it." Lance sighed, her shoulders drooping as she gave him a sad smile. "I'm afraid the Amazons and I will be of no use to you in the fight."

Keith tweaked her nose and she huffed. "Don't worry about it. We'll find a way, we always do. Just keep your distance."

Lance smiled and pressed her forehead against his.

"What the hell is that?" Mikey suddenly shouted.

Lance and Keith turned, it was that clay creature. It seems their companions had gotten out of its sticky substance and were engaging it. Reyna and Adina were as far as they could get, both of them shooting at it with gun blasters that looked more like cannons.

The two Galra women had managed to clutch onto its arm where they proceeded to throw it across the room. The triplets had brought out daggers, ready to pounce. The creature got to its feet; its head looking like someone had bashed it in with a hammer. Two black orbs turned in their direction and roared.

Just as the creature threw a huge chunk of brown goo at them, Nyx gave a giant screech and flung them both inside the building without any warning. Keith may have briefly lost consciousness.

* * *

His head hurt, probably from being flung inside without any warning. He slowly blinked his eyes open. He was laying on something soft. He frowned, slowly blinking and gripped it. Someone squeaked. Was this a person?

"Now mullet, I know you're eager, but we're in enemy territory and surrounded by our close companions and my brothers who are currently giving you dirty looks so I'm afraid we'll have to schedule this for a much later date." A female voice drawled.

Keith furrowed his brows and immediately lifted his head. He was lying on Lance's chest, his right hand cupping her breast. Lance looked beet red but she was smirking at him. The sounds of battle were still raging but he caught the eyes of quite a few of their companions throwing them winks. Reyna outright wolf whistled. The triplets were glaring at him. They must be Lance's brothers as well.

Lotor loudly coughed, his mouth twitching as he fired off another shot. He could hear Mikey McLane cursing at him from outside. Keith grew beet red and he scrambled backwards. "I wasn't –"

Lance snickered and shot him a wink, her eyes wide with glee. "Like I said, later."

" _I wasn't_ –"

"Aww, come on." Lance grinned. "I thought it was very bold. I, for my part, enjoyed it."

Reyna threw head back and laughed. So did Lotor that back stabbing girly boy!

"Just- just shut up already!" he bit out, his cheeks felt warm. He'd never been so embarrassed in his life.

…Okay. That was a lie. Shiro's mom had caught him throwing his pee stained blankets on a sleeping Shiro in order to frame him. So yeah, definitely not the first time he'd been embarrassed.

Lance just laughed, bright and open, and Keith's face visibly relaxed, fondness seeking into his eyes. Easing his frown into the hint of a smile.

He was completely unaware of all the curious glances thrown his way. Both baby blue and violet eyes looking at him in a penetrating gaze.

The sound of shouts and clamoring footsteps had him and his companions whirling towards the door where about twelve Galra soldiers suddenly appeared. These looked younger, perhaps about their age. Jesus Fuck.

Why couldn't they catch a break?

The soldiers turned their weapons on them. At the sight of Lance, they startled and turned their weapons on her instead. "You're Lance McLane! We have orders to take you in!"

Lance rolled her eyes. Reyna and Adina immediately stepped forward, blocking her from their view. Keith took out his Bayard and transformed it into a sword. The sound of Nyx screeching and the sound of male grunting made him turn his head sideways.

Standing a few feet behind him was a tall, wide shouldered man with dark brown shoulder length hair, and dark blue eyes. Was this Mikey McLane?

He strode forward, his steps heavy, his face etched in a dark scowl as he towered over the soldiers who had the good decency to tremble in place. "Touch my sister and you'll regret it."

Even his voice sounded murderous.

The creature in the back gave off a roar, flinging the rubble off him where he'd been thrown across the room. Lotor and his generals turned back face it.

The soldiers startled as they got their first look. "What in the seven hells is that?"

Reyna narrowed her yellow eyes and gripped her twin blades in her palms. "We've got company."

Keith whipped his head to her. "More soldiers?"

"Worse." Adina muttered, her giant gun blaster making her look small in comparison as she lifted it up. "Zombies I believe."

They were right. Keith could hear them now. One of the soldiers, and idiot, went over to the door to check it out only to scream back in shock when one of the creatures suddenly lunged at him, its teeth locked on the man's throat. Five more of the creatures appeared, leaping at them with their jaws wide open. The soldiers shot at them in a panic, bringing them down.

It only lasted for a few seconds before they were up again. They hadn't aimed at the head; of course they were going to get up.

"Why-why won't they die?" one of the soldiers cried. The other soldiers trembled.

One of them pointed at one of the creatures in shock. "Is that Bonnard?"

The soldiers frowned. The creatures were twitching, their head cocking to the right with their tongues out. "I thought he got transferred to another unit."

Another one gasped. "And that one!" he cried. "I saw that guy at the mess hall!"

The other soldiers turned to them in anger. "What are these guys? Did you guys do this?"

"Idiots!" Lance snapped. The soldier aimed his gun at her head. Keith and Mikey surged forward but Reyna and Adina held out their hands. "This is what Haggar and her druids are doing to your comrades! They're the ones who created these creatures! They obviously don't care what happens to you!"

The man tightened his lips. His tail was standing on end as he narrowed his yellow eyes at her. "We didn't hear anything about this –" he faltered as he looked at his companions. "You could have lied!"

Lance rolled her eyes, more of the creatures were coming, Keith could hear them. "What's it going to be soldier? My companions and I can take care of these monsters but if you get rid of us now they'll just pray on you instead." Lance surged forward and griped the man's gun blaster and placed it on her forehead. Keith tensed, his eyes on the mans finger where it hovered over the trigger. "So what do you say, will you work with us or will you die? Choose now!"

"We could use a little help over here!" Lotor shouted at the back. Axca cursed, Ezor squeaked as she jumped backwards in order to avoid getting hit by one of those brown goo.

"There's still more coming!" The tall slender Galra women with violet eyes shouted. There was something about her that was familiar. Her scent was nostalgic. He wondered why that was.

The Galra soldier growled and pinched his eyes shut before turning to his companions. "From this point on, we'll be working with these people!"

Some of them looked at him in shock, the last two grimly nodded. The soldier removed his gun blaster from Lance's forehead and offered her a hand. Lance accepted it with a smirk. "We have a truce. For now."

"Glad you came to your senses." Lance grinned, one hand on her hip as Reyna and Adina stepped forward and got rid of the twitching zombies the soldiers hadn't taken care of earlier. "From this point on, I'll be running this show!" As more of the creatures began to swarm the place, Lance stepped forward and crushed some of their heads with her bare hands. "Aim for their heads! If you have swords, cut them off! I want you all in groups of two!" Lance cracked her knuckles and Keith's breath caught, she looked a true warrior. "I'm used to leading women and they're honestly better." A few of the soldiers grumbled. "This is your chance to prove me wrong. Show me your valor men!"

The soldiers let out a cheer and broke into groups of two, moving so they were back to back as they took on the creatures. Adina and Reyna went to help them out. So did the slender Galra women who leaped into the center, taking two of creatures by the neck and crushing their heads on the wall.

Reyna and Adina wolfishly grinned. "That's our princess for you."

Adina giggled, blasting three zombies at the same time. "Always gives the best speeches."

Lance turned to Keith, her blue eyes blazing. He felt like he was talking to a general and immediately straightened. "I want you and everyone else to take care of that _thing."_ She pointed at the blob like creature in the back. "We Amazons can't get near it but you guys can. Get rid of it while we take care of these zombies."

Mikey opened his mouth, probably to protest but Lance turned her blazing gaze to him and he instantly shut his mouth. "That is an order. Watch each others backs, and Mikey," The oldest McLane sibling arched a brow. "Nice hair."

Mikey beamed. If he had a tail, it'd probably be wagging.

He scooped her up in a tight hug, handed her a blue transparent bracelet, and bounded away with a grin and a skip to his step to help out Lotor and his team. After he left, it was just he and Lance. There were fights on both sides of the room but at the moment it seemed their companions were doing well in keeping them away from them. Lance cupped his cheek, her smile soft. "Stay safe mullet."

He gripped her hand in his own. "Don't die."

"I'm too awesome to die."

"Sleep talking already?" he teased.

Lance rolled her eyes and pushed him towards the battle with the clay monster. "You can leave now."

With one last glance in her direction, Keith turned his back on her and flung himself at the creature.

* * *

It was a beautiful sight to behold. Every friend and enemy taking up arms, grabbing gun blasters and swords, fighting common enemies. Fighting alongside him. The Galra woman stayed close to his side, back-to-back and fighting alongside him.

It was incredible.

Every time he was knocked out, one of Lotor's generals would be there to pick him up. When the creature threw more brown goo, he was thrown to the ground by one of Lance's brothers. If they hacked enough at the creature and flung the cut goo out the window it was easier to get a hold of it.

Lance's brothers weren't bad in a fight. They didn't seem to have any powers but the super strength was a nice touch.

Keith caught glimpses of Lance on the other side of the room. She was in a blue armored kimono that cut above her knees, but with no sleeves. Silver gauntlets adorned her arms, despite the cuffs on her wrists. He wondered if she could deflect bullets with those things just like _Wonder Woman._ He'll have to ask her later, he was insanely curious now.

She and Reyna were hacking away at the zombies, their backs pressed to each other. Both of them were grinning wildly. Adina was blasting away from a distance; if any of the creatures got close she would switch to a staff and stab them in the head.

Shadow was swiping at anything that got close to him, snarling and biting. Nyx had turned into her cat like size, flying above and throwing lightning at the creatures that tried to crawl up the ceiling.

There weren't that many of the zombies left in the room.

Lance and her group would be fine.

Turning his attention back to his fight, he managed to drop to the ground just in time as brown goo was thrown his way. His Marmora blade fell from where it was clipped on his belt but before he could retrieve it the creature threw the bulking Galra women off him and leaped at him.

The lean Galra women with violet eyes leaped forward and gripped his Marmora blade in her hand, ready to defend him. "Wait, it's not going to work –" His sentence died out as his blade gave off a bright light and transformed into its elongated form. What the hell?

Just as the creature reached them, the Galra woman swung his blade and chopped off its arm where it fell with a sickly splat. Ezor gripped it in her hands and flung it out the window. Mikey and Zethrid appeared next to the creature, took hold of its forearms, grunted and threw the creature out the window. When it gripped the edge of the window, Keith and the Galra woman stepped forward and kicked it the rest of the way down.

Mighty cheers erupted from his companions, himself included. That thing had been tough. While Lotor and the rest of his companions went to help Lance deal with the remaining zombies in the other corner, a tap to his arm stopped him.

The Galra woman with violet eyes handed him his blade back. It had returned back to its small size. "I should give this back to you."

Keith gripped it, looking at it with a frown. "Thanks." He said, finally clicking the blade to his belt. "How were you able to use it?"

The woman briefly closed her eyes before speaking. She hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Because it used to be mine. Before I gave it to your father."

Keith's eyes widened and he stepped back in shock. No fucking way. "You're my mom? How did you get to Earth? How-how did you meet my dad? How are you so sure?"

"I'm sure." Krolia said, her tone calm and collected. The total opposite of him at the moment. "This isn't how I hoped to meet you again. And this isn't how I wanted to tell you, but it's the truth. We can talk about this later."

Keith blinked, his eyes narrowing in anger. "What? You just drop a bomb like this and tell me you'll explain later?"

"We've got more important things to deal with right now."

Keith closed his eyes, grunting in anger but she was right. They were in enemy territory, and they had to take care of the druid in charge so they would leave Lance alone. But they were definitely going to talk about this later. "Fine." He relented.

His eyes went to the other side of the room. It looked like Lance and her friends had taken care of the zombies. As if sensing his stare, Lance turned curious blue eyes to him and grinned. Keith smiled softly and made his way over. Krolia followed after him. Lance didn't look as bad as before. Her shoulder had stopped bleeding it seemed. No signs of her turning into a zombie either so that was a plus.

Lance threw her arms over his shoulders and twirled him around to his sheer embarrassment before setting him to the floor, her eyes twinkling. "We did it!"

Keith laughed, he couldn't stop smiling. He and Lance were finally reunited, they'd gotten more allies along the way, Lance had found his mom, and they'd gotten rid of most of the enemies in this place. They could do this. They just needed to fight one more battle and then they could go home.

Shadow leaned into his side and Keith pet his blue fur. It felt like forever since he'd last seen the blue wolf. Nyx perched herself on his shoulder.

"I've already contacted Pidge and the others." Lance continued. "They're already dealing with that robot that the druids sent after the village. I found the prisoners plus Mr. Holt _and_ Mr. Dossier. All we have to do now is get rid of the head druid and we can go home."

"You guys should probably leave." Lotor added, wiping more brown goo from his clothes with a scowl. He looked at the Galra soldiers. "This place is no longer safe, and the druids don't seem to care what happens to you."

The Galra soldier with the tail nodded and gripped the prince's hand. "Thank you for the help. We'll do just that. If you want to reach the top, just go down the hall, turn right and go out that window. The elevators won't work anymore so you'll have to take the stairs that are outside. Good luck, kick that druids quiznak-ing ass."

Damn straight they would. With another nod of thanks, the Galra soldiers exited the room and left. After checking each other for any wounds, they found none; they exited the room and followed the Galra soldier's orders.

Keith walked alongside Lance, her brother Mikey towering over them with a glower. The red paladin pressed closer to Lance thus emitting a warning growl from her brother.

The triplets snickered. Lance had briefly introduced them as Kyrian, Colt, and Alan but Keith couldn't tell them apart. Not only did they look the same but they were wearing the same clothes! His blue-gray eyes drifted over to his mom who was walking on his other side. It was still really weird. She was a good foot taller than him, her stance confident and sure as she walked.

He had so many questions.

"Do you think Narti is okay?" Zethrid said at the front where she walked beside Lotor and his two other generals. "You'd think we would have seen her by now."

"I'm sure she's fine." Ezor chirped back, her hands clasped behind her back as she all but skipped beside her comrades. "She has powers too you know. Plus she's super sneaky."

"She's probably at the higher levels." Axca murmured quietly where she walked on Lotor's other side. Her blue eyes were narrowed, her expression set in a thoughtful frown.

"We'll find her." Lotor promised.

"I just hope we don't have to deal with anymore weird creatures." Reyna muttered. Adina gave her hand a squeeze.

Everyone agreed.

Whatever was waiting for them at the top, Keith was sure they could handle it with this group. They had some strong allies, he felt pretty confident.

When they finally made it to the window they had been directed at, they were a little reluctant to step outside. That staircase didn't look very sturdy. After much teasing and calling people chicken, mostly by Lance, they went out one by one and gripped the railing as they made their way up. The sky was dark, a bitter cold making him gnaw his teeth as he rubbed his arms together to keep warm. The trek was slow but everything seemed to be fine until he felt a strange humming in the air. It pressed against his mind and he immediately recoiled from it.

What the fuck?

"You guys feel that too?" he hissed at the others.

"That thing that's trying to get into our brains? Oh, yeah." Lance hissed through clenched teeth from in front of him.

"God, it's making my head hurt." Mikey muttered next.

"You sure you're not trying to think?" One of the triplets said with a grin.

"Yeah, you always get headaches when you try to think." The other two snickered.

Mikey flipped them off.

"Mikey, don't be rude." Lance scolded him.

"Call me big brother."

Lance and the triplets groaned.

"We must be getting close." Lotor said in a strained voice at the front. His silver hair was swaying in its ponytail for every step he took.

"God damn druids." Zethrid cursed as she massaged her temples.

Adina looked a little queasy, Reyna squeezed her shoulder to comfort her. Krolia had a frown on her face when he glanced at her but otherwise she seemed fine.

Unfortunately, the closer they got to the top, the more the buzzing in their heads grew worse. Well, at least they knew for a fact that a druid was up there. It looked like Lance had been right. The bad guys liked to look down on people, it was only natural they'd want a good view.

They picked up the pace. Were those giant screens at the top?

The buzzing in his mind grew louder; it felt like it was crushing his mind. Something that sounded suspiciously like a voice whispered for him to something, something he didn't want to do. It was insistent, and for one terrifying moment he almost listened to it.

Krolia and Lance poked at him. Lance's hands gripped his cheeks tightly. "Don't listen to it Keith. Fight it."

Keith took a sharp breath, his head was pounding but he nodded anyway. Lance seemed satisfied and ran to catch up to the others. The red paladin and Krolia running after her. "We're almost there Keith." Krolia murmured. "Just hold on a little longer."

He gave a sharp nod.

Everyone was openly running now, their faces pinched in pain as they continued upward. They ran like their life depended on it, Lance's hand reached for his own and she latched onto it like it was a lifeline. Keith didn't mind. "You know," Lance panted up ahead. "I'm actually kind of flattered. They went through so much trouble just to capture me. Now that's what I call dedication."

"I'll thank them by killing them all." Zethrid said after her. Ezor giggled, she'd latched onto Zethrid's back to hitch a ride.

"So will I." Mikey muttered darkly, his shoulder length hair flowing with the breeze. "No one messes with my sister."

"Hear, hear!" the triplets cheered.

Shadow howled and Nyx flapped her wings where she was sitting on one of the triplet's shoulder. Keith didn't know which one.

"Look!" Lotor shouted up ahead. "I see a door!"

Keith squinted; yeah he could kind of see its black silhouette from his position. Moonlight shined down on them, their only source for light as they ran towards the door. The top leads to a sloping passage, leading up to a steel gate.

Reyna and Zethrid pulled at the gate, opening it with some effort. The buzzing in his head was all consuming, he felt his knees began to tremble. He had one of the worst headaches of his life. With the gate finally opened, they stepped through as one and entered what looked like an arena.

White sand slid beneath their feet. The place was enormous, a wide gray mouth of steel and stonework, filled with thousand of seats for crowds to watch. Video screens dotted the arena, probably to broadcast the fights that surely went on in there.

Up above there were boxes fit for kings to watch down below. One of them had a druid; the others immediately noticed its presence, their hands going for their weapons. The druid was wearing a black cloak, golden embroidery in unfamiliar symbols covering it. Its beak mask was golden, shining brightly even in the dim lighting.

The druid leaned forward, its long claws gripping the railing and suddenly the buzzing in his head _exploded_. It was the only way to describe it really. All the mental shields that he had put up to protect himself completely shattered, making him drop to the floor. There were startled shouts of pain from his companions as they fell to one knee one by one. Even Shadow and Nyx cried out.

"Enough already!" Lance barked. It seemed she was the only one who had not dropped to her knees, she was slightly shaking though. Her sentence coming out through clenched teeth.

"Ms. McLane," the druid at the top practically purred. It hadn't raised its voice but somehow Keith could hear it speak loud and clear with no difficulty whatsoever. "You did well to make it this far. I am…rather impressed." The druid almost seemed reluctant to admit that. It paused and rubbed its chin under its mask. "I had wanted to take you back alive, make you suffer while we did the soul transfer for Lady Haggar but I'm afraid my patience has run out."

That…didn't sound good.

"We got company." Krolia croaked out.

Keith could barely lift his head, but swept his gaze around the arena. He didn't know where they came from or when but five of those clay like creatures were standing at the far end, they were far too still for his liking.

"Fuck…that's not good." Mikey groaned out, he looked like he'd eaten something sour. Beads of sweat ran down his temple as he tried to stand.

Ditto.

"Your friends have been a thorn at my side for far too long," the druid continued, it sounded smug. "My creatures should take care of them no problem. As for you my dear…my special specimen will take care of you with ease."

Lance narrowed her eyes and a sudden rumble coming from the center turned his and everyone else's attention to it. Before them, a woman appeared from the ground. Keith could see black cat ears, red eyes, black cattail and silver hair. One of her hands was Galra, the stitches still red from what he could see. The ears on her head looked like someone had bitten them; she looked young. She kept twitching in place though; Keith feared she might be having a seizure.

It reminded him of the way a junkie would look like when they were denied their fix. Her silver hair looked like a rat's nest, her cheeks were sunken in, like she hadn't been fed in a long time. Around her neck was a black collar but Keith could see the purple bruises from the collar. She was wearing some kind of armor, all steel.

"Isn't she lovely?" The druid sang proudly. "We caught her a few years ago after we executed her family. I didn't think she'd last this long honestly, but she proved me wrong. She's capable of so much, I'm sure she'll make an interesting opponent." And suddenly Keith could move; the buzzing in his head disappeared. "Your friends can deal with my other creatures. It'll be fun."

Hadn't Dyron mentioned something about this the day before? What had the girls name been? Liya?

The screens around them flickered to life, every screen showing them until Keith could see himself perfectly displayed. He looked pissed. Which he was.

Liya moved steadily, like a wolf stalking her pray. The other clay creatures spread out across the middle of the arena, each of ready to move.

Lance shifted, putting out her arm. "I'll handle her. You guys take care of the other creatures."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Lance, I don't like this. Something doesn't feel right about her, maybe I should go with you."

"Let me worry about Liya." So Lance _had_ remembered. "I can handle her, probably."

The woman lifted her hand, her claws curling and suddenly there were knives spinning in the air next to her. Lance and Keith's eyes widened. "Lance she has powers."

"I noticed."

"Lance…"

"I got this." Her hand gave his a squeeze. "Be careful Mullet."

And then she was gone. Three sparkling blades cut through the air, barely flashing blurs. Lance dodged two of them but the third one hit her arm. Lance hissed through clenched teeth, but she pulled the blade out and flung it back. It stopped mere inches from Liya's face, spinning to float behind her.

After that, more and more blades appeared, swirling around in a glinting display. Lance dipped and dodged, rolling and spinning in the air in order to avoid it.

"Watch out!" Krolia shouted, and then Keith found himself pushed to the ground, Krolia covering his body as brown goo splattered where he was standing just mere seconds ago. He'd been so busy watching Lance that he almost forgot about their own enemies to beat.

His companions had split up in groups to take down the five clay monsters. The Amazons had switched to gun blaster, safely firing from a distance. Whenever they tried to go to Lance's aid, blades were thrown their way or brown goo almost hit them in the process. Lance was on her own.

The arena was a big place and Lance and Liya had moved further away by now. Keith chanced a glance to her anyway and his eyes widened. A chunk of metal sailed towards Lance, the Amazon barely managing to dodge. The chunk of metal shattered against the sand just seconds from where she'd been standing. Before she could catch her breath, another one came howling through the air. Keith grit his teeth, if only Lance had her powers.

Keith dove forward when Lotor was flung backwards, Axca rushing to his aid to help him up. As the creature leaped, Keith and Krolia gripped its forearms and threw it over their shoulders. The thing roared, brown goo splattering on all sides. The triplets were swiping at the creature they were facing, dodging and rolling to avoid its shots of brown goo.

Zethrid and Ezor dealing with another one while Nyx threw lightning bulbs at it. Shadow and Mikey fighting side by side, Lance's wolf was in one spot one second and then it'd be behind the creature, clawing at its with his claws. That was new. Shadow could teleport? Sweet. He'd have to figure out how far he could go.

"Hey, is that Narti?" Zethrid shouted, one gloved finger pointing at the box where the druid was currently fighting a Galra woman wearing a hood and a long tail. Was that a cat on her shoulder?

Lotor gasped, cupping his hands around his mouth to be heard over the noise. "Narti!" the woman inclined her head, rolling as the druid released a purple stream of lightning at her. "Get to Lance! Remove her restrains!"

Keith wasn't sure she heard, he couldn't see what she looked like under the hood but figured he should at least let Lance know that Narti was here. "Lance!" he shouted, throwing himself to the sand to avoid getting splattered to death. "Narti is here! She can remove your restraints!"

Lance sent him a thumbs up, grabbed a fistful of sand and hurled it at Liya's face before turning the opposite direction towards Narti who had leaped from the box and was running down the center of the field, white sand leaving a dusty trail behind her.

Chunks of metal hurled toward them and it was all Keith could do not to sprint over there. He wouldn't be able to help though; all he could do was watch and survive his own battle against this clay like creatures. Somehow, Lance managed to make it to Narti's side, the woman placing her palms on the tiara on Lance's head. Her hands glowed brightly and Keith watched in satisfaction as the tiara dropped to the floor where Lance stomped on it.

Narti's hands then went to the manacles on Lance's wrists, hands lighting up once again before dropping to the floor. Lance looked like she would burst into tears as she embraced the Galra woman tightly before whispering something to her ear. The woman nodded and ran back to the druid who was flying towards her.

Lance was back to full power.

Hell _yeah_.

* * *

This should have worked. Narti had removed the restraints from her so why? Why couldn't she summon her lightning? Hurl back those chunks of metal with her mind?

The moment those restraints had been removed, it was like a weight had fallen from her shoulders. She felt a little freer, the arm gauntlets adjusting themselves accordingly now that the manacles were gone. She'd spent almost three months with those manacles, and those three months would not disappear in an instant. Her lightning would need time to come back; they'd been locked away for so long. The tiara hadn't been on for long though, so why were her powers not back yet?

Lance tried reaching for her abilities, tried to feel the screens surrounding them. She could barely sense the buzz of them.

Something whistled in the sky and Lance dove forward, spinning blades almost a blur as they crashed to the ground. She had to put more distance between her and her friends. She couldn't let Liya's attacks hit her friends. Decision made, Lance took a running lead and leaped towards the seats where the crowd would watch. Liya leaped after her; her face still that creepy blank face. Lance didn't know what she was thinking or if she was thinking at _all_.

She kept twitching, her head bending unnaturally as her red eyes bore into her own blue. Lance rushed forward; perhaps her powers just needed more time to come back. She'd better buy some time. Reaching forward, Lance dodged the incoming three blades ad gripped Liya's silver hair and pulled.

Liya betrayed no emotion but she threw her head forward and head-butted her. Lance swore; her vision turning dark for a split second before Lance dove forward again, gripped her Galra arm and flung her away where she crashed into one of the box seats with a thunderous crash.

Lance jumped after her, swiped away at the dust and pulled her hand back to land a punch on Liya's jaw when searing pain in her head made her stumble. She screamed.

Liya kicked her away and Lance could do nothing as the druid invaded her kind. Goddamn cheater! The Amazon's blue eyes searched the arena for that damn druid and found him floating in the air behind Liya. His robes were swirling around him; Lance could practically feel the smugness radiating from him.

The druid made a choking motion with its hand and suddenly Lance couldn't breathe. Her hands flew to her throat. She could barely move. Liya leaped forward, her blades swirling around her before she threw them her way. Shots from the ground hit the blades, making them crumble to the floor. Her friends had helped her out it seemed.

She struggled to her feet. She felt the hair on her neck stand on end. Where was Liya? One pale and purple arm wrapped around her middle and Lance felt her heart thundering wildly in her chest. Liya. How had she gotten behind her?

The druid chuckled as he began to float his way over to them.

"Snap out of it," Lance said, willing her arms to move but the druid had control of her body. Her struggling went to no avail. "I know you're still in there. I know you are –"

Liya's flying blades floated in front of her.

Lance faltered, her breaths coming in quick succession. "Think about your family," she whispered. "Think about what they did to you. Fight it. I know you can do it."

The blades merged together, turning into the shape of a javelin.

"Liya please. Don't let him control you. Fight."

Liya's hands trembled. The javelin in the air slightly lowered.

Lance licked her dry lips. "Come on Liya, you can fight this."

The druid raised a hand out and Liya's body jerked, the smell of burnt flesh floating in the air. The druid cupped her cheek, pinching the skin with its long claw like nails. It shook its head at her in disappointment.

"You just had to make things difficult didn't you? Do it." The druid hissed. "Kill her."

Keith screamed out her name and Lance tried to focus on his voice as Liya drew back her javelin and let it go forward, piercing its blade into her.

* * *

The thing about Amazons: they were tough. They were hard to inflict damage to. Most blades bended and broke against their skin. Most bodies were soft things, it wanted to protect itself, it was sheathed in tough layers of tendon, sinew and bone.

Amazon bodies were strong.

Lance was stronger.

Or so she'd thought.

Liya's makeshift javelin pierced through her skin. Pierced through all the layers of muscle until she couldn't breathe.

The pain was so bright she was sure it fractured the universe.

Many people screamed. One louder and more broken than the others yet it sounded so far away, like light from a distant star. The druid in front of her chuckled, its laugh more wheeze than anything. The stench of blood filled the air. _Her_ blood. She'd always thought she was invincible, that she could overcome anything. That nothing could hurt her. But something had.

She pressed a trembling hand against her pain, coming away slick. Her stomach was wet and warm with crimson.

This was her blood? She'd never felt so much of it. _Seen_ so much of it. The most she'd gotten injured was a scratch to her temple. Sometimes a cut on her cheek. Even the shoulder that had been gnawed on by a Galra zombie hadn't bled this much.

She couldn't die. Not yet.

She'd never believed she was scared of death. She'd thought it was something that would happen to her when she was old and gray; that it would come naturally. But now its cold fingers squeezed around her heart.

If she had her powers, she'd be able to heal herself. The injury was great but she was a good healer; if she had her powers she could save herself no problem. But she didn't. She didn't understand why they hadn't come back yet. The restraints were off…so why?

She tried to breath, and a sudden burst of pain rushed up through her torso. The javelin was still lodged in. Her head spun. Someone was screaming. Keith, her deluded mind reminded her. Keith was here. The thought of him made her smile. All she'd wanted was to go back home with him. To get married. Have their first dance together. Sing to him. Make fun of his hair. Laugh with him and see his face morph into a wide smile that he only shared with her.

Keith should smile more she decided.

He always looked so handsome when he smiled.

It made her catch her breath, made her heart feel like it was close to bursting. She wouldn't mind hearing his laugh right bout now. Or his voice.

But everything was so quiet. Her mouth tasted like iron. Her eyes were drooping, but she lifted them with a struggle. Her blue eyes searching for him, she wanted to see him.

Where…ah. There he was.

"Keith…"

Liya let her go, and without anything to hold her steady, she fell.

* * *

Keith screamed.

She was doing fine, her restraints were off. He was sure she'd be fine. He was sure her powers would return. He was sure that she'd win. So then how?

How was this happening?

Lance had been pierced with a sharp javelin. She'd tried to move, he'd seen her fingers twitching, her whole body straining. But the druid had a firm grip on her body and had not let her move.

Lance's eyes drooped and Keith could only watch in sick horror as Lance's body crashed into the ground with a sickening thud. It felt like someone had dug a knife into his gut. The ringing in his ears threatened to split his head, rising to a shriek.

Lance's brothers roared in rage, trying to get to their sister but the clay like creatures they were fighting against made that impossible. Reyna and Adina screamed in terror, their faces etched in growing horror as they tried to make their way over only to recoil when they get too close to the clay creatures.

Keith stepped out of Krolia's embrace, dodging and rolling as he made his way over to Lance. She couldn't be dead. He refused to believe she was dead. Brown goo was thrown his way, he barely dodged them.

Lotor and his generals backed the creatures they were facing farther away, giving him room to run to Lance. Mikey and his brothers did the same, hurling their own opponents away when they tried to intercept Keith. Shadow and Nyx taking the brown goo intended for him before they can reach him.

One of them pulled at his shirt, Ezor and Axca showing up to free him and deal with the creature.

Mikey barked at him to hurry.

Brown goo on the ground almost makes him fall to his knees but somehow he managed to remain his balance, his legs burning with how much exertion he's doing. Liya and the druid are now floating above Lance's prone form, the druid chuckling as he orders the woman to finish the job.

Liya doesn't even blink, her face a blank mask as she gathered more metal knives, twisting them into another sharp javelin. As the woman lifted her hand and the javelin began to descend, Keith didn't think about his next action.

All he could see was that another javelin was coming to finish Lance off and Keith couldn't let that happen. He dove in front of Lance's prone body; his arms outstretched just as the javelin descended and he felt something sharp pierce his stomach.

* * *

Something was dripping on her. Something warm and sticky.

Lance blinked her eyes slowly. Electricity pounded in her veins, she could feel the screens energy around her. Every nerve shrieked to life.

Her powers were back.

Something dripped on her cheek.

Lance opened her bleary eyes only to widen in horror. There's a body in front of her, his arms outstretched, his stance wide and grounded despite the sharp object piercing through his stomach.

Lance knows this man.

She knows every curve of muscle; she knows how rough and calloused those hands feel. How comforting they are when she holds hands with him.

Keith turned his blue-gray eyes to her, his lips quirking into a small grin as he gazed her. Blood dribbled from his chin.

"Hey, Princess Leah." He croaked out. "I knew you weren't dead."

Keith coughed and Lance watched as the javelin at his side was ripped out to where it floated next Liya and the druid floating above them.

Keith crumbled to his knees and closed his eyes.

Lance screamed.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_


	31. Chapter 31

"When it comes to people you really love, you don't care about yourself." – Kurosawa Yamato

Chapter 31

Shiro had a bad feeling. And like Lance, he tended to listen to it. Something bad was going to happen. The last time he had a bad feeling this big was back in the Garrison; he didn't know what would happen when he woke up that day but he knew it would be terrible. His horoscope had said so too. He figured he'd just lose an assignment or perhaps Keith would get in another fight but he'd been wrong. So wrong. In fact, what happened was so bad Shiro still had nightmares about it. He would have preferred losing an assignment. Heck, he wouldn't have minded Keith getting into another fight because he brought another knife to school even though they'd already confiscated three of them because nothing, _nothing_ could be as terrible as Mac & Cheese day getting canceled indefinitely.

Keith had said he was exaggerating but Shiro didn't think he was. Was him falling to his knees in the middle of the cafeteria and screaming that the world was unfair going too far? Maybe. But Shiro felt like he needed to do it because how _dare_ they? Mac & Cheese day was the one thing that made life at the Garrison easier to handle. It got him through his day; relaxed him. That lunch lady knew how to make it _just_ right. Shiro would sell his soul for that lunch lady's Mac & Cheese.

…Okay maybe not his _soul_. But maybe his first born. It was that _good_.

Plus everything else they served sucked. Who the hell said it was okay to serve lima beans and white rice every fucking day anyway? Someone who clearly didn't care about the students' well being, that's who. At least spice it up a little. Add a little salt on in for god's sake. So yeah, Shiro had thrown a fit. When that didn't work he wrote a letter. He made picket signs. Even starved himself for three days (although he secretly ate some granola bars brought by Keith). And when _that_ didn't work he talked to Commander Iverson but that was useless as well. The man told him to perhaps take a few sick days and visit the councilor. What good would that do? He already talked to Nancy the school councilor and she was no help either. Said they should sit down and have a talk. Said he was on the "road to a breakdown." Shiro snorted, he hadn't been that bad. Everyone was just exaggerating.

So yeah. Shiro knew about having a bad feeling. But what was going to happen? His eyes skimmed through the battle he and his friends were currently in the middle of. The metal T-rex was surprisingly fast. The giant cannon blasters attached to its sides packed quite a punch; and its tail could throw missiles, which locked onto you.

Allura and the Blue lion tried freezing the cannons at its sides; it had worked. For about ten seconds. Steam had risen from the ice, and moments later the cannon was back and operational. Pidge and the Green lion had thrown one of its vegetation shots, vines wrapping around the cannons but they melted off. Shiro and Hunk had guided their lions forward, trying to make it fall but it just leaped away.

It was getting dangerously close to the village. From his position Shiro could just barely make out people running. They look like cat people. He hadn't spotted a male, mostly women. Among them, Shiro could see the black silhouettes of the Blades as they escorted the villagers to either their ship or to the one Mr. McLane was currently inside of. Aiden was among the villagers, picking them up when they faltered.

He could see women carrying crying children. The sky had already turned dark, torches lighting up the town, illuminating the way. It was already snowing, but not too bad that it obscured their vision but it sure gave him a chill. Screams and shouts filled the air, penetrating over the sound of battle. He didn't blame them for being panicked; surely they could see Shiro and his friends fighting this metal robot by now. The robot that was getting increasingly closer.

Coran had arrived in the castle quite a while ago, the village men and Mr. Holt that Lance rescued already safely inside. Reyna, Adina, and the triplets had decided to stay with the Amazon. Shadow as well which wasn't really much of a surprise. The wolf had been antsy ever since Mikey took Nyx down to the tower. According to Coran, Lance had a few bruises, nothing too major…though her shoulder _had_ been bleeding a little more than the castle advisor liked. Lance being injured was surprising, as far as he knew the Amazon hardly ever got injured, her skin made of tougher material than regular humans.

Whatever had injured his friend must have been dangerous. He wondered if Keith was okay. Hopefully he and Lance had found each other once again.

Shiro hated to admit it…but they might just need Voltron for this. Unfortunately, they were missing one member and without Keith they couldn't complete the transformation. They've been at this for a while now, but they just needed to hold on a little longer so that Aiden and Mr. McLane could come and help them on the ship that Reyna and Adina lent them. That weapon that boxed in their enemies and made them immobile would surely come in handy. It had made beating those two Robeast's far easier. Hopefully the same would apply in this situation.

" _Guys?"_ The sound of Hunk's nervous voice snapped Shiro out of his thoughts. The black paladin tapped his screen and the restof his teammates faces appeared on the corners of his screen. _"What is that?"_

Frowning, Shiro and the others turned to where the yellow paladin was pointing at and stared. The metal T-rex was squatting down. If Shiro didn't know any better, he'd have said that it was taking a dump, but it was a robot so that wasn't possible.

Right?

…He wouldn't put it past Haggar honestly.

" _Holy Shit." Pidge exclaimed in awe, her brown eyes were wide in disbelief as she rapidly blinked her eyes. "Is it laying eggs?"_

Allura gasped, her own blue eyes wide underneath her pink helmet. _"That's…not possible. Is it?"_

Shiro would have said no but no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the image of six metal egg shaped figures coming out of the metal T-rex would not disappear. To make things worse, they couldn't come close to it because the missiles on its tail would chase them off.

" _Guys, they're hatching!" Hunk frantically screamed._

The six metal shaped eggs began to crack, claw like hands emerging from the cracked spots, forcing the opening wider so they could get out. Shiro had seen _Alien vs. Predators_ a long time ago; he'd never been much of a fan. Both creatures had looked disgusting. Matt had thought they looked pretty cool, insisting that he and Shiro could totally take them any day of the week. At the time, Shiro had been a little drunk but he remembered wholeheartedly agreeing.

Why was Shiro thinking about _Aliens vs. Predators_ while he and his team were fighting a giant metal T-rex? The answer was easy. Because what came out of those eggs looked exactly like the aliens in that movie. The ones with the tails, not the other ones with the ugly faces. They were clearly robots, they gleamed and shined way too much to be alive but boy did they look realistic.

Their tails looked like a giant blade, the tip resembling a scorpion's barb. Shiro would bet his last box of Mac & Cheese that it excreted poison. As they came out from their eggs, each one released a cry that sounded like shrieks. They didn't have eyes; their heads were shaped like cylindrical skulls. The sound of Hunk vomiting inside his own lion made everyone wince.

Yeah, the new additions weren't exactly the prettiest of creatures. They were slightly hunched. They were perhaps as tall he. Maybe a few inches taller. Shiro fired off a shot towards the new additions only to have it blocked by the metal T-rex's tail. With one last shriek, the new metal robots bounded off into the forest on all fours – straight into the village where the Blades and Aiden were still evacuating the villagers.

Crap.

The sound of a women's laughter echoed loudly in the cockpit and Shiro whirled around in his seat to look for the source but found nothing. What the hell? Was he imaging things?

" _We have to warn the others!" Pidge shouted through the comms._

Allura nodded. " _I'll contact Mr. McLane and tell him what's going on."_

"I'll contact Kolivan _." S_ hiro added, his fingers already tapping the holographic screen to his right. The black paladin didn't have time to be looking for an old lady. He was probably just tired and hearing things. It wouldn't be the first time. He tapped his fingers anxiously. Kolivan answered on the third ring _. "_ Kolivan, this is Shiro. You have some company headed your way, how's the evacuation going?"

" _A little too slow for my liking."_ The man murmured, his voice laced with irritation _. "There are still some that are hesitant to trust us. And the ship we are on is not big enough to carry all these women and children."_

Shiro gnawed his lower lip, his eyes briefly going to the metal T-rex that was fighting Hunk and Pidge in their respective lions. Coran offering support from inside the castle. It seemed…slower. Duller.

Had releasing those six creatures made it lose some of its power? If so, then he was all for it. They could spare Coran and the castle. Shiro tapped the screen to talk to Kolivan once more. "I'll send the castle of lions your way."

" _Understood. How long do we have till those creatures arrive?"_

"Minutes. Probably fifteen. Coran will be there before then."

" _All right. Good luck."_

"You too." Shiro said and cut off the communication. He then contacted Coran and relayed his orders, the mustached man quickly nodded but before he could cut communications off, Shiro told him to tell Mr. McLane to send the villagers in his ship and direct them to the castle of lions instead. Once that was done, he wanted him and Aiden to come help them out in the Amazon's ship.

Coran said he understood and cut the connection off.

Shiro sagged in relief. Okay, that was good enough. Now all he had his friends had to do was keep the metal T-rex busy until the McLane's got here and everything would be all right. Simple right?

So why wouldn't that bad feeling in his gut go away?

* * *

It figures that when things were finally going good, something else would happen to fuck up his day. Story of his life.

The yellow lion had covered itself in its thick yellow armor and with Shiro's help; the two of them were able to make the metal T-rex drop to its side. Allura and Pidge kept shooting at the cannon blasters on its side while Mr. McLane loaded the weapon a few feet away.

It had taken some time, but thanks to Coran arriving down at the village, the evacuation had gone much smoother. Those alien like creatures had showed up at the village but it seemed Kolivan and the rest of his Blades were having no trouble with them whatsoever. And if they were, they were keeping quiet about it. Nagini and Nagg had even gone out to help, altering their size so they could easily tower over the new additions.

Shiro would have to treat them to some food later.

According to Coran, some of the men inside the castle had wanted to go out and help but Matt adamantly refused to let them venture outside just so they could get killed. They had grumbled but the older Holt sibling was not deterred, and managed to make them stay inside and get inside the healing tubs because most of them were sporting an injury or two. Its only after Coran had opened the castle doors to allow the women of the village entry did the men decide to relent.

Matt had gone out to help Kolivan and his Blades. Slav had gone into hiding the little shit. Every once in a while, Matt or Kolivan would give Shiro a status report. The former only doing it because he insisted Shiro was a worrywart and would rush right in unless they called every few minutes.

Well excuse him for worrying over his friends. Jeez.

With the arrival of Mr. McLane and Aiden on the Amazon ship, things had taken a drastic turn. A good turn. Shiro and the others had already cut off the metal T-rex's tail so its missiles couldn't lock onto them. Unfortunately, the weapon that the Amazon ship had required a ten-minute charge so Shiro and the others had to distract the enraged metal T-rex for ten minutes while the weapon they were relying on charged up.

Nothing they couldn't handle though. Things were going good. Shiro would even go so far as to say great. But just like it always happened in his life, something bad happened to screw it up.

Two triangle like bots suddenly appeared high in the sky at the center of the village. The things shimmered and suddenly two imagines were being displayed. Shiro and the others stared; was that a stadium? He could see white dust. Figures. Were those giant pieces of metal being tossed in the air or was Shiro just seeing things?

" _Isn't that Lance?"_ Allura said through the comms, the blue lion still firing off a round of ice beam at one of the cannons on the metal T-rex's side. The metal T-rex that was having a hard time getting back up.

Thank god for small favors.

" _I think so."_ Hunk finally answered, his yellow lion throwing shot after shot at the metal T-rex's tail when it started to move. " _I think she's fighting…it's kind of hard to see with all that dust flying around though."_

" _I think I see Keith!"_ Pidge cried happily. Her and the green lion were firing off more of the green lions' vegetation shots, the vines that appeared wrapping themselves around the other cannon. She then frowned and leaned closer to see the image on the screen _. "Is that Lotor and his generals?"_

Wait, what?

Shiro looked up from where he was stomping the metal T-rex's head with the black lions' paws to the screen and gaped. Yep, that was definitely Prince Lotor and his generals. They'd run into them a lot for the past few months; besides, it was hard to forget that long silver hair of his. What the hell was he doing there? And why the hell was Keith fighting alongside him?

What the hell had he missed?

The dust was beginning to clear. He could see Lance's four brothers fighting against some kind of clay monster who was throwing giant chunks of brown goo from its body and tossing it anything that moved. In fact, Shiro could see at least four more of the clay creatures a few feet away from them. All four of them were either engaged by Lotor and his generals, Keith and a slender Galra women, or Shadow and Nyx.

Reyna and Adina were off at the stands, shooting from a distance. Adina he could understand, but Reyna too? Lance's best friend liked to be at the front lines, she was better with her fists. She didn't mind getting a little dirty in a fight. Something must be wrong.

Where was Lance though? She was usually not one to leave her friends to fend for themselves. His eyes rapidly looked over the rest of the footage, his stomach tightening at the sight of a figure in a black cloak, golden embroidery in unfamiliar symbols and a golden beak mask obscuring its face from view.

It was a druid.

Either the druid was making a new fashion statement or this one was of higher rank than all the ones they'd faced before. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was another girl throwing giant metal projectiles towards his friend. The girl looked like one of those junkies Shiro would see on the street; all sunken cheeks, bad hair, and a series case of the twitches. She looked like everyone from the village, cat ears, tail but had a purple Galra arm. Freaky.

Lance wasn't wearing the tiara and manacles anymore. Her powers should have returned already. So why wasn't she using her powers? Was the druid doing something? And how the heck did that other girl have powers too? So many questions and no one to answer them.

" _Shiro, the cannon is ready!"_ Aiden alerted him through the comms.

 _Finally_.

As one, Shiro and his friends flew away from the metal T-rex, keeping some distance so they wouldn't get caught in the blast. The metal T-rex moved, the sound of metal screeching echoing loudly in the area as it began to get up only to freeze, its red eyes going dim as Mr. McLane fired off the cannon, boxing the thing inside and shutting off all its power.

They only had five minutes, they had to hurry and damage it as much as they could before their time was up. Shiro opened his mouth, ready to delay orders when suddenly Hunk screamed. Pidge followed right after, Allura making some kind of strangling sound.

Shiro whipped his head to the screen where his friends where being showed. What was wrong? What were they looking at? What –

Shiro's eyes widened. His throat went dry. At the back of his mind, the sound of someone cackling wildly made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He was starting to suspect that maybe he needed to take a good long rest. Or an exorcism. Whatever worked. It was all he could do not to start screaming, to keep himself from sinking into the floor at the sight before him.

Lance.

His friend.

She was _hurt_.

Oh, god. There was so much blood coming from her wound. Shiro and the others could only watch in horror as Lance touched the wound on her stomach, the metal object still lodged in her, look at it disbelief before her eyes fluttered. Straining themselves to stay awake.

Don't close your eyes he prayed. Fight it. Start healing yourself. Do _something_.

Please, please be okay.

As the woman holding onto Lance's body let her go and his friend fell with a sickening thud, the sound of Keith's broken cry almost did him in. There was a ringing in his ears. His fiends were crying out, insisting they go help. Mr. McLane and Aiden were screaming, the sounds broken and distorted. He could hear Allura trying to reign in the blue lion as it tried to flee towards her previous paladin. He could hear the sound of Coran shouting that the red lion was going crazy in its hanger. And all the while, the woman cackling in his head just kept on laughing.

Everything muted out as he watched Keith make a mad dash towards Lance. More of those clay like creatures tried to get in his way but Lotor and his generals cleared the way. Lance's brothers tackling them away from him, Shadow and Nyx taking the shots intended for Keith. Reyna, Adina, and the slender Galra woman shooting to catch their attention. Keith was almost there; he could get Lance out of there. He could get her to safety. His adoptive little brother didn't know much about first aid, but he knew to put pressure on a wound. Lance could hold on until they made it there, she just needed someone to put pressure on her wound.

At the sight of that druid and the girl making their way to Lance's prone form, Shiro began to have doubts. And when that girl started shaping another piece of metal into another javelin, Shiro began to curse. The black paladin knew Keith. He knew when Keith wanted to be alone. He knew when he wanted company. He knew what his favorite foods where, hell Shiro had practically raised him since the boy's dad died. And he knew what the red paladin would do in these new circumstances. Despite knowing that it would be useless, Shiro screamed at his friend to get out of the way but it was too late. Keith stepped in front of Lance, spread his arms wide, and took the second blow intended for Lance.

This time Shiro wasn't the only one who screamed. Everyone did. So did Lance who had finally opened her eyes. See? Shiro knew something bad was going to happen. He just hadnt known it'd be this awful. The sky, thick with clouds, deepened from a threatening gray to an eerie dark purple.

And then everything became chaos. Bursts of lightning shot from the sky, the image so bright and blinding that Shiro had to cover his eyes. It sounded like missiles were being fired; it was so loud. Flames leaped high distant bursts of light; it was the clay monsters. Two of them anyway. The lightning had set them on fire. He could just barely see hints of Reyna and the others doing their best to avoid getting hit. The lightning seemed to not care who it struck. It was out of control.

The storm came so suddenly that it even stopped snowing in the area where Shiro and the other paladins were fighting in. A wrathful wind shook the trees around them; the torches from the village were whipping around wildly, some of them even going out.

Screams and shouts filled the air and Shiro desperately hoped that Kolivan and his Blades were all right. Coran already had the particle barrier around the castle so they would probably be fine.

Lightning cracked across the village in random bursts. Shiro and the others had to fly their lions away, get some distance lest they get struck. One of the shots hit the metal T-rex, its eyes glowing red once again before letting out a massive roar that would have been loud had it not been for the sound of lightning still sounding of in every direction.

Was Lance doing this?

Controlling the weather to this extent?

Shiro glanced back at the footage being displayed and nervously swallowed. The area where Keith and Lance were was covered in some sort of shield. Blue lightning was wrapped around it making it hard for anyone to even step closer. The druid shot off a round of purple lightning at it but it just bounced off. The girl who had hurt his friends kept throwing metal shaped objects at it only to have them disintegrate.

Missiles suddenly spiraled overhead, trailing smoke like black ink over paper as they arced and exploded towards Shiro and his friends. Damn it. As much as Shiro wanted to, he couldn't go help out Keith. Not with this robot back online. Lance was awake though, and although she was currently going out of control, he knew that she would help out Keith. His chest tightened, but he refused to feel the agony coursing through his veins. Refused to let the tears threatening to fall spill.

They had a job to do, and judging by the cries of his fellow paladins, they had forgotten that. Shiro had to lead them. He had to get them to calm down. The faster they dealt with this creature, the faster they could go and help out Keith and the others.

" _Shiro –"_ Hunk sobbed.

" _We have to –"_ Pidge stammered _._

" _What do we –"_ Allura cried.

"STOP IT." Shiro bellowed.

His friends shut their mouths and looked at him in stunned disbelief. Shiro exhaled, the hands on his controllers tightening as he briefly closed his eyes. Keith was still alive; Shiro had faith. So was Lance, and there was no way that the Amazon would let the red paladin die. She loved him too much. She would take care of him.

Shiro trusted Lance.

And that was enough for him.

Shiro turned back to his teammates. "I know you're all scared and want to rush in to help our friends, I do too. But we have a job to do." Hunk and Pidge scowled, their mouths opening to object but he raised his voice. "These people need our help and it's our jobs as paladins of Voltron to help them. Lance and Keith will be fine. Lance has her powers back, she can heal them both. The faster we deal with this robot, the faster we can go help them. Until then, you are all to stay put. No rushing towards our friends. Is that understood?"

His friends still look unsure so Shiro sharpened his tone and narrowed his eyes. "I said, is that understood?"

His friends straightened. Pidge and Hunk wiped the tears away from their eyes and nodded. Allura blinked her tears away and sharply nodded once, her blue eyes blazing in determination.

Good.

Shiro grinned. "Now let's get back to business."

Three voices answered back. " _Yes sir!"_

* * *

Lance remembered the day she fell in love with Keith Kogane. It was about three weeks after she joined the team and yeah some people might argue that it was too soon to know for sure but Lance knew herself the best. And she knew what love was. She loved her family. She loved her friends back in Cloyetera. She loved Nyx. She loved that video game character Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series with such passion that it worried her parents. Heck yeah she knew what love was.

But what she felt for Keith?

It was stronger.

So much stronger.

It was…disorienting.

Surprising.

And a little bit scary.

She'd never felt this strongly about anyone before and Lance had dated quite a lot of people. Both men _and_ women. The first time she saw Keith, she thought he was handsome. Yeah he had bruises and sure he had a mullet, which was like really? Had those come back in style while she was away from Earth?

Did she have to go back and teach these people about fashion? Like seriously?

But yeah, still irritatingly handsome.

And then he'd spoken. Lance's first thought was 'wow. This guy has such a potty mouth.' But he was funny, his excitement and his fan-boying was endearing. Plus, he fell from the sky in a giant red metal lion so that was already pretty cool. She took an immediate liking to him.

And over the next two weeks she got to know him. Lance got a crush on him pretty quickly but figured it'd go away when he left; which he would once his team found him and she would stay behind. She was okay with that.

So when it was discovered that she was the paladin for the blue lion? Lance was ecstatic. And a little nervous. After all, living with your crush couldn't be good for her heart. It helped that there were other people in the castle so she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of Keith. A tough feat really. Lance embarrassed herself quite a bit. It's both a curse and a blessing. But talking about her crush with other people helped.

Coran and Hunk had figured it out pretty quickly. She swore them to secrecy but it certainly didn't stop them from teasing her about it whenever she spent time with them. She was pretty sure that Pidge and Allura knew about it too. They'd give her these secret smiles whenever they caught her staring at Keith for too long. Even Allura's mice seemed to know! They made kissy faces at her whenever she so much as mentioned Keith's name!

Rude little rodents.

The only one who didn't seem to have a clue whatsoever was Shiro. Poor, poor Shiro. If he knew, he wouldn't have paired her up with Keith all the time whenever they had to spar during training. Did Shiro not know how _handsy_ sparring could be? Most of the time Lance found herself under the red paladin after being flipped! The things it did to her heart! It left her a blushing mess. Did Shiro want her to have a heart attack? Did he not know that one could overload from being that close to their crush? Or did Shiro really know and he was just being an ass?

Lance hadn't been able to get a read on people's thoughts quite yet at the time so she didn't know. But just in case he _did_ know and he was doing it on purpose, then Lance felt all her teasing on him was justified.

Anyway, the day Lance fell in love with Keith happened the day her period came. Gross right? But nope. True story. Amazons had periods. They were still girls after all. Only difference was that they got it every three months. And since they were Amazons and could handle any kind of pain (her mother's words), their period tended to be one of the most painful things out there.

Lance woke up that morning feeling like a hundred sumo wrestlers were sitting on her uterus. It felt like some douchebag had sneaked up on her and punched her uterus hard in the face, only to run away, screaming at the top of his lungs that he'd be back to do it again in approximately ten minutes. She felt like a frickin walrus: bloated, fat, shiny-faced, and all she wanted to do was roll around all day.

Deciding that moving was just not an option, she decided to miss breakfast. Not a big deal right? She certainly didn't think so; sure she loved breakfast and she loved _making_ breakfast with Hunk and sometimes Coran but Lance figured she could miss breakfast this one time. It wasn't a big deal.

Her friends though? They thought it was a pretty big deal.

Hunk had knocked on her door, worried and anxious asking if she was dying because otherwise Lance would never miss the three to five bowls of eggs, bacon and waffles. Oh, the _waffles_! So good!

But one look at her facedown in her bed and groaning and he immediately understood. Wished her a 'get well soon' and told her that if she needed anything just to yell his name. He'd come running with ice cream. Such a sweetheart.

Coran had knocked on her door next. Upon seeing her, the man had rubbed her back and proceeded to give her a pep talk of how strong women were to endure all that pain. Even recommending some yoga poses that might help. Told her some stories about Allura and how she dealt with it the first time. It was kind of nice.

Pidge had come in after with a worried frown on her face. One look at Lance and she immediately started laughing. Lance made sure to throw her pillows extra hard at her until she left. So Lance had laughed when Pidge had gotten her period just a week ago and been in a similar state. Big deal. Pidge didn't have to act like her elders and do the same. Jeez.

Allura had come in after with a small smile and some tea that smelled like feet and stayed with her to talk, occasionally rubbing her back while her mice braided her short hair. They were surprisingly good.

And last to come was Shiro. It seemed no one had informed the black paladin of what she was going through so Lance had just scowled at him when he asked what was wrong. Was it not obvious? Lance tried to tell him, hissing ' _she's here'_ only for Shiro to transform his prosthetic arm into a sword, his eyes wildly looking around for any intruders. The move was kind of cute. But he was an idiot. Lance tried to tell him as subtle as she could.

"It's code red Shiro. Code red."

Shiro had frowned. Then his eyes widened in horror. "The Galra are here?!"

Lance rolled her eyes where she was laying facedown on her bed. "My bloody buddy is here."

"I don't know what you're trying to say Lance."

"I'm surfing the crimson wave."

"But there's no water…"

See? Idiot.

Irritated, Lance had scowled at him and finally shouted. "My bitch of a period is here Shiro! The uterus ninjas are here and they're being assholes!"

Lance wasn't one to curse but during her period? She could do and say whatever she damn well pleased.

Shiro looked stunned. Then he frowned, his cheeks slightly pink, sword turning back into his prosthetic arm. "You shouldn't curse."

"Get out."

"I'll…send Allura and Pidge to talk with you?"

"Don't you dare." Awkward silence. Shiro fidgeted on his feet, he looked so lost. He opened and closed his mouth before deciding against it. Sighing, Lance decided to take pity on him. "I'll be fine Shiro. I just need some alone time."

Shiro slowly nodded in relief and scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Feel better?"

And then he was gone, practically ran out of the room. Coward.

And Lance was left to herself, listening to frickin Wilson Phillips because yes she was depressed and she was in pain and if she wanted to sing along to 'Hold On' at the top of her lungs while crying then it was totally okay.

She idly wondered why Keith hadn't checked up on her. Did he not care? Or had the others informed him that she was on her period and he just didn't know what to do? Or was she screaming it pretty loudly through their bond that she wanted to be alone? He could have at least visited her she thought with a sniff. Seeing him might not have made her period go away but it definitely would have brightened her day.

Deciding to stop thinking about that no good mullet that didn't even bother to check up on her, Lance went to sleep.

She was asleep for maybe twenty minutes before she woke with a start. The smell of something burning making the hairs on her arms rise. Were they under attack? Had something caught on fire? Or was Coran experimenting with different food and set something on fire again? How dare he? She wanted in on that action too.

Lance decided to check it out. So with a groan she got up and all but sprinted to the kitchen where the smell was coming from, one hand on her stomach as an intense pain washed over her.

Lance prepared herself for anything that she would find. Lightning was already coursing through her veins, ready to release at her command. Her Bayard was already transformed into a gun, safety off and ready to shoot.

As she all but skid to a halt at the kitchen she did a double take at the sight before her and gaped. She was ready for enemies. She was ready to help out Coran put the fire out incase he was messing with food again. Or maybe make it bigger, she hadn't decided yet.

She had not been prepared to see a frantic Keith running around in frenzy with a burning metal pot in his hands. Flames were burning red and bright. Hunk's apron, the one that said 'Kiss the Cook' that was usually hung on a hook was on the floor. On fire. So were his mittens. Cans of empty food littered the floor. Was that flour all over the floor? Black smoke covered the room, making Lance cough as she made her way over to a frantic Keith.

"Keith? What are you doing?"

Keith's blue-grey eyes met her own and he looked at her in both fear and relief. "Cooking?"

Lance gave him a deadpan look and reached for the burning pot he was clutching with the spare red mittens. Keith hesitated but eventually handed it to her. Placing the burning pot in the sink, Lance reached for the lid and placed it on top. Satisfied that it wouldn't go out of control anytime soon, she and Keith stomped on the still burning apron and mittens until the flames disappeared.

"So," Lance started, hands at her hips and a perfectly curved eyebrow raised. "What were you doing? You know you're not allowed in the kitchen by yourself." Keith scowled, the black smudge on his cheek made him look adorable. The red paladin mumbled something low under his breath and stared daggers at the floor as if it had personally offended him. Lance frowned, she hadnt quite caught that. She pulled at his cheek. "Come again?"

Keith yelped and glared her. "I was cooking for you okay!"

Oh.

She hadn't been expecting _that_. Her heart began to beat a hundred miles a minute. Her knees felt weak and she was sure she was blushing. That was…so sweet. Keith looked so _shy._ The thing about Keith Kogane? He always put up a defensive front, acted like a little shit and pretended that he didn't care. Like nothing could face him. But Lance knew that wasn't the case. Keith felt. A lot. He just didn't know how to express himself properly. He was awkward. All that time in foster homes had hardened him, made him lash out before anyone could do it to him. Over the first two weeks that Keith stayed in Cloyetera, she got to know him. She got him to open up. It was slow at first, he wasn't used to talking about feelings but Lance made sure not to judge him. She eventually, he started to tell her everything. Lance was so _honored_.

Looking back at him now, Lance felt a rush f emotions stir to the surface. It was overwhelming. She wanted to pinch his cheeks. Ruffle his hair. Kiss him senseless. This was…the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. All she could do was stand there with a dopey smile while Keith looked at her weirdly. Lance's eyes slowly widened as she came to a realization.

 _Oh_.

Lance didn't know what to say, the mood bracelet on her wrist was blazing in colors of black, orange, and hints of blue-green. And pink. A lot of pink. Nervousness. Restlessness. Fear. Giddiness. _Love_.

She didn't know whether the emotions were coming from her or Keith but it didn't matter. She just hoped he didn't try reading her mind at the moment because the only thing that was repeating over and over in her mind was four simple words: _I love this man._

Keith sighed and headed for the table, picked up a plate and all but shoved it in her face. "I tried making alphabet soup," he mumbled quietly. Lance took the plate with trembling hands. "Whenever I was sick or upset my dad made me alphabet soup. It didn't come out…exactly the way he made it…but..." He hesitated and scowled. "Well, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to!"

Keith reached for the plate but Lance lifted high in the air, dodging and ducking to keep it away from him. No way was she giving this plate without a fight. He'd have to twist her arm in order to get it, and even then she was sure she wouldn't give it up. "I want it."

Keith frowned, his hands twitching as he attempted to take the plate from her once again. "Lance, it's not good. You won't like it."

Lance sniffed and huffed. "Well, I haven't tried it yet. For all you know it's the most delicious thing ever."

Keith looked unconvinced but he sighed in defeat. "Fine."

Lance grinned, bringing the plate at face level. And practically swooned. The letters were a bit apart but Lance knew what they had spelled before. ' _Get well soon'._

Keith had arranged them, setting them in the center, pushing the rest of the words as far away from them. The soup itself was a dark green. It smelled like somebody had died in there though they had definitely put up a fight. But Lance didn't care. She loved it.

Her mother's words came rushing back to her. " _Remember Leah, if a man cooks you food then he's probably the one."_

 _Lance frowned. "What if it's icky?"_

 _Her mother had smiled. "Well, it's the thought that counts. I'd marry him though. At least that way I wouldn't have to cook because honestly? We both know I suck at it."_

Keith fidgeted on his feet, peeking at her through his bangs, watching her reaction very carefully as Lance took a spoon, filled it with soup and put it in her mouth.

It was…interesting.

Lance was surprised at how it could be both spicy and sweet at the same time. And how the heck was it crunchy? This was soup right? Her stomach protested wildly, invoking a loud growl from it. Despite knowing it was a bad idea, Lance lifted the plate, brought it to her lips and drank the whole thing in one go.

Bad idea.

Really, really bad idea.

Her vision went dark for a few seconds.

Lance swore she saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Keith slumped his shoulders looking like someone had taken his favorite toy. "It's bad isn't it?"

Lance made sure to lick her lips, letting out a way too dramatic moan. "Now that…was delicious."

Keith blinked in surprise. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion and all the while her stomach was going crazy. 'Red Alert! Red Alert! Find a toilet stat!'

She ignored it.

"Are you lying?" Keith asked with narrowed eyes. "Tell me the truth, I can take it."

Lance wrapped her arms around him instead; Keith briefly stiffened but slowly wrapped his arms around her too. "Really." She whispered. "It was delicious Keith. I feel better already." From this close she could feel his heart thundering wildly in his chest. Could hear the sharp intake of breath he took. Could feel his lips lifting. "I'm going to marry you one day." She whispered lowly.

Keith pulled back, his eyes wide and hopeful. "What did you say?"

At that moment running feet made their way over as Shiro and the rest of their teammates arrived. The black paladin looked haggard, his eyes taking in the damage of the kitchen in horror. Hunk wailed and cradled what was left of his apron and mittens. Pidge whistled lowly, patting the yellow paladin on the back and murmuring 'sorry for your loss.'

Allura coughed and waved her hand to clear some of the smoke. And Coran looked around wildly. "You guys tested out new dishes without me?"

Keith and Lance fidgeted.

Coran huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Youngsters these days don't know what working as a team means anymore."

Shiro pinched his nose and let out a long, long breath. The man liked to exaggerate. It wasn't the first time they'd set something on fire and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "And this is why Keith isn't allowed in the kitchen."

Keith scowled and crossed his arms over his black shirt. "At least I can boil water!"

Shiro pouted, puffing his chest. "I can boil water too!"

"No, you really can't." Hunk murmured to his dismay. "Neither can you Keith." That wiped the smug expression off the red paladin pretty quickly. Shiro smirked in triumph. "You both suck."

Both males immediately protested.

Hunk held up a hand, instantly quieting their protests. When it came to the kitchen, Hunk was the boss. "New rule, neither Keith _or_ Shiro are allowed to cook." Both males opened their mouths. " _Ever_. Is that understood?"

Shiro pouted. Keith scowled darkly at the wall.

Hunk narrowed his eyes as Pidge and Allura laughed. Coran was smiling widely. "Is that _understood_?"

"Yes sir." They both mumbled.

Lance snickered into her palm.

"I didn't even do anything." Shiro mumbled quietly. "Why do I have to get punished too?"

As the rest of the paladins began to help Hunk clean up the kitchen, Keith inched his way over to her. "By the way, what did you say before? I didn't quite hear it."

Lance blanched. Telling your crush who you've only known for over a month that you loved him and vowed in your head that you were going to marry him one day would freak anyone out. She decided to keep quiet. For now.

Lance huffed and tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "I said you're mullet is getting out of control."

Keith blinked and scowled. "It's not a mullet!"

"Yes it is."

"It's _not_!"

Lance just laughed. She was going to marry this guy one day, that was for sure.

* * *

It was like being hit with stones. So hard she could feel herself cracking. The pain was so blinding that it put her other injuries to shame. She staggered back, trying to reorder her mind around the impossibility of it.

Keith was hurt.

Warmth bled through her spine, into her veins and bones and marrow. She screamed. Her electricity rushed forward, thundering from the deepest part of her. Every nerve shrieked to life. All down the stadium, the plasma screens around flickered; the sky turned a dark shade of purple. Her friends jumped back, yelping as they dodged the lightning suddenly raining down on them.

Was she doing that too?

Her stomach throbbed wildly, her head swam. She'd lost too much blood; her wound was still open, blood still pouring out of her. Without even thinking about it, her body began to heal it. She could feel her breathing getting easier, she could feel the inner damage repairing itself even as her lightning poured out of her in waves.

In her peripheral vision she could see the druid and Liya preparing another attack. She could not let them get any closer to Keith. Something new and familiar surged forward and suddenly she and Keith were surrounded in a blue sphere. Her blue lightning wrapping around them, strengthening the shield for any attacks. Any attack they released pinged harmlessly off the shield, sending ripples of force dancing beneath them.

It was too much. She couldn't control her powers. She couldn't help Keith yet. She looked down at her arms. Electricity jumped between her fingers, hissing and crackling in the air. The push and pull to use that electricity to smite her enemies was familiar. Her powers were back.

She could feel _everything_.

She could feel the electricity from the tower they were in. She could feel every light bulb it had. Could count how many they had in total just by feeling. She could feel the buzzing of the plasma TV's surrounding them. She could feel the grumble of the motor, the emergency generators the building had in each floor.

She could take every last drop of energy in this place and have it fuel her. Energize her.

Wind whipped her hair wildly. Her friends were yelling at her but she barely heard them over the roar in her ears. This wasn't _fair_. She had her powers back. She could heal Keith. She could _save_ him. But every time she reached for him, lightning would burst from her fingertips and she'd stumble back.

Was Keith going to die because she couldn't het control of her powers?

Breathing became difficult.

She didn't know what to do.

She wanted it to stop. Lance backed away, her steps too light, too fast, as blue electricity wrapped itself around her. She swayed on her feet. She hurt. Her wound was healing slowly and the movement just made her want to fall to the floor and weep.

Keith's heartbeat was slowing.

His breathing came out in short breaths.

This was her fault. If it weren't for her Keith wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Everything became distorted. She stopped seeing the white sand she was standing on, or the stadium she was in, or her friends as they dodged the still falling bursts of lightning. She stopped hearing the rumble each lightning bolt made as it connected with something, stopped hearing the roar of the wind as it whipped everything around in frenzy.

It felt like she was being pushed down by something dark. It was all she could do not to scream, to keep from shattering and crumpling onto the white sand, bowing over her knees, and wrapping her arms around herself.

She had to stop. She had to get control. But it'd been so _long_. She'd forgotten how hard it was to keep control of her powers. Electricity wanted to be free, and hers had been locked away for far too long. Months. And now it was surging out, it was free. Her storm was too strong; the boxes where special guest sat were crumbling.

And Lance couldn't stop it.

She fumbled for her other power, throwing the clay monsters away from her friends. Splattering them onto the far walls. She moved her friends with her mind whenever she felt a bolt of lightning get a little too close to them.

Her lightning?

It wasn't responding. She could not stop its descent. Could not redirect the ones falling from the sky to where she wanted.

Someone was shouting her name, it sounded so far away.

It sounded muffled, the cocoon she enveloped herself and Keith in too loud to properly hear. She couldn't even put down the shield. Lance had no idea how she'd even conjured it up; she'd never been able to make it this big before.

Her eyes went to Keith. His breath rattled, weaker than before.

He was bleeding out; she glanced at her body. Electricity was wrapped tightly around her, showing no signs of disappearing.

Keith was going to die and it was all her fault. Damn it!

Strong hands gripped her shoulders. Familiar hands. One of those hands moved to her face where it cupped her chin between two fingers.

Violet hair.

Yellow cat eyes.

A sharp but feminine face.

Reyna.

How had she gotten inside? How was she able to touch her and not flinch away when she came in contact with her lightning? Her thoughts scrambled; she knew the answer to this. Why couldn't she remember it?

Reyna's fingers dug into her skin, her nails threating to pierce her flesh. As if Lance needed any more injuries. "Don't make me slap you Lance." She threatened. "Get a hold of yourself."

"I'm trying." Lance gritted out through clenched teeth.

"You have to put the shield down. You can't help Keith in your current state, so let us help."

A pause. "But none of you can hea –"

"Adi can. She's been taking lessons. Let her help him."

Lance shuddered, her blue lightning surging forward but no damage came to her friend. That's right…Reyna could use lightning too. It wasn't as strong as hers but she could send out small bursts of it. Lance licked her dry lips and the tears that she'd been holding back freely fell. Lance sobbed as she shook her head. "I can't. I tried. I –"

"Then let me take some of it for you."

Lance blinked through her tears. "What?"

Reyna rolled her eyes and huffed, a small smile on her lips. Her friend surged forward and placed her forehead to hers. "Send it to me." She murmured. "Let me take some of the edge off. I can take it. You know I can."

Lance hesitated.

"Do you trust me?"

Lance didn't hesitate with her answer. "With my life."

Reyna wolfishly grinned, tremendously pleased with her answer. "Then send your lightning my way. I can take it princess."

Lance gnawed on her lower lip. Could she? Her blue eyes went to Keith lying a few feet away, his breath turning shallow. She narrowed her eyes; she'd do it. For Keith.

Decision made, Lance brought her hands forward, gripping Reyna's cheeks and leaned her forehead on hers. Her friends' pulse was thundering under her fingertips but she closed her yellow cat eyes and nodded. Releasing a whoosh of air, Lance guided her lightning to Reyna. She'd intended for small bursts to go through so as to not put strain on her friend but her lightning didn't listen. It surged forward eagerly, sending ripples of shock through her body as it left her and made its way to Reyna.

Her friend took a sharp breath at the sudden burst of energy and her whole body shuddered. Lance almost stopped, but one sharp tug at her hair had her sending the rest of her energy forward.

With every passing moment that Lance sent her energy to Reyna, her breathing became easier. Her head stopped throbbing. The lightning around her body began to disappear. Even the lightning from outside began to dim.

When the feeling of being overwhelmed disappeared, Lance stepped back and watched as Reyna took huge deep breaths; her whole body shaking. The shield around them began to disappear, and moments later Adina burst forward, her heart shaped face wrought in worry. Krolia, Mikey, and Lotor running after her, covering them from the druid while the others tried to distract Liya some distance away.

Adina made a dash towards Keith and placed her hands on his stomach. Her hands began to glow green. Lance all but stumbled to his side, a hand on her still healing wound. She wanted to help him, heal him. She reached a hand forward to do just that but Adina shook her head. "Don't. You'll need all your energy just to heal yourself and deal with those two. Let me take care of him."

Lance didn't like it but she nodded anyway. She reached forward and gripped his hands in hers while she leaned on Reyna's shoulder to catch her breath.

"Internal bleeding," Adina muttered, ripping open Keith's black shirt. His pale skin was covered in bruises, the wound he'd received from the metal wolf the previous day had opened up. And blood. So much blood. Adina's fingers pressed and prodded, checking for any other injuries. Keith grimaced, his teeth gritting against the sensation. Lance almost wept.

"You've got incoming!" Kyrian shouted.

Lance and the others turned. Five metal shaped javelins rushed their way. Lance narrowed her blue eyes, and swept them away. Purple lightning whistled from behind her and Lance imagined the blue hard shield wrapping around them and it did. The lightning pinged harmlessly to the side.

Keith squeezed her fingers. Lance immediately turned to him. Blue-gray eyes met her own. Eyes that portrayed so much. Eyes that looked at her as if she was the sun itself. Eyes that had almost shut forever.

"I'm okay, Lance. I'm fine." He whispered. "Can't get rid of me that easily."

He had the audacity to smile.

Lance wanted to both punch him and kiss him. How dare he worry her? Keith always had that effect on her. She squeezed his fingerless gloved hand. "You're in for the lecture of your life buddy. If we didn't have metal objects being thrown at us at the moment and you weren't dying I'd smack you silly."

Keith huffed out a laugh and immediately winced, coughing up some blood. Adina sent him a dirty look and told him to settle down. The sound of an earth-shaking roar had everyone covering their ears. Moments later, the red lion's face emerged. At the sight of the druid and Liya it sent out another roar before it started to fire in their direction. The druid took hold of Liya's Galra arm and they transported away.

They weren't gone though. Lance could still feel them; she just didn't know where they were. The red lion flew as close as it could to Keith's side and lowered its head. Lance and Keith smiled. The Amazon glanced at her companions. They looked like they'd been through the grinder. All of them sported a bruise or two and despite looking like they would keel over at any second, they refused to fall. Stubbornly holding on.

They needed to rest.

With that thought in mind, Lance made her decision. "I want you all to go back." Everyone looked at her in disbelief. Protests began to form. Lance held her hand out and everyone instantly shut their mouth. "This is not up to debate. I can't go all out if I'm worrying about hitting you guys. You're all going back."

Mikey scowled and he pushed forward, his fists clenched tightly at his side. His dark blue eyes were glued to her stomach where the wound she received was glowing a warm green as it tried to heal itself. Lance put a hand out to cover it but within seconds her hand grew red. "In case you forgot, you almost _died_. If you think I'm leaving you here by yourself then you're not right in the head."

"I'm staying too." Keith wheezed out from the floor.

"Shut up Keith." Everyone said at the same time.

Keith scowled and huffed. At least they all agreed on that.

Lance stubbornly shook her head. "That was before I had my powers." She stressed. "They're back now, so let me finish this."

The triplets huffed and rolled their eyes at the same time. Freaky.

"Can you take them?" Lotor interrupted. The Galra prince looked disheveled, his ponytail a little loose. His purple skin shined with sweat and he was breathing hard.

"I can take them. I know I can."

Lotor gave her a hard stare, his yellow-blue eyes searching her own for a long minute before finding what he was looking for. He nodded once. "All right then. I don't like it but I know how stubborn you can be so we'll go. My generals and I will protect Keith while you're away."

"I'm not a damsel in distress." Keith stated with another wheeze.

"Shut up Keith." Lotor scowled in irritation.

"Is that your final order?" Reyna murmured next to her.

Lance nodded. "It's an order."

Adina and Reyna glanced at each other. They nodded and bowed their heads. "Understood your highness."

Her brothers looked from Lotor to the two Amazons in disbelief. Mikey looked betrayed. Lance took hold of Mikey's big hand and gave it a squeeze. His hands practically dwarfed her own. "Please. Go back. I know you're worried about me and I understand why but big brother –" Mikey's eyes widened at the term. He always insisted she call him that but when someone constantly nagged her to do something she did just the opposite. "I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need you fighting my battles for me. I can do this. Trust me. _Please_."

Mikey gave her a long look, he tried to look stern but she could already feel his will crumbling. His hand shook. She'd never asked her brothers for anything, she didn't like demanding things off them. They spoiled her but they did that of their own accord. Mikey closed his eyes and slowly nodded. "Okay." He breathed. "Okay. But if I see you having trouble I'm coming back running. No arguing. Deal?"

He held up his pinkie and Lance laced it with her own and gave it a good shake. "Deal."

"We'll make sure Keith is safe." Colt murmured. "I don't like it, you staying here but –"

"You've never asked us of anything." Alan continued.

"What kind of big brothers would we be if we ignored your wishes now?" Kyrian lastly added.

"Dad's going to kill us." Colt mumbled under his breath. Kyrian and Alan shuddered.

Mikey ruffled her hair and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Stay safe Lei-Lei."

Lance nodded, turning back to Keith who looked both pissed off and sleepy. His color was returning. Her friend was doing a marvelous job. He wasn't out of the woods quite yet though, he'd lost a lot of blood but just him talking was enough to release some of the tension in her shoulders. "Adina will take care of you. Try to rest, I'll be back soon."

"I don't like it." He slurred, his eyes were beginning to droop but he stubbornly blinked his eyes. "I should stay."

Krolia chuckled were she was crouched next to him. She reached a hand forward and moved the black strands of hair sticking to his forehead. The woman looked like she'd aged over the past few minutes. Lance didn't blame her. "So stubborn. Just like your father."

Keith gave her hand one more squeeze before going slack as the soothing healing magic coming from Adina lulled him to sleep.

Lance glanced back at Adina who was already sweating. Her black braid had come lose leaving the black strands to fall on her face. Still, she refused to stop her healing. "Take care of him okay?"

Adina's hazel eyes met her own briefly. "You have my word your highness."

The red lion opened her mouth. Reyna and Mikey took hold of Keith's head and legs to carry him inside. Adina and Krolia close to his side, the former not stopping her healing all the way.

Lotor and Axca took hold of Narti's shoulders and helped her climb on Shadow who was already crouched down. Zethrid gave her shoulder a squeeze and followed after them with Ezor hot on her heels. Her brothers hesitated before engulfing her in a tight hug. Well, as tight as they could without hurting her. Nyx was already waiting for them. With one last glance in her direction, Nyx took to the skies and flew away. Shadow began to run down, teleporting along the way. The red lion purred in her mind, her wild energy somewhat soothing before she took off with her fellow paladin and the rest of Lance's friends.

The sensation of something dark reappeared at the top where one of the boxes for royals to sit was located. The druid was back. His appearance was followed by the sound of metal bending and moments later Liya appeared next to him, her five knives longer and sharper than before.

"Shall we get this over with blue paladin?" The druid purred.

Lance grinned. "Bring it on, ass-butt."

* * *

Lance was not frightened.

The air buzzed like a live wire. It caressed her open palms, and she practically purred at the feel of such power. Lance had almost forgotten what this was like. But that was a silly thought. She could never forget the feel of her lightning at her fingertips. It felt like a sweet caress, strengthening her. Her blood thrummed in anticipation. She wanted to fight.

The thought of these people getting away after almost killing Keith was just unacceptable. They were going to pay.

She could fly again. She could hear everyone's thoughts as if they were yelling them right next to her. Her friends' thoughts were fading the farther away they got. Until all she could hear were the thoughts of the druid and Liya.

The druid wasn't that interesting. It was mostly cursing at her. Calling her names. Imagining her death so he could present her body to Haggar and have her praise him. Lance was starting to suspect that the dude had a thing for that wrinkly old ho. Which, honestly?

Was kind of gross.

He couldn't control her anymore, Lance had her powers back. And her mental shields? They were back too. Liya's thought were…distracting. It was like she had two split personalities. One side was screaming, vowing that it would kill her. The other part begged to _be_ killed instead. Purple-white lightning soared through the air, heading her way. Lance lifted her gauntlets, absorbing the attack, making them her own before flinging them back. The druid teleported away to a safe distance.

Liya's projectiles flew toward her. So fast, as if they were being carried on a fell wind, the force trailing dust along the way. It obscured her vision. Lance rolled and ducked, hissing as the wound in her stomach throbbed. She'd done a poor job of healing it; she'd stopped the bleeding at least. Closed up the wound as best she could but all that moving around was making her head swim. The wound threatened to open again.

Lance broke off pieces from the ground with her mind, sent them barreling Liya's way. The girl leaped from rock to rock, her face devoid of emotion even as her thoughts were in a wild frenzy. The armor she was wearing rippled as she broke off pieces from it, transforming them into small metal knives before adjusting themselves to a whole new outfit.

' _Must…kill…'_

' _Somebody…stop me…'_

Piles of brown goo dribbled down along the walls. Along the floor. The two clay monsters she had scorched still a black mess on the floor, the smell they omitted rivaling that of the druids own stink. The dress she wore fluttered in cerulean tatters, ripped enough to let her run as fast she wanted. She'd found out pretty quickly that wearing her armor was a bad idea. Liya almost killed her by making her kimono tighten to the point of suffocation. Her gauntlets were surprisingly okay and could not be manipulated so yay.

She'd scrolled through her other outfits with her new bracelet before deciding to pick one at random. As she ran, leaped, and threw more giant boulders at her enemies her outfit began to change. When she glanced back down it was to the sight of a skintight long blue dress. It was long sleeve. Or at least it had been. Now the sleeves were smoldering, burning with every new burst of lightning she released. The brown riding boots that reached all the way up to her knees so comfortable that running was an easy feat.

Liya ripped out the metal railings from the stadium, molded them into something sharp and deadly and hurled them her way. Lance lifted a hand skyward, and clenched her fingers into a fist. One of the giant screens displaying the fight was ripped out of the wall where it was flung towards Liya and the druid who had just teleported next to her. Liya managed to duck, though not without some scrapes. The side of her face was oozing red blood.

The druid frantically dove out of the way, its black cloak ripped at the side. Lance hurled her lightning its way but he was quicker, nimble. It evaded her attack, soaring high and letting out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a growl.

Lance shivered in delight. She kept sprinting. Adrenaline and electricity coursed through her veins. She felt like she could do anything. Liya lowered herself to the floor and ran at her. Her fingertips burned a bright red. That…was concerning. Crouching, Lance put her hands to the white sand beneath her feet. It felt cold to the touch. She sent her lightning out along the whole floor in jagged ripples. They pulsed.

Liya gathered all the metal she could, cocooning herself inside as to not get hurt. Lance lurched forward, punching it until it began to crack. A purple hand shot out, clung onto her forearm and squeezed.

Moments later Lance was screaming. The smell of burnt flesh permeating the place. This girl had another power? What the fudge? Lance sent her hurling away with her mind and immediately began to heal the new injury. Five black finger indentations adorned her flesh. The druid chuckled, teleporting its way over to her. Lance leaped away to a safer distance.

"Isn't she a masterpiece?" The druid taunted, one purple hand reaching inside its black cloak, producing something small and rectangular. What was that? "Shall I make her go all out?"

That didn't sound good. As Lance continued to heal the burned flesh where Liya had burned her, the druid lifted the rectangular device up to its face, twisted a dial, and moments later Liya made a choking sound from where she was getting up from the rubble. The collar on her neck let out sparks and even from this distance Lance could smell the burning flesh. Liya's already red eyes seemed to glow a brighter scarlet. Her silver hair floated around her. One second Liya was staring at Lance and the next thing the Amazon knew, she was flying through the air. Her stomach screaming in agony.

What the hell happened?

Lance landed on a couple of seats, they did little to cushion her fall, and barely managed to roll out of the way as Liya flew right at her, one leg lifted high to probably pummel her to death. There was a resounding crash as she landed but Lance was already on her feet. She needed to get that device from the druid. Hell, she needed to get rid of him first. Period.

Liya leaped after her, she was practically a blur. Lance almost squeaked in fear. The druid teleported away but it didn't matter; Lance had memorized his movements by now. He liked to appear in at least three of the same places and if that wasn't enough, the smell of antibiotics and roadkill followed him everywhere.

Liya was almost upon her. Lance gnawed on her lower lip and considered her options. She could use her lightning but that wouldn't hold her off very long. She could hurl another plasma TV on her but that would only buy her a few minutes. There was, however, something else she could try. Lance was still learning how to use this "gift" and she wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed to do it before but it was better then nothing.

Lance skid to a stop and turned. Fear clamped down her throat. Oh, please let this work she prayed. Otherwise I'm dead. The Amazon made her way inside Liya's mind. Urged her to stop running. To stand still. Liya's right leg obeyed. Then her left leg. But she was resisting. Lance increased the pressure. Felt her own ears pop at the motion.

The druid was coming back.

Liya's thoughts were unlike any she'd ever read before. It was like being inside the mind of an animal. Scattered and wild and raging. The desire to kill, to rip something apart until it stopped breathing were constant. Lance shuddered.

She wanted to pull her thoughts away from this girl.

But she didn't.

Lance clamped her thoughts around Liya's own frenzied ones as tight as she could. Her head was already pounding, but she sensed the change immediately. Steel blue eyes met blazing red. Lance muttered one word with all the strength she could. "Sleep."

Liya crumpled to the floor with her eyes closed.

Lance let out a sharp breath and bent down, her hands on her knees. She'd done it. The command wouldn't last very long, ten minutes at most, but hopefully she'd be done with the druid by then.

She spotted him by the remaining black boxes, noticing her, he teleported away. It didn't matter. She latched onto the smell of roadkill, of that dark energy, and focused all her attention on it. Lance turned her head toward the center of the stadium and leaped. When she landed it was just as the druid had materialized.

Yelping, he tried to put some distance away but Lance summoned two lightning bolts and plunged them onto his shoulders. The druid screamed in pain. Taking hold of its bleeding shoulders, Lance flew them high in the sky. Everything was a blur below, the stadium looking more like the size of an ant. The dark purple clouds were still above them, flashing a bright white, as the thunder contained inside wanted to break free.

The druid thrashed in her hold, purple blood marked her hands but Lance didn't release her hold. The wind tore at their clothes. Whipped her hair in every direction. And still the druid screamed. It tried slithering its way inside her mind but Lance pushed him out. Imagined claws raking inside _his_ head.

The druid recoiled in horror. Lance took them higher, the thunder locked inside the clouds pushing. Eager to be released.

Not yet.

Lance took out the silver dagger strapped to her thigh with her mind, clamped her fingers around its hilt as she leaned closer to the druids face. The golden beak like mask obscuring his face. Lance angled the dagger over his rib cage. "This is for Keith," She hissed to where she assumed his ear was.

Her dagger broke through all the muscle and bone. Purple blood warmed her fingers. The druid screamed. It was already dying. Lance let go and watched him fall. The thunder and lightning she was keeping back flashed inside the clouds. "And this," Lance spread her arms wide in mid air, "This is for everything else." Lance opened her palms and all at once the thunder she'd been holding back with all her might released in one fell swoop. Shrieking, rumbling, pulsing. She redirected all of it onto the falling druid.

The lightning streaked through him, boiling his blood, frying his nerves, until Lance couldn't hear a heartbeat anymore. Until there was nothing left but dust. Dust that gets carried away with the wind. Lance let herself free fall. Let herself enjoy this moment before she had to dive back into battle once again.

As the wind fluttered her dress, cooled down her skin, she smiled.

The druid was dead.

* * *

If Lance thought Liya was going to be easier to deal with now that the druid was no longer controlling her, she was wrong.

Lance hadn't even touched the ground before stadium chairs were hurling her way.

Oh, jeez.

Lance was getting tired; the wound on her stomach had definitely reopened.

Awesome.

Liya's collar was no longer on her neck, and honestly? Lance was starting to suspect that maybe that was a bad thing. This time, not only were pieces of metal being flung her way but she had to dodge flames as well. Liya, apparently, could summon flames. Great. Just great.

Liya was breathing hard, her eyes were glowing, and every time Lance dodged a deadly attacked she shrieked and raged.

Her eyes were shadowed, unfocused.

Lance threw a blast of lightning at her, throwing Liya back. The blue sparks danced over the steel plates in her armor. She seized, twitching, as Lance's electricity pulled on her nerves. Somehow, Liya fought through the pain, charging.

Lance dodged, just barely dodging the fire-fueled punch aimed at her face. Her hair? Not so lucky. The tips began to burn. With a shriek Lance patted the fire away until the fire was gone. Unfortunately, she missed Liya's next fire punch and was slammed backward, wheezing for breath. Lance rolled with the momentum, hurling huge chunks of rock at her while Lance put a hand to her stomach. Trying to heal the new injury.

Something was wrong. She could feel it.

Putting some distance away, Lance prodded and poked the area around her stomach with a grimace. Internal bleeding. That was _not_ good. She needed to finish this soon. Splaying one hand on the white sand, Lance gathered the energy from the tower. She felt every light bulb inside shatter, felt their energy merge with her own, fueling her. She took in all the energy this tower had. Felt the engine sputter and stop. Felt the tower began to fall sideways. The new surge of energy strengthened her. Unbeknownst to her, blue lightning flashed in her eyes. She focused that new energy into healing herself.

She tried reaching inside Liya's mind once again, hoping to still her movements. No dice. Liya lashed out and Lance recoiled at the dark energy sent her way. The stadium was falling apart. She can see pipes sticking out from the ground. Wires that once held the massive screens sparkled and sizzled.

Perhaps the distance is what is making it difficult for her to seep into Liya's mind. Indecision gnawed at her. It was certainly worth a try. Decision made, Lance raked her blue eyes around what was left of the stadium. Looked through the rubble, through the dust until she caught sight of silver hair.

There.

Lance lunged after her.

She only had one chance. She had to dive in Liya's mind before she had the chance to attack her. Balls of flames headed her way. Lance rolled, twisting in the air, to dodge them and kept sprinting. One of the fireballs hit her knee, her leg almost buckling under her weight but she gritted her teeth and ran.

Metal shaped arrows were thrown next. Lance flung them away. Two of them still lodged onto her side though. Almost there. More balls of flames appeared but Lance was close enough. She arched her back backwards to avoid getting burnt to death, rolled and took hold of Liya's forearms.

Liya did the same to her. Lance almost howled in agony as she felt her forearms burning. Scowling, Lance brought forth a burst of electricity and sent it rippling across Liya's body. The girl twitched, her black cat ears standing on end. While Liya tried to fight through the shock in her system, Lance placed her forehead against Liya's so hard she was sure she would leave a bruise and dove inside her mind.

Memories greeted her.

She saw a younger Liya being poked and prodded by four druids.

She saw the dead bodies of the villagers through her eyes as the druids experimented with their corpses.

She felt the pure agony that Liya felt when the druid that Lance had just killed, placed a gray stone against her chest. Watched it disappear inside her only to feel like her insides were on fire. One of her hands really did catch on fire though. The druids had to amputate, gave her a new arm. A Galra arm.

She saw Haggar herself in some memories. The witch watching everything being done with such glee it left a foul taste in her mouth.

Lance saw the day the druid placed the black collar on Liya's neck. Felt what her flesh felt like whenever she disobeyed an order.

And all the while Liya screamed. And she begged. But the druids just laughed. She was forced to fight in other stadiums in other planets just for the druid's amusement. Lance felt the moment she gave up fighting, no one was coming for her. This was her life now, but a part of her hoped. Hoped that maybe one day someone would put an end to this wretched life of hers and put her out of her misery.

Lance focused on that Liya, brought her forward. The girl in her grasp gasped and the image changed to something else. Something warm. She saw a middle-aged couple kissing in a kitchen. The woman looked a lot like Liya except for the silver hair; the woman's hair was a dark blonde. There was a younger male making faces at the display before him, his little whiskers twitching with the movement. And next to him was a teenage girl. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back; she was brushing her black tail where she'd tied a red ribbon around it. That was Liya three years ago.

The current Liya gasped.

It was too much. Lance felt all of the emotions as if they were happening to her. The tears spilled down her cheeks as Liya began to stop her struggling, as she became complacent.

"Please," Liya whispered. It sounded more like a croak. "Please, kill me."

Lance swallowed around the lump in her throat.

"Please." Liya begged.

Those dark thoughts were coming back, that little voice that sounded suspiciously like the druid that Lance had just killed whispering to Liya to finish her. Kill her.

Liya started trembling in her hold.

Lance swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Before you do that though," Liya wheezed, it was like she hadn't used her voice in a very long time. "I…have something for you."

Liya leaned back and Lance did the same. Bringing up her Galra arm, Liya plunged it inside her chest. Lance gaped. The girl gritted her teeth and pulled something big and shiny out.

It was a gray stone Lance realized. It was the size of her fist. The wound on her chest closed, and Liya raised the stone so Lance could see it. "You'll…be able…to use this better…than me." She gasped; her whole body was shaking now. "I…don't know what you'll get…but I'm sure…you'll survive…you're…" She shuddered. "Strong."

Lance didn't know what to do with this stone but she reached a hand out for it anyway. Liya avoided her hand and placed the cool stone against her chest. Frowning, Lance reached for it but before she could the thing lit up like a Christmas tree and began to immerse itself inside. Hands scrambling, she reached for it and pulled but no matter how hard she tried the thing wouldn't budge so in the Lance could only watch in sick horror as the thing disappeared inside her chest.

Liya smiled, for once she looked her age but that soon changed with the gasp of pain. "Please, hurry."

Lance would have to worry about the stone later. And boy would she be freaking out with all her might but right now she didn't have time to dwell on that. There was something she still had to do. So Lance put her arms around Liya's shoulders and hugged her tight.

There was something all Amazons said to each other when they were about to die. It was like their mantra. It was usually reserved for warriors. Amazons mostly but after what Liya had been through? She more than deserved it.

So Lance licked her lips and made her voice strong. "In peace may you leave this land. May you find love where you go next. Safe travels and may the goddess Ceanke embrace you in her arms. Your fight is over. May we meet again."

Liya chocked on a sob. Bringing forth all the lightning she could she had it curl itself around her arm and before she could change her mind, Lance plunged her arm through Liya's chest. The girl spasmed and choked, her body seizing and trembling. "It's okay." Lance whispered as she stroked her silver hair. "It's okay."

"Promise me…" Liya whispered so low that Lance had to lean closer. "That you'll…bury me…with my…family."

Lance nodded, choking back a sob. "I promise."

Liya's mouth lifted at the corners and after one more shudder, sagged against her and went limp. She was gone. Lance couldn't hear a heartbeat anymore.

The stadium was falling sideways. Everything was shaking. Huge chunks of metal were falling, echoing loudly when they landed on the other side of the stadium. But Lance didn't care. For one, brief moment, Lance mourned the woman in her arms and what she could have become. This woman hadn't deserved this.

Liya had deserved a good life. Of embracing her parents, her little brother. To get showered with love and fall in love someday herself. Now…now her family was gone. And she too was gone. So Lance would mourn her, and she'll remember everything that was done to her and have it fuel her fury for when she dealt with Haggar. That witch had Okayed this whole operation. The experiments. The tormenting of the villagers.

Lance would make sure Haggar paid for everything with her life.

But for now…for now Lance would mourn. Even if it felt like the whole world was crashing all around her.

* * *

Keith awoke with a jolt. He was damp and sticky and smelled like blood. His throat and lungs were burning –not painfully, not anymore, but like they were still injured and they wanted to make sure he knew it.

Something told him he wasn't in immediate danger, but the fuzziness of his thoughts set him on edge. What had happened?

Peeling his eyes open, the blaring overhead lights burst across his retinas. He grimaced and instantly shut them again. Memories flooded in all at once. The tower. The clay monsters. Lance getting pierced through the stomach. Her falling. Him running at full speed to get her out of there only to take the next hit intended for her.

He remembered people screaming. Lance had been screaming too. And then…what felt like hundreds of lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Keith grit his teeth. He remembered Red coming…or had that been a dream? He remembered being carted inside the red lion by Reyna and Mikey. Krolia had been there too. And Adina. She'd been healing him, keeping him alive.

Where was Lance though?

Keith began to sit up and instantly regretted it as blinding pain from his stomach washed over him. He gasped, one hand splayed over his stomach and cursed. "Mother fuck."

"Such language," said a familiar voice. "Teenagers these days."

There was a pinch in his arm and two sets of hands were placed on his stomach. On his chest. His _bare_ chest. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Blinking slowly, he opened his eyes fully and came face to face with Mrs. Dossier's kind furry face. Her red eyes were looking at him with both affection and relief. Keith averted his eyes and looked down to see Adina and some other cat person who was male, prodding at his chest and his stomach.

"How are you feeling?" Adina asked as she pried one of his eyes open a little wider. He scowled and moved away. The wound he'd received from the metal wolf had closed, leaving only a pale scar across his chest. The wound on his stomach still looked bruised but he wasn't bleeding his guts out so he'd call that a win. He could see a jagged scar the size of his index finger cut across his abdomen. Most of the bruises he'd received from the previous two days were either gone or replaced by a pink scar.

The male cat had brown curly hair, squared shaped glassed perched on top of his nose, his dark brown fur looking like it needed a good wash. He reminded him of someone…but who?

Noticing his stare, Mrs. Dossier smiled and explained. "This is Daario. He's my husband."

Oh. That explained why he looked familiar. He looked like little Mykal. Keith nodded and as Adina and Mr. Dossier looked him over, Keith looked at his surroundings. They were in the medical wing inside the castle of lions. A cat person all currently occupied the twenty something healing tubs that they had. Reyna and Lance's brothers were among the crowd, wrapping up wounds for the other prisoners that Lance had saved. Others were crying or hugging each other. Coran was running around from healing tub to healing tub, making adjustments or checking up on patients.

Lotor and his generals were wrapping bandages over their own wounds. Coran looked at them distrustfully every few minutes. Keith would have to talk to him soon. As it turned out, the Galra Prince wasn't so bad.

"Can you sit?"

Keith tested his fingers, curling them slowly before he grasped the railings on the bed he was in and begin to sit up slowly. His stomach _throbbed_.

Adina and Mr. Dossier were instantly at his side, the latter shoving a plastic cup filled with some syrupy orange liquid inside. Keith had never been a fan of medicine. It tasted gross. He grimaced away from the thing. Mr. Dossier narrowed his red eyes and shoved it at him again. "It's for the pain. What you really need is a healing tub but since they're all currently occupied this will have to do."

Keith eyed the man distrustfully but one look at Adina's stern face had him reaching for the cup, swallowing the contents inside it in one gulp. Yuck. Gross.

Immediately the pain began to disappear. Smacking his lips in an effort to get rid of that god-awful taste, Keith turned to Adina. "Where's Lance?"

Adina tightened her lips. It only made him growl at her. The Amazon sighed. "She stayed behind to –"

"And you just left her there?" Keith yelled back. He looked around the room; the companions that had been at the tower with them were all here. Even Krolia who was running his way was here. Which meant that Lance was back at that tower, fighting alone.

Oh fuck no.

Keith began to get up from the bed, ignoring the four pairs of arms trying to push him back down. If these people didn't let go of him in the next ten seconds he was going to start throwing punches.

"Keith, you have to rest." Krolia implored him. The woman took hold of his wrist and began to guide him back down. Keith ripped his arm off and swayed. What the hell?

Adina sighed and crossed her arms. "I figured this would happen."

"Good call," Mr. Dossier informed the Amazon with a conspirators grin. "It's a good thing we dosed him with a painkiller. He should be out in a few minutes."

Keith stared, his vision blurring at the edges. "You motherfuckers…"

"Who raised you to curse like that?" Krolia scowled with narrowed eyes.

"Shiro." Keith answered without hesitation.

Krolia sniffed. "Well, I'll have to have a word with him."

Damn it. Sleep was beckoning him. Keith ignored it and before anyone could stop him he slammed his head as hard as he could against the beds metal railings. The people around him cried out in alarm. His head throbbed but he didn't care. Eyes blazing in fury, Keith turned to his companions and scowled. "If you guys don't let me get to Lance I'm slamming my head harder next time." His four companions looked at each other. Adina stepped forward and Keith picked up a metal try and held it threateningly. "Don't step any closer, I'll do it."

"Why not just let him go?" A male voice said.

Keith and the others turned to see Mikey McLane standing a few feet away. Lance's brother had combed back his shoulder length hair into a small ponytail. He had a few bandages over his knuckles and he'd changed out of his dirtied clothes and into a red T-shirt and some black jeans.

Adina huffed and stomped her foot like a ten year old. "Because he's still hurt! His wounds aren't properly healed yet! He could cause more damage!"

Mikey shrugged. "Then I'll go with him."

"That's –" Whatever Adina was going to say next was cut off by Lotor who had made his way over to them.

"I'll go too, the fight looks to be about almost over anyway." The Galra Prince looked better than the last time Keith had seen him. He didn't look as dirty anymore. Someone had lent him a black T-shirt and some black jeans. He still had his black and purple boots from before and his silver hair was tied into a high ponytail.

The Galra Prince tossed him a black shirt. Keith slowly put it on; he'd given these people enough of a show already.

Adina sighed in exasperation and she began to braid and unbraid her black hair in quick successions. "None of you know how to heal! If something happens to him, Lance will be mad at me! Have you guys ever seen a mad Lance? Because I have! And it's scary!" Keith was kind of impressed how she managed to say all of that in one breath. Adina huffed. "I'll have to go with you too!"

Keith didn't give a damn who came with him. He just wanted to _go_.

"Uncle Keith?" A younger voice said.

Uncle Keith?

Who the hell was – oh. It was Mykal.

Keith crouched down to his height. Little Mykal looked just like his father. The little boy was currently looking at him with a frown. Raising a blue gloved hand, the little boy reached a hand to his forehead and came away red. Well look at that. Keith had made himself bleed. It's a good thing he couldn't feel it. The little boy puckered his lips and reached inside the pocket of his blue coat, making an a-ha sound when he found what he was looking for. "Here! For your head."

Keith took the offered item in his fingerless gloved hand and peered down. They were Band-Aids with little red and blue flowers on them. Mykal had given him about five. How…cute. Keith ruffled the boy's curly brown hair, eliciting a small burst of giggles from him.

"We'll all go!" Coran announced as he suddenly popped up between Krolia and Mrs. Dossier. Both women jumped in surprise but Coran was not deterred. "Allura and the others just finished taking care of that monstrous metal thing so we're all going!"

Keith smiled and reached to give the man's shoulder a squeeze only to sway backwards. Krolia and Adina caught him. What the hell?

"Right." Adina said with a sheepish smile. "The sleeping dosage we gave you. Don't worry, it was only meant to knock you out for ten minutes…twenty minutes tops. You'll be awake by the time we get there."

"I fucking better me." Keith slurred, pocketing the Band-Aids in his front pocket. "Or I'm crawling there."

His companions just chuckled. Krolia ruffled his hair. Keith huffed. He was being perfectly honest; he didn't need to be treated like a child.

"Hey, anyone seen Shadow?" Reyna asked as she bounded over. It was the last thing Keith heard before his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

* * *

Lance needed to hell out of here. The whole place was falling apart. A great screeching sound shook the walls around her. It was coming from everywhere. Metal scraped on metal, creating an earsplitting noise. The remaining lights that had lit up the stadium burst into a shower of broken glass.

Lance hefted Liya's prone form over her shoulder and started to walk. Or at least tried to. The tower was falling sideways. Lance had no choice but to half crawl her way to where the giant metal door they'd all originally come from was. Perhaps she could make her way out of there by using the spiral staircase.

If it was still there.

Or…there was another option. She could fly them out of here. She had just enough power to do that. Hopefully the others would go looking for her so she didn't walk all the way back.

It was certainly worth a shot.

Mustering up what remained of her powers, Lance began to float them up, making sure to have a good grip on Liya's body lest she drop her. Everything was going fine. They were maybe fifteen feet off the ground when a sharp pain made her double over.

Lance fell with a thud and writhed on the floor, howling in agony.

What was going on?

It felt like she was being burned from the inside out. She couldn't breathe. Her hands went to her throat; it felt like someone had put a hot poker on her throat. Lance scraped her nails against it, urging it to breathe. Was this because of the stone? Was Liya wrong and Lance wasn't strong enough to take the pressure?

She felt like she was dying.

What did the stone do anyway? Did it give one powers? Is that how Liya was able to bend metal and throw fireballs? What would it do to Lance? She already had powers.

Lance struggled to breathe, fought for any trickle of air down her lungs. She couldn't hold back her screams anymore; she let them all out until they didn't sound like screams anymore. Was she going to die? After everything, this was how she was going to die?

The sounds of something exploding made her turn her head. The fireballs that Liya had thrown during their fight had reached the remains of the giant screens. They exploded. The wind turned hot. Lance had to get up. The fire was heading her way.

As suddenly as the pain had come, it disappeared.

Lance took a lungful of air and panted on the floor. What the hell had happened? She lifted a trembling hand to her chest where the stone had disappeared, hoping to at least feel the shape of it but found nothing. Nothing seemed amiss. Her muscles ached and twitched, begging to rest. Lance just wanted to lie down, just for a minute. Maybe two.

Despite the jagged spikes punching up through the sand, trying to run her through, Lance managed to turn to her side. Then onto her hands and knees. Okay, she could do this. Where was Liya's body though? Lance looked through the smoke and fire, looked for silver hair.

She gritted her teeth. Where –

There.

She was sprawled just a few feet away, a little too close to the growing fire. Lance sighed through her nose and made the treacherous trek to Liya on all fours. Her stomach was not happy with that decision. It made its opinion known with every step she took. Throbbing the whole way.

But Lance made it. She took hold of Liya's hand and pulled her close. How was she going to get them out now? The ground grumbled beneath her feet.

 _Think Lance, think._

And then the sweetest sound Lance had ever heard echoed throughout the whole falling stadium. She knew that howl anywhere.

Shadow!

Her wolf let out another howl and suddenly he was there. His blue fur looked a little cindered but he real. He was here. Lance had to crane her neck up just to look him in the eye. "Good boy!" Lance preened. "When we get back I'll make sure to give you the biggest fish I can find!"

Shadow wagged his tail and barked. The Amazon grinned.

In minutes, she and Liya were seated on top the giant wolf. Liya's body in front and Lance behind so she could make sure Liya didn't fall. She patted Shadow on its side. "Okay boy, take me to Keith."

Shadow howled and began to run.

He jumped through the fire, avoided the pieces of metal still jutting out from the ground and jumped. Lance held on for dear life.

Suddenly it felt like the air was squeezing her, no, the _world_.

Everything and anything tightened in a blistering, black second. And then, in a blink, they were running down the side of the tower. The meager food that she'd eaten that morning felt like it was coming up. Her heart raced. Holy crap. Had they just _teleported_?

Something else exploded at the top where the stadium was, the whole tower shook with the rumble. Dust raced down the side of the wall that Shadow was running in, painting them in a layer of white sand. Smoke and fire rained down, the ash began to fall like snow. Shadow tensed and Lance tightened her hold on him. He was going to teleport.

Lance felt like the air was crushing her, her stomach knotted, and suddenly they were falling. Shadow tensed again and suddenly they were on the ground. And just in time too. The tower fell with a thunderous crash, the shock wave almost making them fall but Shadow leaped through the colored trees, not once stopping as the tower suddenly exploded in a shower of fire and smoke.

Lance sniffed.

Good riddance.

Minutes later, Lance smelled something familiar. It was something she could never forget the smell of. It was Keith. He was close. She could also smell the others too. Shadow seemed to smell the same thing too for he suddenly changed directions, running through the forest of three-leaf clovers that jutted out into the sky.

Lance could hear the rumbling from the rest of the lions as well. Shiro and the others were coming as well. Lance smiled. She was coming home.

* * *

Keith was lying on something soft. It felt familiar. Smelled familiar. He didn't want to wake up; he was quite comfortable here thank you very much. But something nagged at him to open his eyes. Told him he wouldn't regret it.

So with a groan, Keith pried his eyes open and came face to face with Lance's tear-streaked face. His head was lying on her lap; her hand was idly stroking back his damp hair from his forehead. She was covered in bruises. The wound in her stomach still slightly damp in her red blood. The skintight blue dress was in tatters. Keith slightly turned his head. They were in a field. Trees the color of blue, pink, orange and red surrounded them. Blue flowers that were glowing lay all around them, the green grass looked like someone needed to trim it down a bit. The moon was starting to disappear; he could just barely see the sun beginning to rise.

He could see the lions that formed Voltron a distance away. The others must have given them some privacy.

The air smelled sweet, like cotton candy.

It was beautiful.

Noticing that he was awake she began to sob. Keith frowned, Lance should never cry. "You idiot." She grumbled through her tears. Her brown hair fell forward, tickling his nose. "Why did you take the shot? You could have died!"

Keith frowned. That was a stupid question. The answer was simple. "Because I love you. You always endure so much. Let me take some of it too, let me be your strength."

Before he'd met Lance, he couldn't say those three little words. After being passed from foster home to foster home, he began to think that no one could possibly love him. Why else would they keep sending him back? Shiro told him that he loved him, like a little brother of course. So did Keith but he'd never told him. He'd just assumed that Shiro knew. He was sure that the older man knew.

But then he'd met Lance and Keith wondered why it had been so hard to say those three little words. Saying them to Lance just felt so natural. He liked telling her.

Lance's blue eyes widened. If anything, his answer only made her cry harder. "I'm an Amazon. The kinds of fights I get into are some of the worst."

"I know."

"If you're by my side, you'll get hurt much more than you usually do."

"I know."

Lance sniffed, her voice sounded like a whine. "And I have this crazy ten thousand year old witch who wants my body. She honestly scares the shit out of me."

Keith huffed out a laugh. "I know. But you can take her. I know you can."

"I can be a little annoying. I babble when I'm nervous, and I like to sing like all the time. If I so much as see a spider, I'll faint. I'm competitive. I can be selfish. And I might steal your food." Her voice grew louder, almost hysterical. "I got you stabbed! You almost died! And it's not even the first time I've put your life in danger. What's there to like about me anyway? Why would you want to marry me? I'll probably be the death of you!"

Keith reached his fingerless gloved hand and placed it on her wet cheek. Was Lance scared he would leave her after what happened to him? Silly girl. "Maybe. But I like when you babble. The silence can be suffocating, but you make it better when you speak. When you sing, it relaxes me. I love it when you do it when it's just us two. And about the spider thing?" Keith shrugged a shoulder and grinned. "If you faint it gives me the chance to carry you in my arms. It's not every day you turn into a damsel in distress. Makes me feel manly." Lance huffed out a laugh. "I love you like crazy Lance. So much that when you're not beside me I feel like I can't breath properly. It doesn't matter what you or anyone else thinks about you. I love you. If you name ten things that you hate about yourself, then I'll say a hundred, no, a thousand things I love about you until you'll no longer doubt me."

Lance sniffed and with a grimace, Keith lifted his head from her lap and seated himself in front of her. He reached both of his hands, placing them on her face, and wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "I love you. And I want to marry you. I could get stabbed, burned, or even get a limb cut off. It won't matter. Me wanting to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you won't change."

Lance's heart was pounding like crazy; he could feel it under his fingertips. "Idiot." She sniffled, the tears continued to run down her cheeks but she latched onto his right arm and placed her hand over it, squeezing it tightly. "And you said you couldn't say romantic things. Liar."

Keith laughed and tweaked her nose. "I learned from the best."

"You won't regret it?" she whispered.

"Never. In fact," Keith reached the other hand Lance wasn't squeezing like a lifeline and took out the Band-Aids with the red and blue flowers on it that Mykal had given him and reached for Lance's left hand. "I know it's not a ring," he said, suddenly nervous. "But until I get you a real one, this will have to do."

Keith took hold of her hand and wrapped the Band-Aid on the third finger of her left hand. Lance gasped and took her hand back to get a closer look. "Oh, Keith." Was all she said before she started crying all over again.

Keith jumped and he flailed his arms in the air. Was that the wrong move? Was she disappointed that he hadn't gotten a real ring and given her a Band-Aid instead? Thinking about it, it _was_ kind of silly. He was an idiot. He should take back the Band-Aid!

Keith reached for her hand but Lance clamped her other hand over it defensively. "Don't you dare."

"But you hate it!"

"No, I don't."

"You're _crying_ Lance!"

Lance sniffed and huffed. The light breeze whipped her hair to the right, her eyes seemed to sparkle. "These are happy tears! I love it! If you want to take it off me you'll have to kill me!"

Keith felt like he had a lump on his throat. She loved it? Really? He hadn't made a mistake? Lance shook her head and plucked a Band-Aid from his grasp when he wasn't looking. When she reached for his right hand, Keith's heart began to pound one hundred miles a minutes. His cheeks felt warm. Was it hot in here or was it just him?

"I'll get you one too." Lance murmured, her voice shook so she cleared it. "Until I get you a ring, this will have to do. So don't you dare take it off! I'll throw one of the biggest tantrums you'd ever seen. It'll put any child in the world to shame!"

Making sure that her point was made, Lance wrapped the Band-Aid around his third finger and gave it a good shake. Her face was a deep scarlet, all the way to the tip of her ears. Keith felt that if he spoke it would come out as a croak so he nodded his head like a dumb ass. "And no flying in front of sharp objects again. You'll give me a heart attack."

Keith snickered, and interlaced their hands together. He put his forehead against her and sighed happily. "No promises, Princess Leah."

"Keith!" She whined, but she was smiling. "Don't call me that mullet."

Keith grinned, shut his eyes and closed the distance between them until his lips met her own. Everything was finally over. They were going home. It was only a matter of time before someone interrupted their time together but for now…for now he wanted to be as close to Lance as he could.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Make my day!_

 _And check out the drawing that my sister drew just for this chapter in my Tumblr. Songs that inspired me: Sunder by Really Slow Motion_

 _Beneath the Starry Sky by Really Slow Motion_

 _Epilogue by Olafur Arnalds_

post/175598840415/the-amazon-of-voltron-a-klance-story-by-mitzuki118


	32. Chapter 32

" **No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth."**

 _Robert Southey_

Chapter 32

What happened next was kind of a blur to him. The minute Lance tried to get up, only to hiss and sway in place, Keith was on his feet, one hand out to steady her, only for him to stagger back as the pain in his stomach _and_ the head injury he had given himself earlier came back with a vengeance.

 _You thought you could forget about us? Think again motherfucker!_

He was _sure_ that if his injuries could talk, that's exactly what they would say.

Rude ass fuckers.

Gritting his teeth, Keith brought Lance close to him and put her hand over his shoulder. Lance took hold of his arm and placed it over her own shoulder as well. Keith opened his mouth to protest but one look at the fierce glare she sent him had him shutting his mouth pretty quickly.

He supposed he could use some help.

Together, they made their way through the colored trees. Past the blue flowers that were still glowing despite the fact that the sun had come up. The red three leaf clovers towered above them until they found that same road that he and Lotor had used back when he had the red hover bike. Their steps made a wet squelching sound with each step they took but it was a short walk.

Already, Keith could see the castle of lions ahead. And a little distance away were the rest of the lions, sitting around the castle as if waiting for their return. As soon as they were out of the forest the teary faces of their friends greeted them. They were still in their paladin armor looking exhausted and relieved to see them. There was still some distance until they reached them but he could see them as clearly as if they were standing next to him. He was getting the hang of using his Galra side.

Keith narrowed his eyes. Their friends look relieved to see them but some of them were blushing. Hunk's cheeks were slightly pink, so were Allura's. Matt and Coran were grinning and making kissy faces at each other while Shiro tried to look stern, he could hear his friend telling them both to quit acting like idiots but they paid him no attention. Pidge had a shit-eating grin on her face; her brown eyes were practically twinkling. Why?

Lance groaned next to him and she pointed upward. Keith followed the direction of her finger to see two triangle like bots hovering quite a few feet away. They were glowing green, and both of them were showing both he and Lance. Were these cameras? Had they been following them, filming them for the others to see? The holographic images were certainly big enough…

Keith's eyes widened and he immediately turned red.

"Yeah," Lance said with a wince. Her face was scrunched up in pain and despite the fact that she wasn't voicing it out loud Keith knew that just walking was taking its toll on her. That wound on her stomach was still leaking red; both of her forearms had five-finger indentations, black, as if someone had burned them into her skin. He had to get her to a healing tub immediately. "They kind of showed the others what we were doing. I would have destroyed them but I don't have enough power left in me to do that."

This time it was Keith's turn to groan. Great. Awesome. Just what he needed. More material for Pidge to tease him with. He huffed. Screw it, he could handle it. He just needed to get Lance inside a healing tub as soon as possible.

"You too," She murmured. Lance swayed to the right, her eyelids fluttering but Keith put a hand on her waist and kept them upright. Their friends cried out in alarm where they were waiting. Running feet was soon heard. "You need a healing pod too," Lance continued, a slight slur in her voice. "You're not done healing yet."

Before he could respond hands were on him, pulling him away from Lance as she too was suddenly engulfed in hugs. Hunk and Coran started bawling, loudly. Pidge wrapped her arms around Lance, the latter pressing her lips into a tight line to hide her discomfort but managed to wrap her arms over Pidge's little shoulders. She had to hunch, after all, Pidge was short. The green paladin was currently lecturing the Amazon but it was hard to make out with the tears running down her cheeks.

He was going to protest; didn't they know Lance was injured? But strong hands enveloped him into one of the tightest hugs of his life. His feet left the ground as Shiro raised him in the air, hugging him as tightly as he dared. As if he was afraid Keith might disappear. "Idiot." Shiro murmured into his shoulder. "It's like you get some sick pleasure in making me worry."

Keith huffed out a laugh and embraced him. "Got to pass the time somehow."

Shiro tugged at his hair with a snort. A hand clasped his own and Keith opened his eyes to see Allura giving him a soft smile. Her eyes were puffy, her long silver hair was sticking out in random directions but she looked relieved. Krolia took hold of his other hand, her violet eyes a little misty as she ruffled his hair.

Lance's brothers, Adina and Reyna as well, were standing off to the side. So were some of the Blades, even Kolivan himself. They looked relieved. Lotor and his four generals were standing next to them. Noticing his stare, the Galra Prince gave him a wave and smiled. Keith shyly smiled back. As soon as Shiro put him down, he was engulfed in another tight hug by Hunk. The big man raised him in the air and babbled something incoherently. He found that he enjoyed Hunk's embrace the most. Mostly because he was the strongest. The red paladin couldn't breathe for several seconds but he didn't mind. Keith couldn't hear what he said through his tears so he just patted his back until his feet touched the ground.

Matt Holt, Xylian, and Leylee were currently hugging lance. The two Blades were crying as well.

Antok inclined his head in Keith's direction but made no move to pull him into a hug. Thank god.

Someone cleared their throat. Loudly.

All at once, the chatter stopped and their friends moved aside to let two men step forward. One was younger than the other. He had caramel colored skin, short chestnut hair and striking blue eyes that looked at them through the glasses he wore. Keith startled. He looked like Lance. So much so that he was sure that if someone put a wig on him, the man could totally pass off as Lance's twin.

The other man who stepped forward was older. His features were sharp. He had close-cropped dark brown hair, baby blue eyes, and the same caramel skin as Lance and her brothers. The man looked haggard, his eyes puffy and red. As if he'd been crying.

Lance let out a choked sob. The man did the same and opened his arms, a watery smile on his face. Lance was tired, and she was on the verge of passing out but as soon as the man opened his arms, it was like someone had given her some red-bull because she suddenly looked wide awake.

With another cry, Lance ran the last few feet separating them and all but jumped into the mans waiting arms where she began to sob. The man stroked her hair, hugging her as tightly as he dared as Lance began to babble almost hysterically into his shoulders. She explained how scared she'd been. How she'd wished there was another way to escape Haggar without putting herself to sleep. How some of Haggar's magic managed to leak its way through her mind, torturing her even as she slept. How she'd desperately wanted to wake up and how scared she was of going to sleep now, lest she hear Haggar in her mind again.

Keith clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He hadn't known about that. Lance had probably not wanted him to worry and excluded that information from him.

His eyes drifted back to his fiancée who was still crying. She was downright sobbing, her words now sounding muffled. He couldn't understand a word she was saying anymore. But that was okay, Lance deserved a good cry. She'd been through a lot after all. He was a little jealous that she decided to break down in front of her father, because now that he looked closer it was the only explanation he could come up with, but he understood why she hadn't done it in his presence.

They'd been on a mission after all and Lance didn't want her feelings getting in the way. She'd pushed them aside for the moment and after everything that had happened over the last two days, it was finally okay for her to cry. So she did. It was like a dam had burst inside of her and everything she'd been holding back finally burst forward.

There were quite a few more sniffles coming from their friends. Keith had to rapidly blink his eyes lest he start crying as well. Shiro patted his back, a soft smile on his lips as they all watched the scene in front of them. Coran made sure to pass tissues to the others who gratefully took one, claiming that their allergies were acting up.

Lance's father murmured to his daughter in Spanish, and slowly Lance began to calm down. The man wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs and placed his forehead against hers. "I'm so proud of you, mi sirenita. So, so proud."

Lance sniffled but smiled. "I missed you too Papi."

"Hey now," the male next to them joked, "I hope you're not forgetting about me Lei-Lei."

Lance pulled back, a wide smile on her face as she took in her other brother. "Aids!" She pulled him into another hug and he lifted her off her feet where he swung her around in a slow circle. "I missed you too."

Her brother groaned as he put her down. "I told you not to call me that! It's Aiden. Repeat after me, _Aiden_." He put her at arms length and inspected her from head to toe. "You look like crap."

Lance huffed, her nose wrinkling in distaste. The others laughed.

Mr. McLane turned to him and narrowed his baby blue eyes at him. "So you're Keith?"

Keith slightly straightened. There was something about this man that reminded him of a general. The man stepped forward and before Keith could move, the man pulled back his fist and punched him in the jaw. Lance cried out. So did everyone else. Shiro stepped in front of him protectively. The man narrowed his eyes. "That was for losing my daughter."

Great. Like he needed more injuries to his person. Lance's father took another step toward him and Shiro all but growled at him, ready to fight in his defense. Keith put a hand on his brothers' shoulder, moving him aside. Shiro protested but Keith shook his head at him. If Mr. McLane wanted to hit him one more time for losing Lance then so be it. He deserved it.

Shiro pressed his lips into a thin line but moved aside, but only slightly. Keith straightened, his face set into a hard line for what was surely another punch headed his way. "And this," Mr. McLane murmured as he stepped in front of him. "This is for bringing her back." And suddenly Keith was engulfed in a tight hug. Mr. McLane was shaking, his voice sounded raw with emotion. "Thank you," the man murmured through his tears. "Thank you for bringing her back."

Keith could barely speak; the urge to start crying so strong it was hard to control them. So he let them out, burying his face against the man's shoulder. His tears left stains on the man's blue buttoned shirt but Lance's father showed no signs of caring, instead stroking Keith's hair lovingly.

Even though Keith didn't know this man, he decided that getting hugged by him was something he wouldn't mind repeating. There was just something about this man that reminded him a lot of his own father. The way he stroked his hair, the way he murmured into his ear that everything was going to be okay. The slight accent in his voice. The way he made Keith immediately relax in his hold. There was so much love in this embrace. Lance was so blessed. So fortunate to have this man in her life.

It's no wonder she spoke so lovingly about him. Lance's features would turn soft, a small smile on her face whenever she spoke of her father.

"Shh," Mr. McLane cooed, trailing his calloused hands down Keith's hairline. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."

Keith's tears finally calmed down after a few more minutes, and as they dried away he moved away from Mr. McLane's embrace. The man, however, refused to let go of his hands, squeezing them tightly in his own. Mr. McLane's hands were warm, bigger than his own but soft despite the fact that they were calloused. Keith's own father used to have hands exactly like these. "You went through hell and back to bring her back." Mr. McLane said, his baby blue eyes staring him in the eye. He had an accent; Keith took an immediate liking to it. "You took a shot that could have killed you with no regards to your own safety. All to save my daughters life. And the way I saw you looking at her through those bots in the sky," The man offered a crooked smile. "Now that's love. It would be my honor to hand my daughter's hand to you in marriage. You have my blessing. As far as I'm concerned, you're already part of our family. Welcome, Keith Kogane."

Keith swallowed, his eyes going all teary eyed once again. He felt warm. He rapidly blinked the tears away. He'd cried enough for one lifetime. Lance interlaced her fingers with his and gave it a squeeze. He turned back to Mr. McLane and bowed his head. "Thank you Mr. McLane. This…it means a lot to me."

The man smiled, reaching out a hand to pat Keith's hair lovingly. "No, thank _you_."

"Aww," Pidge cooed where she practically bounced on her toes next to Hunk and Matt who were both looking emotional. "Not only did we get to see Keith being all romantic but we also got to see him cry."

Keith's face went bright red.

Shiro raised a brow at her in warning. "Pidge, watch it."

"You guys were so cute!" Hunk gushed with an overly fond smile. Leylee and Xylian nodded, the latter fanning her face dramatically.

"So romantic!" Matt gushed.

"Why, if I was a girl, I would have surely swooned!" Coran added, falling backwards as he feigned passing out. Hunk immediately caught him before he could topple over.

"We wanted to come immediately," Allura said next to Shiro. Her smile turned devilish. "But Pidge said we might see a new side to you." Keith turned angry eyes to the green paladin who smirked playfully. "We were not disappointed." Coran nodded furiously next to her, his smile so wide it looked homicidal.

Keith let out a loud groan and buried his face in his hands. "You guys suck."

Lance looked over him with a sympathetic smile where she stood clasping hands with her brother. Aiden he reminded himself. The two of them looked eerily alike that it was almost creepy. Mikey stood beside them both with a dark scowl on his face, his eyes burning holes on their clasped hands.

"Well I think it's great," Mr. McLane huffed before crossing his arms over his chest. "It's nice to know that he has a romantic side, my daughter won't say it but she loves all that romantic crap."

Lance turned bright red and awkwardly coughed.

"Yeah, but Band-Aids?" Pidge exclaimed. "Give her a real ring! At least one of those candy ones!"

"I loved it though," Lance mumbled quietly, her hand swiping the Band-Aid on her finger back and forth with a soft smile.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "But he can do better!"

Keith bristled. "You little bi –"

"Keith! Don't talk to girls that way!" Shiro scolded him with a frown.

Keith protested. "But she started it Shiro!"

Krolia narrowed her violet eyes and stepped forward until she and Shiro were eye to eye. "So you're Shiro. The guy who taught my son to curse like nobodies business."

Shiro blanched and choked. "Your son?"

Keith waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, yeah. Guys, this is my mom Krolia."

"What?" Everyone shouted.

Lance put her head on his shoulder, Keith was taller than her by at least a few inches, and jerked her chin toward her father who was looking over everyone with a kind smile. "See?" she mumbled quietly. "I knew he'd like you."

Keith snorted and he placed a small kiss on the top of her head. One hand wrapped around her waist as he began to march them toward the castle of lions, "And you need to get in a healing pod. You're practically falling asleep."

At the mention of healing pods, Coran straightened and ran ahead of them to prepare them. Their friends followed closely, Shiro put Keith's arm around his own shoulder and Mikey took hold of Lance's other hand and did the same. Its as they were nearing the castle that Allura suddenly stopped and shot a glare at the Galra Prince and his generals. Her mouth curled into a sneer. "What do we do with _them_?"

The others looked at them distrustfully as well. Shiro narrowed his eyes and transformed his prosthetic hand into a sword. Lance blearily opened her eyes and protested but her voice sounded low.

Keith turned to his friend and brother. "Shiro, wait!"

The Galra Prince took a step forward. Keith's friends immediately tensed, some of them even reaching for their weapons but Lotor put his hands up and shouted at his generals to stand down. Axca looked pissed at the command but turned her cannon sized gun blaster to a handgun and clipped the weapon to her black belt. Zethrid growled low in her throat but took a step back. Ezor gnawed on her lower lip, her baby blue eyes cautious but did the same. Narti…well it was hard to describe what she was feeling. The woman had no eyes and according to Lotor, she only spoke in your head.

Lotor stepped forward until he was just three feet in front of Lance before he knelt to one knee and bowed his head. His silver hair spilled forward. "Princess Leah McLane, heir to the throne in the planet Cloyetera. I, Prince Lotor, offer my and my generals services to you. We will shield your back, offer you council whenever you need it, and give our life for yours if need be. I swear fealty to you."

Lance blinked her eyes slowly but straightened, stepping out of from their hold on her to stand by herself, her eyes boring holes onto Lotor's bowed head. Lance held out a hand. Reyna was at her side in three quick strides, placing a small black dagger onto her palm. "Do you, Prince Lotor, promise that you and your generals will fight by our side?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to tell us anything and everything about Zarkon and the Galra Empire?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to have our back? To always be truthful, to never betray us?"

"I do."

Lance took hold of the black dagger and cut a thin line on her palm. She tapped the Prince's shoulder and handed the dagger to Lotor who did the same. "Then I, Leah McLane, heir to the throne in the planet Cloyetera, promise you that as long as I live, you and your generals shall have a place to stay. You shall have my protection, and any who dares harm you shall be faced with the full wrath of all the Amazons." She made sure to look at Allura when she said this, the Altean Princess tightening her lips in displeasure. "Your enemies have now become _my_ enemies. And my enemies have become _your_ enemies. With this blood oath, I accept your oath and you accept mine. We are now allies."

Lance struck her bloodied hand forward and Lotor clasped it with his own, merging both of their blood into one. The former blue paladin turned to Reyna and Adina. "Make sure that no harm comes their way."

The two Amazons placed a fisted hand on their chests and nodded once. Lance started to fall backward and Keith shot forward, catching her before she fell. "You need a healing pod!"

Lotor placed Lance's hand over his shoulder and with the Prince's help, Keith and he began to move forward.

"I know, She whined. "Tell that to everyone who keeps stopping us!"

Keith narrowed his eyes, his own stomach was beginning to throb painfully but he made his voice as loud as he could as to be heard by everyone. "Anyone else that has anything to say to her can shut the fuck up!"

"Keith!" Shiro shouted in dismay. "Language!"

Matt bent over and started laughing.

Allura smothered her laughter and placed a consoling hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.

Lance's brothers chuckled, some of them snorting in amusement. Krolia looked at Shiro like 'S _ee? He's like this because of you.'_

Lotor chuckled next to Lance and shook his head at him. Shiro looked to Allura for help but she just shrugged her shoulders and giggled into her hand. The black paladin looked betrayed. Pidge, Hunk and Matt made sure to go around them lest they get dragged into whatever mess Shiro had gotten himself in. Keith was pretty sure that it was his fault that his mother was currently scolding Shiro but he couldn't remember why.

Lance glanced at Lotor who was looking at the black paladin with a thoughtful frown. Shiro was currently bowing his head, scratching his head in embarrassment as Krolia waved a finger at him, her face etched in a scowl. The Galra Prince turned back to Lance and gave a subtle nod. Lance pressed her lips into a hard line and looked over her shoulder to look at Shiro before she turned her eyes to the front.

The three of them stepped up the ramp to head inside the castle of lions.

Keith looked at both royals in confusion. He felt like he was missing something. Before he could ask them what they were silently talking about mighty cheers made him jump. Mrs. Dossier along with her family greeted them. The entire village that let out another chorus of triumphant whistles and cheers surrounded them. Some were openly crying. Others came up to them, shaking Lance's hands or ruffling Keith's hair in thanks. Some even thanked the Galra Prince and his generals who looked a little surprised at the gestures.

Shiro and the rest of his fellow paladins were engulfed in hugs. Mykal stepped away from his mothers embrace and ran up to Lance before circling his little arms around her legs. Dyron stepped up to them and patted Keith's shoulder in thanks, his eyes looked a little misty. Mr. and Mrs. Dossier stood to the side, the latter rocking baby Leah in her arms where she was bundled in blue blankets.

Lance looked embarrassed but proud. More and more villagers came up to them and just when Keith was ready to explode and tell them to move the fuck away, Coran came back, claiming that two healing pods were available. That was all Keith needed to hear as he made his way over to Lance who was surrounded by other cat people. Before she could protest he picked her up in his arms, ignored the startled squeak she gave about being manhandled, and all but ran to the medical bay that was thankfully just in the next hall. His friends followed closely after excusing themselves.

His stomach protested but Keith was used to pain and in minutes he made it to the medical bay. Most of the healing tubs were still being used, Mr. Holt himself was in one as well, but two at the center were empty and ready for use. Coran made a beeline toward them and started making adjustments. Lance was starting to look pale and she swallowed nervously.

Keith frowned. "What's wrong?" Lance buried her face in his chest and mumbled something. Keith somehow understood and his gaze softened. "It's okay, I'll be in the next healing pod the whole time. If you start having nightmares I'll let one of the others know to get you out. Okay?"

Lance took a deep breath and nodded. Glancing around the room, she made eye contact with Reyna who standing at the side. The violet haired Amazon cocked her head, her yellow cat eyes narrowed before she nodded. Lance nodded back. What was that about?

When Coran announced that the healing pod was ready he and Keith lifted her into the pod until she was comfortable. Lance's hand shot out to grip his own and her mind tangled with his. He gasped. It'd been such a long time since Lance had been in his head. Her blue energy was soothing and so familiar. She was scared, she was in pain, but she trusted him. She trusted and loved the people around them but every time she thought about him it was like her whole being came awake. Keith was tremendously flattered.

Her hand left his and together he and Coran closed the pod and Lance fell asleep within seconds as the pod frosted over and a timer was set. For a while Keith didn't move, just stared intently at Lance, making sure she was fine and nightmare free before a hand settled on his shoulder.

It was Shiro.

"She's going to be fine Keith. The healing pod will fix her, now it's your turn to go inside one. You have injuries too."

Keith sighed, if it was up to him he would stay awake until she awoke but knowing Shiro, he didn't have much of a choice. His friend might just drag him into a healing pod by force; it wouldn't be the first time.

"Fine."

Coran opened the pod next to Lance and Keith walked inside it and settled in.

His friends waved at him from where they were watching, promising that they'd keep an eye on them both.

"Don't worry about anything," Shiro said as he stood beside the pod, "We'll take care of the villagers, and we'll make sure you and Lance are fine. So rest up buddy, we got this."

It was the last thing Keith heard before Shiro closed the pod door and he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

He woke up the next day feeling much batter than the day before. He could breath properly, his stomach didn't throb and scream with every step he took and his head didn't hurt anymore either. Coran said that the healing pod had healed everything and he should be in tiptop shape, though he would have some scars for the deeper wounds he'd received.

Keith shrugged, that was okay. It wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten scars and it probably wouldn't be the last. Glancing over at the pod where Lance was still being healed he frowned. According to Coran, the cryo pod had detected multiple fractures and cracked ribs as well as internal bleeding. She was exhausted, what with having used her powers so much. It'd put a strain on her body. Since she hadn't used her powers in over three months, the lightning had caused some damage to her nerves. And what was even stranger was the fact that her blood was changing.

That part worried him. According to his friends who had seen the fight between Lance and the druid and Liya, the Amazon had used a lot of power at the same time. Mostly lightning but healing as well. They hadn't seen how the fight ended because Lance had flung the giant screens at the druid but maybe they'd done something to her? Why was Lance's blood going through a change? What had happened and how would this affect her?

Keith didn't know but it had him gnawing his lip in worry. Lance would need to stay in the healing pod for at least another three days. As soon as the pod had opened for him and Coran had declared that he was fine, the red paladin had taken to leaning his back on the pod that Lance was currently sleeping in.

That is, until Pidge came in and told him that he smelled like shit. She made sure to pinch her nose and wave her hand to get rid of some of the stink he was projecting. Keith had flipped her off only for Shiro to scold him as he made his way inside the room after her.

After much prodding he finally did go take a shower, just so Shiro could stop nagging him of course, the man could nag someone's ear off. He made sure to give Pidge the finger on his way out only to break into a run when Shiro yelled at him. The rest of their friends were helping the villagers rebuild some of their houses for some alien robot like creatures had damaged them. Matt, Aiden, and Pidge were working on restoring their communications tower. Slav had gone with them to their displeasure. Hunk and Mr. McLane were busy at the kitchens, preparing food and water. Mr. Holt had gotten out of his own pod a few hours before him and had gone with his children to try and help. Pidge and Matt made sure he had plenty of food to eat; he was far too skinny for their liking.

The Dossiers along with everyone else in their village wanted to have a funeral for all the men that hadn't made it back at the tower but would wait until Lance was awake to do it. Lance had told him about Liya and wanting to bury her with her family so when Keith woke up he made sure to tell Shiro who told the villagers who immediately agreed.

Liya's body was currently in cold storage in the Dossier's house where she would stay until they made arrangements for the funeral. Keith had wanted to help out in the village but Shiro just told him to take it easy and stay by Lance's side. And so for the past two days, Keith had done just that. Hunk made sure to bring him food and water to which he was internally grateful for.

The rest of his friends made countless of visits, Hunk and Mikey the most, who came and murmured greetings to a sleeping Lance. Telling her how things were going and to hurry up and wake up because they hadn't hugged her properly. Lotor and his generals had been sent to the prison they had in the castle, Keith had protested but Allura was not deterred. It was still her ship and she didn't want them roaming around the castle. Since Lotor and his generals weren't being injured in any way, Reyna and Adina could do nothing to stop the Altean Princess from locking them up. Lotor hadn't minded, he went willingly.

As for the change in Lance's blood…Coran and Mr. Dossier had been a little surprised to find that it was back to normal. As if nothing had been amiss. It was strange but Lance didn't seem to be in any danger so maybe it had been nothing after all. Lance's pets had visited as well. Even Kaltenecker who looked at him like he was trash. Jeez.

Now that Lance was back, the cow was okay with hating him again? And here he thought they had bonded he thought with a pout. Stupid cow, forgetting that bonding moment where she let him ride her as she chased Antok around the castle.

It was on the third day that Mikey McLane stopped by to have a chat with him. Keith hadn't noticed him at first; he'd been busy talking to Lance's sleeping figure in quiet murmurs when the man had spoken. Keith had jumped, startled. For a man that was built like an ox, Mikey McLane's footsteps were oddly quiet. It was kind of scary.

"Did you know that Leah almost died before she was born?" Mikey had asked him where he was leaning against the doorframe inside the room. Lance's brother had tied his hair into a small ponytail. He was wearing a black muscle shirt; it showed off his impressive muscles, and some kakis with brown boots. He looked a little sweaty despite the fact that it was snowing outside.

Keith's interest was immediately piqued. He narrowed his blue-gray eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"It was my fault," Mikey confessed, his eyes going to Lance's sleeping form.

Keith raised a curious eyebrow. "How so?"

Mikey sighed and looked away. "As you know I'm the oldest among my siblings. And since I was the first-born I was spoiled unconditionally. My parents got me whatever I wanted. Be it toys, food, clothes, games, anything really. For three years I had my parents undivided attention and anything I could possibly ever have. That is, until the triplets were born."

Keith crossed his legs and got comfortable, something told him this would be a long story.

"With three news babies around, my parents' hands were full." Mikey continued, his face etched in a frown. "Suddenly they didn't have time to tuck me in bed every night, or read me a story before bed, or kiss me good night. The triplets were loud and they demanded constant attention. I didn't like them. All they did was cry and shit, and then cry whenever they shit themselves. If I so much as went near them they started to cry."

Keith could imagine a younger Mikey scowling and pouting, demanding his parents pay attention to him. He'd seen others kids at foster care do the same. He hadn't wanted to make a bad impression so he'd always kept quiet and played in his little corner by himself.

"But my parents loved them," Mikey said. "Mom really wanted a girl so they kept trying. And that's how two years later Aiden was born. I actually kind of liked Aiden. He was quiet and didn't demand much attention but the triplets seemed to like him more than me. They said he didn't scowl at them like I did." Mikey scoffed, a small pout on his face. "I don't scowl that much."

He was actually scowling right now but Keith was going to keep that to himself.

"Anyway," Mikey continued, "Since I was the oldest my parents said I had to watch out for them. And since I was a big boy now I didn't need to be tucked into bed all the time. I had to share my toys with them and sometimes when we went shopping I couldn't get some of the really expensive stuff that I was used to getting because mom and dad had to get toys for my brothers as well. So when mom announced that she was pregnant _again_ two years later I threw a giant fit. Mom was sure that this time it would be a girl. She was positive. All I could think of was that this new baby was going to take my toys and what little attention remained on me from my parents would be taken away. I shouted that I didn't want another sibling and I wished they wouldn't be born." Mikey paused, and he looked a little sad. "I'd never seen my parents so angry. And so disappointed. At the time I didn't care and from then I started acting like a little brat. I took back all my toys from my brothers, whenever they got something I wanted I made sure to steal or break it."

Keith frowned at him and Mikey lightly laughed.

"Like I said, I turned into a brat. Anyway, mom was seven and a half months pregnant at the time when it happened. My brothers were playing a game in Aiden's room but I wasn't invited. Because I was always mean to them they said. That only made me angry so I slammed the door on them, went to the triplets room and broke all their toys. I made sure to throw them everywhere. In the hallway, in the bathroom, near the stairs. Mom and dad were home at the time. Mom was watching TV while dad was playing the piano in the music room. When Mom saw the mess I'd made she told me to pick them up and apologize to my brothers for doing something so mean. I refused of course. Mom asked me again but I just ran up the stairs to my room and slammed the door on her."

Keith had a feeling he knew where this story was leading up to but he just sat quietly and waited for Mikey to continue his story. And Keith wanted to listen. He did. It was because Mikey had sought him out in the first place and this felt like it would explain some of Mikey's overprotectiveness of Lance.

Mikey paused and swallowed. His fingers nervously tapped his forearm. After a few moments of silence, he continued.

"Mom came after me but with her being seven months pregnant at the time, she couldn't see the floor much. She didn't see the bits of broken toys I left around the stairs until it was too late. Our house had three floors, mom only made it halfway up the stairs before she stepped on something and she lost her footing. She fell with a scream."

There was another pause and Keith wondered if he'd continue. Mikey took a deep breath and continued the story. "When I heard the scream I ran out of my room to investigate and almost wept. Mom was at the bottom of the stairs face down. Blood was beginning to pool around her. I thought she was dead. So I started screaming. Within moments the rest of my family came to investigate and dad cried out in alarm. My brothers began to cry and me? I just stood there, frozen at the top of the stairs, thinking that this was all my fault. I had done this. Dad told us to calm down, he yelled at me and my brothers to hurry and put some shoes on while he gently carried mom to the car."

Mikey's knuckles turned white where he clenched them at his sides. He looked like he was in pain. "Mom was bleeding so much. My dad drove like a mad man but we made it to the hospital in record time. The doctors and nurses took mom immediately; dad went with her while some nurse led us to the waiting room. It was the middle of the night so we were the only ones there. My brothers were crying and holding on to each other and all I could do was sit there and wait for any news. Dad came out half an hour later looking like someone had shot him. He said that mom had lost a lot of blood and that they would have to do an emergency C-section because our sister wasn't getting enough air. Dad was honest with us; they didn't think she would make it. The doctors said they would try their best but that we should prepare ourselves. Pray for a miracle. After that, dad left to go back to mom's side."

He stopped talking again, as if to catch his bearings. Keith wanted to hear more, he was a little impatient. Lance obviously survived in the end, but he wanted to know everything that Mikey had to say.

"So then what happened?" Keith murmured. "If you don't mind me asking."

Mikey bit his lip and sighed. "I did as my dad told me and I prayed. I was young back then so I didn't know much about religion but I prayed to every deity in the world that if they saved my sister then I would stop being such a brat. That I would protect her, watch over her, whatever she wanted I would give her. That I would be the best brother she ever wanted and make a better effort to get along with the rest of my siblings. We were there for hours and no one wanted to tell us anything so I went to find out myself. Aiden and the triplets linked hands and came after me; they wanted to know too. So we sneaked through the hospital until we found the ER, it wasn't hard. Mom was screaming pretty loudly."

Keith nodded and gestured for him to continue but Mikey's gaze went to Lance's pod, his gaze turned soft.

"Then the strangest thing happened," Mikey said, a small smile on his lips. "The whole hospital had a black out. It was only for a few seconds but the second the power came back, there was a small cry. My brothers and I burst inside the ER, ignored the doctors who tried to take us out and made a beeline to our new sister who was being put inside a white plastic box. She was so _small_. But she was breathing."

Mikey glanced at him with a big smile and Keith returned the gesture.

"The doctors wanted to keep her inside the box for a few days because she was born prematurely and her breathing wasn't all that great but mom said that she would be fine. My mom looked so pale but victorious, dad was openly crying, looking up at the sky and thanking every deity there was for letting his little girl survive. I remember putting my face to the box to get a closer look and began to cry. It was at that moment that I vowed I would protect her with every fiber of my being. That I'd be the best brother she ever had. My parents looked at me proudly and when the doctors asked if they had chosen a name for her, my parents exchanged a look and turned to me. Said I should name her."

"So you chose Leah," Keith concluded with a tilt of his head. "Why?"

Mikey scratched his head in embarrassment. He looked almost childish. "It was from a story my parents used to read to me when I was small. It was about a princess whose kingdom was taken over by an evil witch. The princess had to go on an adventure to find allies, make herself stronger, so she could save her kingdom and its people. The girl went through many hardships but no matter what was thrown her way, she never gave up. She always found a way to survive. She was a survivor just like my sister. And that's why I named her Leah."

He paused and threw a wide smile at Keith who felt the corner of his lips lift. "I chose wisely don't you think?"

Keith snorted and glanced back at Lance's sleeping form. "Yeah," he whispered. "You did."

For a moment there was pure silence but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Keith was quite honored that Mikey had told him this story. It was clear that the man loved his sister and yes he was a tad overprotective but now he understood why he acted the way he did. He'd almost lost her before she was born because he'd made a mistake. Lance might act like Mikey annoyed her to no end but it was just a front she put on, Keith could tell. Lance secretly liked all the attention her brother gave her.

Keith licked his lips nervously. "Why did you tell me that?"

Mikey gave him a long look, those dark blue eyes boring into his very being. "Because I wanted to apologize to you." Keith blinked, surprised. Mikey scowled and huffed. "I was a jerk to you when we first met. But here's the thing, I've seen my sister date. And when she was in Cloyetera she would tell me about her new crush and how they were going out but you know what I thought?" Keith shook his head. "I thought no one was good enough for my sister. I could tell. And most of the time I was right. Sometimes they wanted something from her. Sometimes they lost interest and all those times my sister would call me, her face in tears, wondering what she did wrong. So when mom told me that she was engaged?" Mikey arched a brow at him and shook his head. "I thought you were no different. That you must want something from her or it was only a matter of time before you left her too. My sister tends to jump into relationships without thinking them through first. So I took an immediate dislike to you. And for that I am sorry."

Keith was so startled by the apology that if he'd been drinking water he would have surely spat it out.

Mikey grimaced, looking away in embarrassment. "Obviously I was wrong. All that time I saw you two interacting…the way you looked at my sister? You were clearly head over heels for her. And so was Leah, I'd never seen her act the way she does with you or with anyone else. I started to have doubts. But I was still indecisive. Plus, you cursing all the time wasn't doing you any favors."

Keith's face turned warm and this time it was his turn to look away in embarrassment. Mikey chuckled in amusement. "But what really changed my mind was when you took that shot that could have killed my sister. You didn't hesitate and even as they were healing you and Leah told us to leave, you insisted on staying even though you couldn't even keep your eyes open. That's when I knew that you truly loved my sister. That you were good enough."

Mikey straightened and he made it to Keith's side in three quick strides. Keith got to his feet and had to crane his neck just a bit to look the man in the eye. "I know my father already gave you his blessing, but I wanted to give you mine as well. You have my permission to marry my sister and I would be eternally grateful for you to join our family."

And there came the tears. God damn it Kogane, get a hold of yourself. What was it with the McLane family that had him turning into such a crybaby? When Keith had first met Mikey, his first impression of him had not been great. The man had called him a thief after all. Something he wasn't, mind you. Those granola bars were for everyone. Keith just took more than the others. Just twenty…maybe twenty-five of them but it didn't make him a thief. And the way the man had looked at him, like he wanted nothing but to crush him under the heel of his shoes only made Keith's dislike grow for him.

But after that story Mikey had told him, he could understand where he was coming from. He'd just been looking out for his sister and Keith could respect that.

So Keith nodded and tentatively smiled. "Thank you for that. It means a lot."

"Hear, hear!" a male voice said at the doorway.

Mikey and Keith both turned to see the rest of Lance's brothers standing by the doorway with big smiles on their faces.

Aiden was wearing a light blue T-shirt that showed off his lean frame, jeans, and some black and white converse.

The triplets were once again dressed in the same clothes. Red hoodie, black jeans, and black boots. Even their black hair was styled the same. Maybe they did it just to mess with people? If Keith had a twin, he'd probably do that all the time.

The one that looked like he could pass for Lance's twin put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sweet smile that had him on edge. Aiden tightened his hold on him. "But just know that if you ever hurt our sister or make her cry, you'll regret it."

"We know how to get rid of a body." One of the triplets said with a grin.

"In the forest." The other said.

"Or chop you into pieces and throw the remains in the ocean." The last triplet said with a feral grin.

Aiden tapped Keith's nose and swiftly moved away to duck the punch Keith threw his way. "So remember, you hurt our sister and we'll kill you."

Mikey nodded solemnly, his head bowed and his eyes closed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What they said."

Keith turned to take them all in, he made sure his voice sounded deadpan. "You guys are going to constantly tease me aren't you?"

Mikey just chuckled. Aiden grinned. And the triplets wrapped their arms around Keith's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "Welcome to the family Keith!"

Keith groaned but he couldn't help the wide small adorning his face. These guys were ridiculous. He already loved them.

* * *

Krolia found him a few hours later after Lance's brothers had left. They'd played cards with him only for Mikey to throw a fit because they were all cheating. One of the triplets, Kyrian, had suggested they play strip poker. Keith and the others had given him a strange look but the man had just said that he was bored.

Keith shrugged, he was a good player. He had confidence that he wouldn't have to take off anything. He was right of course. Although, Colt did manage to make him take off his boots. Mikey on the other hand had the worst poker face in history. When he had good cards he'd grin like a maniac, when he had bad cards he'd openly scowl. Lance's four brothers had shared a glance with him and he nodded back.

They came to the unanimous decision to pick on Mikey. By the end of the game, Mikey was only left with his boxers decorated in little Pokémon figures before he threw his cards on the floor, called them something dirty in Spanish, and left with whatever dignity he had left, his head held high.

Unbeknownst to him, his boxers were ripped at the back, giving a wide view of his tan butt. Keith was sure he was going to have nightmares about it. Aiden picked up his older brother's discarded cards and began to laugh. "Idiot," he said between chuckles, "He could have totally won with this hand."

That only made them all laugh.

It was nice; Lance's brothers weren't bad company. He was starting to figure out which triplet was which too. Although, it didn't help that the triplets shuffled themselves just when he was getting close. After they'd left him Keith had taken a nap, his back still leaned against Lance's pod in case she woke up early when the sound of footsteps woke him up. Keith was a light sleeper after all.

Krolia looked apologetic. She looked better than he'd last seen her. Her light purple skin looked clean and smooth. Her dark purple hair that was cut in a similar way to his own haircut looked neat and combed. The two dark stripes on her neck that curved around her face looked like they were shining. Apparently she'd met with Kolivan and the rest of his Blades because she was wearing the Blade of Marmora uniform. The skintight black suit fit her well.

It was still strange to him. That he'd found his mother. Well, Lance technically did but still. He didn't know what to say. How to talk to her. He had questions. A lot of them. But would she answer them?

Krolia's violet eyes looked at him for a long minute before they turned to Lance who was still sleeping inside the pod. "I like her."

Keith startled. "What?"

Krolia turned to give him a smile. "Your fiancée." She clarified. "She is strong. I like that in a woman. You chose wisely."

Keith's face turned warm and he awkwardly scratched his cheek. "Umm, thank you?"

God he nervous.

Krolia walked over to one of the rolling chairs inside the medical bay and placed it in front of Keith before she sat down. "You said you had questions. I'm here to answer them. What would you like to know?"

Keith straightened. This was his chance. Where to start though?

After much consideration, he said only one word. "Everything."

So she did.

For as long as she could remember, Krolia had been a soldier for the Blade of Marmora. She, like a lot of Galra, did not approve of the way Zarkon ruled over the universe. And so she'd joined Kolivan and his blades and became a spy for them.

During her time there, she rose among the ranks and tried not to draw too much attention to herself. When Zarkon and his witch, Haggar, created a device that would track the Lion's of Voltron signatures, she along with thousands of other soldiers were sent all over the universe to try and find the lions. Kolivan made sure that a handful of Blades were sent in these scouting parties.

It's when she was flying along Earth's atmosphere that she got a hit. Unfortunately, she was not alone. At least three other members were with her at the time. Knowing that she could not afford to let the Lion fall into Zarkon's hands, she shot down most of her fellow pilots in an effort to sabotage their theft. She'd been victorious but her ship had taken a critical hit and she landed on Earth, not far from where Keith's father lived.

He saved her and nursed her back to health. Over time she ended up falling in love with her rescuer and he with her. Krolia looked up at him during this part, a soft smile on her face as she told him that crashing on Earth was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

She didn't want to leave, and so she devoted herself to protecting the Yellow Lion, and Keith's father agreed to help her. Not long after that, Keith was born.

"You were so beautiful," Krolia murmured as she gazed at him. She was looking at him with so much love in her eyes. Keith knew without a doubt that he was blushing. But he fell himself swell with pride. His mother did love him after all. "I wanted to name you Yorak," Keith's eyes widened in horror. Krolia quietly laughed. "Your father changed my mind though." Thank god for dad.

It wasn't long before more scouts found the Yellow Lion's signal though. Krolia and his father both went to investigate, separating while she handled the Galra soldiers and his father put explosives on their ships. Krolia got rid of the soldiers after putting up a good fight but his father had almost lost his life.

So Krolia decided that it would be better for the two of them if she left, returned to the Empire and lie about the location of the lion. She didn't want to leave, but it was better this way. She gave his father her Blade of Marmora blade with instructions to give it to Keith for when he was old enough.

For eighteen years, she hindered the Empire's discovery of the Yellow Lion. That is, until she was stationed in another base and the druids there got suspicious of her. She escaped a few times but in the end she was captured. That's how she ended up in this planet. Haggar was going to deal with her herself when Keith and Lance crashed on the planet and the barrier was put back in place.

Eventually, Lance found her in one of the cells and broke her out. "I was suspicious of her," Krolia added as she looked over the Amazon where she lay inside the pod. "It wasn't the first time the druids had played mind games with me. But then she said your name, and she knew you were half-Galra, I decided to put my trust in her."

Keith nodded, his mind reeling from everything she'd told him. His mother hadn't wanted to leave them. It was clear from the way she talked about them that she loved both him and his father dearly. He understood why she had to leave. If Zarkon had gotten his hands on the blue Lion it would have been bad for everyone. And Krolia couldn't let that happen, and so with regret, she'd left them and gone back to the Empire. Lied about the Yellow Lion's location and possibly saved Earth from being thrust into a war they couldn't possibly win. She'd kept them all safe.

His mom…was a bad ass.

"What about you?" She prodded with a poke to his knee. "I'd like to know about you. Tell me everything."

Keith nervously licked his lips. Where to begin? At the beginning he supposed.

He told her of his earliest memories. Of going camping with his dad, meeting Shiro and his family for the first time, which led to him asking about the whereabouts of _his_ mom. His father would simply smile and tell him that she was watching over him from the stars.

That only made him think that she was dead though.

He told her of both he and his dad working on bikes. Fixing them, painting them, restoring them. He became pretty good at building one from scratch. He didn't have a mother but his dad made sure to shower him with plenty of love.

When he was around eight, his father passed away. Krolia had suspected it, but him clarifying it still made her look devastated. Keith had to pause in the middle of his story while she caught her bearings. She looked like she wanted to cry but was doing her best to hold it in. Keith could understand that. So after hesitating for a split second, he put his hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze.

Krolia squeezed it back, her grip so tight that Keith wondered if his arm would break. After a few minutes, she nodded at him to continue. After his father had died, Keith was sent to foster care. Shiro and his family found out about it and tried to adopt him themselves but with all the paperwork and the investigating they had to do, it was quite a while before they could.

Keith went to at least six different foster homes. Whenever a family would take him in, they would keep him for a few weeks, sometimes a few months. The longest had been three months, but then he'd been sent back. It made him angry and a little bit sad. He would wonder: What was so bad about him that they always sent him back? Had he done something to offend them? Was it something he had said? He didn't remember, he tried his best to be polite. But sometimes the kids there would tease him. About him not having a mother. That she had left because he wasn't loveable. And that his father probably killed himself because he wanted to get away from him that badly.

Krolia tightened her hands into fists when he said that. For kids to be that cruel, it was horrible.

And so Keith had acted out. He got into a lot of fights for every little comment thrown his way. He'd get sent back to the orphanage but he didn't care anymore. The only thing keeping him sane was Shiro. He'd call him constantly. He'd visit. It didn't matter that Keith was in another city; Shiro would find a way to visit him. And so after four years, the paperwork was finally done and Keith was welcomed into the Shirogane family. They did their best to accommodate them, they were patient with him and for that Keith was eternally grateful for. Shiro never gave up on him, not even the times where Keith would snap at him. At the time Shiro was already in the Garrison and after much prodding, Shiro's parents allowed him to go. Only if he passed the exam though. He did, and with Shiro vouching for him he was allowed to enroll there.

He always made sure to stick close to his friend. The other kids didn't seem to like him. He was too smart. Too good of a pilot that it pissed them off. It's no surprise that he constantly got into fights there as well.

But Keith didn't care. As long as Shiro was with him then he didn't need any friends. But then a year later Shiro disappeared during the Kerberos mission along with Sam and Matt Holt. Keith was devastated. The teachers were claiming that it was the pilots' fault that they went missing. That Shiro had apparently not been a good pilot. But they were wrong. Shiro was a great pilot, something else must have happened.

After getting expelled for punching a teacher, the asshole totally deserved it for bad mouthing Shiro; Keith spent most of his time in the little shack where he and his father used to live. That's where he investigated this strange signal but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find out the source.

A year after, a ship had crashed onto Garrison property. Curious, Keith had gone to investigate. He set up bombs a distance away from the lab where they took the ship, took out the guards still remaining, and found Shiro in an exam table.

Hunk and Pidge had gone to investigate as well and with their help they managed to escape with Shiro and made their way back to his little shack. Once Shiro woke up, he told them about the Galra Empire and how they were searching for something. Keith told them about the strange signal and together they made their way inside a cave where they found the Yellow Lion. Hunk was the only one who could pilot the thing. The Lion took them to the castle of lions where they found Allura and Coran in a healing pod. That's how they found about Voltron and the Galra Empire. Allura said that they would each pilot a lion; they just had to go find them. The Red Lion was inside a Galra ship but Keith managed to get it out of there. Pidge found hers as well.

Shiro's Black Lion was already inside the castle but could not be piloted unless all Lions and paladins were gathered. They found the Blue Lion in a planet full of water; all they had to do was find its pilot. It wasn't long before Zarkon and his army found them and they were separated by going through a wormhole.

That's how Lance had found Keith. She'd saved him from drowning, and two weeks later when his team found him, it was discovered that she was the blue paladin.

Krolia nodded, very intrigued with the Lance's home planet. "It's a planet full of women? Are they all warriors like Lance? When can we go because I really want to it."

It was nice. He didn't know how long he and his mother stayed there talking but probably a while because Hunk brought a blanket and a pillow for him. Even a tray of food for the both of them. He didn't mind it though. It gave him time to get to know his mother. Apparently she was also a fan of knives. Had a collection back at the Blade of Marmora base. Keith had been so excited that he'd sprinted to his and Lance's room, gathered all the knives he had and run back to show them off. Shiro almost had a heart attack when he saw him running with knives in his arms. His friend had been drinking from a mug when Keith passed him. Shiro had promptly spat his drink and run after him. Begging him not to run with knives and for 'god's sake Keith, you want to stab yourself by accident? Stop running in the hallways!'

Shiro liked to exaggerate. Keith was fine; he wasn't going to stab himself by accident.

He may or may have not pricked his finger, but he wasn't going to tell him that.

His mother had been very impressed with his collection and after looking through them, challenged him to a little sparring match. Holy hell. His mom was awesome.

He wholeheartedly agreed.

So they'd pushed back the sick beds to the side, rolled the chairs away, and began to spar in the middle of the room. His mother was good. _Really_ good. She even taught him a few things to better his defense.

The rest of his teammates arrived minutes later to watch. Pidge was taking bets on the side, the little oversized gremlin. Of course she bet for his mom, the traitor. Shiro, of course bet for him and implored him to please win because he'd just bet his last box of Mac & Cheese and he didn't want to part ways with it yet.

All in all, it was a very good day.

* * *

Lance woke up feeling energized. It didn't hurt to breathe anymore. A quick scan told her that her internal bleeding was gone and that the rest of her injuries were gone as well. She felt…strangely comfortable inside the healing pod. She could see her breath in front of her every time she sighed. Could see the frost that covered the door keeping her inside but she didn't feel cold. How… strange.

There was a beeping sound to her right and Lance's blue eyes turned in the direction of the noise. Orange. It must be Coran. The man was looking through the chart on the side; swiping his fingers across the screen to make sure she was done healing before he nodded to himself in satisfaction. Another press to the screen had the door whooshing open, steam and frost coming out as the pod began to power down.

A finger-less gloved hand reached for her and Lance took the familiar hand to help her get out. It was Keith. Keith was here. At the feel of his hand in hers, her brain filled with shooting stars at the sight of him. Thoughts and whispers invaded her mind. Her friends were here as well. Their thoughts were all over the place. Ranging from relieved, to happiness, and eagerness to see her. She focused on quieting her mind, she didn't need a headache seconds after waking up.

Lance put one foot in front of the other and with Keith's help, exited the pod. Immediately afterwards she was enveloped in hugs. Pidge all but shoved Keith to the side where he looked ready to murder the green paladin for the action. Mikey looked like he wanted to join him. Lance stifled a laugh. Pidge was still overly thankful for Lance finding her father for her. Not that Lance minded; Pidge was hardly the hugging type.

The Amazon glanced back at her friends and frowned. All of them looked sleep deprived. Reyna and Adina were not present, neither were the Blades or Lotor and his generals. Reyna she could understand, before she'd gone inside the pod Lance had given her friends an order to investigate that mine where the gray crystals were located. She was going to take them to Cloyetera so they could do an analysis on them. As for the others? She could only assume they were busy.

Keith was paler than usual, dark circles under those blue-gray eyes of his. Lance arched a brow at him, one hand on Pidge's head where the girl was still clinging to her waist. Hunk had his arms around her shoulders. Coran looked like he wanted in on the action, his purple eyes narrowing, ready to dive in if he so much as saw an opening.

Mikey's hands were hovering above her. Her brother wanted to hug her but if he so much as stepped forward, Pidge would hiss at him. Yes, _hiss_. It certainly kept everyone else at bay. Shiro tried to scold her but she totally ignored it. Matt tried to intervene only to get his arm bitten by his sister.

Keith huffed out a laugh, one hand running through his hair in embarrassment. "Couldn't sleep," he mumbled. "Had to make sure you didn't have any nightmares."

That was so sweet. She hadn't dreamt actually. And if she did, she didn't remember any of it. She didn't mind though, she felt well rested. Although…she glanced down at her outfit and grimaced. She was still wearing the bloody ripped dress. She hadn't taken a shower in months.

 _Months_!

She couldn't possibly smell all that good either. No one said anything though, not even Pidge, so that was something.

Lance huffed and looked at all the gathered people. "What is wrong with you guys? Beauty sleep is a good thing."

Shiro smiled but rolled his eyes skyward. Exaggerate much?

The others huffed out a laugh, even her father and Krolia who stood to the side watching the proceedings. Lance lifted her arms to inspect them. Her forearms where Liya had burned her were back to normal. The wound on her stomach was closed but it did leave a pink scar the size of her index finger. Keith lifted his hand to her cheek only to reel back in shock. "Jesus Lance! You're freezing!"

Was she? She didn't feel cold. Frowning, the others put their hands to her bare skin and immediately recoiled.

"Dude!" Hunk wailed, rubbing his arms over her shoulders in an attempt to warm her up. Keith took hold of her hands, squeezing them and blowing hot air into them. Aiden took off his blue hoodie and handed it to her before Mikey could offer her his. Her older brother made sure to growl in his general direction, looking away when her dad gave him a look.

Lance felt completely fine though. Their attempts to warm her up made her a little uncomfortable but she didn't know why. Regardless, she took the hoodie and put it on. She didn't want to worry her friends anymore. Coran hummed and tapped his chin. "Perhaps it's because she just got out of the healing pod?"

Allura frowned beside him, tucking a lock of snowy hair behind her ear pointy ear. "Perhaps a warm bath would do you some good."

"And food!" Hunk exclaimed. "I'll make you some soup to warm you up!"

Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder and cast her a worried look. "How do you feel Lance?" Lance felt something dark and sinister coming from her friend; a shiver of fear ran through her spine but the minute she looked at him it was gone. She wanted to say she'd imagined it but Lotor had noticed something off with the Black Paladin as well. He didn't know what was wrong with him but he warned her to be cautious of him just in case.

Maybe she was overthinking things. Shiro looked so worried, his thoughts on how to make her feel better. Already he was thinking of offering her some medicine just in case she _was_ getting sick. Going inside the healing pod wouldn't make one's fever go away after all. That was something they had to deal with themselves. Shiro was currently contemplating whether he should send her to bed when she noticed everyone was staring. She'd taken too long to answer.

Keith was even waving a hand in front of her face.

Maybe she was just tired after all. There was no reason to fear Shiro. And if something were wrong with him surely he'd let them know. Right?

Conjuring up a smile, Lance faked a yawn. "Sorry, I guess I'm still sleepy. A bath would be good though."

The red paladin narrowed his eyes and took hold of her hands. He slightly jumped at how cold they were and began to rub his thumbs over her knuckles. "I'll set up a bath for her."

Pidge narrowed her brown eyes and crossed her arms over her green shirt. "Bet you guys ten bucks that Keith fucks Lance in the bathroom."

There were quite a few people who choked on their own saliva at the comment. Hunk slapped a hand over his face and groaned. Shiro released an indignant cry that sounded strangely high pitched. Mr. Holt was already making his way over to his daughter, a stern frown on his slightly pink cheeks. Matt slowly backed away from his sister lest he get caught in the crossfire.

Mikey looked ready to murder her fiancée. Her father was stifling his laughter while her brothers were already doubled over. Allura turned a little pink and awkwardly coughed. Krolia looked like she really wanted to laugh at the indignant cry that Keith let out as he waved his hands to an angry Mikey.

Lance herself was sure that she was a blushing mess.

"Pidge!" Shiro cried out, it sounded more like a squawk.

"I'll take that bet!" Coran said, startling everyone.

Shiro rounded on him with a look of horror. "Coran!" he squeaked. He turned his black eyes to Krolia and her father. Mr. Holt was waving a finger at his daughter but Pidge didn't seem to be listening, just nodding when it seemed appropriate. "You guys are the adults here, set a better example! Stop laughing!"

Lance's father cleared his throat. "Yes, you're right." He turned his baby blue eyes to her and Keith. "Make sure you use condoms."

"Mr. McLane!" Shiro shouted in dismay. It was only a matter of time before he started ripping off his hair in frustration.

"Dad!" Mikey shouted in horror.

Shiro turned to Krolia, his last hope. Krolia cleared her throat and looked over her son and Lance before she nodded to herself and turned to Pidge. "I bet fifteen dollars."

Keith choked.

Lance stifled a laugh.

Pidge cheered.

Shiro looked to the heavens for help but nobody answered.

And everyone else laughed.

After much deliberating Shiro took charge and tasked Allura with setting up a bath for her. Pidge was to go to her room, something she was not at all happy with because she insisted everyone was thinking it and she was just the only one who had the balls to say it out loud. That little comment only had Shiro taking her laptop from her, claiming that she would get it back in a few hours. Mr. Holt nodded in approval. The man looked better since she last saw him. He'd gotten a haircut, looked less skinny than before and had changed into some warm clothes.

Pidge had thrown a tantrum but one stern frown from the Black Paladin had her shutting her mouth pretty fast. The adults in the room looked at Shiro in wonder.

"Space dad strikes again," Lance murmured quietly.

Shiro sulked at the name.

"Space dad!" Hunk cheered.

"Space dad!" Pidge yelled on her way out.

"Welcome back Space dad," Keith grinned from ear to ear.

Shiro's bottom lip wobbled as he crossed his arms over his chest with a pout. "You guys are all horrible."

"You love us." Lance teased, her laughter dying down.

"Yeah!" Matt added as he brought a hand over Shiro's shoulder. "We all need a space dad."

Shiro huffed. "Fine, then you're all grounded."

"What?" Lance cried out.

"You can't do that!" Keith argued in dismay.

Shiro gave them both the evil eye. "You two are to be in separate rooms, got it?"

Mikey gasped, loudly. "They were sharing a room?"

Her brothers pretended to look scandalized.

Her older brother looked like he was going to have a heart attack at the news. Keith had told her that he'd basically moved into her own room. She'd been looking forward in sharing the place until they got to Cloyetera. Shiro had just made that impossible though.

Bummer.

Hunk twiddled his thumbs together nervously. "You're not serious right?"

Shiro arched a black brow in challenge. "I'm the dad remember?"

Hunk looked like he wanted to cry. Her poor cinnamon roll. Lance made sure to pat his back in comfort.

Keith called his brother an asshole.

Matt pinched the red paladin's elbow and told him to shut the fuck up but it was too late.

"Yeah!" Pidge cheered. "You tell him Keith!"

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. "I want all of you to go to your rooms and take a shower. If you're good I'll let you out. Allura, you're free to roam the castle. You were the only one that was good."

Everyone pouted and shot a scowl at the Altean princess who gave them a cheeky wave.

With another pout, Lance and her teammates sulked and made their way out of the room. The adults in the room clapped in Shiro's direction, clearly impressed in how he handled their children. Traitors the lot of them. Once they got there, she and Pidge shared a look, Lance telling the green paladin a little secret to get him back. Pidge's eyes twinkled as she paused in the doorway, turned back to the black paladin and said. "Dibs on Shiro's last Mac & Cheese box!"

Shiro let out a cry and chased after the green paladin whose cackling could be heard down the hallway.

Man, it was good to be home.

* * *

Two hours later, Lance and her teammates found themselves walking down a snowy path; the sun was already going down and it had stopped snowing. Lance had taken a really long shower; the Altean Princess had set up a warm bath and laid out some clothes for her.

It was strange coming back. Her room looked different. Keith's scent was the strongest; he'd obviously spent a large amount of time in there. His red blanket lay on top of her blue one. His one black pillow lay scattered between her three other pillows. When Lance sat down to take her boots off, she felt something underneath the covers. Curious, she lifted the blankets up and pulled back a slightly crumpled photo. It was one of Keith and her. Keith was sleeping on her shoulder, drooling, while Lance flashed the camera a wide smile. It made her heart ache. She could just imagine Keith running his fingers over the picture while he lay in bed, trying to find some seamless of sleep before getting up to search for her all over again. She put the picture on her desk and stared.

All sorts of knives littered her mahogany desk. They looked recently shined.

One of Keith's Mothman shirts was sticking out from her drawer. Among the knives was a map of the universe, planets that her team had visited. Most had a big red X on them, Keith's chicken scratch writing on the corners. 'Not here' they said. Or 'false lead.' Other planets had question marks, a post-it next to them. 'Possible leads.' 'Strange rumors of druid activity.'

Lance swallowed the lump in her throat. Keith had looked for her everywhere. Her team had been to dozen of planets, searching for her as they did their duty at the same time. It made her a little sad and a little bit happy.

She'd obviously been missed. Keith must have been so devastated when she disappeared. He'd found her though. And the way he was smiling again…her friends were obviously relieved. She could hear it in their thoughts whenever she and Keith stood together. When they brushed shoulders. When they touched. When Keith's whole face lit up and he smiled.

Keith would light up like a Christmas tree. So would she. She was so happy to be back. But she was going to leave them again.

Lance sighed as she washed the grime of her body. She'd have to talk to Keith soon. The others as well. She'd already told Reyna and Adina before she went in the pod. Lance made sure to tell them to keep it to themselves. Keith would not be happy with the news. He might insist on staying in Cloyetera with her. Or he might ask Allura to step down from being the new blue paladin.

Lance couldn't do that though. Allura had more reason than anyone to have a part in this war against Zarkon. Her friend had lost her people, her whole _planet_ , thanks to Zarkon. Now that she actually had the chance to fight at the front lines…to pilot one of the lions that her father had created…Lance couldn't ask her to step down.

It wouldn't be right.

Besides, Lance had a bone to pick with Zarkon's second in command Haggar. Never before had Lance felt the utter frustration of losing to someone before. She'd never felt so incompetent. It'd made her furious. Made her want to break things.

But Lance wasn't strong enough to face her. Not yet. For one thing, her mental barriers needed to be reinforced. She needed to make them impenetrable. She'd been able to do it with that druid she'd faced in her last battle. He'd been of a higher rank, and yes he'd been strong, but his power didn't compare to Haggar. That woman had been toying with her. She'd hadn't even been at full strength when she'd fought against Lance.

As if Lance wasn't worth the trouble of going full power on. It pissed her off.

She needed to train with her mother. In all the time that she'd trained with her mother, Lance had never been able to break through her mental shields. Her mother was strong. And Lance needed to get stronger.

And there was something else too. Lance sat up and turned on the showerhead. As the water began to drain, she lifted her hand to inspect it and focused. After a few more seconds of intense staring, tiny white spots formed at the tip of her fingers. Snowflakes.

It was…odd.

Lance closed her hand into a fist and the snowflakes disappeared. It looked like she had a new power. She'd need to experiment with it a little more though, perhaps when she got to Cloyetera.

She hadn't noticed the water was ice cold as she turned off the faucet and stepped out. She'd have to find time to talk to Keith later. It was better he hear it from her.

But not yet, perhaps later.

Not long after she'd changed, there was a knock on her door. Lance put down the brush after untangling it from her long hair with a grimace. Her hair was not cooperating, it kept getting tangled and she was slowly losing patience.

With a sigh, Lance walked the distance to her door and opened it. It was Allura. Her friend was dressed like she was ready to go to a ski resort. Pink jacket, purple gloves, dark warm pants, and some purple boots that reached her knees.

Her white silver hair fell in waves down her back and her cheeks were a little rosy. Lance arched a brow at her. "Making out with Shiro?"

Allura turned bright red and averted her eyes. So she'd been right. Lance lightly laughed, Allura punching her on the shoulder with a pout before her face turned somber. "Now that you're awake, the villagers want to have the funeral. They want to pay their respects for those who didn't make it."

Lance instantly sobered. She straightened. "Right. I'll get ready then."

Allura hesitated on the doorway. Lance cocked her head. Allura's blue eyes met her own. "Your hair," she mumbled. "Would you like some help?"

Lance grinned, putting a hand to her chest before she groaned. Loudly. " _Please_."

Allura laughed and stepped inside, giving her a tight hug that was different from her usual delicate and proper princess hugs. This hug was a real one, one reserved only for loved ones and family. "It's good to have you back."

Lance hugged her back just as fiercely. "It's good to be back."

Allura pulled back, a teary smile on her face. She placed her purple gloves in the pocket of her jacket. "The blue Lion will be so glad to have you back. She's missed you terribly." Lance stilled. The thought of Blue made her sad. She missed riding on her. Allura reached inside her jacket and pulled out her blue Bayard and handed it to her. "Here. You deserve to get this back." Lance hesitated before pushing the weapon toward Allura instead. The Altean Princess looked confused. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion before she put her hands on her hips and leveled a small glare in the Amazon's direction. "Okay, what aren't you telling me? What's going on Lance?"

Lance bit the inside of her cheek but physically wilted at the stern look her friend gave her. Fidgeting with her blue long sleeve Lance heaved a sigh. "I won't be staying."

Allura stilled. Her eyes going wide. She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…when we get to Cloyetera…I'll be staying. I won't be coming back with you guys."

Allura released a small gasp. She blinked her eyes furiously as she tried to make sense of what Lance was saying. "I don't –" Allura took a deep breath. She looked at the glowing constellations on her ceiling and let out the air she'd just sucked in. "Explain."

So she did. Lance told Allura of how frustrated she felt after her battle with Haggar. She explained that the witch would keep coming back for her; she wanted Lance's body after all. Lance needed to get stronger; she needed to re-train her mind. Find out what else she could do so she could take down Haggar. Lance explained how she didn't want to leave, she'd just been reunited with them, but it was something that had to be done.

If she stayed here, in the castle of lions, and her powers went out of control she'd be putting their lives in danger. At least in Cloyetera, she'd be surrounded by hundreds of warriors who could rein her in. Calm her down.

When Lance finished explaining all of this to her friend, Allura didn't say anything for a long while. It made the Amazon nervous. When her friend finally spoke, her voice was subdued. Allura put her arms around herself and looked to the side. "I don't think I can do this. I'm not as strong as you, my bond with the Blue lion is nothing compared to yours. It took all I had just to reel her in when we saw you get stabbed." Allura paused and her eyes scrunched up. "The Blue Lion wanted to rush at your side, she was crying for you. I could hear it in my head. You're obviously better than me Lance. You always have been. We've never even formed Voltron yet."

Lance looked at her friend in sympathy. Did Allura really think that? That she wasn't strong enough?

"Allura," Lance began. "I know you may think that you're not strong enough but you're wrong." Allura opened her mouth. Lance sent her a sharp glare that had her closing her mouth quickly. "I've seen what you've done at the Balmera. I may not have been there but I saw it through Hunk and Pidge's eyes. You withstood Haggar's attack and threw it back at her. Believe me, you are strong."

"But that was just a fluke! I don't even know how I did it! And I'm still not that good of a pilot and –"

"Then train." Lance interrupted her. "You've got a really good pilot as a boyfriend. Believe me, Shiro would be thrilled to teach you, he loves spending time with you."

Allura looked down with a pensive frown. Lance put her hand on her friends shoulder and squeezed. "The Blue Lion chose you for a reason. You're the one that brought everyone together. You can do this. If I had to lose the Blue Lion to anyone, I'm glad it was you. And if you ever need some advice or just want to talk," Lance held up her new blue transparent bracelet on her right wrist with a grin. "I'm just a click away."

Allura sniffled, her hands going up to wipe the tears in the corner of her eyes. She smiled and hugged her one more time. "Thank you Lance. I'll try my best to be the Blue Lion's pilot. I'm really going to miss you." She hesitated. "Have you told Keith?"

Lance sighed. "No. Not yet."

Allura sent her a stern look. Lance fidgeted on her feet. "I will though. Soon."

Allura frowned but nodded. "All right, you better do it soon."

"I will."

"He won't be happy."

"I know."

"Might throw a tantrum."

Lance groaned. "Probably."

"He'll definitely say something rude."

"I _know_."

Allura laughed quietly and reached for her hair, running her coffee skinned hands through the brown locks. "Okay then. Let's see if we can tame this beast."

* * *

And that's how Lance found herself outside with her friends and family, walking down the snowy path that the villagers had informed them they would be. Allura had picked out a blue parka jacket, some warmer leggings, and black snow boots for her. Her friend had tamed her hair to something tolerable, some strands she braided while the rest were left to spill over her shoulder. It wasn't bad.

Lance glanced up at the front where Allura and Shiro were walking together. The two of them kept glancing at each other, their cheeks a bright pink. Shiro glanced at his girlfriend from the corner of his eye, his mouth closing and opening as he tried to come up with something to say. He looked flustered.

Pidge looked behind where Lance was walking with Keith and cast her a look that pretty much translated to 'can you believe these two?'

Lance stifled a laugh.

The sun had already gone down. The torches sticking out from the ground illuminated the path they were walking on. Her friends were shivering despite the layers and layers of clothes they were wearing. She was pretty sure Hunk was wearing at least three shirts under his yellow jacket. He looked bigger. Lance on the other hand was a little uncomfortable in her own clothes. When Keith noticed she wasn't wearing gloves, he'd rushed back to the castle and brought another pair and put them on her. Mikey looked pleased with Keith.

Apparently Keith and her brothers had bonded.

It was sweet but Lance was starting to sweat with all the extra layers she was handed.

Lance glanced up at the front where Shiro was _finally_ speaking. "You look very beautiful princess."

Allura blushed a pretty pink and looked at him shyly. "T-thank you Shiro. You look very handsome yourself."

Shiro blushed bright red and he looked away. His right hand bumped against Allura's before he took hold of her hand in his and interlaced their fingers.

They both looked away, small smiles adorned their faces, their cheeks practically blazing.

Pidge made a gagging noise next to her brother who wolf whistled. Coran laughed merrily and beamed at them. Hunk looked emotional, a wide smile on his face. Her brothers who were behind them groaned. Her father made sure to scold them.

Lance looked at Keith who was looking at his brother with a grimace. The Amazon grinned. "You look like shit Kogane."

 _Lie_.

The red paladin looked really good in his red jacket, black pants and black snow boots. He'd put on a red beanie so only a few stray black locks showed. His Blade of Marmora as well as his Bayard were clipped to the belt he was wearing.

Keith's lips twitched and he sent her a playful smirk. "Right back at you McLane."

Shiro turned back to them with a frown. "Language you two."

Keith made a face at him. "Go back to flirting with your girlfriend Shiro."

"Yeah," Lance piped in. "We didn't interrupt your flirting, don't interrupt ours."

Shiro stammered out a response, Allura awkwardly coughing into her hand.

"You know what'd be great?" Pidge interrupted. "If you four shut up."

"Boo!" Lance cried. "Party pooper."

"Shut it you bean pole."

"You want to fight?"

"I can take you on any day ho!"

"Fricking fight me you over-sized gremlin!"

"Guys." Shiro stressed. "Please stop fighting. And Pidge, watch your mouth or I'm taking your laptop back."

Pidge shut her mouth so quickly Lance heard her teeth smack together. Lance stuck her tongue at her, Pidge opened her mouth but one stern look from Shiro had her changing tactics. Pidge gave Lance the finger.

Hunk and Lance gasped loudly. Keith's lips twitched. "Shiro!" Lance cried, one finger pointed at Pidge who now looked panicked. "Pidge gave me the finger!"

Pidge stuttered indignantly. "You _bi_ –"

"Pidge!" Shiro barked. "Watch your language! I'll be taking your laptop again."

Pidge let out a screech.

Lance smirked. That is, until Shiro's black eyes turned to her. "And you're grounded."

"What?" Lance squawked. "Why?"

"Because no one likes a tattle tale."

Keith and Pidge doubled over, howling in laughter. Matt soon joined them. Coran and Allura chuckled. Hunk pressed his lips together and shrugged. "You had it coming buddy."

Lance huffed, pushing Keith to the side because he was still _frickin_ laughing at her. Keith stumbled back a few feet but it didn't stop his chuckles.

All the way in the back, the adults looked on in astonishment. Krolia whistled lowly, clearly impressed by Shiro's handling of his fellow paladins. Reyna and Adina rolled their eyes, their hands interlaced. Slav was in deep conversation with Kolivan who did not seemed pleased. The rest of the blades were talking quietly amongst themselves.

They came upon a clearing. Fifty or so cat people were milling around the clearing, some huddled together in groups. Like Lance and her friends, they wore warm jackets, beanies, and gloves. Mrs. Dossier noticed them first and gestured for them to get closer where the area expanded a little more. Lance could see a large fire pit in the middle. No fire burned in it yet. More cat people milled around the area, perhaps over a hundred or so all together.

As soon as they reached Mrs. Dossier and her family, the people gathered around the place began forming a circle around the fire pit. Mr. Dossier stepped forward to address the crowd, his voice strong and soothing. The man looked better than the last time Lance had seen him. His curly brown hair was neater, his glasses looked new, and he'd changed into a black coat. His brown ears were still. "Tonight we have gathered to honor the dead that perished in the hands of the druids."

Everyone instantly sobered up. The crowd grew quiet, listening attentively to what Mr. Dossier had to say. "Their lives were taken too soon." Mr. Dossier continued.

He gestured to someone in the crowd. A middle-aged woman with puffy cheeks and a stern face walked forward, a torch in her hand. The crowd parted slightly to let her through and Lance watched as the woman tossed the torch in the fire pit. The thing lit up, pink flames burst into the sky before the flame went down to a proper level.

The crowd took a few steps back, Lance fidgeted. Her hand going to her collar to let some fresh air in. She felt distinctively uncomfortable but decided not to voice it aloud. It wasn't the time. The woman stepped back to the crowd and two men came forward, passing out thick sticks to everyone in the crowd.

They were also given a lighter.

As the sticks were handed out, Mr. Dossier began to explain. "Now we shall all say something, a memory, or something nice, about a fallen ally and toss our sticks into the flames, so that the dead may find peace."

Mr. Dossier held up his now blazing torch in the air. "To Lorry Obsain."

"To Lorry Obsain." Everyone repeated, raising his or her own torches high in the sky.

He lowered his torch and tossed inside the fire.

Mrs. Dossier handed little Leah to Dyron and stepped forward next. "To Colver Smith."

They went through so many names, some people even naming two, some saying a few things they remembered about them before tossing their torches in the fire. Her friends didn't know any people here but they raised their torch, mumbled a 'we hope you all find peace', and threw their own torch in the fire.

The fire was blazing; it had turned pink and purple, the flame reaching higher and higher every time a torch was tossed in. When Lance's turn finally came she fought hard against trembling. Liya's body was brought back inside a coffin. The villagers had already dug a hole for her next to three other tombstones. Usually they would burn their dead but Liya and her family had preferred being buried so the villagers made an exception.

As Liya's casket was lowered to the ground alongside her family, Lance tried to think up what to say. She hadn't known her. Not at all. She'd seen through Liya's memories though so perhaps she could say something about that. She glanced at Dyron but he just shook his head. His fists were clenched. Mykal stepped forward and gripped his brother's hand until he relaxed.

As soon as Liya's body was in the ground, all eyes turned to her. Lance swallowed nervously. "To Liya Connel. I may not have known her personally but I know she loved her family and she deserved better. I hope that wherever she goes she'll be reunited with her family. May she find piece in her next life."

"To Liya Connel." Everyone repeated.

Lance tossed her own torch into the flames and stepped back. Mr. Dossier asked for a moment of silence and everyone complied. With that everyone dispersed, some falling into small groups, talking amongst themselves, some were openly crying. Hugging each other.

A few men finished burying Liya and she and Dyron placed a few hand picked flowers on her grave. It seemed Dyron had been a friend of Liya's but had been too emotional to say something about her. Lance patted his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you," he mumbled quietly. "For bringing her back. For ending her misery."

Lance nodded and stayed by his side until he stopped crying.

* * *

It was finally time to go home. After the funeral Lance and her team had stayed for a little longer, paying their condolences. Lance and Keith said their goodbyes to the Dossier family, promising that they would stay in touch. The Dossiers insisted they visit. Keith and her grimaced. She had enough of this planet to last a lifetime. "What do you think about video chatting?" Lance had awkwardly said.

Allura and Coran had already set the coordinates for Cloyetera. With one last wave, the castle of lions left the planet Zaebos behind and made their way to Lance's home planet. They would arrive by the next day in the afternoon. The Amazon made sure to visit Lotor and his generals who seemed pleased with the company. She talked with them for a bit before Lotor told her to go to sleep, they would have plenty of time to talk when they reached Cloyetera. Lance hadn't wanted to sleep by herself and since both Shiro and Mikey denied it, she couldn't sleep with Keith in the same room.

She opted to stay in Hunk's room, something he was immensely pleased with. They stayed up for a long while just talking; passing some chips that Hunk had stolen from the kitchen. It was actually around nine thirty; Shiro had sent them to bed early. The prude.

The two of them had changed into their pajamas, which consisted of some sweats, and a tank top in Lance's case while Hunk settled for a green long sleeve.

Her friend was still worried about her. As soon as he touched her hand he let out a yelp before cocooning her in his big thick blanket. It had her breaking into a sweat immediately. She'd had just enough of people trying to warm her up so she showed that snow trick she did earlier in the shower.

Hunk had questions. A whole bunch of them but he was pretty excited about her new power. So far she could only summon a few snowflakes but at least he took off the blanket he'd wrapped her in once she told him how uncomfortable it felt.

Pidge came in with her laptop and some coco puffs in one hand later on. Hunk arched a brow at her. "Did you steal those from Shiro's room?"

"I plead the fifth." Pidge answered completely stone-faced. Hunk groaned. Lance gestured for Pidge to hand over the box which she did as she settled between both her and Hunk. The green paladin was wearing some warm green sweats, an orange long sleeve and her green lion slippers. Lance made sure to tease her about it.

Pidge huffed and threw a few coco puffs in her direction.

"Anyway," Hunk said once they were settled, "Lance has a new power!"

Pidge's eyes lit up. She turned those brown twinkling eyes in her direction. "Show me."

"A little please would be nice."

"Don't make me hit you."

Lance snorted. "Yeah okay, I'll make sure to wear my knee caps because that's all you _can_ reach."

Pidge glowered in her direction. Hunk bit his lip nervously. "Lance, she will destroy you."

"Oh yeah? How would you know?"

Pidge pushed her glasses up with a cheeky grin. "Because I beat him in chess last week."

Hunk flailed his arms. "Because you cheated!"

Pidge snorted. "I won fair and square."

Lance's lips quirked as she took a handful of coco puffs and shoved them in her mouth. "Oh? And how did she cheat?"

"Yeah, Hunk." Pidge said, leaning into Hunk's personal face. "Share with the class."

Hunk's face turned bright red. Lance was immediately intrigued.

When Hunk refused to answer Pidge just snorted. "I talked about Shay."

Lance turned mischievous eyes to the blushing yellow paladin. "Oh? You mean Shay from the Balmera planet? The one who's _so_ nice? The one with the soothing voice of an angel? The one Hunk has a major crush on but keeps denying it? That Shay?"

"The one and only." Pidge answered with a grin.

Hunk groaned and covered his hands. "You guys are terrible."

There was a knock on the door and all three of them turned as the door swished open to reveal none other than Matt Holt. "I heard there was a party going on in here?"

Lance exchanged a glance with Hunk and Pidge. "That depends, did you bring a gift?"

Matt grinned and reached the back pocket of his navy blue sweats with checkered squares. Something that sounded like a wrapper was heard before Matt displayed his gift to them. It was a bag of mini Reese's pieces. "Fresh from Shiro's room."

"Holy crap." Lance exclaimed.

"Give me one!" Pidge shouted eagerly.

Hunk smiled widely. "Dude, I think I love you."

Matt chuckled and stepped into the room before settling on the cramped floor in front of them. He rolled the sleeves of his green shirt up to his elbows. "You are most welcome."

Pidge kicked Lance's foot with her own. "Show me your new power!"

"New power?" Matt eagerly leaned his head in, a wide smile on his face. "I want to see too!"

Lance rolled her eyes. "Fine." She lifted her hand, concentrating when suddenly there was another knock on the door. Everyone groaned. The door swished open to reveal Allura and Coran with two trays in their hands, Allura's had cookies and Coran's had six mugs with something that smelled like cocoa.

"Mind if we join in?" Allura asked with a smile. The Altean princess had on fuzzy pink pajamas pants and a loose purple long sleeved shirt.

"We brought gifts from Shiro's room." Coran added with a wide grin. The Altean advisor was wearing an orange oversized shirt that reached all the way to his knees and fuzzy orange slippers. Lance seriously hoped he was wearing shorts under there because if he wasn't she was _so_ not okay with that.

"Man," Pidge said with a shake of her head, "Shiro has some of the best shit round."

Matt nodded solemnly. "Amen to that. When we were roommates he'd always hide them in the weirdest places. Whenever we drank we had a game to see which one of us would find the most junk food."

"You guys can come in," Hunk waved them in and both Alteans made their way around their legs until they sat on the floor, leaning their backs against Hunk's closet. "But seriously guys, you have to stop stealing from Shiro's room."

"He has the best stuff!" Pidge argued.

"That's right!" Lance added with a wave of her hands, "If we ever run out of food we can just go to Shiro's room and we'd be able to survive for weeks!"

"He has a hidden cabinet, so we'd survive for a few months." Allura shrugged as everyone shouted in surprise. Coran passed out the mugs and cookies.

"Okay, everyone settled?" Matt asked. Everyone nodded. Matt turned to her, his brown eyes wide in excitement. "Okay, show us!"

Before she could there was another knock at the door and Pidge yelled in frustration. "Just come in already!"

The door opened to reveal a shy Keith in red-checkered loose pants, a black loose shirt that had a UFO on it, and his red lions slippers. "Can I come in?"

Hunk opened his mouth to say yes but Pidge covered his mouth with her hand and narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you bring gifts?"

Keith fidgeted on his feet. He reached inside the pocket of his pants and pulled out a deck of cards. "I brought cards from Shiro's room."

"Boo!" Pidge threw a handful of coco puffs at him. Keith glowered. "We want food!"

Lance sat up and flashed Keith a grin. "Show them your magic trick!"

Keith blinked, a slow smile adorning his face as he eagerly nodded. Pidge snorted. "Magic tricks really?" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned challenging eyes to the red paladin. "This ought to be good."

Keith pouted, his eyes narrowing and handed Pidge the deck of cards. "Pick a card."

Pidge took the deck dubiously but picked a card from the middle of the stack and showed it to everyone. It was the seven of hearts. Keith took the deck back and began to shuffle them. Everyone leaned forward. Keith laid out the cards on Hunk's bed and spread them out.

Pidge snorted and smirked. "Jeez Keith, I didn't know this is what you meant when you said you were magical in bed."

Lance blushed and Keith choked on his own spit. "I never said that!"

Pidge and Matt high fived each other.

"But for the record," Keith said in a huff. "I _am_ magical in bed."

Wolf whistles were aimed in her direction. Was it warm in here or was it just her?

Reaching forward, Keith cleared his throat, the blush on his face adorable, and picked one card at the end and raised it up for them to see. It was the seven of hearts. "Is this your card?"

"Holy shit." Everyone whispered.

Keith puffed his chest proudly.

"Fine." Pidge muttered after her surprise died down. "You may come in."

Keith beamed and climbed on Hunk's bed where he leaned against the wall, his feet touching the back of Lance's hair where he made sure to lightly kick her. She handed him her mug of cocoa and some cookies.

"Okay," Pidge said as she turned to everyone with narrowed eyes. She turned to Lance. "Show us!"

Lance lifted her hand, opened up her palm and began to concentrate when there was another knock on the door. Pidge yelled in frustration, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. "Oh, what now?"

The door swished open to reveal a stern Shiro in gray loose sweat pants, a faded black band shirt that looked really soft, and his black lion slippers. "Some of my stuff is missing. Have you guys seen them?"

Everyone froze and that's when Shiro's eyes took in his surroundings. Aka the mini Reese's bag, the coco puffs, the cookies, the cocoa drinks, and the deck of cards. Shiro arched a brow.

Everyone looked away.

After a minute of awkward silence Shiro cleared his throat. "May I join in?"

Lance shared a look with her friends. Pidge lifted her glasses just a smidge and narrowed her eyes at the black paladin. "Did you bring a gift?"

Shiro gaped at her.

Pidge stared back, perfectly serious.

The black paladin waved his hands at the items in their hands. "You guys have most of my stuff! That's gift enough!"

Pidge snorted. "Yeah, but we had to go and get them ourselves. You know how hard it was trying to sneak inside your room?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, we had to put everything back the way we found it."

"You know how many pairs of boxers I had to go through just to find these cards?" Keith arched a brow at him.

"Coran and I had to find a way to open your secret cabinet without the key. It was quite hard." Allura added lastly.

Shiro's jaw slackened in disbelief.

Lance shrugged. "You heard them Shiro. Bring a gift."

Shiro pouted, one hand running through his white locks of hair. "I'll make you guys popcorn."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"Can we watch a movie?" Pidge asked eagerly.

Shiro's mouth twisted to the side. "It's way past your bed time."

Pidge threw her hands up. "It's literally almost ten! You need to chill!"

Shiro huffed. "Fine. But in return you guys have to go to the living room because you'll make a mess in Hunk's room."

"Aww thanks Shiro." Hunk beamed at him.

"Can we put on a movie?" Pidge asked.

Shiro seemed to consider it. He nodded. "Okay, but we'll keep it low so as not to disturb the others who I'm pretty sure are sleeping."

Pidge turned back to them and exchanged glances with everyone. "Fine."

"I want a horror movie." Keith piped in.

Hunk and Lance paled. They were not fans of horror movies, especially at night.

Shiro frowned. "Nothing too scary though."

"Yeah, yeah." Pidge said with a wave of her hand.

Everyone got up and stretched. Hunk turned to Shiro with a pensive frown. "Actually, Lance and I will make the popcorn."

Shiro protested.

"Last time you used the microwave, you set it on fire." Hunk deadpanned.

Shiro groaned and dragged the skin on his cheeks down. "That happened one time!"

Matt shrugged and bounded over to the blue and yellow paladins. "I want pretzels, I'll go with you guys too."

Shiro sighed. "I guess I can get some juice from my room."

Pidge flicked his elbow. "Bring the soda you prude."

Lance and Keith snickered at Shiro's stammering.

Pidge tapped her chin. "My laptop's in the training room, guess I'll go get it so we can play the movie."

"I'll go with you." Keith shrugged. "I think I left my red jacket there."

"Then I'll go back to my room with Coran to get him some pants." Allura declared. Coran immediately protested but the Altean princess was not deterred and began dragging him out of the room.

"Okay, everyone." Shiro said with a clap of his hands. "Meet back in the living room in a few minutes once you're all ready."

Everyone dispersed.

As Lance took down the bowls for the popcorn in the kitchen, Hunk tapped her hand. "So what are you hiding?"

Lance startled. Matt looked up from where he was crouched, one hand pulling out a bag of pretzels. "What do you mean?"

Hunk frowned and sighed. "You just seem a little fidgety. All the way back to the castle you looked like you wanted to say something to Keith before changing your mind." Lance averted her eyes; a beat of sweat running down her cheek at the stern look Hunk was obviously giving her. She could _feel_ it. "It's nothing."

Matt walked over to stand next to them and looked at her in suspicion. "You know, Allura kept giving you these looks too. Does she know this secret of yours?"

Hunk gasped, a hand on his chest. He looked a little hurt. "You told Allura before me?"

Lance felt like someone had punched her in the gut only to come back and kick her again because it wasn't hard enough. She _hated_ it when Hunk looked like that. It made her feel like she'd set a school with a bunch of kids on fire.

She sighed. "The truth is," she twiddled her fingers nervously. Hunk and Matt waited patiently. "When we get to Cloyetera, I'll be staying."

Hunk blinked in surprise. "Wait, what?"

"But we just got you back!" Matt protested.

Lance sighed and began to explain to them why she had to stay. She told them the same thing she'd told Allura. Lance needed to get stronger in order to face Haggar and for that she required training. Training from her mother.

Throughout her explanation Matt and Hunk patiently listened, interrupting when they had questions but in the end they understood. Hunk bit his lip. "And you need to tell Keith before he finds out from someone else." He concluded.

Matt whistled lowly. "He's going to be _mad_."

Lance huffed. "I know. I'll tell him though. Eventually." Hunk looked at her disapprovingly. "But I will. I promise. So can you guys please keep it a secret?"

Matt and Hunk exchanged glances. "Okay."

"Okay," Lance smiled tentatively back. "Now who's ready for movie night?"

At that moment the lights went off, the engines came to a stop, and a shiver ran down her spine.

Oh, no.

Lance had a really bad feeling about this.

* * *

 _Thank you all very much for the reviews, I haven't figured out how to reply to them but I really appreciated them!_

 _If you liked the chapter let me know and leave a review._

 _I'm very excited about the next chapter *smiles evilly*_


	33. Chapter 33

" _What the hell is that?"_ _I jumped and glanced over to see Kristof staring at Grady, who was waving his arms, rolling his eyes, shaking and moaning._

 _"I think he's possessed," I said._

" _By what? Epilepsy?"_

― **Kelley Armstrong** , **No Humans Involved**

Chapter 33

Matt wasn't going to lie. As soon as the lights went off he released one of the girliest screams of his life and clung to the closest body he could find. It put the scream that Jonah Hill did in the movie _Accepted_ where a skull fell from the ceiling and dangled in front of him to shame. Thankfully, neither of his friends judged him for it. Then again, they released some interesting sounds of their own so maybe they'd come to the unanimous decision not to talk about it.

Either way he was grateful.

If Katie were here he'd never hear the end of it.

He was hoping the body he clung to would be Lance. Any guy out there would not pass the opportunity to cling to a hot girl. But nope. Not today.

Lance didn't have big arms. And she certainly didn't smell like spices and _male_.

Oh well.

Hunk was a good hugger; his hugs had this calming effect that he desperately needed at the moment so he continued clinging to his big arm. The whole ship had stopped moving, he couldn't hear the purr of the engines, and to make things worse all the lights had gone off; strangely enough the AC was still on which is a good thing otherwise they would have run out of air eventually. The yellow paladin put an arm around him. When Hunk spoke his voice quivered. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Yeah," Matt added, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. "Why have all the lights gone off?"

"Lance?" Hunk called out. "Buddy? You okay?"

Matt strained his eyes, trying his best to look in this pitch-black darkness. The sound of hissing and crackling made him turn his head in the direction of the sound. Something blue shimmered. Someone groaned in frustration. Lance.

Hunk inched forward, Matt still clinging to his big arm. He didn't want to be separated. "Buddy, what's wrong?"

Hissing and crackling answered instead. Lance's lightning. Oh! Good idea! They could use some light.

Blue sparks of lightning crackled and hissed at her fingertips, illuminating Lance's face briefly before they flickered out. "Something is wrong."

Oh boy.

Matt licked his lips nervously. "What do you mean?"

A pause. "My powers aren't working well. My sparks keep dying. I tried lifting one of the plates at the counter with my mind but it only floated like two inches. And," she sighed. "I can't get a read on either of your thoughts. I'm only getting snippets."

He and Hunk took a sharp breath.

That…didn't sound good.

Lance sniffed the air, he could hear her but he couldn't see her. A cold hand gripped his wrist and Matt almost screamed bloody murder but Lance's soft voice calmed him down. Jeez. Give this girl a sweater!

"Something smells off." Lance continued as she huddled closer. "It smells…sweet."

"Maybe it's the popcorn?" Hunk nervously suggested.

"I am not sure, but I don't think so."

"We should check on the others," Matt suggested.

"Yeah!" Hunk agreed. "Maybe they know what's going on."

Lance hummed next to his ear. His friend had gotten taller since he last saw her but Matt still had her beat by a few inches. "Yeah, okay. Let's try contacting them."

Matt unwound his strong hold on Hunk's arm and brought his wrist to his face where the transparent bracelet he was given was located at. He was a big fan of them. He didn't have to carry any bags with him as long as he had the bracelet attached to his wrist.

Raising his hand close to his face, he tapped the thing until it lit up. Lance and Hunk leaned in to get a better look. The light illuminated a nervous Hunk who was biting his nails while Lance was looking through the darkness with narrowed blue eyes. Matt anxiously looked up but there was no movement, no noise. It was almost too quiet. The sound of the engine was gone as well.

Gulping, Matt tapped the bracelet until a holographic screen popped up with all his contacts. He tried Shiro first. Nothing. The thing just said no connection. He tried Katie and got the same thing.

"Okay, I'm officially starting to freak out." Hunk declared.

Lance swallowed nervously, she scooted closer and gripped a fistful of his green long sleeve shirt. It seemed the Amazon wasn't a fan of the darkness either.

" _Blue paladin_."

Matt blinked, turning to his two friends in question but neither of them said anything. Maybe he was hearing things?

Lance sighed. "Whatever the case, we need to find our friends and make sure they're okay. But first we need some light because there is no way in hell that I'm walking through this castle in pitch darkness."

"Amen to that." Hunk agreed.

Lance tapped her own bracelet on her wrist, swiped her finger cross the screen and suddenly she was holding a flashlight.

" _Blue paladin."_

Matt spun around with wide eyes. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Oh, no. Matt, please stop trying to scare us even more." Hunk whined. "I don't think my heart can take it."

"Matt," Lance scolded next to him. "Please stop scaring Hunk."

Matt huffed, his arms flailing. "I'm not! Did you guys seriously not hear that?"

"Hear what?" Lance asked as she handed him a flashlight.

He instantly turned it on and wildly flashed it around the room but found nothing. The only things in the room were the fridge, the island counter where the popcorn bags were still perched on, the four hoses embedded on the wall where they got their colored food goo, and the twelve or so chairs situated around a long rectangular table.

" _Blue paladin_."

A bolt of fear shot up his spine. Lance was right; something was wrong. There was something strangely familiar about this voice. It sounded female. Where had he heard this voice before? It was at the tip of his tongue but he couldn't remember.

"Okay, seriously guys. I'm starting to freak out over here," Matt admitted. "Am I the only one who can hear that?"

Hunk and Lance exchanged looks.

" _Blue paladin_."

Hunk jumped, diving behind Lance who looked just as rattled. Matt quickly took hold of her right hand and clung to it like a lifeline. It was a little too cold for his taste but it let him know Lance was close. No way in hell he was going to stand by himself. "Oh, man." Hunk cried, his hands on Lance's shoulders trembling. "I definitely heard that."

"Does this place have ghosts?" Matt whispered.

"I don't know!" Hunk cried, clearly panicked. "It might!"

"It came from inside the room," Lance deduced before she flashed her light toward the counter and began to make her way there. Hunk and Matt followed her closely, sticking closer than necessary, their grips tightening with every step they took. Lance didn't complain though. "We don't have our weapons with us so choose something from the cabinets. I've tried summoning some with my bracelet but it's not working."

Hunk swallowed nervously, his grip on his flashlight loosening. "Do you think we'll need weapons?"

"Better to be safe than sorry."

That was true.

"At least we have light." Hunk said trying to sound optimistic.

"Man," Matt grumbled. "Where are the Ghostbusters when you need them?"

Lance snorted. "Please, I prefer Sam and Dean. At least they're hot."

"Oh, right," Hunk added with a mischievous smile. "You have a thing for Jensen Ackles. Does Keith know?"

Lance's cheeks turned slightly red and she huffed. "He has a thing for Mothman, he has no right to judge me."

Dang, Keith still had a thing for Mothman? It'd been years!

As he and Hunk went to choose a weapon, he was unsure if he should pick a plate or a spoon, the silence stretched on. It was too quiet. The only sound was coming from Hunk who was breathing heavily. Intending to light up the mood, Matt scrolled through his songs for something lighter but no sound came from the bracelet. Frowning, he took it off and was about to try again when that creepy voice came back.

" _Blue paladin_."

Matt was so startled he dropped his bracelet somewhere on the floor. The Michael Myers theme song echoing loudly in the kitchen.

"Matt!" Hunk cried in alarm. "Why would you do that?"

Matt stuttered out a response. "It was an accident! Help me find it!"

He turned back to face his friends and stilled. Lance looked deathly pale where she was leaning against the counter, her blue eyes wide. She lifted a trembling finger, "Guys?" Oh, no. Lance's voice was shaking, and if Lance sounded scared then Matt didn't want to see what the hell she was pointing at. "What is that?"

God damn it.

He was a curious man by nature.

He really, really wanted to know.

He turned in the direction she was pointing at and immediately regretted it. Two purple eyes glowed at the far end of the kitchen. Right where the door was. Hunk let out a wail and scrambled backwards, his flashlight falling to the floor where it rolled under the fridge. Awesome. Matt's own flashlight had fallen behind the counter but he had no intention of leaving his friends' side anytime soon just to retrieve it.

Was it just him or was the Michael Myers theme song getting louder? Oh, why had he let Katie goad him into downloading all those scary theme songs?

'It'll be funny' she'd said. 'We can scare the others with it' she'd said.

Was this karma?

Matt was seriously starting to regret ever listening to his sister. He didn't even like horror movies to begin with!

The three of them huddled together, Matt raising a plate, Hunk raising an apple threateningly in the air as Lance raised the flashlight in the direction the purple eyes were but found nothing.

Nothing was there.

It only made them all whimper.

His transparent bracelet changed the track to the Jaws theme song. It echoed loudly in the kitchen.

Hunk cried out and shook Matt's shoulders. "Why do you have all these creepy songs in your phone?"

Matt didn't blame him. If someone were playing creepy music while they were already scared shitless he would have shaken them too. Probably punched them for good measure.

Lance suddenly yelped. Hunk followed after her, their hands going to their wrists where their transparent bracelets were clamped. In one quick motion his friends removed the bracelets and threw them on the floor, sparks of fire coming out from them.

" _Blue paladin_."

"Jeez," Lance huffed in false bravado. "We get it! Try saying something else!"

"Lance!" Hunk hissed in a whisper. "Don't antagonize it!"

The Amazon flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her blue tank top. Matt could just barely see the Band-Aid/engagement ring that Keith had given her on her left hand. "Or what? It'll insult me?"

"It might." Matt muttered perfectly serious.

" _You…shall…die…_ "

Hunk and he looked over at their friend with a 'see what you did?' look.

Lance pressed her lips together. She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Umm, you know what? Your first line was better, stick with that." Hunk sent her a stern frown, making a 'go on' gesture and Lance practically wilted. "Pretty please?"

" _Death awaits you."_

"A simple no would have sufficed." Lance grumbled.

"Whelp, it's time to go." Matt declared with wide eyes.

"Oh, thank god!" Hunk cried in relief.

Something clattered on the floor. He and Hunk shrieked. The latter threw his apple in the direction of the noise. Lance released a small squeak and took a fetal position on the floor, her hands covering her face. The sound of a plate breaking made them jump. Lance suddenly screamed and he immediately turned just in time to see something wrap around her ankle before she was dragged across the room, her nails scraping on the floor. Her flashlight clattered to the floor. Matt dove for her, his hand latching onto her wrists before he too began to get yanked forward.

Matt released his own panicked scream. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god!"

Hunk dove for them, his hands going around Matt's waist before he began to pull them back. Or at least he tried. The flashlight Lance had just a few seconds ago lay a few feet from them, giving them just enough light for them to see what was pulling the Amazon.

It was one of the food goo hoses.

What the hell was going on?

The cabinet doors suddenly sprang open. Plates began to fly in random directions, breaking, showering them in broken glass. Popcorn littered the floor. Now they had a damn poltergeist? What next? The Jaws theme song continued to play; Katie had gotten him the ten-minute version. The other three hoses on the wall floated in the air, suddenly appearing behind the one that was wrapped around Lance's ankle. Their handles twisted to the side, abruptly letting out a strong stream of colorful goo towards Hunk.

The yellow paladin gave a frantic cry before the strong stream of food goo tossed him across the room where he landed harshly on his back on a pile of popcorn. He didn't move.

Lance screamed her friends name and dislodged one of her arms from his grip to try and remove the hose wrapped around her ankle. Matt used all his strength to drag them backwards. His bare feet made contact with some of the broken glass; he could already feel blood oozing from the wounds. No time to worry about that. With one more yank Lance managed to unwrap the hose wrapped around her ankle. With no one pulling them forward, the two of them fell backwards in a tangled heap of limbs onto the broken glass scattered on the floor. As they lay groaning on the ground, another hose appeared in front of them and Matt barely had time to shield Lance with his body before he was hosed with the colorful food goo.

Normally the food goo wasn't at all heavy. It was soft and squishy. But when it came out of a hose at full power? It hurt like you wouldn't believe it. Lance rolled them away, tossing Matt towards Hunk who still hadn't moved.

Matt rolled to all fours, his eyes searching for Lance just in time to see her dive towards the long rectangular table, lifting it in her arms before placing it in front of her to use as a shield. The chairs fell to the floor with a deafening crash. The now four hoses slithered along the floor like a couple of oversized snakes, letting out a stream of colorful goo as Lance inched her way back to them, the rectangular table taking most of the damage.

When she was just a foot away she lowered the rectangular table to the ground, shielding them before she crawled on all fours towards Hunk. The hoses' reach wasn't long, from this distance they couldn't reach them, all they could do was continue to fling colorful goo in their direction.

"Hunk?" Lance cried, lightly slapping her friends' cheek. "Please, wake up buddy. This is not how you're going to die. Not by the food you love."

Matt's whole body throbbed, his feet hurt, but he crawled to Hunk's side to check on him. The Amazon's fingers sparked. They flickered lowly. It gave them just a bit of light though. Lance lifted her friends green long sleeve shirt with her other hand and took a sharp breath. Matt did the same. Hunk's stomach looked like someone had taken a hammer to it; it was littered in bruises.

Matt grimaced, that's probably how his back looked like too. The cabinets began to shake. The remaining plates sprang toward them. Lance and he scrambled on top of Hunk, covering his unconscious form from any more damage.

Where the heck was everyone else?

Surely they could hear all the commotion by now. Where they coming their way? Or were they dealing with something else too?

As suddenly as it began, everything stopped. The food goo hoses stopped spurting out goo and landed on the floor where they lay still. No more plates were being flung their way. The only sound heard was the Jaws theme song from his transparent bracelet somewhere in the room but that too was coming to the end of the song.

He and Lance cautiously got up from their friend's unconscious form and looked over their shoulders. It was still dark, the only light coming from Lance's flashlight a few feet away where it gave them a clear view of the hoses on the floor along with pieces of broken glass. Those few feet felt like hundreds of miles away.

How did they know this wasn't a trap? That as soon as they went for the flashlight those hoses wouldn't wrap around them and squeeze their bodies until they breathed no more?

They didn't _know_.

And that was the problem.

Lance and he shared a glance. They had to get that flashlight if they wanted some form of light but neither of them wanted to go. Plus, they couldn't leave Hunk unprotected. Someone had to stay with him. "Rock paper scissors?" His friend suggested.

Matt grinned; he was a _master_ at rock paper scissors. "Bring it."

He lost.

Matt could only glare at his hand like it had personally offended him. Which, to be honest, it kind of had. A cold hand squeezed his shoulder, it made him jump. "Good luck." Lance said with a cheeky grin. "If you die I'll let Pidge and Mr. Holt know that you died a hero. Guns blazing."

Matt heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. For a second I thought you were going to tell them the truth. Getting killed by food goo wouldn't have made me sound heroic. You're the best Lance."

She grinned. "Oh, I know."

Matt peaked behind the rectangular table still shielding them with narrowed eyes. Nothing jumped out at him so that was already a plus.

 _Okay Matt. You got this dude. All you need to do is get the flashlight and then sprint back to your friends. You can do this. This ghost or whatever ain't got nothing on you. Time to show your mad skills!_

Matt breathed in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. He looked at Lance and Hunk from his peripheral vision as he crouched on the back of his legs. The yellow paladin groaned, he was waking up. Nice. "Remember me as I was. Strong, handsome, a total ladies man. And also –"

Lance groaned and threw an apple at him. He yelped. "Just go!"

"Yes ma'am!" He dove to the side with what others might call an unnecessary roll and sprinted toward the flashlight. His bloody feet left marks behind; all the glass on the floor was just cutting his feet more. Almost there.

Just a few more feet.

And….there!

His hands closed around the flashlight with a triumphant whoop before he hightailed it out of there on all fours. He'd never crawled so fast in his life. Babies made it look easy; Matt was already out of breath. The hoses didn't move but just in case they did, he didn't want to be anywhere near them. With the flashlight in hand he was able to avoid most of the broken glass until he made it to his friends.

Hunk was already awake, his face was etched in a painful grimace as Lance tried to heal him. Her hands flickered green on his stomach and she looked a little annoyed but they were both okay.

Hunk noticed him first, his obsidian eyes going wide with relief as he managed to sit up. "Matt! You're okay!"

"Except for his feet." Lance grumbled, turning her head to look at his bloody feet with a grimace. "Come on over, I'll try to heal some of it and then we can go find the others. I'm worried Keith might be fighting somewhere."

"Probably." Matt muttered with a roll of his eyes. "He'd probably antagonize a ghost on purpose and demand it fight him like a man."

Hunk and Lance's lips twitched.

"Yeah," Lance chuckled as she moved on to inspect his feet. Her hand wrapped around the red crystal around her neck and gave it a squeeze. "You can see why I'm worried."

Leaning back on his hands, Matt stretched his legs so Lance could inspect them. He pointed the flashlight at his feet to give her a better look. Her cold touch was surprisingly soothing on his throbbing feet. Hunk ripped a piece of his green long sleeve and handed it to her. She took it with a nod of thanks and wiped the blood away.

Both of his friends had lost their lion slippers along the way, leaving them both barefoot like him. Lance would probably be fine because of her thick skin but Hunk? Not so much.

"Guys, it's over." Hunk said, relief evident in his voice. "We won."

Lance and he grinned.

The Amazon had only been healing his feet for no more than thirty seconds before Matt felt a dark chill down his spine. He was filled with a sense of foreboding. Lance made a gagging noise, one hand covering her mouth while the other went to her head, her body hunched forward. Sweat began to form at her temple.

Hunk let out a whimper, his eyes wide and panicked as he looked around. "Do you guys feel that?"

"There's…something here…"Lance managed to say; she looked like she was going to be sick.

The hairs on his arm were standing on end. The hand that held the flashlight shook. For some reason he was really scared of lifting it up so he could see what was in the room with them. This dark chill…it felt familiar.

Lance suddenly gasped. Matt's brown eyes went to her. Lance was staring at something behind Hunk with wide eyes. He really didn't want to, but he followed the direction her eyes were looking and immediately stilled. Purple eyes glowed in the dark a few feet behind Hunk. He could see some kind of dark shape.

Lance and he started to lift a finger, intending to point at the purple eyes behind their friend.

Hunk crossed his arms over his wide chest and scowled. "No. We won." His voice began to quiver. "I'm not turning around to look. We _won_."

He slowly moved closer until he was beside Matt though, not once turning around. With a trembling hand, Lance took the flashlight from his death grip and slowly lifted it up. All three of them gasped.

It was Shiro.

"Oh, thank god." Matt cried in relief, one hand on his chest where his heart was still pounding loudly. "We thought it was a ghost or something."

Shiro didn't say anything. Just stood there staring. Matt was starting to get nervous with that intense stare. His friend was still wearing his gray sweat pants, his faded black _Muse_ shirt, but was missing his black lion slippers.

Hunk began to get to his feet, a wide smile on his face. Lance hung back, her eyes narrowed into slits where she was still crouched on her knees. Why? It was just Shiro…right?

Matt cautiously got up, one hand outstretched in his friends direction. "Shiro?"

He took a step forward when Lance's hand shot out like a viper and gripped his wrist so hard he almost cried out. The Amazon was starting to look green. The hand that was tightly gripping his hand shook. "That's not Shiro."

Hunk and he blinked. Shiro continued to stare.

"What do you mean?" He asked. That was obviously Shiro standing in front of them. Had Lance forgotten what he looked like or was she hallucinating? She did look pretty sick.

Lance didn't answer him. Her breathing sounded heavy as she turned angry blue eyes at the black paladin. "Admit it, you're not Shiro."

Shiro smiled slowly. Now normally, when Shiro smiled he usually made girls swoon. His friends' smile had this effect of looking both charming and handsome; it's something the girls used to say whenever Shiro smiled at them back at the Garrison. And unfortunately for Matt, it usually meant that they weren't interested in him. Only his friend.

That was fine.

Matt could admit that his friend was handsome. His smiles were one of the most charming things about him. It made his face look younger, the way it made his whole face soften. Having that smile directed at you made you sit a little straighter. It made you puff with pride because somehow, someway, _you_ were the one who made that smile appear.

The smile that Shiro was doing now though?

It'd make babies cry. It'd make you shut the door on his face and lock all the windows. It'd make you piss your pants. Matt may or may not have pissed himself. Only a little. Just a tiny, tiny smidge. Hopefully Lance won't pick it up with her high sense of smell. But yeah, Shiro's smile was downright homicidal and it made Matt take a few steps back. This was not his friend.

Shiro _never_ smiled like this.

 _Ever_.

Lance growled, her eyes displayed pure hatred as she got to her feet. She made sure to put Hunk and Matt behind her. Oddly enough, it didn't make him feel any less of a man. "Haggar." Lance practically spat.

Holy mama.

Haggar?

Ten thousand year old witch that wanted to take over Lance's body?

Creepy witch that liked experimenting with peoples bodies?

That old ho?

This was not good.

This was not good at all.

He briefly wondered if an exorcism might work. Where was a bible when they needed one? At least they could smack her with it. Perhaps he could make a cross with some spoons, he'd feel a little safer with it.

Hunk let out a whimper. Matt's sentiments exactly.

Shiro chuckled; only it didn't quite sound right. It sounded like Haggar but there was an undertone that was clearly Shiro's voice as well. It was like two people were laughing at the same time.

"Took you long enough, Blue Paladin." Shiro err Haggar said. Matt was just going to call him Not Shiro. The black paladins face twisted into a sneer. "Those incompetent fools in planet Zaebos couldn't do one measly thing. I have to do everything myself. At least you're finally awake."

"Give Shiro his body back!" Hunk cried.

Not Shiro whipped his head at the yellow paladin and all but hissed at him. "Quiet you damn fool!" Hunk took a few steps back. Matt swallowed nervously.

Where were the others? Had Not Shiro done something to them before coming here? Is that why they weren't coming?

"It took a little longer than I expected," Not Shiro said with a shrug of his shoulders. "The black paladin resisted, he put up a good fight for quite a while. But in the end, I won. I was just waiting for the right moment to strike. With the others asleep this was the perfect time."

"Is Shiro," Matt started and almost squeaked as those glowing purple eyes turned to him. "Is Shiro still in there? Or…" He trailed off. He couldn't quite finish that sentence without feeling like the world was going to end.

"Dead?" Not Shiro cackled. "Oh, no. He's still here. Watching. Screaming. Begging me to stay away from his friends. He deserves a front row don't you think?"

This god damn _bitch_.

Matt had never wanted to punch a woman in the face so much in his life. His hands clenched into fists, he couldn't do that though. This was still Shiro's body of course. His friend might not like the shiner Matt was bound to leave on his jaw.

"So why are you here?" Lance asked, she still looked a little green but she was the only one holding her ground. Her voice was calm and steady. "To come and take me?"

Not Shiro grinned. Creepy. "For one thing. The rest? Well, that's for me to know."

For a moment no one said anything. His transparent bracelet had stopped playing music and the only sound coming was Hunk's heavy breathing. Matt's own breathing sounded shallow to his own ears. The tension in the room could be cut with a butter knife.

After what felt like forever, Lance took a step forward and looked at Not Shiro in the eye with steel determination. Her palms clenched into fists. "Don't worry about a thing Shiro. I'll save you. I promise you."

For a moment Matt could have sworn that Shiro was back in control. His face had sagged in relief; a tiny wobbled smile appearing but as soon as Matt blinked it was gone. Not Shiro growled low in his throat, his face turned into a sneer. "We'll see blue paladin."

That was all the warning they got before Matt and Hunk were thrown against the wall by an unknown force with such strength he felt something snap. Not Shiro lunged for Lance, the Amazon dropping the flashlight, bringing up her hands to cover her face before Not Shiro brought his prosthetic hand forward and punched her hard in the stomach. Matt heard something crack. Was that a rib? Had Not Shiro broken one of her ribs?

So not cool.

Lance coughed up blood, her body thrown harshly over the counter. Hunk and he groaned. The yellow paladin looked dazed, blood dribbled down his temple. Matt tried to sit up only to howl in pain. His shoulder throbbed. Had it dislocated?

So not the time.

"We have to go help her!" Hunk cried, he wiped the bit of blood running down the side of his face with his forearm and shot to his feet. For the first time since Matt had met him, Hunk looked livid. It gave Matt the chills. The yellow paladin thrust a hand in his direction; with a grimace Matt took it and got hauled to his feet by his good hand.

Dislocated shoulder or not he wasn't planning on leaving a girl in distress to deal with a ten thousand year old witch who was possessing his best friend. With a grunt, Matt ran in the direction the four hoses had been, praying that they were still there.

They were.

Hunk seemed to understand what he wanted to do and followed his lead. Together they picked up a hose, aimed it at Not Shiro and waited. Lance and he were now in the center of the room.

Two bodies rolled on the floor, it was clear that Not Shiro had the upper hand, but if there's one thing Matt knew about Lance McLane was that you should never underestimate her. Not Shiro suddenly let out a pained yelp and was thrown backwards by a hard kick aimed at his midsection.

The room suddenly turned cold, Matt could see his breath with every gasp he took. What the heck?

Ice began to spread further and further, faster and faster, and Matt could only watch in astonishment as the whole room was suddenly covered in ice. Even the floor was coated in ice. The cold of it knocked the breath from him. Hunk's teeth began to shatter.

When Not Shiro lifted his head, there was white frost along his right cheek. He screamed, loud and pained, stumbling backwards in shock. Matt looked back at Lance where she was sitting up, her eyes glued to her hands in awe. Her _white smoking_ hands. Was that frost on her hands? Had Lance made the temperature drop? Covered the room in ice?

Whoa.

Now that was frickin cool.

Guess he knew what Lance's new power was.

Not Shiro growled and began to get up. The frost on his cheek began to disappear. "A new ability?"

Matt aimed the hose in his direction. "Now Hunk!"

With a twist Hunk and he were pushed a few feet back as the hoses they held let out a colorful display of food goo. Not Shiro was thrown towards the fridge with a hard crash.

"That's for messing with my best friend!" Hunk yelled at the cursing Not Shiro.

"Hell yeah!" Matt cheered. "By the way, if you're in there Shiro…sorry about this."

It took them a while but somehow he and Hunk made it to Lance's side. She had a split lip and she was breathing harshly. Her eyes were beginning to droop but she rapidly blinked to stay awake.

Was Haggar's energy that strong?

Matt felt a little nauseous and his head throbbed like someone had used it to practice before actually trying out the drums. The only thing that really hurt was his shoulder, which was beginning to throb the more he held onto the hose.

The ice in the room began to melt. The ground felt wet under his bare feet.

Coran was not going to be happy about this.

"It was her," Lance wheezed, wiping the blood from her lip with a scowl. "She turned off the power. The only reason the AC still works is because she put Numbing Waxide in the vents. That's why the air smelled sweet."

"Uh, what the heck is Numbing Waxide?" Hunk asked for the two of them. His hose was still aimed at Not Shiro, the hose showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. The same went for Matt's hose.

Not Shiro spluttered and cursed. He said something really mean; it only had Matt turning the hose to full power. The jerk.

Shiro's body could take it.

Probably.

Maybe.

Fingers crossed.

Lance shook her head to clear it. "It's a poison that only affects Amazons. It dulls our senses, eventually numbing our bodies until we lose consciousness. After that our organs shut down one by one until eventually we just die. It's a very slow death. Sometimes it takes days, sometimes weeks."

Well crap, that didn't sound good at all.

"This one seems stronger though," Lance continued. "Haggar probably used it so I wouldn't put much of a struggle for when she took me. Also," The Amazon's face turned grim. "She wants Lotor."

Hunk and he startled. Why the heck did that witch want the Galra Prince? Did she want a reward from Zarkon for delivering him? Or had the Galra Prince betrayed them and joined forces with Haggar? He decided to ask.

"I don't know," Lance admitted. Her hand went to her head, she hissed in pain. "I could only get a few fragments from Not Shiro's head before I was thrust out. As for Lotor, he and I made a blood oath. He's innocent."

"Question," Hunk turned to his friend with a worried frown. "Is there an antidote for this Numbing Waxide? Because I really don't want to lose my best friend like this."

Lance offered a pained smile. "There is. We might have the ingredients to make one or maybe…"

"Or maybe what?" Matt asked when she didn't continue. His hose was starting to feel light. Was it running out of food goo?

"Reyna and Adina might have some. As Amazons we're trained to know about all types of poisons and their antidotes. For those who have the healing ability and are practicing in it, they are required to carry both the poison and their antidotes in case of emergencies."

"And since Adina has been studying as a healer –" Matt started.

"Then she might be carrying some!" Hunk finished with a smile.

Lance nodded.

"Then let's get the heck out of here!" He shouted. His sentence hadn't even died out yet before the hoses that he and Hunk were holding spluttered and died. There was no more food goo.

Crap.

And since the power was still off the doors wouldn't open automatically. They'd have to pry them open. He was pretty sure that Not Shiro wouldn't stand around and let them do that though.

Double crap.

Not Shiro roared in outrage where he, and Matt kids you not, began to float ten inches from the ground, purple sparks of electricity shooting out from his not prosthetic hand. His friends' body was covered in orange and purple food goo but it soon disappeared with a sizzle leaving him in his pajamas. Correction. Ripped pajamas. Shiro wasn't going to be happy about that; he was a big fan of _Muse_ and now his favorite band shirt was ripped from the sides.

"Guys?" Hunk took a few steps back. "What do we do now?"

Lance gnawed on her lower lip. "Shiro, stay!"

Not Shiro snarled. Lance put her hands on her hips and pointed a menacing finger at him. "Bad Shiro! Stop that!"

"Where's a newspaper when you need one?" Matt joked nervously.

"Or some salt?" Lance offered.

"Guys!" Hunk cried with a wave of his arms. "This is not the time!" He paused. "But we all know that in this case, we need the bible."

Ain't that the truth.

Before they could answer Not Shiro leaped toward them with a growl. Lance and he let out shrill shrieks that would put little girls to shame. Hunk fell on his butt. Just as Lance was beginning to place herself in front of them there was a howl and something humongous and blue intercepted Not Shiro, throwing them both to the ground so hard the ground shook. Water sprayed them in the face.

Matt turned wide brown eyes to the scene, it was still fairly dark but the flashlight somewhere on the ground illuminated enough for them to see. It was Shadow.

Lance's wolf was snapping his jaws, clawing at Not Shiro, snarling at him in anger. Not Shiro looked slack-jawed at the creature but quickly got his bearings, turning his prosthetic hand into a sword and began swiping in the wolf's direction. Just as it looked like Shadow was about to get stabbed, he disappeared only to reappear behind him.

What the dickens?

Shadow thrust out a paw and drove Not Shiro to the ground. His big paw on the black paladins back. As Lance's wolf began to bend down, his jaw opening wide to wrap around the unconscious Not Shiro's neck, Lance cried out for him to stop. Shadow paused, turning innocent green sea eyes to his owner, his head cocked to the side, his blue ears tipped downward as if he'd been scolded.

Man that look was adorable.

"Leave him Shadow, just get us out of here." Lance ordered, a hand going around her middle. Hunk put an arm around her waist to help her out.

The giant wolf looked back at Not Shiro with a growl but quickly bounded in their direction, bending down so they could get on top. Lance settled herself at the front with their help, Matt behind her, followed by Hunk. Matt gave Lance a quick scan and frowned. She felt a little too warm. They had to find the other two Amazons quickly, Lance didn't look too good.

Hopefully they were okay with this scent in the air.

Just as Shadow began to get up there was an inhuman growl from behind them. As one they all turned to see Not Shiro flying towards them again. Shadow growled and with a strong swipe of his tail, threw him towards the chairs where he landed with a groan.

Lance patted her wolf twice. "Now Shadow!"

Suddenly it felt like the air was squeezing him, like their bodies were being shoved inside a small box where they obviously wouldn't fit. Matt and Hunk tensed. The world turned dark, the food he'd eaten earlier felt like it wanted to come back up. He quickly covered his mouth and willed the bile to go down and squeezed his eyes shut.

And just like that they were suddenly running down the hallway, pass the living room, and into the hallway leading to the first set of rooms. He still felt nauseous but somehow he'd managed to keep his food down. Hunk on the other hand leaned to the side and hurled out all his contents. Matt winced.

Poor Coran. Not only would the castle advisor have to clean up the kitchen but now the hallways too. Sucks to be him.

Apparently Lance's wolf could teleport. Go figure. A little warning would have been nice though.

Where the heck could he get one? Because this wolf was seriously awesome!

Matt wrapped his arms tightly around his friend's waist, Hunk doing the same behind him. His hand throbbed. He really hoped that wherever his sister was she was okay. Last he remembered she and Keith had gone to the training room. The red paladin could kick some serious ass so she had some form of protection.

His dad was most likely fine. The power was off so he was probably locked inside his own room. His father wasn't quite to full strength yet so he in all likelihood wouldn't be able to pry the doors open by himself.

Good.

At least he was safe.

"We should stop by and pick up Allura and Coran!" Hunk suggested from the back as he wiped his mouth. "Their rooms are in this floor. Everyone else should be on the lower floors!"

Lance nodded at the front, her brown hair slapped him across the face but it was a small price to pay if he got to ride Shadow.

The Amazon's head shot up, Shadow came to a slow stop in the hallway leading to both of the Alteans room. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Oh, no," Hunk whined in the back. "Tell me Not Shiro didn't find us yet."

Before Lance could answer something skittered along the floor. All three of them tensed, Shadow slowed to a stop and released a low growl, his body already crouching, ready to spring. What the heck was that?

Matt groaned. Loudly. "First the lights go off, then we almost die by a poltergeist, and then Not Shiro appears trying to kill us. What's next? I swear to god if there's a zombie around the next corner I'm going to lose it!"

Hunk groaned behind him. "Oh, Matt. Please don't jinx us."

Matt's eyes went to the floor, searching for anything amiss. Just as he was about to give up, two small shapes darted across the hall. Then three more. Lance's hands sparked blue as she lowered them a little more to get a closer look.

What Lance's lightning illuminated was not their possessed friend.

It was worse.

So much worse.

It was five white porcelain dolls, clothed in fancy dresses, their eyes glowing a dark red but that wasn't the scariest thing about them. The scariest thing?

They were holding a knife.

Matt and his friends screamed.

* * *

 _A few minutes before the lights went out…_

Coran didn't see why he had to be dragged to his room just so he could put on a pair of pants. He was wearing a long shirt; it covered all the important stuff. Plus it showed off his legs so that was a plus.

He was quite proud of them. Most of the castle inhabitants didn't know it but Coran worked out. Mostly in his room just to get some privacy but he did. He'd paid close attention when the black paladin trained the rest of the paladins. Lady Lance had even taught him some defensive moves too.

Unfortunately for him, as soon as the princess had looked at him she'd paled and looked away. The other paladins had stared at his visible legs before averting their eyes. Did his legs look that good?

That thought quickly disappeared when Allura turned back, her face oddly serious. "We're going back to your room to get you a pair of pants."

Coran had protested but the princess was not deterred. He'd looked around the room, trying to find one ally among the paladins but none of them met his eyes.

Bollocks.

He may have binged that Sherlock Holmes show that Matt had showed him and taken an instant liking to those swear words. They sounded so sophisticated. Especially when they did it in that British accent. Oh, how he envied Allura and Lotor for their accents. If they said it, with their accents, it'd sound absolutely marvelous.

He'd get his revenge on the paladins for not having his back the next time he went on a cleaning spree. He'll make them all join him, by force if it comes to it.

Grumbling under his breath, Coran all but stomped to his room in a huff. Allura close behind him. He wanted her to know that he was doing this involuntary but the squeaks his slippers let out for every step he took put a damper on that.

Curse his slippers. He loved how snug they made his feet feel but gosh darn it they squeaked like…what was the name of that Earth animal the paladins had mentioned? A duck? Yes, that sounded right.

His slippers released a similar sound to that animal.

It made his stomping downright comical.

He had the sudden urge to skip around in effort to make the squeaks sound musical when he remembered he was still mad. Finally reaching his room he waited for the door to swish open before stepping inside. Allura followed after him, to make sure he actually put some good pants on. Not those tight skinny jeans that he'd found on the Earth store at the swamp moon.

The red paladin had a similar pair. They made his flat bum look like he actually _had_ a butt. Imagine what they would look like on Coran? He'd make the ladies faint.

As soon as he stepped inside the lights in his room lit up. Coran almost let out a frantic scream when he came face to face with one of Allura's _Princess Princess Dolls_ on his desk. Now what the dickens was that thing doing there?

Allura smiled, stepping forward to pick up the doll with a warm smile. The four mice perched on her shoulder leaned closer to take a look. "Princess Aisha! Why, don't you look lovely?"

The doll in her coffee colored hands had white silver hair cascading down her back. The Altean markings under the corners of her brown eyes. It was wearing a fluffy pink dress with frills.

Princess Allura had a thing for these creepy dolls. Her father Alfor had given her a few on special occasions but Allura had loved them so much that back when their planet Altea was still around, she'd drag Coran to the stores, all but demanding he buy her another one.

The _Princess Princess Dolls_ series had about fifty different types of dolls. Allura bought each one and somehow, someway, they had managed to stay in tiptop shape despite the fact that ten thousand years had passed. He was hoping they had turned to dust by now but no such luck.

The minute Allura started dating the black paladin she'd all but moved the dolls to Coran's room. She didn't want to freak Shiro out with her massive doll collection. Said he'd be creeped out so she'd only kept her top three and forced the other forty-seven dolls on him.

Coran would have protested but he could never really say no to the princess. Besides, just because he had to keep them in his room didn't mean he had to look at them. He made sure to pile the boxed dolls in the deepest corner of his walk in closet.

Still though, what was that doll doing on his desk? He never took those creepy dolls out of his closet. Or out of their boxes. Before he could ponder that thought some more the lights went off, the engines rumbled to a stop, and Allura released a startled cry.

Oh, what now?

Coran waited for the power to come back on, hands on his hips and mustache twitching in annoyance. Nothing. The power wasn't coming back, which was…odd. Whenever they had a power out the emergency generator would start up. Not this time though.

"What do you think happened?" Allura questioned in the dark.

Coran narrowed his purple eyes, one hand twirling the end of his mustache in thought. It always brought him comfort and helped him think better. Allura denied it, said he just liked showing it off which wasn't all that wrong but still. Allura didn't have a mustache, she didn't understand how much relief it brought. It was truly a shame.

She probably wouldn't be able to pull it off anyway.

The green paladin though…hmm. She might.

"Only one way to find out!" Coran declared, making a mad dash toward the door only to release a startled yelp when Allura pulled him back by the end of his orange shirt.

"Not until you've put some pants on." She scolded.

Gosh darn it.

He'd been so close!

"Fine," he huffed, stomping his way to his closet, his slippers quacking away with every step he took. It didn't matter that it was dark; Coran knew where everything in his room was like the back of his hand. He threw the closet doors open with a dramatic flourish before walking inside.

If he remembered correctly, and he did, he had some pants on the upper shelf in the right corner of the room. Since it was technically bedtime he decided to wear those gray fuzzy pants. Not only did they match Princess Allura's own pink fuzzy pants but they also kept him nice and toasty.

He headed right for them.

Something touched his foot. Coran almost screamed. Almost. "Hey," he called with a light quiver in his voice. He cleared it. "Allura, are all your mice with you?"

A pause. "Yes, all four of them are here." Allura answered. "Why?"

Because something just touched his foot and he didn't know what it was. Perhaps Nagini and Nagg, Lady Lance's double headed snake, had made its way in there? It wouldn't be the first time. Only problem was that there was no hissing.

Something clattered at the far end of the closet. Coran jumped.

"Coran, are you all right in there?" Allura called. "Would you like me to come help you?"

Coran cleared his throat. Maybe he was imaging things. "Ah, no. That's quite all right. I can handle finding a pair of pants."

"Make sure they actually look decent." Allura teased from his bedroom.

Translation: Wear something boring that won't make people look at you twice.

Grumbling something that would have surely made his mother cry he walked further into the closet when he stepped on something. Frowning, he bent down to retrieve it and blinked. It was still dark but from the feel of it, he was pretty sure he was holding another doll.

Coran squinted at it. "Now what are you doing here?" He murmured quietly.

The doll giggled in the voice of a little girl. Coran almost threw the thing on the floor before he remembered that the dolls could speak. They only had three or four lines, he didn't remember all that well, but he was sure they could giggle.

" _Won't you play with me?"_ the doll asked in a high-pitched voice.

Coran cleared his throat. "Ah, no thank you milady. I'm quite busy."

The doll didn't say anything. Coran began to put it down when suddenly the dolls eyes glowed red. " _I said,"_ the dolls voice changed to something male and distorted. " _Play with me!"_

Coran was so freaked out he hurled the doll to the corner of his closet where it landed with a small thud. What in the world?

Coran's eyesight had adjusted to the darkness by now but what he was seeing now made him rub his eyes in doubt. What he was seeing couldn't possibly be right. One by one more pairs of red eyes joined the first one. The Altean advisor lost count after eight.

Allura released a startled scream. Coran took a step in the direction the princess was when suddenly dozens of distorted voices began to talk all at once. " _PLAY WITH US! PLAY WITH US!"_

Coran ran like his butt was on fire, scrambling to get out of his closest, refusing to look back. He could hear feet scurrying, giggling, and what strangely sounded like threats. As soon as he made it out he closed the doors, catching sight of a doll with red glowing eyes and a sneer on its face.

What in the name of King Groggery the infirm was going on?

The dolls on the other end pounded at the door, their giggles bringing a chill down his spine.

Allura screamed in terror, Coran turned toward the sound, just barely making out the princess pulling at something on her head. It was one of the princess dolls, its red eyes glowing as it clung to Allura's long silver hair.

Scrambling to his desk he picked up a spare pillow and began to hit the doll on the princess's head until it fell to floor with a hiss before skittering away to who knows where.

"Princess!" The Altean advisor rushed to her side, checking her for wounds. It was too dark to see though. Glancing down at his bracelet on his wrist he conjured up a flashlight and shined it at her face. Allura look more rattled than anything. She had a few scratches on her cheeks, her silver hair was a mess, but otherwise she seemed fine.

Coran brought her body close and hugged her. She was trembling. Her mice scurried up his legs before jumping on the Princess's shoulder. They made cooing sounds in an effort to comfort her. "What was that? My dolls have never attacked me before. Just what is going on Coran?"

Before Coran could answer there was a crash somewhere outside. What the ruggle was that? It sounded like plates breaking and people screaming? Were the other paladins in trouble as well?

"I don't know dear," Coran answered truthfully, his hands going up and down on her back to calm her down. "But we can't stay here. It's not safe being locked in a room full of forty seven dolls that want to kill you."

"I don't know why Princess Aisha hurt me," Allura murmured. "I've always been nice her. Braided her hair, picked out a dress. We had so many adventures together."

That's what worried her? Not the fact that the doll was moving around and throwing out threats like a homicidal manic? Now was not the time to ask these things. They had to get to the others.

"I want you to try and contact the others, keep an eye out for that doll."

Allura nodded, stepping back towards the door and away from the bed in case that monstrosity was under it. She tapped on her bracelet, the light coming from the device illuminating her worried face.

While she went and did that Coran grabbed hold of the pillow he'd used for a weapon and looked around for that doll. The pounding from the other dolls locked in his closest was getting louder, the door was shaking. It wouldn't hold out for very long.

Placing the flashlight in his mouth, the Altean advisor began to move his desk until it was situated in front of the closet. The pounding instantly stopped. It grew eerily quiet.

The sound of a door opening made his head turn. The door leading to his bathroom was slightly open. That…was not good. Had the doll made it inside? What kind of strength did it have? Those doors weren't exactly light.

Coran inched back to Allura. His bathroom had a wide assortment of scissors, shaving cream, razors, hair clippers, and maybe about five T-blade trimmers. If that doll had made it inside, then it was only a matter of time before it found his tools.

Oh, Bollocks.

"It's no good Coran," Allura said with a shake of her head. "I can't get in contact with the others. Something is wrong."

"Then we'd better investigate before those dolls escape from my closet."

"Agreed."

Together the two of them inched their way to the door. When nothing sprang at them they turned and began trying to pry the doors open. As soon as their hands touched the door, the banging in his closet resumed with a vengeance. Someone giggled from the bathroom.

It had him breaking into a nervous sweat. Why wasn't this door budging?

The sound of little feet inside the room made him pull harder. Neither Altean refused to look back.

" _You should have played with me."_

Coran and Allura whipped around, the flashlight in his hand shook before he wildly moved it around. Where was she? Where was the doll? The voice was so close.

Allura gripped his orange shirt. "Where is it Coran?"

Coran had no idea. The desk placed in front of his closest was beginning to move forward. The giggling reached a deafening volume.

" _Now you're going to pay."_

Coran stilled. He knew exactly where that doll was.

It's something the paladins told him when they watched their first scary movie together. No one ever checks the ceiling and unfortunately for the main character, that's usually where the monster was.

Swallowing, he slowly pointed his flashlight at the ceiling; Allura followed the movement with her eyes and gasped. The doll was on the ceiling, red eyes glowing, and a too wide smile on its face. But what worried Coran the most?

It had two scissors on each hand.

" _You should have played with me!"_

That was all the warning they got before the doll launched itself at them, both scissors raised high. Coran pushed the princess out of the way and felt something pierce his shoulder. He screamed.

Allura cried out in alarm.

The flashlight landed somewhere on the floor.

Taking hold of the doll, he hurled it across the room. One of the scissors was still lodged in his shoulder; he could feel warm blood seep from the wound. He plunged it out with a grimace. The doll giggled, crawling on all fours under the bed.

The banging on the closet door grew more frantic; the giggles sounded more like maniacal laughter.

"Get the door open!" Coran yelled. Allura quickly jumped into action, situating herself at the doors and began to pull them apart. Her mice ran along her arms until they got to her palms were they too began to try and pry the doors open.

While they did that, Coran inched to the right where his drawers were and quickly took out a metallic bat. He had one in case of emergencies. Now definitely counted as one.

"We almost got it Coran!" Allura shouted with a grunt. "Just hold on a little longer."

Easier said than done. His lamp crashed to the floor. Coran whipped his head in the direction, totally missing the doll as it crawled from under the bed until it nicked his leg. Coran yelped and swung but hit nothing. The flashlight had fallen close to the bed but Coran had not intention of going after it.

Chances were he'd get his hand stabbed for the gesture. It was a little hard to pinpoint where the thing was with all the noise the other dolls locked inside his closet were making. He was really regretting not wearing pants now. He felt exposed.

"Got it!" Allura shouted behind him. "Let's go!"

Coran headed for the door where Allura was already waiting on the other side. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror, her hand lifting up to point at something, but Coran was ready. Turning, he lifted his metal bat and swung just as the doll lunged for him.

The doll was flung to the other side of the room. His euphoria quickly died down as a loud crash let him know that the other dolls had gotten out.

Oh, quiznak-ing dolls. He was totally going to burn them when this was over. No matter how much Allura loved them.

Now that they were outside in the hall they could hear what sounded like a fight a few rooms away. Panicked screams echoed down the hall, the sound of glass shattering loud in the otherwise silent ship. Something that sounded suspiciously like lightning sparks followed after the noise. Perhaps the kitchen?

If he remembered correctly, Lady Lance, Hunk and Matt had gone that way earlier. Allura gripped his elbow, dragging him into a sprint as the dolls began to march out of the room. Something silver and sharp glinted in their hands. It looked like they'd found his tools.

Oh, poo. He traded another one of his floating cubes for them. Some of the dolls came after them; others took a turn down the next hallway and disappeared. Allura tapped something on her bracelet and suddenly she was holding her staff.

Guess they were fighting.

The two Alteans came to a stop, raising their weapons just as the dolls lunged for them. The sound of people screaming really close almost made him falter. That sounded like those youngster's. Guess the dolls had found them. Hopefully they'd be all right.

Allura twirled her staff, swinging it again and again as more dolls came their way. Whenever they got too close they resorted to kicking. Coran really wanted to toss his slippers away, all the quacking was starting to get on his nerves but he didn't want to lose a toe for doing so. Something snarled and howled down the hall.

Shadow!

"Why are there dolls here?" Matt screamed in a panic.

"I don't know!" Hunk cried. "Just get rid of them!"

"Make sure they don't get close to Lance!"

"I swear, If Chucky himself comes out here, I'm sorry Hunk but I'm out!"

"Dude!" Hunk cried. "I understand but still!"

Allura yelped, Coran turned and smacked the doll on her shoulder across the room. The top of her shoulder was bleeding but she didn't falter so neither would he. His legs received a few more painful jabs but he couldn't let that bother him at the moment.

Big heavy footsteps began heading their way, the ground shook, and suddenly Shadow was there swiping his claws at the dolls, sending them shattering to the wall. Hunk and Matt followed after, the two of them breathing harshly, bruises on both arms and legs. The latter was hugging his right hand close to his body.

Was that food goo all over their bodies?

Had they been messing with the hoses again because Coran wasn't going to clean it for them again. With one last swipe Shadow crushed the last doll with his giant paw and wagged its tail, waiting to be praised. If Coran had a doggie treat he would have gladly handed him one. But he didn't so he settled for petting the wolf's massive head.

Now that he was close he could see Lady Lance's slumped form on top of Shadow. Coran cried out in alarm, immediately going to her side. The former blue paladin was unconscious, her eyes screwed shut in pain. Her skin felt sweaty, she was burning up!

"What happened to her?" Allura demanded as she lifted the former blue paladin's body, moving the damp strands from her forehead. The poor girl was breathing harshly; she had a split lip and a bit of blood at the corner of her mouth. Allura wiped it with her purple sleeve.

While Allura went to check on the Amazon princess, Coran went to Matt Holt and took hold of his right hand. He yelped. Just like he thought.

It was dislocated.

Better set it right. Coran tugged it forward gently, looking up to see if it was okay. Matt shakily nodded.

"Well?" Allura demanded, keeping one hand on the unconscious princess while she turned a stern glare at the two boys.

Matt and Hunk exchanged glances. The green paladin's brother spoke, a wince on his face. From the incoming pain or by what he had to say Coran didn't know. "Boy, do we have a story for you."

Something told him that they weren't out of the woods yet.

Oh, quiznack.

* * *

The way to the training room had never felt so cold and barren before. Pidge felt an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach as she and Keith make their way inside. They had to pry the doors open just to step inside. The lights had gone off a while ago. Even the sweet purrs of the engines were gone. She was definitely on edge. One glance at Keith confirmed that he too was being cautious.

His Bayard was already transformed into a sword where he gripped it to his side on one hand. Honestly, Pidge shouldn't have been surprised that the guy was carrying his Bayard with him. He even had two extra knives and his Blade of Marmora blade with him just in case. Only Keith would carry weapons with him when it was bedtime.

Keith had wanted to go back and check on the others once they found that they couldn't contact anyone with their bracelets but Pidge convinced him to keep going. If whatever was happening required her to do some hacking then they would need to get her computer. The red paladin hadn't been happy but he obliged.

Keith sniffed the air. "Something smells sweet."

Pidge shrugged. "Maybe it's the popcorn Hunk was making?"

There was a whimper from one of the locker rooms.

Pidge almost jumped. Keith narrowed his eyes, changing directions to investigate. Who could that be she wondered.

Pidge really hated to do it but since her eyesight wasn't as good as Keith's in the dark she had no choice but to grip the back of his shirt with one hand as he strode forward. The red paladin's eyes glowed a bright yellow, which meant he was using his Galra side.

Those yellow eyes turned to her and she could practically feel his smug tone. "Scared?"

Pidge growled. "Fuck you Kogane."

Keith snickered. "I'm afraid that's going to be a hard pass from me. I'm taken."

Pidge spluttered before she smirked, one hand pushing her glasses a little higher before speaking. "Oh, that's right. You're waiting to fuck Lance into the mattress. My bad."

The immense pleasure she felt when Keith spluttered and tripped on his own feet was indescribable. She almost fell with him too but that would have been a small price to pay.

"Keep it up and I'll let you roam in the dark by yourself." Keith huffed as he righted himself. Oh how she wished the lights were on so she could see his face. It was probably bright red all the way to his ears.

In hindsight, she really should have scanned some flashlights so they could be stored inside her transparent bracelet like Matt had done but she wanted to fill it with an extra memory drive for her laptop, a whole bunch of wires, a few headphones, and a whole bunch of junk food. At least that way she didn't have to leave her room all that often.

Pidge was sure that she could survive weeks without leaving the safe confines of her room. Besides, how was Pidge supposed to know she would need a flashlight at this very moment? Certainly not her. And definitely not Keith.

The red paladin had a wide variety of knives stored in his own bracelet; he'd showed her one time to her annoyance. He had a whole bunch of black shirts, black pants, black boots as well. Pidge made sure to tease him about that as well.

'Jeez Keith, go to Hot Topic much?'

'Hot Topic has the best clothes! I can fight you on that!'

Sad thing is, he almost did.

The red paladin also had a lot of granola bars stored inside too which was weird because really? There are more types of food than granola bars. He also had a gun or two. For Lance, he admitted when she asked him about it. 'In case she's ever weaponless, I'll have a weapon ready for her.'

Damn.

Keith was totally whipped.

It made her smile. The old Keith was back. Ever since Lance disappeared all those months ago Pidge had hardly seen any sign of her friend. He hadn't come to eat breakfast or dinner with the rest of the team like he used to. In fact, Pidge had hardly seen much of him at all. And the rare times that Shiro had dragged him by force, Keith would scowl at anyone and everyone, hardly chewing his food in his haste to leave and go search for their missing paladin.

Pidge never voiced it out loud but she'd missed him. She missed the banters the two of them would have. Sure it would end in both of them cursing each other out but it was all good fun. With Lance missing all of that disappeared.

Every little comment seemed to set him off. And that dark scowl on his face was on twenty four seven. But now that Lance was back, so was the old Keith. He was back to smiling, small ones with the team and huge ones with Lance, or so the Amazon swore, he was back to arguing with Pidge, back to giving Shiro a hard time, back to being his sarcastic asshole self. The green paladin was so, so grateful for Lance. Everyone was openly smiling again, laughter echoed down the halls. It was as if she had never disappeared in the first place. They were even going to have a movie night with everyone for the first time since Lance disappeared! Pidge was excited, everyone was, perhaps the black out was just Coran's way to get the mood right. They were going to watch scary movies after all.

It certainly wouldn't be the first time the Altean had turned off all power on the ship just to set the mood. He was dramatic like that.

The two of them stepped inside the boy's locker room. With every step they took, the whimpering grew in volume. Keith edged forward, stopping them in front of gray locker. Locking eyes, the two of them nodded and Pidge reached a hand forward and before she could lose her nerve, she threw the locker door open and stared.

Wedged inside the small locker was none other Slav. He had his knees to his chest, his six arms around them in fright. His eyes widened and he let out another whimper. "Help me."

Pidge and Keith stared for a good five seconds before she slammed the door shut. Keith guided them away towards the training room. "Man," Pidge whined. "Sure wish we'd run into someone already."

"Yup," Keith said next to her in a deadpan tone. "Sure would be nice to run into the others. Oh, well."

Did Pidge feel bad about leaving Slav? Nope.

He should have left with Kolivan and his blades when they went ahead of them in their own ship. But noooo, the guy wanted to spend more time with his "best friends". That'll teach him.

Another commotion from the upper levels made them pause in their walk. What the hell? Both she and Keith turned their heads to the ceiling, straining their ears to hear what that noise had been. Pidge wasn't sure but she swore she could hear plates breaking. And…was that a little girl screaming? Or maybe it was just her brother getting spooked by something. He had a tendency to scream all high pitch. And it certainly made Pidge find ways to scare him just so she could hear that girly scream.

"Think it's a ghost?" Pidge teased.

Keith snorted. "Ghosts aren't real Pidge."

"Yeah, _I_ know that and _you_ know that but Hunk, Lance, and Matt? Total believers."

A pause. "We should get our stuff quickly and head back to them."

"Aww, you want to comfort Lance in her time of need? Gonna hold her hand and pull her close? Maybe get a little handsy?"

"I'm not going to answer that you fucking troll."

Pidge snickered in amusement. "Just remember, there are children present."

Keith huffed. "Then don't look. But we won't."

"I was talking about Shiro."

"Ah." She felt him nod. "That makes sense."

"Right? The guy gets all flustered just holding hands with Allura, if he sees you and Lance getting handsy he might just faint."

"Come on Pidge," he teased. "He'll choke on his own spit, ground us, and then he'd faint. Or fan himself."

"Poor, poor Shiro."

Its just as they reached the benches in the corner of the room that the temperature dropped. Something in the center of the room sparkled and then a computer voice spoke.

" _Training Sequence Level 8 start."_

Keith took a sharp breath. "What the fuck?"

A panel in the ceiling slid open. Something clattered in the center of the room. Pidge could just barely see a dark shape. Keith pushed her behind him and raised his Bayard. The green paladin gripped the back of her friends' black shirt. "What is it?"

"A fighting drone." He said curtly. "Get to your laptop and stay in the corner. I'll take care of this."

That was all he said before he dove forward and seconds later Pidge heard the sounds of a fight. Swords flashed and clinked together. She could just barely see two shapes in the center of the room. She should have brought her Bayard with her damn it.

She didn't think she'd need it so she'd left it in her room. Raising her hands to feel around her she almost yelped when her knee bumped into one of the benches. Cursing under her breath, Pidge felt around the bench for her laptop. Not here.

The ceiling slip open once again and a few more thuds were heard.

She felt around until she found the second bench and continued her search. Her hand touched something cold. She grinned victoriously, lifting her laptop in the air with a victory shout.

Keith cursed under his breath where he was fighting.

Scrambling to a sitting position on the bench, Pidge booted up her laptop, the screen so bright she hissed. Taking hold of it she turned it around to illuminate the rest of the room. Pidge gasped. Keith was definitely battling a fighting drone. Only it wasn't just one, it was five of them.

Her friend moved like a dancer, which was strange. Pidge had never thought of fighting as a dance but the more Keith thrust, slashed, and evaded the five drones' attacks, the more Pidge was reminded of a ceremonial dance. Keith's moves were sure and confident. Her friend knew what he was doing but he was clearly outnumbered.

Pidge and the rest of her friends hadn't trained in this level yet. Shiro never let them advance to the next level unless it was with the whole team. Keith was the exception though; the guy liked to train by himself every morning and boy did it show.

"End training sequence!" Pidge yelled, hoping that the drones would disappear with the command. They didn't.

Assholes.

The fighting drones' armor shone, their red eyes focused only on Keith. As one of the drones brought its metallic sword towards Keith's head, her friend danced out of the way before dispatching the sword from the drone's grip with his Bayard. Putting both hands on the floor, Keith kicked the drone away using both legs before rolling to his feet, delivering a harsh slash on another drone with a staff that had been advancing on him. Damn, her friend had some moves.

Cupping her mouth, Pidge yelled. "Way to go Keith! Kick some shiny metal ass!"

Keith grinned, swiping the drone's feet under it, sending it crashing to the floor. Raising his Bayard, Keith brought it down on the drone's head. The drones' head sparked a few times before it lay still. One down, four more to go.

As Pidge was about to shout another encouragement to her friend, red eyes met her own. A drone.

Shit.

This drone was holding a sword. This one long and sharper than the other drone Keith had kicked away had been holding. Head twisting to the side, the drone began to sprint in her direction. Keith screamed her name, intending to follow after her but the other druids blocked his path, their moves turning faster, more dangerous.

Keith let out a frustrated growl and began to engage. It looked like she was on her own. Her hand reached around the bench, hoping one of her friends had forgotten a practice sword, anything that would help her get out of this. Alive if possible.

Pidge very much loved living thank you very much. Her hand came upon something soft. Curious she lifted it in front of her laptop so she could see what it was. It was Keith's red and white jacket. The thing only reached Keith's belly button but for some reason her friend seemed to really love it. Pidge honestly thought it made him look like a girl, something she'd told him repetitively. Keith just flipped her off whenever she badmouthed his jacket though.

Quickly getting to her feet, Pidge had just enough time to throw her friends jacket on the drones' head, barely missing the sword headed her way. The sword clutched in the drones' robotic hand slashed the bench Pidge had just been sitting on in half before its hands went to its head, trying to take the jacket off his head.

Pidge didn't want to be around when that happened. Lifting her laptop as high as she could, she hit the drone on the head with it, sending the thing to the floor before she got the fuck out of there. Maybe if she reached the observatory deck Keith would be able to fight better. He wouldn't have to look over his shoulder and make sure she was okay.

Besides, the observatory deck had some pretty strong shields. It could hold off against a few attacks. Decision made, Pidge turned directions. There were four doors in this room. One that led to the hallways that led to the elevator. Two that led to the locker rooms, one for men and one for women. But the last one led to some stairs, which led to the observatory deck.

She headed straight for that one. She was in such a hurry that she'd closed her laptop, giving her no light. She was running from pure memory. She'd been to the training deck so many times that she knew it by the back of her hand by know.

Unfortunately, without her laptop lightning her way, she totally missed the body of a drone that her friend had taken care of on the floor until she fell on top of it with a yelp. She bit her lip thanks to the fall. Pidge could already feel the metallic taste of her blood where she'd bitten herself. Her laptop landed on the side, the screen letting off some light

Keith cried out her name. Pidge looked up and eyes widened in horror. A pair of red robotic eyes glowed in the dark just mere inches from her. Thanks to her laptop, Pidge could see the drone raise its sword to cut her down. Keith yelled her name, tried to run to her when one of the drones picked him up by the back of his shirt and he was hauled across the room where he landed harshly on his side, his Bayard rolling away from him.

Pidge tried to get up, tried to scramble away but she knew she wouldn't be fast enough. She'd still get cut either way. Swallowing nervously, Pidge brought her hands to cover her head, to somehow minimize the damage that was about to be inflicted on her person when the power suddenly came back, the sound of the engines purred to life and the lights came back on. Keith hissed, so did she, the two of them raising their hands to their eyes to rub at them when the door to the training room swooshed open and two sets of footsteps sounded.

One heavy and one light.

Pidge tried to get up, the drone had already shaken off its surprise, its weapon rising towards her once again when a familiar voice yelled at her. "Pidge, stay down!"

Pidge did as she was told, her eyes squinting against the light just in time to see a golden spear embed itself on the drone's chest where it was standing in front of Pidge. The spear had been thrown so hard that it sent the drone across the room, the spear embedding on the wall with the drone hanging off it. Its eyes were no longer red, its head lay limp.

Pidge's jaw dropped. She turned brown eyes to the door to see Reyna and Adina, the two of them in their pajamas looking a little green. Adina stepped forward, a small gun blaster the size of a small pistol that could fit in a purse on her hands. "Keith duck!"

Keith dropped to the floor at the command and he and Pidge watched from the floor as Adina's small gun turned to the size of a machine gun, the thing so heavy and big that Adina had to hold it with two hands. The last remaining drones turned as one in her direction but Adina was ready. She fired off a shot, the recoil so strong that she stumbled back a few steps but it didn't matter, her aim had been accurate.

Her shot hit the two yellow drones straight on and for a second the room lit up as bright as the sun that everyone had to cover their eyes. When Pidge deemed it was safe, she opened her eyes and gaped. The only thing left of the drones was their legs. Everything else had been disintegrated.

Holy shit.

Where the hell could Pidge get one of those blasters because she seriously wanted one too. "You guys okay?"

Pidge looked up to see Reyna offering her a hand. She took it with a nod of thanks and got to her feet. The violet haired Amazon was wearing black shorts, a purple tank top showing off her impressive three packs and toned muscles. The girl was ripped!

Adina was helping Keith to his feet, her gun blaster back to its small size. Reyna's girlfriend was sweating; black strands from her braid had come undone. She was wearing a pink long sleeved V-neck with some light green loose pants with flowers on it.

"What the heck is going on?" Reyna demanded, hands on her hips and breath somewhat shallow. "My blow dryer just tried to kill me!"

"Have you guys seen Lance?" Adina nervously asked.

At the mention of his fiancée Keith straightened, his blue-gray eyes narrowing to slits. "Why? What's going on? Is she in trouble?"

Keith had a cut on his shoulder where his shirt had been ripped. Adina made to heal it, her hands already going green but Keith latched onto her wrist. "Tell me. Is Lance in trouble?"

Adina and Reyna exchanged glances. The violet haired Amazon shrugged. Adina opened her mouth to explain. "She will be if I don't get this antidote to her."

Wait, what?

Antidote? For what?

If looks could kill, Keith would have obliterated Adina on the spot with his glare alone. "What fucking antidote? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Watch your language!" Reyna snapped.

Keith ignored her, his attention on Adina. The Amazon sighed. "I don't know what's going on, but someone put Numbing Waxide in the air vents, it's something that only affects Amazons. A poison."

"It dulls our senses, eventually numbing our bodies until we lose consciousness. After that our organs shut down one by one until eventually we just die. Sometimes it takes days, sometimes weeks." Reyna continued. "We were sleeping when we heard the commotion but by then the power was already off. We didn't notice it at first, but Adina did. As a healer she had to inject herself with all different types of poisons so she'd know how they feel and what antidote to use to heal themselves."

"As soon as I my hands began to go numb I knew what it was. We hurried back to our room so we could take the antidote. Our blow dryers attacked us so it took us a while. Lance has most likely been exposed already." Adina went on, her hands wringing nervously before she clenched them to her sides. "I have to get to her before her organs start shutting down."

"Then what the fuck are we waiting for?" Keith demanded, turning on his heel to exit the training room when Allura's voice rang throughout the speakers.

" _Attention all those aboard the castle of lions. From what I've been told Haggar has infiltrated the ship by taking over Shiro's body!"_

Keith and Pidge took a sharp breath. Their eyes went wide in surprise.

That ho had done what?

" _I don't wish to believe it either," Allura said, her voice both frustrated and pained. "But it is true. If anyone sees him, knock him out and tie him up. Lance may be able to heal him. Please," Allura's voice cut off with a sob, "Please, don't kill him. He's still in there. I know it. According to the cameras, he was headed towards the prisoners, according to Matt and Hunk the witch wants to take Lotor but fear not, the Galra Prince has not betrayed us. I want all non combatants to stay in their rooms, everyone else find Shiro!"_

Allura's vice disappeared only to be replaced by Hunk's frantic voice. " _Oh, and if Adina or Reyna are around we could really use your help. Lance is not looking good! At all! She's burning up, and –"_ Hunk's voice cut off with frustrated growl. " _Please hurry!"_

Adina and Reyna turned on their heels and headed straight for the door. She really hoped that Matt and her father were okay. Pidge went over to Keith who was standing still, both hands clenched to fists. She could see the indecision in his eyes. Both Lance and Shiro, the two most important people in his life, were in trouble. She didn't blame him for not knowing which one to go to first. Pidge decided to make it easier for him.

She gripped his shirt, making him turn her way. "Go find Shiro. I'll go with the Amazons and make sure that Lance gets that antidote. You know how strong Shiro is, you know his moves the best out of all of us. Try to knock him out and once Lance is better she'll save him." Pidge grinned, holding her hand so he could clasp it. "We can't let that wrinkly old bitch win can we?"

Keith's eyes narrowed in determination, his hand clasping her own, giving it a squeeze, before nodding. "Make sure Lance gets that antidote. I'll find a way to bring Shiro to her."

Pidge nodded and seconds later she was left standing by herself, looking back in the direction Keith had gone. Keith could do this. She had faith in him.

She better keep her promise then.

Wishing her friend a silent good luck, Pidge sprinted towards the elevators where Adina and Reyna were impatiently waiting for her. They'd apparently led Keith go first.

"You ready?" Reyna asked, stepping into the elevator. Adina followed after her, her pale hand clutching a small bottle with purple liquid inside close to her chest.

Pidge nodded, tucking her laptop to her side. "Let's go save Lance."

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! And thank you for the previous reviews, they make me smile :)_


	34. Chapter 34

"By the power of Phil Collins, I rebuke you!" she said. "By the power of Phil Collins, who knows that you coming back to me is against all odds, in his name I command you to leave this servant of Genesis alone."  
― **Grady Hendrix** , **My Best Friend's Exorcism**

Chapter 34

Keith really wished that Haggar herself were here in person. At least that way he could stab her all he wanted until he was satisfied. He'd stab her with so many holes she wouldn't know which one to take a shit from. Keith hurtled down the hallway; pass the white metal walls flanking him, passed the empty prison cells until he reached the ones that had Lotor and his generals.

The Altean ship had a surprisingly big room to hold prisoners. The cells were bright lit; they looked more like pods with only enough room to fit in a bed and a toilet. Keith could probably take about ten steps before he reached the end of one cell.

The cells lit up the whole room, giving it a blue like glow. They reached all the way to the top, almost touching the ceiling. There were metal black bridges in a crisscross kind of shape so people could reach the higher cells. Screens were on the ceiling, embedded on the wall.

The lights looked more like chandeliers than anything. Allura had said that her father wanted the prisoners to have something nice to look at. They certainly looked fancy enough.

He could already hear the sounds of a fight from that direction. He willed his legs to go faster. He'd already changed to his red and white paladin armor, his Bayard suddenly heavy in his grip. He didn't want to believe it but Allura wouldn't joke about Haggar possessing Shiro's body unless it was true. Maybe Keith could reason with him. He had faith that Shiro was still in there somewhere, still fighting for control.

If Keith could call on that Shiro then they might have a chance. It might make things easier for Lance as well. He shook his head. This was no time to be thinking about Lance. She would be fine. Adina and Reyna had the antidote and Pidge had promised him that she would make sure that Lance took it.

Lance would be fine.

He gripped the blue crystal necklace on his neck before letting go.

Skidding to a halt, Keith gaped at the sight before him. Lotor's generals were scattered on the floor, groaning in pain. Only Axca was on her knees, her giant gun blaster rising slowly to fire off a shot. She had purple blood dribbling down her temple, a look of pure hatred on her face.

Zethrid was getting to her feet, shaking off her dizziness. Narti and her cat were on the floor being overseen by a worried Ezor.

And walking away, with the Galra Prince draped over his shoulder was Shiro.

Keith seriously hoped that the Galra Prince was just unconscious; he was just starting to like him.

"Shiro!" Keith yelled. His friend paused. "I can't let you take him. Put him down and turn around."

For a moment nothing happened. Then his friend turned around slowly, and Keith took a sharp breath. There was nothing human in that face. "Ah, if it isn't the red paladin." His friend said, only it wasn't his voice that spoke. It was like two voices speaking at once, one female and the other one male.

Freaky.

Keith lifted his sword, holding it high to show that he would use it if he had to. Though he didn't want to. He really didn't. This was _Shiro_.

His best friend.

His brother.

The one guy who never gave up on him.

Of course Keith didn't want to hurt him.

Swallowing nervously, Keith narrowed his eyes. "Shiro, it's going to be okay."

His friends' eyes were glowing a dark purple and when he spoke Haggar's voice was no longer there. It was just Shiro's. It still sounded cold though. "Yes, I know."

"We just have to get you to Lance," Keith continued. "She can save you! I know she can!"

Shiro chuckled. "And how _is_ the blue paladin? She wasn't looking too good last I saw her."

Keith clenched his jaw.

"Pretty sure I broke a rib. Maybe two. Or was that an arm?" Shiro shrugged his shoulders, his tone smug. "Who knows? They all make the same noise when you break them."

Keith's throat tightened.

"But the way she screamed?" Shiro wrapped his arms around himself and ginned. "Now that was music to my ears."

"You wrinkly old bitch!" Keith snarled. "What did you do to Lance?"

Shiro angled his head, studying him with those dark purple eyes. "I never did thank you for waking her up. Perhaps when I take over her body I'll use it to kill you with her own hands. It's only fair that you get to see the face of the woman you love as you breath your last breath, don't you think?"

Axca scooted closer, slowly lifting her gun blaster as one hand went to the trigger. Keith angled his head in her direction and shook it. Axca growled low in her throat but took her finger off the trigger. Zethrid was lying on her stomach, ready to move. Ezor and Narti were crouched just a few feet away, ready to back him up if he needed it.

"Shiro, please. Just come with me."

Shiro dropped Lotor's unconscious form on the floor and Axca immediately rushed to his side, a limp on her leg. Shiro paid her no mind; his attention was solely on Keith. "We are not going anywhere!"

And then he was running, his prosthetic arm turned into a sword, aiming it at Keith's face. Keith barely had time to turn on his shield and bring it up to cover his face before Shiro's sword hit the shield, sending Keith a few steps back. Zethrid and Ezor rushed to his side, fists raised.

Shiro chuckled, slashing at Ezor who had reached him first. The woman did a backflip, her leg twisting to the side to do a roundhouse kick. Shiro dodged to the side but Zethrid was already there. The big Galra woman took hold of his friends' shoulders and tossed him towards one of the cells where Narti was already waiting.

His friend landed on his back with a growl. Narti took hold of his hand and twisted it, somehow locking her knees around his throat. Narti's cat hissed, leaving a long scratch along Shiro's cheek. His friend growled, clawing at his throat. Ezor and Zethrid hurried to their friends' side when Shiro's eyes suddenly glowed brighter. With a yell, Shiro broke free from Narti's hold, spread his arms wide, and Lotor's three generals were tossed to opposite sides of the room with a loud yelp.

Shiro turned to him.

Keith raised it again but one hard punch was all it took to send Keith crashing to one of the cells. Man, what he would give to be able to form shields like Lance could. At least hers held for quite a while. Shiro headed straight for him and Keith rolled out of the way. His friends' sword went through the holographic shield on the prison cell, immediately disintegrating it.

Keith attacked as best he could, blocking whenever that sword got too close but Shiro was better. He'd always been better. His arms throbbed, the slices Shiro made on them oozing blood. "Shiro. I know you're in there!"

Lotor's generals rose to their feet, bodies already turning in his direction.

"Stay back!" Keith barked at them. "Just keep Lotor safe!"

They hesitated.

"Just stay back!"

Zethrid growled, her bat like ears flared but she nodded and grabbed her friends by their wrists to drag them away. Ezor protested but Zethrid ignored her pleas.

Shiro swung his sword at him. Keith rolled to the side, landing a punch on his friends jaw, sending him back a few steps. Lotor's generals went after the Prince, dragging him away from the fight. At least they weren't interfering. As much as he liked the backup, Keith felt that he should do this himself. "You made a promise once. You told me you'd never give up on me."

Shiro chuckled, the sound didn't sound human. "And I should have abandoned you just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it too."

Keith didn't show it but that comment stung. "I'm not letting you stay like this. We'll find a way to save you. I promise."

For a moment Keith was sure that the real Shiro was back. His face looked human once again but when he blinked, all he could see what that cold sneer. The next thing he knew, Shiro was screaming. His prosthetic arm glowed a bright red and Shiro crumbled to the floor, clutching his arm to his chest.

The light only got brighter and Shiro's screams became unending. As suddenly as it began it stopped. When Keith opened his eyes, Shiro's prosthetic hand looked mutated. It was glowing red, it was longer, and the fingers looked more like claws. Sharp and deadly. His friend sagged to the floor, chest heaving before he rose to his feet.

Shiro cackled and raised his hand in his direction. The claws turned red and Keith's eyes widened, feet already moving to get away from the blast. Shiro fired off a shot, and Keith just barely had time to dodge. The blast was so strong and long; it hit one of the lights on the ceiling, sending the thing crashing to the floor.

Keith ran in a zig sag, and behind him, charging after him like a black storm, was Shiro. He was faster than he should be. If any of his shots hit him, Keith knew that he would not take another step. All he needed was time; Lance had probably already taken the antidote. Adina had probably healed whatever injuries Shiro had inflicted on her. She and the others were probably already on their way. Keith just had to knock Shiro out.

Fire danced along the floor, the lights on the ceiling catching on fire where Shiro had hit them with one of his blasts before sending them to the ground. Lotor's generals covered the Prince with their bodies, they were still trying to reach the elevator or at the very least the emergency stairs but with Keith and Shiro fighting nearby they weren't having much luck.

Faster, he had to be _faster_.

Glass exploded, and a cry burst out of him as it sliced into his back.

Keith veered to the side, away from the giant glass screens on the ceiling, his sword flying up to avoid the punch to the face he'd been about to receive. Shiro looked at Keith's sword, then at his face, and laughed. "You'll kill me little paladin?" Keith's eyes narrowed to slits. Haggar. "Such dramatics."

Shiro spread his arms wide, goading him to attack. "Well, go on. Do it. If you can."

"Shiro," Keith pleaded again. His back throbbed in agony; he could feel his blood through his armor. "Remember Allura? Remember how excited you were when she said yes to going out with you? You came to my room and told me all about it despite me telling you that you were sharing way too much information."

Shiro didn't say anything, just kept advancing.

His gait looked like a predator stalking his prey more than anything.

"Shiro, _remember_ ," He gasped out.

He smiled faintly. But his smile was cold.

"Remember Matt. Your best friend. And Pidge. Hunk. Coran." He begged. "Remember Lance. Remember me. Remember all the good times we've had. All the missions we went through. Yes they were dangerous but it brought us closer. We shared things with each other that we didn't even share with our own families." His eyes felt misty. "We are a family Shiro. And you know what families do? They never give up on each other. You told me that. You told _all_ of us that. Practically drilled it into our heads."

"I'm going to rip you from the inside out," Haggar said in Shiro's body. Purple sparks of lightning shot from his friends fingertips. His body floated ten inches off the ground.

"Holy shit!" a male voice yelled. "Is he okay?"

There was smack and the previous voice that had spoken yelped in pain. "Idiot!" Mikey barked. "His eyes are glowing!"

"He's floating in the air!" Aiden added, a hitch in his voice.

"Oh? More victims?" Shiro said in Haggar's voice, head turning slightly where the newcomers were.

Someone squeaked in the back. "And he just spoke in a woman's voice!" One of the triplets said. "He's obviously _not_ okay!"

Lance's brothers! Keith turned slightly in their direction. "Get Lotor and his generals away from here!" They immediately protested. "This is not up for discussion!" he barked at them. "Get them out of here!"

Mikey growled low in his throat but he nodded. "Fine!" he snapped. "But you better not die pendejo! I'll kick your ass!"

As Shiro began to gather more purple lightning in his palms, Keith dove forward, bringing his sword toward his mutated arm but an unknown force stopped him before he could make contact. Shiro smiled, lifted one hand and Keith was sent hurtling across the room.

More than one voice shouted his name.

The breath was knocked out of him. He'd landed on a few shards of broken glass, his whole body ached. The sound of something snapping him made him roll just in time to dodge the oncoming piece of bridge headed his way. The thing landed where he'd previously been, smoke and dust covered the room. His body shrieked in agony, he could feel his wound on his back getting bigger.

He was losing too much blood.

Panting, he lay on his back to try and catch his bearings when Shiro suddenly sprang out from the smoke, his hand turned into a deadly red sword. Keith's hand searched the ground for his Bayard but found none. Scrambling, he reached into his belt, taking out his Blade of Marmora blade just as Shiro reached him.

Both swords let out sparks at the contact. Keith gritted his teeth as Shiro cackled, bringing his sword lower. A little too close to his face for comfort. Keith turned his head, and his cheek felt like it was _burning_. "Shiro, please." He grunted, both hands on his small blade, desperately holding off Shiro's attack. "You're my brother. I know I don't say it much but I love you!"

Shiro's eyes widened before his face twitched and he growled. "Just let go Keith. You don't have to fight anymore. Just let me take the blue paladin and the prince and this will all be over." His voice turned cold. "I'll kill the rest of your friends quickly. Just let _go_."

Keith was openly weeping now, weeping as the air turned blistering hot. The room looked like it was falling apart. Shiro's eye twitched, his moves going slack for just a second. "Fight it," Keith panted. " _Fight it._ You're stronger than this."

Shiro staggered back, his hands going to his head, his face twisting. " _You insolent half Galra scum."_

With a roar, Shiro leaped at him, sword raised high, pulsing a deep red. Keith closed his eyes for a brief moment before he willed his Blade of Marmora to turn to its real form. His willed his Galra side to come out, could feel the fangs appearing, but most importantly he could feel the strength of a Galra seeping into his veins. As Shiro came for him, Keith slashed his blade upward, at the spot Shiro's prosthetic arm started and sliced it off.

Shiro howled in pain, his hand going to the stump where the prosthetic arm used to be. Sparks shot from the spot. He trashed, shuddering, and let out a scream that had Keith's Galra ears ringing. Shiro looked up, the purple eyes gone only to be replaced by his obsidian eyes. "Keith…"

Shiro's voice was hoarse, broken.

Keith's lips began trembling, hope surging in the pit of his stomach. "Shiro?"

His friend was panting, blood dribbled from his nose, his temple, from his stump where the prosthetic arm used to be but –

"Keith," he gasped, and the voice was his. It was Shiro. "Knock me out. Stop me. _Please_."

He began to tremble, his hands went to his head and he let out a shriek so heartbreaking and painful that Keith was sure he would never forget it. "She's coming back!" he gasped. "Keith, _please_!"

Keith ran, sheathing his Blade of Marmora to his belt, reaching his friends side even as more chandelier lights fell from the ceiling. Bursting into fire. It was getting hard to breathe. "We'll save you Shiro. You just keep fighting."

Keith put him in a headlock, squeezing even as Shiro began to claw at his arms. The parts where Shiro sliced with his sword pulsated but Keith didn't let up, just kept squeezing. He didn't think about the fact that he was hurting his friend; he let his mind wonder somewhere else lest he lose his nerve. After what felt like forever, Shiro sagged against him and he went limp.

The emergency sprinklers finally turned on, spraying the room as well as Keith and Shiro. The fires began to die out slowly. Footsteps headed his way. People shouted his name but he was too tired to raise his voice. Keith's armor suddenly felt heavier but he sagged in relief.

Keith pulled Shiro close, hugging his body as tightly as he dared. "I won't give up on you Shiro." He whispered into his friends black hair. "Just hold on. We'll save you."

* * *

Lance was getting real tired of people findings way to take her powers away. Like seriously, what the fudge? What had she done to these people that they immediately resorted to taking her powers away so they wouldn't get a beat down?

They were going to get a harsher beat down for taking her powers away in the first place. Bunch of idiots.

Pain flickered in her gut and she felt uncharacteristically hot. It made her uncomfortable. Made her want to take an ice bath just to cool down. Or roll around in the snow. Hands wiped at the sweat lingering on her forehead, someone massaged her right hand, trying to get feeling back into it.

She felt numb.

She could just barely feel her powers at the back of her head.

Could hear parts of her friends' thoughts as they waited for any good news. Allura was pacing, she could hear it. Coran was wrapping bandages around his feet; she could hear it every time he unfurled it. Shadow let out a small whine.

Her blood felt like it was boiling. Breathing was starting to get difficult.

"Shouldn't we go find them?" Hunk yelled beside her. Her friend sounded panicked. Lance wanted to comfort him, tell him everything was okay but her mouth refused to budge. Even her eyes rejected her command to open. Someone should comfort Hunk. "She's getting worse! Where are Adina and Reyna?"

"Maybe I should go find them," Matt volunteered on her left. "Maybe they're in trouble."

"You will do no such thing!" Allura snapped. "We don't know what else is out there, ready to attack you!"

"I'm sure they're on their way," Coran mumbled above her head. "It's their duty to keep their princess safe. I'm sure they're on their way."

"I've already filtered the air," Allura continued. "My mice have found the poison in the air vents and we'd gotten rid of it. The air should be fine to breathe now."

Another hand clamped on her other hand, massaging her knuckles. Someone placed something cool on her forehead. It brought her a slight comfort but it wasn't enough. Where were Adina and Reyna? Not to be a nag but Lance was starting to die here.

Maybe.

Possibly.

The sound of the door swooshing open had her friends shouting in relief. Lance could hear three sets of footsteps heading her way. Reyna, Adina and Pidge.

Oh, thank god.

Cool hands went to her forehead; it was twice the size of her own. Reyna. "She's burning up! Adi, hurry!"

"I'm on it!" Adina answered. Moments later another set of hands tilted her head upward and opened her mouth. Something cold and bitter went down her throat. If she could she would have grimaced and coughed. The instant she swallowed the liquid though, her body began to cool down. Her breathing began to even out. Her fingers twitched.

"Hey!" Hunk shouted, grabbing hold of her hand to give it a squeeze. She squeezed back. "She moved her fingers! That's good right? It means its working?"

Adina's cool hands landed on her chest, healing the broken rib that Not Shiro had broken in the first place. "Yes, I think so."

"It better fucking work," Pidge grumbled. "Otherwise we'll have a raging Keith on the loose."

Ain't that the truth.

"Has anyone found Shiro?" Allura nervously asked. Her friend sounded tired; if it weren't for Coran she probably would have gone looking for Shiro. "Is he all right?"

"I don't know." Pidge whispered. "Keith went after him though."

Hunk took a sharp breath. "Do you think he's okay?"

"Keith is strong," Reyna rumbled. "He'll do what he must to save his friend. So we must do what we can to heal Lance; she might be Shiro's only hope."

Her eyelids stirred.

With a gasp, her eyes opened.

Her body ached. Her muscles were sore.

And the air in her lungs…it did not burn to breathe.

Adina helped her sit up, her head spinning.

She blinked, finding Matt and Pidge behind Adina looking relieved; Hunk threw his arms around her shoulders, crying out in relief. Lance was so startled she didn't return the gesture for at least three seconds. Allura and Coran were behind the yellow paladin. Coran had cuts on his exposed legs; Allura had a few scratches on her cheeks but otherwise seemed fine. Shadow wagged his tail on the floor. A big hand came down on her head, ruffling her already messy hair.

Reyna.

"You need to stop worrying us," her violet haired friend grumbled. Despite her friends chiding, her yellow cat eyes were bright with tears.

"Got to keep your job interesting," Lance rasped. "Though I suppose I can tune down the almost deaths just a bit."

"That would be a tremendous help," Adina sighed in relief. Hunk pulled back, wiping the tears from his eyes to give her a wide smile. She returned it with one of her own.

Shadow nudged her cheek with his nose. She patted his head.

"Anyone seen Not Shiro?" she asked, taking Hunk and Matt's hands to get to her feet. It looked like someone had helped Matt with his dislocated shoulder. He and Hunk were still covered with food goo but they'd wiped most of it off. Their clothes looked ripped in certain areas.

"Keith went after him," Pidge answered. The green paladin was clutching her laptop tightly to her chest, her glasses looked crooked, but otherwise she seemed fine.

Allura's bracelet let out a ping. Jumping in place, the Altean princess quickly tapped a button and a second later Keith's voice rang throughout the room. Lance strode forward to hear better. Everyone else followed, leaning in to hear better. Hunk crossed his fingers.

" _Allura, this is Keith."_ The red paladin sounded drained. His breaths were coming in shorts pants. It had her stomach curling with dread. " _I have Shiro. Where should I take him?"_

Allura heaved a giant sigh of relief, so did the others, and turned her eyes to Lance. She tapped her chin before answering. "The infirmary. Head that way, we'll meet you there."

" _Lance!"_ Keith's voice turned a little happier. " _You're okay?_ "

"I am now. And you? How about Shiro?"

There was a pause. " _I'm fine."_ Liar. He was probably bleeding out somewhere. " _Can you save him? Can you save Shiro?"_

All eyes turned to her with hope fleeting in their eyes. "I think so. I might need some help. Narti might be able to add some assistance."

" _Got it. I'll let her know. See you soon."_

* * *

When Lance and the others made it to the infirmary it was to the sight of everyone else in the castle. Her five brothers were there, so was her dad, all of them had some bruises, their pajamas ripped in certain spots. Mikey was bare-chested, only wearing some Naruto boxers. Krolia was looking over Mr. Holt with a frown but he just waved her off. His glasses were broken and he was dripping wet, but otherwise he seemed fine. Krolia herself seemed fine, her magenta hair seemed a little singed, the white muscle shirt ripped at the corner but otherwise she seemed good.

Lotor was seated on one of the beds, a hand on his temple. His generals were fuzzing around him, well mostly Axca, something Lotor was getting increasingly irritated by if the growing scowl on his face was any indication.

Keith was in his paladin armor, blood on his arms, down his back. His cheek looked like it had been burned. There was a gray scar, identical to his mothers on his cheek. His hair looked wet. And sprawled on the bed beside him was Shiro.

Allura let out a sob, lunging for the unconscious, bloody Shiro as Keith limped his way over to her. Her friends gasped at the sight of their leader, to Lance it sounded like they were in physical pain. Keith reached her side, his fingers brushing against hers before he sagged against her, covering his face in the spot between her collarbone and her neck.

He was trembling. Lance kissed the top of his head, her hands going to his back to heal that harsh slash that was clearly causing him pain. The Amazon knew how important Shiro was to the red paladin. Having to fight against him…it must have been hard. She wished she could have taken this burden from him but she'd been dealing with a poison. The least she could do was heal their friend.

Keith sighed with his whole body, relaxing into her as his arms wrapped around her waist, fingers grasping the back of her shirt tightly. Despite the tight grip, he visibly relaxed. "You're okay," she murmured into his hair.

"I'm glad you're okay." He murmured against her neck. "Can you really do it? Can you save him?"

His voice sounded so _small_. It broke her heart. Pulling back, Lance lifted his head with both of her hands, settling her forehead against his. Keith's eyes looked misty; there was so much pain in those eyes. His lips were pursed. The last time Lance had seen Keith this vulnerable was when he'd burst into the bathroom at the Dossier house and he'd gotten his first look at her. He'd cried when he saw her, so relieved to have her back, and right now he looked the same. She traced the new scar on his cheek. "I'll bring him back. I promise."

Mikey cleared his throat, gesturing to Shiro's limp form on one of the white beds. Allura gripped his one hand, his prosthetic arm was gone. She moved the sweaty white strands from his face; a few tears ran down her cheeks.

"Is it true that a witch is possessing him?" Mr. Holt nervously asked. Pidge held his hand.

"I hate to say it," Hunk added, "But it's true. He attacked us in the kitchen."

"He attacked us too," Lotor said with a wince as he walked over. His silver hair was matted in purple at the tips. The black shirt and purple loose pants he'd been lent for sleeping was ripped in certain areas. "Haggar spoke through him."

Their friends murmured and shifted on their feet.

"Why did the witch want to take you too?" Krolia suspiciously asked, her violet eyes narrowed.

Lotor sighed. "Because she's my mother."

Shouts of surprise erupted from everyone.

"Hold up!" Pidge shouted, her brown eyes wide in horror. "That _witch_ is your mom? Dude, what the fuck?" Mr. Holt reprimanded her for the use of language.

"She was." Lotor corrected, flipping his hair behind his shoulder. "The minute she made contact with that corrupted quintessence she stopped being my mother. She didn't raise me. She didn't love me. I was raised by a serious of nannies. Just because she gave birth to me doesn't mean she'd my mother."

"Dude." Matt placed a hand on Lotor's shoulder. Axca growled in warning. "That sucks."

Lotor offered a small smile. "It's quite all right. I'm going to kill her one day."

Matt backed up a few steps. "And things just got dark."

Zethrid and Ezor snorted.

"He was the one who turned off the power in the ship wasn't it?" Aiden said, bowing his head to look at the black paladin. "The witch possessing him made all those inanimate objects attack us. Right?"

Matt nodded grimly.

Allura lifted her palms to Lance in the heavy silence. "Can you fix him? Even if Haggar is inside him?" It sounded like a broken plea. Not from princess to princess though, but from one friend to another. Everyone focused on Lance.

"I can certainly try. Only thing is…"

"What is it?" Krolia asked her softly.

Lance bit her lip and sighed. "He'll have to be awake." Everyone took a sharp breath, more than one voice spoke, shouting that it was a bad idea. Lance knew it was but it was the only way she could think of to save their friend. "I need him awake. When I try and expel Haggar's presence from Shiro's body, he has to be the one in control. Otherwise it won't work."

Her friends glanced at each other, indecision in their eyes.

Keith and Allura didn't tear their eyes away from the black paladin. "Do it." Keith said. "Save him."

Allura's face turned serious, her eyes narrowed as she got to his feet. "Just tell us what you need us to do."

Lance nodded, turning to Adina who was watching quietly next to Reyna. As Lance approached her, her friend straightened. "Do you have any Waking Virian on you? And something to dull his senses?"

Adina nodded, shoving her hands into the pockets of her green loose pants where she produced a handful of tiny bottles. Reyna opened her palms and put them side-by-side. Adina nodded gratefully, setting the vials on her girlfriends' hands until she found the right ones.

As Lance wrapped her hands around the small bottles with green and yellow liquid inside she turned to her friends. "You guys will have to hold him down. No matter what he says, don't listen. Just try to coax the real Shiro out. Talk about your favorite memories with him."

Her friends nodded. Coran and her father took out the metal straps under the bed and tied them around Shiro's limbs. Lance's brothers each took a position around Shiro, holding a limb down just in case. Everyone else took a few steps back. The Amazon turned to Narti who was petting her cat. "Lotor said you had powers?"

Narti nodded.

"From what I've been told you can read peoples minds too. Mind giving me hand?"

Narti turned to Lotor who nodded. With his okay, the woman removed the hood covering her head and went to stand by her side. Lance uncorked the bottle with yellow liquid in her hands and dropped a few drops down her friends' throat. Making sure it was all gone, she uncorked the other bottle, stepped forward, and looked to everyone else. "You guys ready?"

Everyone nodded in determination. The Amazon heaved a giant sigh and placed the vial under her friends nose.

Not Shiro woke with a gasp, immediately trying to get to his feet only to growl when he found that he couldn't. The lights flickered in the room. Her friends shuddered; Lance could see their breaths whenever they breathed. The temperature must have dropped. She herself couldn't feel the cold. Not Shiro thrashed in her brothers' hold but they refused to budge, just pressed harder.

Lance pressed steady hands on each side of her friends' head. She had to move them a bit whenever Not Shiro tried to bite them.

Rude.

Not Shiro chuckled, though it sounded more like Haggar now. "You think you can expel me from this body?" Not Shiro chuckled, sending a chill down everyone's spine. Her father crossed himself five times, saying a prayer in Spanish under his breath. "Good luck. Whatever you gave me may have weakened me but it won't matter. This body belongs to me now, you've no idea the damage it can do."

The bed Not Shiro was on began to shake, lifting off the ground by a few inches. Just like a typical scene from _The Exorcist._ If Not Shiro started twisting his head and threw up green vile, Lance was going to smack or not.

"Anyone have a bible?" Matt squeaked. "Or a cross made out of spoons? I'll take that too."

Mr. Holt's hand shot up, stepping forward to hand over a thick book. Lance stared. So did the rest of the aliens in the room. Mr. Holt looked confused when no one took it. Licking her lips, Lance decided to take pity on him. "Mr. Holt, that's porn."

Pidge's father gasped, looking just a tad miffed. "This is the book of the Lord young lady!"

"Did you get it from the Earth store at the Swamp moon?" Krolia patiently asked.

Mr. Holt frowned, but slowly nodded. "Yes."

"Have you looked through it?" Lotor asked with a grimace. Ezor was already laughing.

Mr. Holt huffed, his hands crossing over his chest. "There's no need, it says the _Holy Bible_ on it. What else could it be?"

"Porn." The aliens in the room deadpanned.

"It's a series." Lotor clarified. All eyes turned to him. The Galra Prince looked away, flustered. "Or so I've heard."

Curious, Pidge swiped the book from her fathers' hands and began to skim it. She'd only been looking through it for no more than five seconds before her face turned bright red, she yelled, and chucked the thing across the room.

"It was porn?" Matt curiously asked.

Pidge's face was still red but she nodded and cleared her throat. She shuddered. "There were so many tentacles."

"Oh, sweet." Mikey chimed in. "Mind if I borrow it?"

Her father choked. The triplets patted his back.

Mikey looked offended. Reyna raised her hand, her face oddly serious. "Lend it to me after you're done."

Adina choked.

"That was part three right?" Zethrid piped in. "I'm on two, lend it to me afterwards."

Mikey and Reyna gave her a thumps-up.

"Same here." Krolia murmured.

Keith looked at his mom wide-eyed. She averted his gaze.

Coran looked around before shrugging. "Eh, why not? I too, would like to read it."

Allura shot him an incredulous look. Coran just huffed, shifting from one foot to the other. His slippers quacked with every movement.

Lotor looked at them in horror. Lance kept her mouth shut, but she kind of wanted to read it too. It was definitely porn, but there was also a story in there. She'd been secretly reading it back in Cloyetera.

"Oh, my god." Mr. Holt murmured in disbelief. "I've been praying to that."

His children patted his back.

At that moment one of the rolling chairs was thrown across the room making everyone shout in surprise.

Not Shiro looked angry, his eyes were glowing purple again.

Jeez.

We got it, you were still here.

"If we could get back to the exorcism," Aiden piped in with a roll of his eyes, "That'd be really great."

Keith blinked, a frown on his face. "Is that what we're doing?"

Reyna and Adina shrugged. Her violet haired friend looked back at them. "It's not the weirdest thing we've done. We had a séance for Lance's dead hamster once."

Pidge looked at Lance with wide eyes. "You had a séance for your dead hamster?"

Lance threw her hands up in frustration. "My hamster had just died Pidge! What else was I suppose to do?"

"I don't know, bury it?" Pidge exclaimed with a wave of her hands.

Lance scoffed. She'd had this conversation before; she was in no mood to bring it up again.

"Did it work?" Hunk curiously asked.

Lance grinned, opening her mouth to speak but Reyna covered her mouth. "No. Lance was obviously making it up."

Lance glared. She had not been making it up, Mr. Truffles really had spoken to them, her friends were just in denial.

Axca scoffed, tucking a blue strand behind one ear. "Then you didn't do it right."

Lance glared, so did Mikey, overprotective brother that he was.

"I'm starting to have doubts that you can do this Lei-Lei." Kyrian crossed his hands over his ripped blue loose shirt and looked at her with bored eyes. Mikey smacked upside the head for that little comment. Lance beamed.

"Shiro?" Allura tentatively stepped forward, her hands clasped together. "Can you hear me in there? It's Allura."

Not Shiro gave her a wide smile. It reminded Lance of the Joker. "If it isn't Alfor's _spawn_. "

Allura faltered, swallowing nervously. "Shiro, remember the day you asked me out?" Not Shiro didn't say anything. "You were so nervous. You kept stammering and I couldn't understand you." Allura's face turned soft. "So you walked across the room and shouted 'I think you're beautiful! And I know you're way out my league, but I really like you! Will you go out with me?'" Allura chuckled, tucking a loose silver hair behind her ear. "Your face was bright red. You looked so vulnerable but you were also sincere. I said yes of course. And we've been happy since then. Do you remember?"

Not Shiro scowled.

Keith stepped forward, he bit his lip. "When my father died, you were there for me. When I began to act out, you never gave up on me. You told me I could be better but that I couldn't give up. But most importantly, I couldn't give up on myself." Keith clenched his fists. "You don't know how happy I was to have you by my side. How happy those words made me feel. You were there when I needed someone the most so I'm here for you." Keith stepped forward, his hands clenched to his sides. "Fight it Shiro. I know you can do it."

Not Shiro growled and another chair was thrown across the room. Keith and Allura looked back to Lance who still had her hands beside the black paladins head. Lance shook her head. Still Haggar.

Lance gestured for her friends to continue.

After another exchange of looks, Matt stepped forward. He talked about the days he and Shiro spent at the Garrison, how Matt had to drag Shiro to parties whenever he stressed himself out. How Shiro tutored him personally whenever he had problems with the simulator.

Mr. Holt talked about the family dinners Shiro attended with his family. How he talked to him so effortlessly.

Pidge and Hunk talked about how Shiro would act like a dad to them whenever they missed their family. They may have whined about it but they secretly enjoyed all his fussing. Coran talked about how they had to put fires out together whenever one of Coran's food experiments went wrong. It made them bond the Altean advisor said smugly.

These were all lovely stories, and Lance could easily envision them all but it wasn't enough. Her hands began to tremble where they hovered. They glowed green, her power rippling and bending as they reached inside her friends' mind. She sucked in a breath, for what she saw inside her friends mind was nothing but a pool of blackness. So much corruption.

She could hardly sense Shiro in there.

Not only that but they'd already given him another drop of that yellow liquid that dulled his senses because his body was getting rid of it.

What they needed was something that could really rattle Shiro's bones. Something he was super passionate about. Something that'll get a strong reaction out of him. But what?

As Lance pondered this quietly to herself, she lifted her eyes to her friends. Allura was talking about another memory but Not Shiro just seemed bored. Lance's eyes skimmed over the rest of the people gathered. She frowned. Were they missing someone?

Nyx and the rest of her pets, minus Shadow, were still in their room. They couldn't pry the doors open.

Kolivan and his blades had already left hours before them so it couldn't be them. Who were they missing? As her eyes skimmed the gathered people around her one more time her eyes widened in realization.

Of course!

They were missing Slav!

That little turd had wanted to stay with his "best friends" a little longer but knocked out after ten minutes of running around the castle. Kaltenecker may or may not have chased him on Lance's orders, but nobody needed to know that. Coran had to carry him back to his room. With this new awareness, a new plan started to form. Shiro _hated_ Slav. It always had him fleeing the scene if the guy so much as stepped in a room with him.

"I have an idea." She said aloud.

Her friends paused in their stories to regard her. Allura frowned, "What is it?"

"What we need is someone that will get a strong reaction from Shiro." Lance explained. Not Shiro narrowed his eyes. "Someone that riles him up. Someone that will always, no matter what, make Shiro react."

Her friends looked at each other in confusion. Pidge held her stare, her brown eyes narrowing under her glasses. Lance stared back and nodded.

Pidge's eyes widened. Her face looked both constipated and disgusted. She began to shake her head in denial. "No. You can't mean _him_."

Pidge practically spat the word.

Everyone looked confused, Matt poked his sister's cheek but she just swatted him aside. Lance sighed in defeat. "I'm afraid so Pidge."

Pidge threw her hands up. "There has to be some other way!"

"There isn't."

"But if we keep looking –"

"Pidge!" Her friend shut her mouth at Lance's sharp tone. She softened it. "We need him."

Keith looked back and forth between them before stepping forward. "Who the fuck are you guys talking about? Who do we need?"

For a moment neither she nor Pidge answered. After what felt like forever and Keith and Allura looked ready to commit murder, Pidge and Lance said only three words. "We need Slav."

Everyone blanched.

* * *

Finding Slav's whereabouts didn't take very long. Apparently Pidge and Keith had already seen him. It turns out that the guy had been hiding it out in the boys' locker room when her friends had found him. He'd literally holed himself inside a locker.

Why?

Lance didn't know. Slav was a weird dude.

Instead of helping him out like he'd all but whimpered for them to do, Pidge and Keith had shut the door on him and walked away. That almost made her bust a gut. She still laughed but not as loudly as she wished.

Oh, man.

Lance would have paid money to see that.

Honestly? Lance would have probably done the same if she'd found him. She didn't need to be dealing with that tumor-inducing creature while she was running away from fighting drones like her friends had been. Slav would have been the death of her.

As soon as she and Pidge had said the guy's name, Not Shiro's whole face turned into one of disgust. For a second Lance had felt Shiro's familiar energy surge to the surface.

See?

Working already and the guy wasn't even here yet.

Only problem was who was going to go retrieve him. No one wanted to. He didn't exactly have many fans in this place. Or anywhere. After much contemplating and a whole lot of arguing it was decided that her brothers and Krolia would go since they were injured the least. Surprisingly enough Not Shiro was oddly quiet throughout the whole discussion, mostly after they stuffed a sock in his mouth but still.

Everyone else took over in restraining their friend while the others went to retrieve Slav.

Ten minutes later the search party that had gone looking for Slav came back looking annoyed. Mikey had Slav in a deadlock, the poor guy tried to pry her brothers big arm with his own six arms but was unsuccessful. Krolia looked irritated. So did the triplets, their hands clenching and unclenching by their sides. Aiden, the smart one among them all, was wearing noise-concealing headphones. He looked smug.

As soon as Not Shiro got a good look at Slav he began to trash. His cursing sounded muffled. Slav released a squeak and covered his face with his hands. Her brothers returned to their posts, restraining the black paladin to the bed. "There are countless realities where this plan goes terribly wrong!" he whimpered. "In some I get bitten to death while on others I trip on my own feet, hit my head on a stool and bleed to death!"

Everyone sighed.

Allura pinched her nose and counted to five. "Do any of those happen in _this_ reality?"

Slav flailed his six arms, he was sweating profusely. "I don't know!"

"Slav," Lance said patiently. "If you don't do this I will beat you within an inch of your life."

Keith looked at her with a proud grin. He'd been thinking the same thing.

Slav's beak of a mouth opened in disbelief. He wrung his hands nervously. "But we're friends…"

"I'll do it with a smile then."

Slav didn't seem to appreciate that.

Keith did though.

She could feel a flurry of emotions thought her way. Her cheeks turning a slight pink, she cleared her throat.

"Look," Keith stalked toward him, Slav backed away until his back touched the wall. "You don't have to get too close to him. Just talk to him."

"About what?" Slav asked nervously, his eyes darted around the room.

"Anything." Pidge added with a huge smile on her face. "Just be your yourself. Shiro _loves_ hearing you talk."

Matt looked at his sister weirdly. "He does?"

Hunk elbowed him on the side. Matt doubled over with a wheeze.

Slav perked up, shyly raising his head. "He does?"

Shouts of agreement passed around the room.

Not Shiro hissed, spitting the sock in his mouth to the floor. _"Come near me and I'll kill you._ "

Slav whimpered.

Pidge rolled her eyes, huffed, and sprayed some water on Not Shiro's face. He hissed. It only earned him another bout of spray. "Don't you hiss at me you heathen!"

Matt face palmed. Hey, whatever worked.

The Amazon didn't know where her friend had gotten that spray bottle but it sure was coming in handy.

Lance's eyes lit up. "Hey, Slav." He looked over at her with a whimper. She almost felt bad for him. Almost. "Didn't you say Shiro was your best friend?"

Slav slowly nodded.

"When did you decide that?"

Slav seemed to ponder this for a second before answering. "When we got stranded on that planet with creatures that wanted to eat me. He saved me."

Lance nodded, giving him a wide smile. "Shiro _loves_ when you tell that story."

"He does?"

"Oh, yeah. All I want you to do is talk about that memory and I'm sure the real Shiro will show up. He'll want a front row seat after all. When he does Narti and I will save him."

"Are you sure?" Slav looked suspicious. "There's a high probability that he gets out of his bindings and kills us all. Me first."

"That is a chance I am willing to take."

Coran shot her a look. "If anything happens we'll make sure to protect you."

Pidge made a so-so gesture with her hand. Reyna blocked her from view. Adina gave Slav an encouraging smile. Zethrid snorted. Lotor jammed his elbow to her arm; it only had her rolling her eyes.

Slav seemed to consider this slowly. Beats of sweat ran down his cheeks, his dark grey one-see pajamas looked soaked in it. It certainly smelled like sweat, it had the aliens and herself wrinkling their noses in distaste.

"Okay." Slav announced, taking two steps forward. "I'll do it. On one condition."

Lance and the others frowned. "What is it?"

"Change the lighting to something blue."

"Umm, why?" Hunk asked, giving the six-legged a weird look.

Pidge and Lance sighed, the two of them speaking at the same time. "Because blue light has a frequency between 606 to 608 terahertz."

Allura looked back and forth in confusion. "Is that going to help Shiro?"

Slav grinned. "Nope."

Lance and Pidge sighed again, their voices turned mocking. "That's just his lucky range of terahertz."

Slav beamed, shooting them both with finger guns. "As expected of my best friends. You know me so well."

Lance and Pidge grimaced. Only reason they knew was because he constantly told them while they were stranded on that planet for four days. The guy made sure to take shelter beside the Blue Lion the whole time. Matt and Coran changed the lighting color in the room to a bluish color.

Seeming satisfied Slav cleared his throat, his six arms locking behind his back before he began. "It all happened after one of those creatures dragged me back into the ocean. I swear, my life flashed before my eyes. I could see myself from other realities where they avoided the creatures. I saw others where I died. Just when I thought I too, would have my life ended three figures swept up to save me." Slav turned dreamy eyes to Pidge and Lance and then to Not Shiro.

The black paladin was sweating; his whole face looked like it was twitching. His eyes flickered from purple to obsidian. Lance beamed, Shiro was beginning to stir. Allura and Keith turned to her looking hopeful. Lance offered them a small nod.

"I lost consciousness after that." Slav continued. "I woke to a prince kissing me."

Everyone startled. Pidge snorted, her shoulders shaking with mirth. Lance bit her lip.

Allura released a squeak. "I'm sorry, what?"

Slav waved three of his hands dismissively. "He claimed he was doing CPR on me, whatever that was, but I knew he was into me. It certainly explained why he always got riled up whenever I spoke." Not Shiro began to trash in his restraints. He growled something they couldn't understand. "He was a terrible kisser." Allura and Keith looked wide-eyed. "I had to turn him down of course. I simply can't be tied down. I must allow others to bask in my presence. But I told him we could be friends. Best friends. He didn't look happy but he agreed."

Lance and Pidge shared a look. What really happened was that once they managed to retrieve Slav from the whale like creatures' clutches they noticed he wasn't breathing. Shiro told Lance to give the guy CPR. Lance pretended she never learned how to do it. Pidge out right shouted that she'd rather die. Shiro cried that he didn't want to do it either, said he'd have nightmares but as the minutes dragged and Lance and Pidge just stared at him, Shiro finally gave in and began to give Slav CPR.

Slav had been mad. Lance was pretty sure that his first words were: 'So you couldn't control yourself and kissed me after all. Just because I'm unconscious doesn't mean you can plant one on me. I hate to say this, but I only see you as a friend.'

Shiro had looked horror-stricken and immediately told him he was just giving him CPR. Slav looked unconvinced and just continued to shut him down. And when Slav said Shiro could become his _best_ friend to help him get over his feeling for Slav, the black paladin looked ready to murder him.

After taking a deep breath Shiro just decided to apologize for whatever Slav thought he did wrong. Slav had demanded a bouquet of toadseriels roses as an apology. But the real clincher was when Slav told Shiro he needed to work on his kissing. That's when Shiro finally had enough and hurled him back into the ocean.

Ah, good times. She shared a glance with Pidge who smirked. After much arguing they rescued Slav again, killed one of the whale like creatures, and began to hallucinate. They noticed of course, but if it got Slav talking to coconuts instead of them then they didn't mind killing a few more whales for him. Lance even made friends with a coconut named Stephanie and had a great time.

Lance tuned back into the conversation.

–"Anyway," Slav continued. "That's how Shiro and I became best friends. I know my presence can be hard on him sometimes, but our friendship is as strong as ever!"

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.

And that's when Lance felt it. A familiar energy that embodied leadership and strong friendship.

Shiro!

Not Shiro growled, his eyes turned back to their regular color. When he spoke it was just his voice. No Haggar mingled with it. "Shut up just shut up! Why the fuck are you even here! Just listening to you brings me nothing but physical pain!"

Everyone gasped.

"Best friend!" Slav cheered.

"Get out!" Shiro growled. "You boil dripping, beef fart sniffling bubble butt! You're a fart factory! We're not even friends!"

"We're _best_ friends!" Slav corrected, his six arms throwing a fist in the air.

Pidge whistled, clearly impressed.

Lance grinned triumphantly. "Got you!" Narti placed her hands above hers and nodded. "Everyone get ready, this might get a little rough!"

Her healing power flared around in her hands, she delved inside Shiro's mind until she found his presence and pulled.

Shiro began screaming.

His body arched off the bed, her brothers lunging for the limbs they were in charge of and pushed down. The blue lights flickered on and off; stools were tossed in random directions, her friends screamed. Slav hid behind her father. Teeth pulled back into a scowl, Shiro trashed against her brothers' hold, shrieking wordlessly at everyone and everything.

Narti sent her some of her energy, supporting her as Haggar's magic began to lash out at her. Despite Lance having thick skin, Haggar's magic cut through her palms with ease. Blood dribbled down from the open wounds but she wouldn't let that stop her. If anything, it only made Lance pull Shiro's presence harder.

"You're hurting him!" Allura snapped. She made as if to intervene but Keith caught her and pulled her back with Coran's help. Lance didn't bother turning around as she studied Shiro's body. The black paladin slammed up and down, over and over. Purple sparks lit his fingers. Haggar was trying to regain control. Hunk, Matt, Mr. Holt, and her dad added their own weight on Shiro's limbs, trying to keep him from moving.

Reyna stepped forward, absorbing the lightning before it could be directed at everyone else. Lance could feel Haggar within, raging and screeching. Her energy felt like a parasite. It didn't belong here. Something snapped to the right of her, metal screeched and twisted. Reyna cursed, moving away to catch one of the metal beds thrown in her direction. Adina and Krolia gave her some backup, barely catching the second one tossed in Lance's direction.

Those things were nailed to the floor! Boy, Haggar really hated her. Narti tightened her hands on top of her own. The half-Galra women pressed her body closer; her hands began to glow white. It mingled with her own green energy, flaring, bright as the sun.

Her friends cried out.

And suddenly Lance and Narti weren't in the infirmary bay anymore. The world beyond them faded. There was no sound. Everything became a blur.

Keith's hands rubbed her cheeks in soothing circles.

There was a storm raging inside Shiro's head. She could see him crouched on the floor, knees up to his chest. His back was to her. The whole room was dark; fog covered their feet, the sound of thunder somewhere in the distance. She could see dark silhouettes all around them; tress she deduced. Lance and Narti stepped forward, their hands clasped together lest they lose each other, and paused.

There was something cold and ancient in the room.

"You're going to die!" Haggar hissed. "This body belongs to me now!"

Lance and Narti released their power. Green and white flooded the whole room. Haggar shrieked, her form appearing in the center of the room. A little too close to Shiro for Lance's liking.

Lance opened her mouth in the present. "Get Slav to talk. It doesn't matter what he says. Just get him to speak."

She felt Keith's hands leave her cheeks. Hear Slav squeaking in the background as he was dragged forward. Something collided with her head. Mikey cursed, barked for someone to protect her. Lance held her ground.

"You should have stayed away little paladin." Haggar hissed, spreading her arms wide, purple electricity lighting each finger. "Now you and this half-breed woman will die."

Haggar lunged for them. Tightening her hold on Narti, Lance leaped them both back, her own blue lightning intercepting Haggar's own. The witch roared as her magic tried to smother them, drowning them. Lance and Narti panted against the onslaught. It shoved them back.

Chairs and beds flew around the room, she could hear them. She felt other hands wrap around her body, around Narti, trying to keep them safe from the flying contraptions.

Slav began to speak, it sounded meek but growing stronger the more Not Shiro trashed and cursed at him. The Shiro in his mind twitched where he sat with his arms crossed over his knees. Lance wondered if she threw a shoe at him would he turn faster. Sadly, she'd lost her lion slippers back in the kitchen so she couldn't put that plan into action.

Bummer.

Haggar mumbled something incoherently, a black ball of energy forming in her hands. Lance thought of ice, her hand lifted and a torrent of icicles shot from her hand and over to Haggar. The witch teleported away so did she and Narti.

Apparently Narti could teleport. Sweetness.

Bit by bit, Lance and Narti got closer and closer, their attacks blasting Haggar away.

"Shiro?" Lance yelled at her friend. He didn't turn. "You have to get up and take my hand!"

Haggar leaped for them, Lance threw her back with a flick of her wrist. She stomped her foot on the floor and ice began to form. Began to cover the room. Haggar screamed, panicked.

Shiro began to turn, his eyes blinking slowly. As if waking up.

Lance ran to him and shook him. Shiro looked dazed.

Narti let go of her hand, turning to keep Haggar busy. Lance could feel Lotor's general thrust into Haggar's mind, clawing at from the inside. Zarkon's second in command howled. She was growing weak.

"Shiro, listen to me. You have to wake up; I can't take you out unless you're fully awake. _Please_. Open your eyes."

Shiro stared, his mouth slightly open.

She slapped him.

"Wake up! Remember Keith! Remember Allura!"

" _Hurry,"_ Narti whispered into her mind. " _I cannot hold her for long."_

"We can't win this war without you Shiro. You're our leader. Our friend. Our Space dad." Shiro twitched in her hands. She pressed her palms harder on his cheeks. "Who will drag Keith to bed when he falls asleep on the training deck? Who will lift Allura's spirits when she's reminded of her dead family? Who will tuck Pidge into bed and demand she take a shower when she forgets to do it? Who will Matt try his pick-up lines on? Or finish Hunk's homemade Mac & Cheese because he made too much? And Coran, who's going to stop him from doing his crazy food experiments? Certainly not me, you know I love to join him."

Shiro began to tremble in her hold; his eyes didn't look as distant anymore.

"And what about me? Who will I tease if you let Haggar win? Who will I sing in Japanese with if you're gone? You know that when we sing together we have turning heads. Who's going to be teach me the robot in return for learning the waltz?" She pressed her forehead against his and closed her eyes. "Please," she begged. "Come back Shiro. Wake up and take my hand."

Shiro's eyes were burning like stars.

One more push. She licked her lips. "If you die, I have it on good authority that Slav is going to do your eulogy. And trust me, with him talking, people will pay to leave."

"Motherfucker said _what_?"

Lance snapped her eyes open. "Shiro?"

Shiro was panting, he looked angry; his brows were pinched tightly together. "There's no way in hell that waste of a sperm will be doing my eulogy. I'll throw a tantrum; I don't care how old I am. I'll do it."

Lance released as surprised laugh. Her hands went around his shoulders to bring him closer to her. He sagged against her, and she slipped a hand around his waist to help him up. "I'm so glad you're back!" she lightly punched him. He grunted. "What took you so long, you asshole?"

"Lance." He said patiently, slowly. "Don't fucking curse."

Lance laughed, happy tears running down her cheeks. She ruffled his hair to his displeasure but he released a small chuckle of his own.

Haggar howled in rage.

Lance and Shiro broke apart. The black paladin scowled, trying to stand. He pointed a finger at the witch writhing on the floor. Narti was standing in front of her, panting. "I want you to get the hell out of my body you old bitch."

"Pathetic," Lance told her, her power rallying behind her covering both Shiro and Narti as Lotor's general inched her way over to them, clasping her hand with Lance's. Shiro took Lance's other arm. "You may have learned a great deal by seeing through Shiro's eyes but it doesn't matter. Whatever you come up with, we'll beat it." She took a step forward. Haggar scrambled back, her hood falling from her head to reveal long silver hair, bright yellow eyes and a pure burning hatred radiating off her in waves. "The next time I see you, you're dead. That, is a promise."

Lance pushed forward, and released her power. Narti followed her lead and released her own power.

And as Lance and Narti's power slammed into the witch, she swore. _"You're going to pay dearly for this blue paladin. You'll wish you'd given in when you had the chance. Your people will suffer with you, I swear it!"_

Lance's power erupted, shredding and cleaving, throwing the place they were into chaos. Keith shouted her name. With one last promise of death, Haggar disappeared completely. With her gone the whole place began to collapse.

Lance tugged her friends toward the bright light, running as fast as they could before it disappeared.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Shiro shouted beside her, his hand clenching her hand tightly. "What if we get to the other side and Haggar is still controlling me? I can't –"

She scowled at him. "Oh ye of little faith. Trust me, you're going to be fine."

" _And if you are not,"_ Narti said in both of their heads _,_ startling the black paladin. _"Then we simply try again."_

Lance shot them both a cheeky grin. "You hear that Shiro? It doesn't matter how long it takes, we won't give up on you." Her smile turned soft. "You're our space dad."

Shiro's eyes looked a little misty and he had to clear his throat twice before speaking. "I trust you."

The light before them flared, and as one they picked up their speed. "Then see you on the other side my friend."

As they dove into the bright light, Lance heard Shiro laugh, a sound so full of hope and joy that it had her smiling.

* * *

Lance snapped back into her body with a gasp, collapsing to the floor with Narti right behind her, holding onto her shoulders. Keith shouted her name, helping her to her feet as Lotor and Ezor helped pick up Narti.

Lance sagged against the red paladin, panting, shaking. Her hands were covered in blood. Her power felt drained. Other hands came upon her, touching her back, her cheeks. Asking if she was okay. Keith helped her to her feet, Mikey immediately pushing his way to her side followed closely by her father and the rest of her brothers.

"Did it work?" Allura asked, peering into Shiro's face and smoothing back the white locks of hair. Lance blinked in surprise. Shiro's whole hair was completely white now. No trace of black whatsoever.

The room was a disaster. Broken chairs lay scattered on the floor. Beds and surgical tools lay bent and broken in a circle around them. Some of the healing pods looked damaged, their glass doors shattered. The blue lights flickered on and off, some of the wires dangling from the ceiling where they still released sparks.

Her friends looked injured. Some had bruises on them. Was that broken glass on Keith's hair?

Before Lance could answer, Shiro gasped where he lay on the bed. Allura let out a rasping breath, so did Keith, and Shiro turned his head with a groan.

There were no sounds, no words, as everyone held their breath and locked eyes with their leader. Shiro had black circles under his eyes, his hair looked unkempt, but beyond that, his eyes were obsidian. No sign of purple glowing eyes.

He looked haunted.

"Allura?" The words were a broken rasp. "Keith?"

Lance smiled, panting slowly, relief a crushing weight in her chest. "Hey there, Space dad."

Shiro just stared at her until tears filled and flowed from those dark eyes. Allura and Keith rushed to his side, crushing him against them as they too dissolved into relieved sobs. There was a flurry of motion as Hunk, Pidge, Coran and Matt threw themselves onto the bed, hugging Shiro just as tightly.

Lance sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes only to grimace when she left blood on her cheeks. One look at her palms had her wincing; they looked like they'd been through a grinder. Pale hands landed on top of hers. When Lance looked up Adina was smiling softly at her, her friend had a thin line across her cheek, a bruise on her forearm but she too looked teary. "Honestly," her friend chided at her. "You can't go five minutes without hurting yourself? I just saved you from certain death what felt like minutes ago."

Lance grinned. "I like to make your day."

Adina huffed, but she was smiling. Reyna appeared soon after, ruffling both of their hairs. Lotor and his generals stepped forward; the Galra Prince bandaging one of her hands while Mikey did the other. Her brother shot a glare at the Galra Prince but Lotor paid him no mind.

Mr. Holt and her dad hugged each other in relief. The two of them sweeping Krolia into surprise embrace that she returned awkwardly. Ezor wiped a few tears from her eyes, Zethrid's eyes looked bright with tears but she blinked them away, scowling at the wall when Lance glanced at her. Axca had a hand around Narti's waist, looking relieved but quickly turning her expression into a scowl when someone looked at her.

"Best friend!" Slav cried, coming forward to give the black paladin a hug.

Shiro's face looked like he'd eaten something sour.

"If it weren't for him we might not have gotten you back." Allura sniffled. "Give him a little something."

Shiro growled and all but hissed. "How little?"

"A thumps-up?"

The black paladin's eye twitched but he brought his hand forward, slowly willing it to stand upright. It looked downright painful. Lance swore she heard it crack as his thumb straightened.

Slav cried in joy. "We're going to be best friends forever!"

Shiro scowled. "We're not even friends."

Slav was not deterred. "You're right." His smile widened. "We're _best_ friends."

Shiro groaned.

It had everyone lightly laughing.

Someone cleared their throat.

Shiro.

Her friend looked tired, like he'd just run a marathon in a desert but he was smiling. He reached his one hand forward. He beckoned his head. "Come over here. You're part of the family too you know."

Her friends nodded eagerly where they lay sprawled on Shiro's bed. Some of them on top of him. They signaled for her to join them, their faces bright with tears. Their smiles so wide that it had to hurt.

Lance's vision burned and blurred.

Her face crumpled.

Oh, gosh darn it.

Lance surged forward, dropping to her knees beside Shiro's bed, and took his hand in her own. Squeezing it as tightly as she dared before Shiro brought her forward, engulfing her in a hug as she too began to sob.

" _Thank you._ " Shiro murmured into her hair, his voice raw with emotion. His whole body shook. " _Thank you_."

And as Lance lay there in Shiro's embrace, her friends surged forward, wrapping them both in another group hug that it had crying harder. She was really going to miss them when she left. She still had to tell Keith as well as the others but for now…for now she just wanted to enjoy this.

After all, she may not have really been here in person, but Lance had beat Haggar.

And that was plenty more reason to celebrate.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Make my day people :)_


	35. Chapter 35

"A secret that has been buried too long, eating a hole in me, worms its way to the surface, like a swimmer who can't hold his breath any longer."  
― **Michael R. French** , **Once Upon a Lie**

Chapter 35

Shiro woke up to four bodies clinging to his person. Thankfully, they were not dead bodies. Just his friends. His very much _alive_ friends for that matter. His whole body throbbed and sweat was beginning to form on his forehead with all the added warmth that his friends were exhibiting but he didn't give a damn.

He was himself.

No sign of that wrinkly old bitch Haggar's energy anywhere near his person.

He was free.

The reminder had his whole body sagging in relief.

For a moment, he just lay there, listening.

There was no screaming, no cackling in the background, no threats. Just the purr of the engine as it continued on autopilot to planet Cloyetera, the home of the Amazons.

After what felt like forever, but had really been months, he truly felt like himself again.

Someone snored loudly on his chest.

Glancing down, his whole face softened at the sight of Allura's wild silver hair splayed all over his chest as she snored away. She had one arm tucked to her chest, the other clinging tightly to his now ripped _Muse_ shirt. His girlfriend looked tired, a few tears still at the corner of her eyes but her face looked completely relaxed. It made Shiro smile; at least he hadn't hurt her when Haggar had been controlling his body.

She still had some injuries but they didn't look too bad.

If he had hurt her while he wasn't in control of his body…he wouldn't have been able to forgive himself.

Leaning his head down just a bit, he lay a lingering kiss at the top of her head, chuckling lightly when she released a particularly loud snore that sounded more like a snort. How cute.

She shuffled closer, her loose shirt giving him a peak at her breasts. He quickly looked away.

Okay…maybe just one peek.

Someone mumbled something to his right.

Shiro jumped, turning his head only to sigh in relief.

Keith.

His baby brother was clinging to his right arm like a lifeline; drool coming out from the corner of his mouth, effectively wetting his arm even more. His black hair was splayed to the right, his bangs slightly covering his face but Shiro could still see the new gray scar on his cheek.

Shiro may not have been in control of his body but it didn't matter.

 _He_ had done this.

He'd hurt Keith, almost killed him, but his friend never gave up on him despite all the harsh things he'd said to him. Or the beating he had given him.

Shiro had no idea how he was going to face his friend, all of them really, after all that he'd done. Some memories were still a bit hazy but he remembered what he'd done in some of the blackouts. The reason they hadn't been able to find Lance much sooner? That was his fault.

With Haggar taking control of his body during those brief moments, she'd used his body to send messages back to her druids. Telling them to move Lance's body away for the paladins were getting close to finding her.

If Shiro had talked to his friends, or even just to Allura, and told her about his blackouts, they would have done some tests before they put him in one of the healing pods, and perhaps by doing so, they would have been able to find Lance sooner.

But he hadn't.

It was his fault that Keith looked like someone had told him the world was ending. His fault that he would come back from another fruitless search with no good news.

If Shiro still had his prosthetic arm he would have tucked the black strands from Keith's face behind his ear, would have traced the new scar with a sorrowful expression. Keith had changed back to his pajamas sometime last night. With him clinging to Shiro's arm like this, drool coming out of his mouth as he mumbled something incoherently before drawing himself closer, he looked like a little kid again.

His friend looked completely relaxed, no sign of that scowl that usually adorned his face.

It made him look young.

When he woke up, Shiro was going to apologize and tell him everything. It's the least he could do.

Glancing down at his feet, he smiled.

Lance and Pidge were both clinging to both of his legs.

The green paladin was drooling as well; her light snores muffled by Allura's own overly loud ones. Pidge had forgotten to take her glasses off, they were slightly tilted upward. Her brown unkempt hair looked wild, obscuring most of her face but Shiro could still see the small smile she adorned.

Turning to his left, he grimaced. Lance's body temperature was above freezing. He could feel it as she clung to his left leg. If it weren't for everyone else's body warmth, Shiro might have frozen to death. Any other time Shiro would have been worried about the Amazon's new temperature and would have immediately wrapped her in thick blankets before asking Hunk to make some soup for her but from what he remembered, Lance had a new power.

He'd seen it.

Felt it.

Lance could summon ice now.

How she'd gotten a new power he didn't know.

But with this new power, her body temperature had changed. It didn't seem to make her uncomfortable or put her in any kind of danger so he wasn't going to worry about that.

What worried him were her palms.

Lotor and Mikey had both patched them up but one glance at them now had him gnawing on his lip nervously. The white bandages wrapped around her palms were red; a sign that her wounds were still bleeding. The other thing that worried him? She looked like a corpse.

She looked so pale.

Was this effect from her new power?

If it wasn't for the small sighs she released, or the way her body lightly lifted with every breath she took, Shiro might have caused a scene. Lance only got this way when she was totally drained. And if that happened, she wouldn't wake up for at least a few days until she recovered.

They would have put her in a healing pod but while they were getting rid of Haggar, the witch had somehow broken most of the healing pods with her magic, making them unusable. He would have asked Adina to heal his friend but the Amazon had looked tired as well. She'd knocked out after healing the others. Lance had insisted she heal everyone else before her but by the time it came to Lance's turn, Adina had been pooped.

Shiro looked to the side of the room where Reyna and Adina were wrapped in each other's arms on the floor. They'd moved some of the stools and the rest of the broken glass before placing blankets on the floors so they could sleep.

Lotor and his generals were a few feet from them, lightly snoring away. Lotor was the only one sitting, his arms crossed over his chest, silver hair covering most of his face, while his generals lay in a circle around him. That couldn't be comfortable for him; Lotor would definitely have a crick on his neck. The McLane family along with Krolia and Mr. Holt were on the other side of the room, sprawled on the floor on top of some white sheets that they had taken from the scattered beds. The triplets were practically on top of each other; Aiden and his dad, along with Krolia and Mr. Holt were sitting on the blankets, their backs to the walls, sleeping away. Mickey McLane was on his back, one hand over his bare chest, loudly snoring. Shadow was sleeping next to him, his massive body taking up most of the blanket on the floor.

Mikey and Allura were practically doing a duet with the way they were snoring. Was that the Bohemian Rhapsody song or was he hearing things?

Lance mumbled something under her breath, her body scooting closer as she rubbed her cheek against his leg. Her dark brown hair lay sprawled around her; she had a split lip, something that he had caused. He remembered that. He'd broken a rib too from what he remembered.

He'd have to apologize to her when she woke up. His friend had gone to great lengths to save him, used most of her power but she had done it. He was so grateful, so delighted that she was back. Perhaps he'd even let her and Keith sleep in the same room once they left Cloyetera. On the condition that they leave the door open.

Actually…never mind.

Those two had been giving each other certain _looks_. Shiro knew what those looks meant. Open door or not, he was sure they wouldn't care and just have their way with each other. So…yeah. Perhaps no sleeping in the same room just yet. But if they insisted on it…then goddamn it he was going to sleep in the same room with them.

Those two needed adult supervision.

And unfortunately for him, he was the adult. Despite the fact that there were other adults here now, apparently he was still the one in charge of their children.

Goddamn adults.

Take care of your own children, jeez.

Turning to his right, beyond Allura, were Hunk, Coran and Matt. The yellow paladin was on his back, spread eagle. On his right hand, Shiro and Allura lay. On his left, Matt's head lay on Hunk's stomach. Mouth open and lightly snoring. Coran was clinging to Hunk's left leg, That oversized orange shirt riding up to reveal a tan thigh. Shiro looked away, he was sure he saw an orange speedo there.

Oh god.

His eyes.

Now he had the image stuck in his head.

What time was it anyway?

After hugging the crap out of his friends everyone had decided to just sleep in the infirmary room. His friends had all climbed on the small bed with him. Unfortunately, with all the added weight, the bed had crashed to the floor, startling them so much that it had them laughing.

They were still on top of the bed though, despite the fact that it was definitely broken.

Something clung to his head. Shiro immediately stilled. Only one person had six arms whose snores sounded like a car engine spluttering.

Slav.

What in the seven hells was that turd doing clinging to his head like he owned it? Slav smacked his lips together mumbling under his breath. "Best friend…"

And then he scooted closer and rubbed his cheek against his hair.

Oh, hell no.

It was time to get the fuck up.

Shiro made as if to get up, slowly and quietly but apparently not quietly enough. Allura woke with a loud snort. Keith sat up, Blade of Marmora dagger in his hand, looking around wildly. Were those fangs or was Shiro seeing things? He accidentally kicked Pidge in the face, waking the green paladin who howled in pain, her hands going to her face before she rolled on the floor screaming obscenities.

Slav jumped in the air like a cat that'd been sprayed with water, falling off the bed with a yelp.

Ha.

Hunk jumped, shooting to a sitting position, and accidentally tossed Matt and Coran to the side. "Nobody touch that ladle!" Hunk screamed. " _I'm_ cooking! "The Altean advisor's slippers quacked in his haste to get up only to trip on his feet when he accidentally stepped on a groaning Matt on the floor. His orange shirt went over his head, giving everyone a good look at that speedo he apparently _was_ wearing.

Everyone else who had been sleeping around the room released huge yawns, stretching their hands high in the air.

So much for subtle.

The only one who didn't wake was Lance. She just lay there, clutching his leg, blissfully unaware of anything.

Lucky her.

Allura rubbed her eyes, yawned, and owlishly blinked at him. "Shiro?"

He offered a sheepish smile. "Good morning princess."

The Altean princess blinked again slowly, as if coming out of a trance before her blue eyes widened, and she dove for him, her hands going around his neck before kissing him on the mouth.

He could get used to this.

His one arm wrapped around her waist, scooting closer to deepen the kiss.

Pidge made a gagging noise. "It's too early for this shit."

"Language young lady!" Mr. Holt yelled from a distance.

Pidge grumbled under her breath. Matt laughed at her.

"I think it's cute." Hunk gushed, one hand on his chest as he sent them a wide smile.

"Nope," Keith grumbled beside them. He shot a glare in his and Allura's direction. Keith was never a morning person. "I'm with Pidge, its way too early for this shit."

"Thank you." Pidge breathed.

"Keith Wilhelm Kogane," Krolia threatened. "You watch your mouth!"

Keith spluttered, his arms crossing over his chest in a huff. "But mom –"

"It's too early for that use of language!" Yes, Shiro thought as he pulled away from Allura. Finally, Keith's mom was acting like a mom. "Wait until you've had breakfast at least."

Never mind.

He should have known not to get his hopes up.

Everyone else began to get up, mumbles of 'good morning' passing around as they greeted each other.

Coran stretched his arms high in the air, some joints cracking with the movement. He huffed, getting to his feet. Hunk pulled that orange shirt down, covering that god-awful speedo. "Good morning, good morning. Spice it up a little jeez."

Pidge grinned, jumping to her feet before spreading her arms wide. "Good morning motherfuckers!"

"Pidge!" Shiro and Mr. Holt scolded.

Hunk shook his head and sighed.

Coran wildly laughed, ruffling her hair. It only had puffing her chest proudly. Allura leaned forward; pulling his orange shirt down when it went up until it covered his assets.

Again.

Thank god.

"What?" Pidge huffed, fixing her glasses. Her forehead had a red foot imprint, courtesy of Keith. "Coran said to spice it up!"

True, but still.

"Lance?" Keith crawled to the Amazon's side, shaking her shoulder in worry. Lance didn't answer. Didn't even stir. His face etched in worry, the red paladin brought her body forward, cradling her in his arms. Lance's head sagged on his shoulder. Blue-gray eyes looked up at the others in worry. "What's wrong with her? She isn't waking up! And she's cold!"

Mikey all but sprinted to their side, pushing Slav to the floor in his haste. The others frowned, drawing closer to take a closer look at the Amazon princess.

Allura softly gasped. "She's so pale."

"It's okay," Adina reassured them as she and Reyna stepped forward. The petite Amazon still looked tired, she had dark circles under her eyes. She swayed to the right, Reyna catching her before she fell. "She just used too much power. She's just sleeping."

Keith narrowed his eyes at her. "Then why is she so cold? She looks like a corpse!"

"About that," Hunk interrupted, a finger raised in the air. "Lance has a new power. Apparently it changed her body temperature. She's fine."

"Yup," Matt added with reassuring smile. "She told us herself. She can use ice now!"

Surprised murmurs came from the others.

Keith still looked unsure. Mikey as well. Mr. McLane put a hand to his daughters' forehead and frowned. He turned to Adina. "Are you sure?"

Adina replaced his hand with her own and nodded. "She's completely drained. Some sleep will do her some good. I'd heal her hands and her other bruises but I'm still not up to full power."

"That's okay Adina," Shiro said, getting to his feet with Allura's help. "You get some rest."

Adina pouted at him. She yawned. "You shouldn't be on your feet. You should be resting."

Pidge narrowed her eyes at him, stepping closer to inspect his face. Was that a spray bottle in her hand? Shiro tried not to squirm under that penetrating gaze. "Not to be rude…but you're the real Shiro right?"

"Of course he is!" Keith huffed, adjusting his grip on Lance's sleeping form before getting to his feet. "Lance got rid of that wrinkly old bitch! Are you doubting her skills?"

Pidge put her hands up in surrender but rolled her eyes. "Relax, I'm not doubting her skills. I just want to make sure."

"After that poltergeist and getting attacked by dolls, it'd better have worked." Matt grumbled under his breath.

Shiro turned wide eyes to his friend. "Dolls?" he blinked. "You got attacked by dolls? Where the heck did they appear from?"

Allura sheepishly cleared her throat. "From me."

"I knew you had a doll collection." Pidge added smugly. "Every princess in every book I've read always seems to have one."

Lotor nodded at the side. "Every princess I've met has had one as well."

Pidge grinned triumphantly. "See?"

"She didn't have just one," Coran corrected with a grin, his finger curling the end of his mustache. "She had 50!"

Everyone blanched.

Allura huffed, stomping her foot on the floor like a five year old. "They were a collectors edition! And they were my friends!"

Keith turned to him with a blank stare. "This is your girlfriend Shiro."

Allura's cheeks turned slightly pink. Shiro shrugged a shoulder. "I used to have a LEGO collection, what's a few dolls? I find it endearing."

Allura's eyes glistened with tears. "Shiro. It _is_ you."

Shiro nodded, taking hold of her hand to give it a squeeze. For a moment it was just the two of them, everyone in the room gone as they gazed at each other with love in their eyes.

Several people made gagging noises.

Rude ass hoes.

Shiro huffed, narrowing his eyes at Keith. "I bet Lance has a doll collection too."

For a moment the color seemed to drain from his little brothers' face. He scowled. "You take those blasphemous words back."

"Make me." Shiro teased.

Keith growled low in his throat. Mikey scoffed. "Leah doesn't have a doll collection."

"Yeah!" The triplets added with a fist in the air.

Aiden shrugged and grinned. "She has a shark collection."

"I'm sorry, what?" Shiro squeaked.

"Oh hell yeah!" Pidge cheered. "Finally, something different!"

"Sharks?" Hunk asked fearfully. He swallowed. "That's a joke right?"

"I don't know," Matt added with a grin, his brown eyes twinkling. "But I hope it's true. I want to see!"

"What's a shark?" Ezor asked Lotor. The Galra Prince shrugged his shoulders.

"Is it tasty?" Zethrid licked her lips.

"Probably something that eats people." Slav grumbled. Shiro had almost forgotten that Slav was here too. He'd been so quiet.

"Nope," Shiro said, turning mischievous eyes to the six-armed alien. "Just aliens that talk about other realities."

Slav whimpered, his eyes practically bugging out of his face. "Oh, why must I be so popular?" He shook his head, and began to fall backwards. Krolia put an arm to his back before he hurt himself and then whined about it. "It's a curse."

Several people rolled their eyes.

Mr. Holt turned to Lance's father, his eyes wide. "Your daughter has a shark collection?"

Mr. McLane flailed his arms and shook his head. "Not real sharks! Stuffed animal ones!"

Oh.

That's good.

A few people sighed in relief, but the others mostly in disappointment.

"That's not true dad," Aiden argued, putting his blue headphones around his head. "She still has Nathan."

Mr. McLane snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right!" He turned to the others. "She has one shark back at home. But only one."

As his friends began to talk amongst themselves in excitement, Shiro warmly smiled at them. He'd missed this. The fact that his friends were laughing together, teasing each other…it was all thanks to Lance. It was thanks to her and everyone here that he himself was able to witness this as well.

"Guys," he started. Everyone turned to him. The chatter began to die down. Best to apologize quickly. But how exactly does one apologize for getting possessed by a witch?

Shiro swallowed nervously, took a deep breath, and bowed his head. "I'm so sorry that I put all of your lives in danger. The truth is, I noticed something was wrong shortly after Lance went missing. I kept getting blackouts but I thought it was just stress." He turned his head to look at Keith. "The reason we couldn't find Lance…that was also my fault. Whenever we got too close, Haggar would take over and send a message to her druids, telling them to move her to a new location."

Keith took a sharp breath. His grip on Lance's body tightening.

"I'm sorry," Shiro continued. "I had no memory of any of that until today. I should have talked to someone about this. I shouldn't have kept it to myself. Perhaps things wouldn't have gotten this bad if I'd done so. And everything I said, or did, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. You're all my family; I think the world of you guys. If you guys don't want to forgive me that's fine. I'll understand."

For a moment there was only silence. And then a warm hand landed on his shoulder and Shiro looked up to see Keith smiling softly at him. He'd handed Lance over to Mikey who seemed pleased. "Shiro, it's okay. None of this was your fault."

"Should you have confided in one of us about your blackouts?" Allura shrugged. "Probably. But I suppose you didn't want to worry us."

"That's just like you man," Matt shook his head, brown hair swaying with the motion. His friend gave him an exasperated look. "Always shouldering everything so you don't worry others. Rely on us a little."

"It's okay to keep things to yourself," Hunk added with a small smile. "But I know from experience that talking it out loud and confiding in someone can do you wonders."

Pidge snorted. "I tell Matt everything. Do I annoy him sometimes?" Matt nodded glumly. "Maybe. But he's always there to listen when I need to vent."

"The thing about families," Coran added with a twitch of his mustache. "Is that they're always there for you. We're a team young man, I understand that we were still devastated from the loss of losing one of our dearest friends and we weren't exactly in a very good place but you should have still talked to us." Coran actually looked a little disappointed in him, it had Shiro's stomach knotting fretfully. The Altean advisor's expression softened. "Regardless, what's done is done. All that matters is that you're back and that frightful witch is gone." He waved a finger at him. "I hope this teaches you not to keep secrets from us anymore. If something is bothering you, you come to us. Whether it's about a witch trying to take over your body or you just need to vent or just plain talk, we're here for you."

His friend's nodded, small smiles on their faces. Keith gripped his shoulder. "For what's its worth, we forgive you."

Shiro felt tears threatening to spill. He tried holding them back, he really did, but maybe it was the immense relief he felt of having his friends forgive him for the actions he had no control of that did him in. Maybe it was the fond way they were looking at him. Or perhaps Shiro was just a big crybaby. Either way, he was done for. As the tears began to flow, he covered his face with his one hand and sobbed. Multiple hands were soon on him, engulfing him in another group hug that had him sobbing harder. His whole body ached, Haggar hadn't cared what happened to his body as long as her goal was accomplished but right now, he really didn't care. What's a little more pain if it got him some hugs?

Allura brought his face to her chest, one hand running down his back as Keith and Pidge wrapped their arms around his middle. Matt and Coran hugged him from the side as Hunk opened his arms and lifted all of them in the air, swinging them around.

It had them all laughing.

There were several sniffles in the back.

"There's so much dust in this room," Kyrian sniffled, his chocolate brown eyes rapidly blinking. Alan and Colt blew their noses, hugging their brother.

Aiden smiled softly at them. Mr. McLane and Mr. Holt looked at each other and grinned.

"You're all pussies," Mikey grumbled, but his dark blue eyes were shining bright with tears. Reyna and Adina snickered.

Krolia had a crooked grin on her face, her violet eyes a little misty.

"This is so beautiful," Ezor sniffled, her baby blue eyes wide with tears. She turned to Lotor and her friends and glared at them. "Why don't we have group hugs? They look fun!"

"Because Kova scratches the shit out of us if we so much as drag Narti into a hug." Zethrid snorted, crossing her big arms over her wide chest.

Narti shrugged her shoulders in a 'sorry' gesture, her cat Kova hissed at Zethrid but the Galra woman just snarled in return.

"Besides," Axca continued, tucking a blue strand of hair behind her ear, "Prince Lotor doesn't enjoy hugs. "

"Don't put words in my mouth Axca," Lotor drawled, his arms crossed over his chest.

Axca's yellow-blue eyes widened in disbelief. "Sir?!"

Shiro turned to Narti who had put on her hood again, obscuring most of her face. He offered her a smile. "And thank you too. If you hadn't given Lance back up I might not have been here. Thank you."

Narti waved her hand in an 'it was nothing' gesture.

Someone blew their nose loudly and annoyingly. Slav.

Of course.

Who else would be capable of ruining a sweet moment like this but him?

"Let me join in on the action too!" Slav screamed, already running in their direction.

Shiro and his friends separated so quickly it was almost comical. Allura placed her hands on his cheeks. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he managed to say. There was no sign of Haggar's dark magic. It was just him in there.

Allura narrowed her blue eyes. "You wouldn't be lying to me right now, right?"

Shiro fidgeted. His friends narrowed their eyes at him. He sighed. "Okay, okay. My body is throbbing, everything hurts, and I'm definitely starving."

"Well," Coran beamed. "We can fix one of those problems. How about I do something nice for you all? Oh!" Coran jumped in delight. "I'll cook for you!"

Pidge scrunched up her face. "You want to do something nice for us so you decided to cook?"

Mr. Holt sent her a stern frown.

Hunk and Matt shared nervous glances. Hunk cleared his throat. "Umm, about that…"

"We…may not have food anymore." Matt sheepishly added.

Coran turned completely still, his purple eyes narrowed. "Explain."

Shiro knew exactly what they were talking about but he kept his mouth shut. When neither of his friends answered quickly enough, Coran bolted from the room to presumably the kitchen. The black paladin counted to fifteen before there was an inhuman shriek from the castle speakers.

" _Everyone get up here now!"_ Coran shrieked.

Oh, boy.

Here we go.

* * *

Shiro took in the sight of the kitchen and winced. Food goo in various colors dripped from several surfaces, including the ceiling, bloody footprints marked the floor. There were broken plates all over the ground, popcorn, apples, and both yellow and blue lion slippers sticking out from under the bent refrigerator.

To make things worse, everything was wet. As if a dam had broken and engulfed the whole room. The long rectangular table was on its side in the center of the room, the chairs were scattered all over the place, some broken, some bent at odd angles.

Hell, the door leading to the kitchen was across the room, bent at odd angles where Haggar had used his body to punch his way out.

This would take _hours_ to clean.

Pidge whistled. "Damn, what the fuck happened here?"

Hunk looked over at the Altean advisor nervously. Coran's mustache frizzled every which way, his mouth hanging open, eyes as wide as they can be. "There was kind of a fight?"

Matt scratched his head with a grimace. "We might have gone overboard." Coran turned steely purple eyes at him. Matt flailed his arms. "It was mostly Haggar! She made a poltergeist!"

Shiro sighed next to Allura. "It's true, if they hadn't done what they did Haggar might have had me kill them. Sorry Coran."

The Altean advisor's eyes softened just a bit. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath and let it out. "All right, that's fine. But I want all of you to help clean up, I'm not doing this myself."

People immediately grumbled. At least Slav had already gone to his room, claiming that only he knew how to fix it just to his liking. Good riddance.

Coran's nostrils' flared. His whole face turned red. It was downright terrifying.

Everyone shut their mouths and put on eager expressions.

"What about our rooms?" Mr. McLane asked with a raise of his hand.

"What about them?" Coran asked suspiciously.

Mr. McLane exchanged looks with Mr. Holt. They looked a little embarrassed. "Our shower heads tried to kill us. The whole place is wet."

"Our video game consoles blew up on us." One of the triplets said. His other two brothers winced.

Aiden sighed. "Mikey and I managed to put the fire out but a lot of stuff burned. Sorry."

"Our beds are singed." Reyna admitted right after. Adina looked sheepish. "Our blow driers almost did us in."

"The same thing happened to me." Krolia added with a pout.

Keith snorted where he leaned on the wall. His baby brother had let Mikey take Lance back to her room and he was still a little pissy about it. Shadow had gone with them as well. "You should see the prison cells."

"The training room isn't that bad." Pidge shrugged her shoulders. "Just a few dead drones here and there."

"And let's not forget your room Coran," Allura lastly added. The Altean Princess had an arm around Shiro's waist to help him sit up. His balance felt a little off without his other arm. "Plus the hallway where we killed my dolls." That last part was said in a sad tone. Shiro patted her back, hoping to comfort her in someway. Allura sent him a small smile.

"Someone threw up in the hallway too!" Hunk suddenly shouted. His eyes darted everywhere, refusing to meet the castle Advisor's eyes. His tone turned meek. "Though I don't know who it could be."

Shiro and the others gave him a deadpan stare. Hunk just gave himself away with that little comment. The yellow paladin sheepishly scratched his head.

Coran looked like he'd stopped breathing at some point. Every comment that was added only made him paler and paler. He looked like he wanted to both cry and punch something at the same time. A twitch had developed on his right temple.

After what felt like forever and Shiro was wondering if the castle advisor was breathing, Coran spoke. "We're cleaning." Everyone grumbled. Coran's eyes narrowed to slits, it had everyone swallowing audibly. "No arguments."

"What about food?" Matt nervously asked for all of them.

Coran actually seemed to think about that before nodding slowly. "I'll see what we can scrounge up. In the meantime, I want everyone to split up and clean as much as you can before we get to Cloyetera."

"About that," Reyna piped in. She was leaning against the doorframe looking at everything in disgust. "When exactly are we reaching Cloyetera?"

Allura glanced down at her transparent bracelet, tapping a few things into it before speaking. "Approximately, three hours in your time."

"We'd like to help too," Lotor offered. The Galra Prince stepped forward despite Axca pulling at his sleeve. "If that is all right with you princess."

Allura narrowed her eyes at him. She still didn't trust Lotor and his generals, it's why she kept them locked up but now that the room where they held prisoners was off limits he wondered what she would do.

Lotor and his generals had proven themselves, personally Shiro would have allowed them some time to be around them but the decision wasn't up to him. It was Allura's. After all, this was still her ship.

His girlfriend turned to him, her eyes going soft. He offered her a smile. After some intense seconds that had everyone fidgeting nervously, Allura sighed, her demeanor changed from hostile to something non-threatening. "You may start with the throw up in the hall." Axca bristled beside the Galra Prince but Lotor held up his hand to settle her down. "After that, you may clean the remaining parts from my dolls. When that is done, come to either me or Coran for further instructions."

Lotor nodded, his tense shoulders loosening up just a bit. He smiled. "Very well. Thank you princess."

Allura shook her head, her silver hair falling to her eyes before she moved them away. "No. Thank _you_. For helping us." Her eyes turned to Narti who was petting her cat. "And you especially. Thank you for helping Lance save Shiro."

Narti inclined her head, her tail swaying happily.

Coran clapped his hands to get their attention. Despite the fact that he looked absolutely ridiculous in that long orange shirt that just reached his knees and those slippers that quacked every time he moved, Coran looked fierce. It had everyone standing straighter. Himself included. "I want all of you to split up into small groups and clean up whatever you can. No buts." He made sure to look at Pidge who'd been opening her mouth to object. "I don't care if you did it or not, you're cleaning. We provided you a place of shelter, we fed you, the least you can do is clean up."

Everyone grumbled but nodded slowly. Coran beamed. "I'll be handing out cleaning supplies so line up to get them. This place better be spotless by the time we get to Cloyetera."

"Speaking of Cloyetera," Reyna interrupted. "You should all wear something warm because it'll be snowing."

"It's almost Christmas!" Adina piped in with a beaming smile.

Allura and Coran exchanged confused glances. "What's Christmas?" Shiro began to quietly explain to the two of them, watching, as their eyes grew wide in excitement. Lotor and his generals who had been listening looked fascinated. They began to whisper in excited murmurs amongst themselves.

"Oh, shit." Pidge exclaimed, she actually looked excited. "How soon?"

"In a week." Reyna answered with a small smile. "It'll be more crowded too. Wait till you see it, we've…expanded."

"Will there be more Amazons?" Hunk curiously asked.

"Some, but mostly it'll be the Valkyries."

Matt's eyes bugged out. "Valkyries? Women with wings? Seriously?"

"Seriously." Adina said with a smile. "They always come around the middle of the year and stay until July." Adina sighed dreamily. "They have such pretty wings."

Women with wings? Shiro was kind of excited now.

Matt smoothed back his brown hair and puffed his chest. Pidge gave him a weird look. "Got to look good for the ladies."

The comment only had Pidge and Mr. Holt rolling their eyes at him in fake exasperation. Shiro had a feeling that his friend would be practicing his pick-up lines on him soon. Best be prepared.

Lotor and his generals looked intrigued. Krolia too, she was already dancing on her toes. Keith gave her a look that she chose to ignore.

"Their princess is a total bitch though." Reyna grumbled. All eyes turned to her in surprise. From what he had gathered, Lance and the rest of the Amazons didn't curse. They didn't like it. So to hear Reyna actually cursing? Well, it was certainly a shock.

"Did you just curse?" Pidge was smiling widely, practically vibrating in place.

Adina sighed, sending a stern look at her girlfriend who just huffed. "She's…not wrong."

"I'll say," Mikey huffed, making his way back from dropping Lance of in her room. "The woman hates my sister. Leah hates her too. I say we beat her up."

"Mikey." Mr. McLane warned, baby blue eyes narrowed disapprovingly.

Mikey threw his hands up. "That woman is annoying dad! She's always bad mouthing Leah!"

"Perhaps we should put a stink bomb in her room?" Kyrian suggested, brown chocolate eyes looking mischievous. Colt and Alan added a few more suggestions. Aiden sighed, pushing his glasses up so he could pinch the bridge of his nose.

Keith narrowed his eyes to slits, his baby brother already looked pissed on Lance's behalf. "Who the fuck are you talking about?"

The triplets glanced at each other before speaking at the same time. "Zooey Kaliee."

There was something familiar about that name. He'd heard it before. Lance had mentioned that name a long time ago.

Pidge and Hunk's eyes widened, looking at each other with shocked expressions before snapping their fingers together. "The she-devil!"

Shiro's head snapped up. Of course! The girl who liked to pick on Lance!

Allura vigorously nodded, her eyes narrowed. "The girl who put her underwear on the poll for all to see!"

"The girl who stole her cookies," Hunk grumbled darkly. "Who does that?"

"An animal." Matt and Pidge answered at the same time.

"A she-devil." Keith muttered darkly.

"A barbarian." Coran huffed with a twitch of his mustache.

"Who just steals cookies from someone?" Zethrid growled beside Ezor. "I don't like her already."

"Everyone, calm down." Shiro advised. People looked like they were ready to bring out the pitchforks. Best to calm them down.

"This bitch did what?" Mikey snapped. Aiden clamped a hand on his shoulder to calm his down. Mikey significantly relaxed. He still looked angry but it had lessened a smidge. Mr. McLane nodded in approval.

"That's the one," Reyna nodded her head. "Don't mess with her though." His friends actually looked outraged at the suggestion. Shiro sent them all a stern frown. "She's a princess, and our ally. If we say anything that pisses her off she'll tell her mother to pull away from the alliance."

"So be on your best behavior." Adina advised, pointedly looking at Mikey who grumbled under his breath. "Lance can handle her, she can say whatever she wants because she's a princess too." She cleared her throat. "And if Lance attacks her, which she probably will, please don't join."

"This'll be fun." Reyna smirked. "Lance will win." She and Zethrid grinned at each other; the two of them giving each other fists bumps. Just earlier the two had been comparing muscles.

"You heard her guys," Shiro looked at his friends one by one to get his message across. "Be on your best behavior. We don't want angry women with wings after us."

"What about a little prank?" Pidge asked with pleading eyes.

"No."

"How about some wing clipping?" Keith added seriously. Mikey put an arm around his shoulder with a huge grin. Those two together couldn't be good for his heart.

Shiro blanched. "No."

Pidge protested. "But Shiro –"

"I said no. Don't make me ground you Pidge."

Pidge growled at him but shut her mouth. He'd have to watch her just in case. Shiro looked back at the others. He'd better keep an eye on Mikey and Keith as well. What surprised him the most was Hunk though. They yellow paladin actually looked disappointed when Shiro told Pidge no to pulling a prank.

Oh, god.

Hunk was turning to the dark side.

Not sweet Hunk!

"Hunk should join Adina and Reyna in cleaning!" Shiro blurted out.

Everyone looked up in surprise at his outburst. Shiro didn't give a fuck. He had one last good child, no way was Hunk turning to the dark side like the rest of his friends had. There was still hope for him. Adina would be good for him; she could keep Reyna in check.

Coran was the first to snap out of his stupor. He cleared his throat. "Right then. I guess those three will be a team. Now everyone else, line up and pick up a mop, we have a ship to clean."

* * *

Pidge didn't like cleaning. It required physical labor and that was just not her thing. Still, she didn't want to argue with Coran at the moment. The Altean advisor was on a mission, he was barking out orders like a drill sergeant. It was downright terrifying.

Even Mr. McLane who used to be a soldier before kept his mouth shut and that man practically exuded dominance. How he was able to reign in Mikey McLane was beyond her but it was damn impressive.

She'd tried sneaking away to her room but Matt ratted her out the goddamn traitor. Where was the sibling love? Certainly not here. At least she and Matt only had to clean up the training room. Krolia had gone with them when they had trouble pulling the drone that Reyna had impaled on the wall with her spear.

Keith's mom was fun to talk to. Pidge had wanted to know more about baby Keith, something Krolia was more than eager to talk about. Now she had more blackmail on him.

Nice.

They'd been cleaning for hours. Keith, along with Lance's brothers had gone to the room where they held the prisoners to try and clear some of the damage. Pidge had passed by on her way just in time to see them playing tag instead.

Seriously, what the fuck?

They seemed to be really into it too. Heck, even Keith was into it and he usually didn't like playing games or just plain laughter. He'd be off on his little corner, calling them immature as he wore that scowl on his face. Emo bitch ass punk. That is, unless Lance joined in, then he would too. Yet there he was, climbing on top of a broken chandelier on the floor to bitch slap Mikey on the face with a huge smile on his face, yelling tag at the top of his lungs, before running for his life as one of the triplets chased after him.

If anything they were just making more of a mess.

Lucky bastards.

Mr. McLane and her father had teamed up to inspect each other's rooms. They'd taken brooms with them, Lance's father strapping a metal bat, courtesy of Coran, to his back in case there was trouble. Reyna and Adina had gone to check on them just in case. Lotor and his generals had cleaned the floor where Hunk threw up; her friend had totally given himself away as being the culprit, and were currently trying to find any remaining doll parts.

Zethrid had jumped two feet in the air when one of the dolls that were still partially intact had spoken, asking if she wanted to play with her. Axca and Ezor had descended on the doll at once, Narti throwing it against the wall as Lotor rushed in with a battle cry and a broom raised high in the air to finish it off. It was downright hilarious. They stomped on it repeatedly to make sure it was down.

Allura had cried a little.

Coran looked god damn proud, sniffed, and put a hand on the Altean princess's shoulder with a promise of jewelry. Allura instantly cheered up. The two of them were in charge of the kitchen. Pidge, Matt and Krolia had gone to help them for a bit before they got sent to the infirmary to clean it up.

That place was a total disaster.

Since Shiro was still not up to one hundred percent, the most they'd allowed him to do was look for food in the fridge. Their now silvered-haired friend had wanted to help out more but Adina sent him a fierce glare that had him sitting down on one of the only good chairs to rest. He had not been successful in finding them food. Everything in the fridge had gone to waste during the power outage. Plus, there was no more food goo either.

Pidge wasn't too bothered about the food goo; it wasn't exactly anyone's favorite dish. All they had was junk food and Hunk was currently putting them in a basket as he went to everyone's room to retrieve them. Pidge had a stash of jolly ranchers under her bed but her bags of chips? In her bracelet.

She and Matt were currently sharing with Krolia as they sat on the floor in the infirmary. Keith's mom was a fan of the sour and cream chips. Shadow and Nyx had been helping them out, picking up the bent beds with their claws or snout. Slav was nowhere in sight but hey, no one gave a fuck.

" _All right everyone!"_ Coran shouted through the speakers. _"It's time for a break! Meet back in the kitchen!"_

Fucking finally.

Stretching her arms as high as they could go, Pidge all but bolted to the kitchen, Matt and Krolia catching up to her with ease. Curse their long legs.

As soon as they arrived at the kitchen Pidge did a double take. It certainly looked better than the last time she saw it. The huge puddles of water were gone, all the broken glass from the plates was in the trashcan, and Matt's bloody footprints were gone as well. The place looked spotless. The long rectangle table was placed on the center, about six chairs surrounded it. Shiro was already sitting on one, Allura sitting next to him where she was currently trying to feed him a piece of chocolate.

Shiro's cheeks were tinged slightly pink. He opened his mouth, Allura giggled into her hand, guiding the chocolate into his mouth when Pidge decided that now was the perfect time to interrupt. She feigned gagging and her two friends broke apart, their faces clearly flustered.

"P-pidge!" Allura greeted, clearing her throat. Her blue eyes darted everywhere but on her. "I didn't see you there." The Altean princess had already changed to a pink winter jacket, white leggings, and brown winter boots. Her silver hair fell in curls behind her back. Shiro had changed as well. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt, the sleeve on his right tied into a knot because he didn't have his prosthetic hand, some black pants, and his signature black boots. He didn't look as pale anymore, he still had dark circles under his eyes but he didn't look as haunted.

It made Pidge smile in relief.

"Were you two flirting?" Matt teased them both as he made his way to sit on Shiro's left. The black paladin cleared his throat but didn't deny it. Her brother turned to Allura with a grin. "I hope you brought enough chocolate for everyone."

"She sure did!" Coran cheerily announced as he and Hunk arrived at the kitchen, the two of them carrying baskets with something wrapped in tin foil on top. "We also managed to scrounge up some ingredients for burritos!"

"Chocolate?" Krolia's eyes were practically shining in tears. "You said chocolate right?"

Hunk grinned, picking up a snickers bar before tossing it to the Galra woman who snatched it from the air. "Go nuts. We found a whole stash in Shiro's room."

Krolia quickly unwrapped the thing and all but shoved the whole bar in her mouth. A single tear ran down her light purple cheek. "Oh, how I missed chocolate."

Shiro awkwardly cleared his throat, mumbling under his breath. "I thought I hid those better."

"Not good enough," Pidge teased as she took a seat across from him. She snatched a snickers bar and a burrito all at once. "We always find them. You just don't know how to hide your shit Shiro."

The black paladin's forehead wrinkled in disapproval. "Don't curse Pidge."

All too soon the rest of the castle occupants arrived. Most looked tired but at the sight of food they quickly regained their energy and all but tackled the baskets on the table. Hunk smacked their hands until they backed away. Only then did Hunk pass out the food. Lotor and his generals seemed to really like the chocolate; since there weren't enough chairs they took a seat on the floor.

Pidge handed out bags of chips, Keith passed out granola bars, only because Matt insisted they had more junk food stashed in their bracelets. Again, where was the sibling love? Still not here apparently. Mikey and his brothers passed out juice that they had saved, it tasted like fruit punch.

Reyna and Adina were giggling on the floor where they sat cross-legged, the former feeding her girlfriend pieces of the burrito. Lance's father and her dad were in deep conversation, talking animatedly about who knows what where they leaned against the island counter. Coran had already taken Lance's pets their food; they were the only ones whose food had not been tampered with during the chaos from the day before. Slav had wanted to make milkshakes by extracting milk from Kaltenecker and hadn't been seen since then.

Poor little idiot.

No one messed with Kaltenecker. She only listened to Lance.

"What's that?" Keith suddenly asked, loud enough to be heard over the countless conversations happening all at once. Pidge followed his line of sight and frowned.

Really?

Reaching for the mentioned item, Pidge held it in her hand so he could see. "You mean a Kit Kat?"

Keith furrowed his brows, his blue-gray eyes looked deep in concentration. "Is that what it's called?"

Matt gave him a wide-eyed look. "Dude, have you never had one before?"

Keith bristled where he sat at the corner of the table, his burrito already gone. The gray scar on his left cheek surprisingly suited him. It curved upward, matching the purple marks that Krolia seemed to have on both of her cheeks. Keith hadn't changed, he was still wearing his black UFO shirt and red checkered loose pants, his red lion slippers gone leaving him barefoot. His hands clenched into fists. He looked both angry and a little embarrassed. "Most kids at the orphanage didn't like sharing. And Shiro's family only had sweets on Halloween."

Hunk's face softened, he looked ready to pounce on him with a hug, it only had Keith looking at him wearily. Shiro ruffled Keith's hair fondly, it only had him stammering. Krolia got up and handed her son a Kit Kat still in its wrapper. "Here. Your father introduced me to these first, I'm sure you'll like them."

Keith took the wrapped candy in his palms, a pout on his lips as everyone turned to see his reaction. Even Lotor and his generals were eagerly waiting to see his response. They'd apparently already tried Kit Kat's. Pidge eagerly leaned forward. It was like watching your kid learn to swim for the first time.

Noticing the stares he was receiving, Keith focused on unwrapping his Kit Kat, his cheeks slightly pink in embarrassment. Pidge would be embarrassed too if she had all these people looking at her while she ate. Was Mr. McLane recording this? It sure looked like it.

Man, Lance's father was awesome.

Keith sniffed the Kit Kat's in his hands, looked it over from all angles, sniffed it again, before he shrugged and bit into it diagonally. Everyone gasped.

Pidge was outraged.

Hunk and Matt had their hands over their mouths, their eyes wide as saucers.

Shiro actually looked upset. Allura put a hand on his shoulder but she just looked as disturbed as Coran.

Lotor was shaking his head, white silver hair tumbling down his face.

Adina screeched, a hand going to her forehead as she all but collapsed into Reyna's waiting arms.

Krolia's face went blank.

Lance's brothers started laughing.

Pidge shook her head at the red paladin. How _dare_ he?

Keith had that whole 'deer caught in the headlights' look. At least he knew he'd done something wrong.

"Oh, my god." A familiar voice said at the entrance. "I'm marrying a psychopath."

All eyes snapped to the sound of the voice to find Lance leaning on the wall where the door used to be. The Amazon looked tired, dark circles under her eyes; the bandages on her palms were red. Her blue tank top was ripped on the side while her hair looked like it needed to be combed. She had a small bruise on her temple where a piece of metal had hit her while she was inside Shiro's sub consciousness. But she was awake, and judging from the horrified look on her face, it was clear that she was offended by Keith's actions as well.

Good.

At least being in love with Keith hadn't completely blinded her to this disgrace.

At the sight of the Amazon, Keith instantly brightened up. If he had a tail, Pidge was sure it'd be wagging. In no time at all, Keith was suddenly standing beside his fiancée, hovering over her, taking her hands in his to inspect them. Lance had a small smile on her face; she turned her head, nuzzling her nose into Keith's cheeks causing Keith to snicker, his eyes squeezing shut as he pulled away just a fraction, a smile finally breaking loose. Lance whispered something to the red paladin, causing him to nudge her shoulder, making her sway to the right.

Shiro smiled softly at them.

Even Mikey smiled.

Pidge felt like she was intruding on something she had no business looking at. It was like her two friends had forgotten everyone else in the room with them with the way they looked at each other. As cliché as it sounded, Keith and Lance reminded Pidge of two puzzle pieces.

The two automatically fit.

"Stop being so mushy," Reyna snapped at them, her hands on top of Adina's shoulders as she helped her up. "It's gross."

Krolia gave the violet haired Amazon a look. "You shouldn't be talking."

Reyna just huffed while Adina's pale cheeks turned red.

Pidge gave Lance a deadpan stare. She gestured to the Kit Kat that Keith had abandoned on the table, a diagonal bite mark on it. Pidge couldn't even look at it without getting angry. "Look what he did to it. This is the man you're marrying Lance. You sure you're up to it?"

Lance gave her a grin, her hands crossing over her chest. "He can still be saved Pidge. It's not too late for him to learn a few new tricks."

Pidge nodded sagely. "Save him. Teach him our ways. Or I swear I'll kill him."

Lance threw her head back and laughed, the sound loud and boisterous. Keith's cheeks turned red and he shot Pidge a glare. "Standing right here." He said stiffly.

Pidge ignored him.

Lance turned her blue eyes to Shiro, a frown on her face, her voice going soft. "How are you feeling?"

Shiro let out a loose breath, his whole body sagging against his chair. "Better than yesterday."

Lance nodded, slowly making her way to his side. Keith trailed after her, ready to catch her if she fell, which honestly? It wouldn't be a surprise. Lance was all but dragging her feet; she kept blinking her eyes rapidly, a yawn or two escaping before she reached the black paladin's side.

Adina and Mikey were already on their feet; the two of them wearing similar concerned looks. Hunk and Matt were leaning across the table, ready to launch themselves to her side just in case. Lance waved them off, placing both of her hands on Shiro's temples. The black paladin hissed at her cold touch, causing Lance to murmur an apology before she closed her eyes and concentrated.

Everyone held their breath.

Shiro looked nervous, his hand tightening around Allura's own hand for support. The Altean princess gave his hand a squeeze. The moment of truth. Was Haggar really gone like Shiro claimed or was Pidge going to need that spray bottle? She took it out of her pocket just in case, discreetly aiming it in Shiro's direction in case that witch was still possessing her friends' body.

One look around the room confirmed that she wasn't the only one feeling anxious. Everyone else had gotten to their feet as quietly as they could. Mr. McLane was gripping the metal bat Coran had lent him. Her father lifted the porn book high in the air, ready to be used as a weapon. Pidge was sure she'd gotten rid of it. Hunk and Matt inched their way to the remaining burritos on the baskets. Lotor and his generals, Reyna and Adina included already had weapons in their hands. Krolia had her Blade of Marmora back in her hand courtesy of Keith. Lance's brothers had their hands up, palms clenched into fists.

After some really intense minutes where one could hear a pin drop, it was so silent, Lance nodded slowly and opened her eyes. She took one look around and arched a brow at them. She huffed. "You can all relax and put down your weapons. There's no Haggar in sight. This is really Shiro."

Everyone sighed in relief. Shiro shot them all a wide look, he hadn't realized Pidge and the others had taken out weapons. The only ones who hadn't were Keith and Allura who looked a little miffed. Hey, better to be safe than sorry.

It didn't stop them from apologizing to Shiro though.

He waved them off; he looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders after Lance uttered those words though. "It's okay guys. Confirmation is always good."

Lance took a look around, biting into one of the burritos that Hunk handed to her. "This place looks better."

Coran puffed his chest proudly. "I'm so glad you think so. I made them all join me in cleaning."

"Well," Lance shot the Altean advisor a grin as she kissed her father good morning and took a seat beside Keith. "You guys did a good job. I'm sorry I couldn't help out."

Coran waved her off. "Bah, don't worry about it. Next time." Lance flashed him a grin that had Coran bouncing in place. "I have so many stories to tell you princess!"

"I can't wait." Lance eagerly said.

"Lance," Shiro started, his eyes downcast as he gripped the table with his one hand. "About yesterday, I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Lance waved him off, finishing off her burrito. "Don't worry about it Shiro. You weren't at fault, it was all Haggar anyway." She grimaced and cleared her throat. "Sorry about the whole ice thing. Is your cheek okay?"

Shiro chuckled good naturedly, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. "I'll admit, it certainly stung but it didn't last very long. It's all right." He frowned. "What about you? You're not…cold or anything?"

Lance looked surprised at the comment.

"Dude, you look pale." Hunk commented. "Like, corpse pale."

Lance frowned and looked down at her arms. She leaned forward and poked Matt's cheek. Her brother let out a screech and tumbled off the chair, cursing under his breath were he rolled from side to side. Pidge made sure to take a photo to commemorate this great moment.

"Pussy." Keith snorted, his hand placed on top of Lance's where he interlaced their fingers together. Krolia shot him a dark look.

Lance tilted her head. "I feel a little tired but otherwise I feel fine. I'll try and tone down the coldness though."

"Can you show us?" Ezor eagerly asked, her baby blue eyes were practically shining. "We haven't seen this new power of yours yet."

Shouts of agreement passed from everyone else. Pidge as well, she hadn't seen it thanks to all the interruptions plus Haggar's House of Horrors that she'd made them all go through the day before.

Keith frowned, his eyes narrowing. "She's tired."

"He's right," Adina added sternly. "She shouldn't be using her powers. I don't think she can actually."

"Lance," Shiro advised, looking concerned. "Don't strain yourself."

Everyone slumped where they sat.

Lance looked around nervously. She tugged at the bandages on her palms. "Well, maybe a little." She mumbled.

Everyone instantly brightened up.

"Lance." Keith warned.

Lance waved him off. "I won't use much. Promise."

Keith didn't look happy about it but he begrudgingly nodded. As Lance extended her arm and pursed her lip in deep concentration, Pidge and the others eagerly leaned in to get a good look. Was Lance able to shape her ice like Iceman from X-Men? Could she make a rose sculpture too? Because that would totally be awesome!

Sweat had begun to form at Lance's forehead but so far nothing had happened. Pidge reached for her drink only to yelp at the sheer cold emanating from it. Everyone stared. Pidge's glass cup wasn't the only one that had iced over. Everyone's had.

The ice kept spreading all the way to the top before suddenly the glass cups shattered and everyone jumped back with a shout. Lance paled, her hands going to her mouth as she shot to her feet. "Oh, my god. Are you guys okay?"

Everyone slowly nodded, that had certainly been a surprise, but damn. "Now that was fucking awesome!" Pidge cheered, shooting to her feet as she gathered the broken glass to inspect them. They were still cold.

Lance looked at Coran who was looking on the verge of a breakdown. "Coran, I'm so sorry. I'll buy you new cups. Promise."

The Altean advisor breathed deep through his nose before exhaling. "It's quite all right. No one is hurt. Right?" Everyone nodded. They were a little wet but no harm had come to them. Coran beamed at them. "I was planning on buying a new set anyway."

Lance gnawed on her bottom lip in worry but nodded slowly. Keith laced their fingers together. "How long until we reach Cloyetera anyway? Another hour?"

Allura untangled her arm from Shiro's to look at her bracelet. She made a small sound of surprise. "According to this, we'll be there in ten minutes."

Everyone blanched, immediately shooting to their feet. Lance actually looked sick. Pidge narrowed her eyes. Was her friend not ready to go home yet?

"Everyone go get dressed!" Reyna snapped at them. "We'll have an audience. Nothing too fancy but make sure its warm."

"Be on your best behavior everyone," Shiro added with a stern look. "And no pranks."

He made sure to look at Pidge, Keith, and Mikey extra hard when he said this. Rude.

Lance latched onto Keith's arm, she looked nervous and a little pale. "Keith, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Keith looked confused but nodded.

As Lance began to drag him away her father stopped her. "Oh, no you don't young lady. You know how your mother gets if you're not dressed properly. Come on, I'll help you pick something out."

Lance blanched. "Wait, there's something I have to tell Keith –"

"You can tell him later." Mr. McLane left no room for arguing. "We're going." Lance hesitated. Her father narrowed his baby blue eyes at her. "Ahora."

Lance visibly wilted. She looked like a child who'd just gotten scolded.

Hunk, Matt and Allura rushed forward, their faces paling. What the fuck was going on?

"Mr. McLane –" Allura started, her face pale and frantic.

"I think you should really let them talk." Hunk nervously added.

"Trust me, they need to talk." Matt rushed on.

Mr. McLane frowned at them. By now everyone was looking at them. Keith worriedly looked over at Lance who was starting to sweat. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists. "Whatever it is, she can tell him later. If we don't make her presentable, her mother will kill me." Mr. McLane tried to joke but it didn't seem to make Hunk, Allura or Matt happy. They nervously glanced at Lance.

Lance for her part was starting to look green. Mikey took hold of her hand and began to guide her away. Lance dug her heels but Mikey effortlessly pulled her away. "Mikey, wait –"

"You can talk to him later Lei-Lei," Mikey insisted. "I'll help you find clothes. Besides, you two are practically joined at the hip."

"The hell you will." One of the triplets said, rushing forward to walk beside him. "I've seen what you wear Mikey, you don't know shit about fashion."

"Neither do you," Aiden snorted, walking behind them. "I'm guessing you two don't know how to do her hair?"

Neither male answered.

"I thought so." Aiden added smugly. "I'll come too."

"I'll pick her shoes!" The last two brothers said at the same time and went after them.

Lance looked back at her Keith, her mouth opening and closing before her brothers dragged her away to her room. Keith frowned and started to go after her but Krolia and Shiro tugged at his arm. "You can talk to her later." Shiro advised. "But first, you need to get dressed."

Keith hesitated but allowed his mother to pull him away.

Matt, Hunk and Allura looked at each other all wide-eyed. Something was going on. But what? Pidge was about to ask when her father suddenly sprang up beside her and started leading her away. "Come on. You too. We'll help each other pick out clothes." He looked up at Matt who had started talking in hushed tones with Hunk and Allura. Whatever it was that they were talking about couldn't have been good judging by their nervous glances. It looked like a heavy discussion.

Her brother said one last thing before he rushed to Pidge and her father's side. Whatever was going on, Pidge was going to get to the bottom of this. Matt seemed to sense her determination for he quickly looked away and walked ahead of them.

As Allura and Shiro began to guide Lotor and his generals to who knows where so she could get them something to wear, the Altean princess glanced at Hunk and Matt one last time and put a finger over her lips. Matt and Hunk nodded in determination.

* * *

"Okay, what the fuck are you guys hiding?" Pidge demanded as soon as the door to her room closed sealing the three of them inside.

"Katie," Her father scolded her as he took a seat on her bad. "Watch your mouth young lady." He looked at her room with a frown. "You should really clean your room."

"I will," Pidge hastily added just to avoid a lecture about cleanliness. She turned to Matt who was doing his best to look busy as he looked through his transparent bracelet for something to wear. Her brother was sitting at the corner of her bed, doing his damn-est not to look her in the eye. Matt was clearly hiding something. The last time he'd been like this was when he had to destroy the mini robot that Pidge had made using the toaster. She'd loved that thing. Unfortunately for her brother, it continued to zap him every time he walked into the room. He'd destroyed it by accident and hadn't wanted her to know. "As soon as Matt tells me what he's hiding."

Matt stiffened. He cleared his throat at least three times before speaking. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit."

"Katie!" Her father snapped at her. "Don't make me confiscate your laptop."

Pidge looked at her father in disbelief. He'd already changed to a warm brown jacket, some kaki pants and some brown snow boots. His gray hair was cropped short and he'd recently shaved to give him a clean-cut appearance. Thanks to Hunk and Coran, her father was back to his modest build. He didn't look as skinny. Aiden had even fixed his rectangular glasses. She rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest. "Fine," she turned to Matt who was nodding at something in his bracelet. "But he's definitely hiding something." Matt opened his mouth to protest. "So are Hunk and Allura."

Matt sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair. "Look, Katie. I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because it's not my secret to tell."

Pidge looked down, a pout on her lips. "I though we didn't keep secrets from each other."

Matt winced. Her father was watching them both back and forth curiously. For the most part, her parents always let Matt and her work their problems out by themselves, only intervening when it got out of hand.

Matt's face softened and he reached a hand to ruffle her hair. "I know Katie. I'd tell you if could. You know I would. You know that right?" Pidge did know that. She and Matt were close. They told each other everything. He told her all about the weekly crushes he would have or what new experiments he did at the Garrison and Pidge would tell him about some new project she was working on. Sometimes they'd just talk about their day, or what new project the two of them could start when he came back from break. Hell, sometimes they'd talk about what crazy dream they had the previous night and try to interpret what it could mean.

Pidge sighed and slowly nodded. Matt tapped her nose and she kicked him. Her brother howled and jumped on one leg but he was smiling. Pidge tried to look stern, she really did, but then Matt did a silly face and Pidge doubled over, a hand to her stomach as she laughed.

Her father beamed at them both and brought the two of them close for a family hug that had the two of them complaining. "Now get dressed Katie." Her father said as he combed back his hair with his hands. "We're meeting royalty."

"And I'm going to impress some ladies." Matt teased as he scanned himself with his bracelet. Moments later, his pajamas were gone and he was wearing an orange and black snow jacket, black pants and snow boots. He did a provocative pose that had them groaning. "What do you guys think? I look good, right?"

Pidge made a so-so gesture that had Matt scowling at her while her father gave him a thumps-up. Quickly changing into a green parka, black pants, and some dark green boots she eyed her brother one more time before speaking. "This secret." Matt stiffened. "It's Lance's secret right?" Her brother gave a slow nod, his eyes guarded. Pidge nodded slowly, her index finger tapping her chin as she thought about what her friend could be hiding. It had to do about Keith, that much was obvious. Lance had looked nervous. Really nervous. In fact, now that she'd thought about it…Lance had seemed a little jumpy on the way back from the funeral. She kept looking at Keith like she wanted to say something before changing her mind. And Allura kept giving her these weird looks as well. Why? What could be so bad that it had _Lance_ nervous?

Pidge's brown eyes widened as an impossible thought crossed her mind. No way. There was just no fucking way. Licking her lips nervously, Pidge opened her mouth, and all but shouted at the top of her lungs in disbelief. "Holy shit! Is she breaking up with him?"

Matt and her father looked at her in shock. Pidge backed up a few steps before she began pacing. She was stepping all over her cables and a whole bunch of snacks that she'd left on the floor but she didn't give a fuck. Was Lance breaking up with Keith? Why? They were so good together!

Hell, they'd been acting all lovey dovey just minutes ago!

Lance couldn't break up with Pidge's favorite Emo. He wouldn't be able to handle it. He'd just stopped listening to 'A Boulevard of Broken Dreams' by Green Day, as well as MCR's 'The Black Parade' album and moved onto the 'La La Land' soundtrack!

He was getting better!

If Lance broke up with him he might just do the unthinkable and…dare she think it?

He might be so distraught that he'd put on Taylor Swift or heaven forbid Adele.

No offence to Allura and Shiro but Keith and Lance were her favorite couple. They weren't lovey dovey all the time like the other two paladins. Keith and Lance bickered, they teased each other, they brought out the best in one another, they went through hell just to find each other again and somehow they still found the strength to smile.

They were relationship goals!

Pidge had secretly been calling them Team Klance. It's something she and Hunk had decided on calling them a long time ago. No way they could be breaking up!

Right?

Was it too warm in here or was it just her? Pidge should not be freaking out about this. It wasn't even about her! But _goddamn_ it. If Lance was breaking up with Keith then Pidge was going to beat the shit out of her. No way was her friend going to find someone who looked at her like she was the sun and the stars themselves.

Well…she probably could. Lance was pretty after all. And her personality was petty awesome too...but it wouldn't matter. Why? Because Pidge would kill the fucker.

Besides, Pidge couldn't imagine anyone but Keith being at her side anyway.

"Katie, calm down!" Matt's voice somehow made its way past the ringing in her head until she focused on him. Her brother shook her shoulders. Her father was right beside him looking at her in worry. "Lance isn't breaking up with Keith."

"Are you sure?" Her father looked just as rattled as her. Good old dad. He licked his lips nervously. "Because I've thought about it and that's the only thing I could come up with as well." Her father gripped Matt's shoulders and shook him, his brown eyes looked frantic. "They're great together! They can't break up!"

Pidge furiously nodded beside her father as she moved in to grip Matt's orange jacket to get his attention. "Tell me the truth bitch! Is Lance breaking up with Keith? Is she calling off the wedding? Is there a side ho she's interested in? Because if she is, I'll fucking kill the guy!"

"Or girl." Her father piped in.

"What he said!" Pidge shouted.

"Maybe not kill…"Her father mumbled hastily. "But maybe a stern talking to."

"Dad," Pidge said quietly and seriously. "Please be quiet now."

Her father winced.

Pidge put her hands on her hips and glared at her brother. "Well?"

Matt threw his hands up in frustration and backed up a few steps. When Pidge and her father took a menacing step forward, Matt picked up her rolling chair and raised it threateningly in the air. Her brother was weak; he'll probably pull something. "Stay right there and listen to me!" Pidge and her father froze mid-step. "Lance and Keith are not breaking up! Do you hear me?" He narrowed his brown eyes at them both. "I repeat: Lance and Keith are _not_ breaking up."

Pidge growled in frustration. "Then what's the big secret? Why has she been acting weird around him? Why is she suddenly nervous? Why was it so urgent that she talk to Keith now?"

"Because –" Matt broke off mid-sentence and growled. Damn, so close. He lowered the rolling chair but kept it in front of him for protection. Pussy. "I can't tell you. Lance will tell you, she promised." Pidge looked at him dubiously. "After she talks to Keith. But she will. Promise."

Pidge narrowed her eyes. "Cross your heart and hope to die promise?"

Matt sighed, bringing a hand up to where his heart was before he did an imaginary X over his heart with his index finger and nodded. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Pidge and her father shared a look and slowly nodded. Pidge looked backed at her brother and took a step forward. Matt put his hands on the rolling chair just in case. It took all of Pidge's self control not to jump over the rolling chair just to make Matt scream. At the agitated state he was in right now, he probably would. Pidge really enjoyed those girly screams her brother released when he was scared; they made her day.

She refrained however; she even held her hands up in a placating manner. Matt looked at her cautiously. Smart man.

"Fine," Pidge said slowly. "I believe you. But if I see Lance so much as flirt with anyone _but_ Keith I'll probably smack her."

Matt bit his lip but nodded. "Okay, fine. But she won't. Probably."

Her father clapped his hands loudly enough to get both of their attentions and got to his feet. "Right then. Now that we're all ready," He looked them over with a nod of approval. "Let's go. Everyone should be waiting at the bridge by now."

"Fine," Pidge headed for the door before she cast her brother a grin. "I'll go talk to Hunk then." Matt visibly paled. "He's weak. He won't last long."

That was all she said before the doors swooshed open and Pidge bolted from the room.

Matt released a strangled sound and moments later the sound of running feet came after her. "Katie, wait!"

* * *

Hunk was a weak man. He knew this. He'd accepted it. Regardless, his friends seemed to like him as he was. But it was because he was weak that he'd taken their sparring sessions more seriously. He never wanted to lose another friend again. Not that Lance was dead; he had faith that she was out there somewhere in space still kicking. And he'd been right. Lance had been alive. Still, a little more training never hurt anyone. Well, not much.

Over the past few months he had improved tremendously and…dare he say it? He could probably take on Lance in a fight and win.

Okay…maybe not _Lance_.

But Pidge? Maybe. Probably. He knew certain secrets that he wouldn't mind bringing up during a fight. Like Keith always said, all's fair in a fight. Or maybe Slav. Oh, yeah. Hunk could totally take that guy down.

Despite the fact that he had improved his fighting skills there were still things that Hunk was weak to. Motion sickness was one. It made him throw up. Seeing someone cry? It made him cry too. Asking Shay out on a date? Oh man, was he weak to _that_. No way he could do that. At least not before chugging some strawberry milk to give him strength. Three glasses should do it. With some chocolate croissant breads for extra luck.

Hunk licked his lips. Oh great, now he was hungry.

Chocolate bars, a small burrito, and a bag of chips were by no means a breakfast. Unfortunately that was all they had left. Once they made it to Cloyetera he'd have to have a talk with the chefs and convince them to let him use their kitchen. No way were his friends going to stay hungry. Not on his watch.

"Hello Hunk," Allura greeted him as he stepped inside the bridge. Her blue almost turquoise eyes roamed down his outfit with approval before smiling. "Very nice. You look very toasty."

Hunk scratched his black hair in embarrassment as he looked down at his outfit. Since it would be snowing he'd put on a dark blue long sleeve with a yellow jacket over it. It had a fur trim on the hoodie, and it had a zipper to zip him inside. Buttons were cool but Hunk always preferred his jackets with a zipper. He'd found brown gloves for his hands. Black pants and some black snow boots that had his feet all nice and toasty. "Thanks Allura."

Shiro was already seated in his pilot seat in front and below Allura's pilot platform with his legs crossed at the ankles. He offered Hunk a wave that he heartedly returned. It was so good to have Shiro back. Making sure he didn't look too suspicious, Hunk walked over to Allura, whistling a merry tune as he leaned into her to whisper into her ear. "Have you heard from Lance?"

Allura's eyes briefly went to Shiro before answering him in a hushed tone. "No. And I'm getting worried. We're almost to Cloyetera." Allura made an annoyed sound at he back of her throat. "This is why I told her she should have talked to Keith sooner! Now everyone else is asking questions too."

Hunk nodded slowly. Coran had tried talking to him but Hunk had bolted into his room until the older man left. "Dude, I know." It was probably rude to call a princess dude but Hunk was so used to calling Lance that that he said it unconsciously. Allura didn't seem to mind though. "We can't tell them though. Lance has to be the one, she made us promise not to tell."

Allura sighed, her hands wringing nervously in front of her. "I hope Keith takes it well. He just got her back and now she's leaving again?" Allura shook her head, a few silver strands falling to her face. "Keith will be mad."

Hunk nodded. "He'll probably say something mean."

Allura's mouth lifted into a grin. "Oh, of that I am sure."

Hunk grinned, totally missing the suspicious look Shiro was giving them. "We can keep a secret. The only one I'm worried about –"

"Oh, Hunk!" Pidge sang as she all but waltzed into the room. Speaking of weaknesses…here came the most troublesome one. The green paladin spread her arms wide, her eyes looked maniacal and the look she was giving both he _and_ Allura made him whimper. "Allura! You're here too. Perfect."

It was not perfect. This was a disaster. The look Pidge was giving them might look sweet to anyone else but to Hunk? It felt like Armageddon had just begun.

Hunk held onto Allura's hand for comfort. The Altean princess was shaking, she looked deathly pale. Hunk was so glad that he wasn't the only one afraid of this fifteen-year old girl.

Allura leaned closer to Hunk and whispered. "Did you just get the chills?"

Hunk whispered just as fearful as her. "Don't let her hear you. She feeds off our fear."

The two of them gulped.

Matt came right after her, his father close behind him. The older Holt sibling wheezed and put a hand on his knees to catch his breath. Hunk frowned; and here he thought Matt was fit. His breathing still heavy, Matt lifted his head and pointed at his sister. "Don't…tell her…anything!"

Shiro looked confused, his head going back and forth as he tried to decipher what his friends were talking about. He really shouldn't. All that stress that would cause couldn't be good for him. "What are you guys talking about?" No one answered. "Guys?" Shiro huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, a pout on his lips. "Don't ignore me. Spill."

Hunk hesitated, sharing a glance with both Allura and Matt. They looked completely helpless.

Pidge just narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Lance has a secret."

Oh, no.

Shiro cocked his head. "A secret?" He shrugged and relaxed back into his seat. "Everyone has secrets Pidge. Stop trying to find out what it is. I'm sure that Lance will tell you when she's well and ready. And if she chooses not to share, then that's completely fine as well."

Mr. Holt nodded in agreement.

Hunk, Allura, and Matt sighed in relief. Good old Shiro. Good old space dad.

Pidge huffed and rolled her brown eyes. Matt made his way over to stand by he and Allura's side. Oh, good. They were like a united front now. Together, the three of them could keep Lance's secret just fine.

Only problem though? Pidge never gave up easily; the girl was stubborn as all heck.

She made that fact known by shooting them a smirk that almost made Hunk piss his pants. Pidge opened her mouth, her voice directed at Shiro but not once did she look away from them. "It has to do with Keith though."

"Keith?" Shiro asked in concern. "Why? Is he okay? Is something wrong with him?"

Allura started sweating.

Pidge nodded, her expression turning suspicious. "I think Lance wants to break up with him."

Oh, my god.

Matt groaned loudly.

Shiro took a sharp breath and straightened in his chair. "Wait, what?"

Pidge was wrong.

So, so wrong.

"They can't break up!" Lotor shouted as he and his generals walked into the bridge. They were all wearing black coats, purple gloves, and dark snow boots. The Galra Prince even had a purple beanie on his head. The look he gave everyone in the room was pure disbelief. "That can't be true! I spent days with them! Trust me, Lance doesn't want to break up with Keith!"

Pidge rounded on him, her arms flailing in agitation. "Oh, yeah?" She challenged. "Then why has she seemed nervous around him? She obviously had something important to say to him before we all went to get changed."

"She's got a point," Ezor murmured quietly. "Lance… _did_ seem nervous."

Zethrid snorted, her turquoise colored lips scrunched to one side in irritation. "Lance won't break up with him. Maybe she was just nervous of Keith meeting her mom or something."

"Actually," Mr. Holt piped in. "I'm pretty sure Keith has met Lance's mother already."

Zethrid frowned.

"Whatever she wanted to say," Axca continued slowly, her yellow-blue eyes narrowed in thought. "She wanted to say it _before_ we arrived in her home planet."

Everyone nodded slowly, murmuring under their breath.

Shiro looked liked he'd stopped breathing.

Lotor was getting defensive.

So was Pidge.

Allura and Matt tried to settle them down but no one seemed to be listening.

This was bad.

This was very, very bad.

"Tell me it's not true!" Coran cried as he ran into the room followed by Krolia. The Altean advisor had put on an orange jacket with some white pants and some orange boots. His mustache twitched every which way in distress. "Lady Lance would never break up with young Keith!"

Krolia nodded, her purple-gloved hands clenched into fists. "She loves my son! I've seen the way she looks at him!"

"Maybe she finally fell for my charms!" Slav cried out in distress. When the heck did he get here? Slav put a hand on his forehead and pretended to faint. "Oh, why must I bear this curse?"

"Shut up Slav." Everyone said at the same time.

Matt groaned loudly and shot his sister a look. "I already told you Pidge! Lance doesn't want to break up with Keith!"

"Then what's this secret she's hiding?" Pidge demanded.

"Nothing that bad!" Allura quickly assured her.

Narti cocked her head to the side. " _And another thing_ ," Narti said in everyone's head. Freaky. " _How do all three of you know?"_

Hunk wasn't the only one who averted their eyes. Unfortunately, it was the wrong move. It made everyone start shouting at each other all over gain.

Hunk had been wrong.

This was worse than Armageddon.

This was the Apocalypse.

Gosh darn it Pidge. See what you started?

"Guys!" Hunk snapped at them. He had to shout at least three times and stomp his foot like a toddler but he finally had everyone's attention. "Come on. We all know Lance, and we've all seen the way she acts around him. There's no way Lance is breaking up with him. Have a little faith in their love."

Everyone's face softened at that and slowly they began to nod, small smiles on their faces. Hunk smiled back as Allura and Matt gave him a thumps-up.

"The two of them are _soulmates_." Hunk stressed.

Everyone nodded again. They seemed a little surer of Keith and Lance's love now. It was like the cloud of doubt had moved from their minds only to reveal all the love their two friends had for each other.

Unfortunately, he forgot about the gremlin named Pidge.

Again.

Pidge narrowed her eyes. "What if there's a side ho?"

Everyone gasped.

Shiro looked like he needed CPR.

Zethrid cracked her knuckles. "We'll kill the fucker."

Pidge threw a fist in the air and shouted in approval. "Hell yeah! Team Klance forever!"

"Team Klance?" Lotor looked confused.

Pidge looked at him like he was an idiot. Lotor bristled. "Its Keith and Lance combined. Therefore, Klance."

"I like the sound of that." Krolia murmured in approval. She stuffed her purple-gloved hands into her black coat. "Team Klance."

"Team Klance!" Coran shouted at the top of his lungs. He even added a little jump at the end of his sentence.

"When I say Team, you say Klance!" Pidge screamed. "Team!"

"Klance!" Everyone shouted.

"Team!"

"Klance!"

Hunk face palmed.

Allura's eyes were as wide as saucers.

Matt dragged the skin from his cheeks down and groaned. "What have we done?"

Made things worse Hunk silently thought.

They shouted it three more times before the door swooshed open and everyone went deadly quiet.

"What are you guys shouting about now?" Keith asked as he walked into the bridge in a red jacket, black pants, and black boots. A red beanie lay on his head, which was good because he probably hadn't combed his hair. Nobody answered. Keith arched a brow at them. His eyes went to Shiro where they widened in horror. "Is Shiro okay?"

Shiro did _not_ look okay. His eyes were glazed over where they were looking up at the ceiling, his hand splayed over his chest. His mouth was partly open. Was that drool? He looked like a corpse.

Oh my god.

Lance was right.

Shiro liked to exaggerate.

He was totally fine.

Keith quickly made his way over to him. So did everyone else. Keith shook his brothers shoulder until Shiro blinked and he focused his gaze on Keith. The black paladin put a hand on Keith's shoulder and leaned forward, expression serious. "Just remember that I love you okay."

"What the fuck?" Keith whispered. "Shiro?"

Pidge put a hand on Keith's other shoulder. "We're on your side no matter what."

Lotor tugged one of Keith's strands. "Just remember that it's okay to cry."

"We'll kill the fucker." Zethrid all but grumbled. Krolia, Axca, Ezor, and Narti nodded back furiously.

Oh my god.

 _Stop_.

"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding." Coran piped in with a sniffle. "Don't worry."

"It's not her fault she fell for my good looks!" Slav shouted only for his mouth to be covered by Pidge's dad.

Keith gave them all a strange look and backed away slowly. Their friends looked on with a sympathetic gaze. It only had Keith backing away more. His gaze went to the door for a possible escape. "What are you guys talking about?"

Hunk spoke before his friends could make things worse. "Queen Lexi!"

Keith looked surprised at that. "What about her?"

Hunk's thoughts scrambled for a good excuse. Thankfully, Allura and Matt were quick to back him up.

"What Hunk means," Allura started with a strained smile. "Is that after your last call, Queen Lexi might be a little mad."

"Yeah!" Matt jumped in, his head bobbing up and down. "Everyone's just nervous that she might give you a hard time is all."

Keith blinked. "Oh." He pursed his lips and slowly nodded. "Maybe. I did lose Lance."

"Yup, exactly!" Hunk shouted. "I'd be mad too if you lost my daughter!"

Keith frowned at him.

Allura and Matt elbowed him.

Hunk winced.

Right.

Not the best of words.

"You guys think I'll get another punch to the face?" Keith jokingly asked. It did little to assuage the situation. If anything, it had the others looking at him with tears in their eyes. Keith arched a brow so high that it disappeared over his hairline.

For the first time in his life, Hunk wanted to smack his friend's silly.

"Not if you apologize." Allura said kindly.

Keith slowly nodded, his hand going around the blue crystal necklace around his neck. "Yeah. I'll do that."

Hunk slumped his shoulders in relief.

He shot a look at Pidge who was looking at Keith like he was her baby boy who she'd willingly fight the whole world if it meant protecting him.

 _Awww_.

At least she and the others were keeping quiet.

"By the way," Keith continued as he looked around. "Where is Lance? And the rest of her family?" He frowned as everyone took a sharp breath. "Reyna and Adina aren't here either."

"Still getting dressed I believe!" Coran piped in, his voice so loud it startled the others. He cast them all a wink. "A princess has to look good for her people after all."

Hunk exhaled in relief.

Good old Coran.

Allura sighed and turned back to face the front of the bridge. The stars zipped across the panoramic view screen covering the walls of the bridge like an enormous planetarium. Pidge sat on her own pilot seat to the left of Allura while Hunk moved to his own seat which was also on the left but further back than Pidge's own seat.

Keith made his way over to his own pilot seat to the right. The blue paladin's pilot seat was aligned with Hunk's own seat while Keith's seat aligned with Pidge's own. Coran's seat was farther forward than Shiro's own seat so he could man the control system though he stood most of the time when he did his duties.

Everyone else separated and stood behind one of the paladin's own seat. Matt and Mr. Holt went to stand behind Pidge's own seat where they began to argue in hushed tones. Krolia went over to Keith's seat and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Lotor and Axca went along as well, the former shooting the red paladin a sympathetic gaze. Ezor and Narti went to stand behind Hunk where they began to fiddle with his hair.

Hunk didn't have the heart to tell them to stop.

And Slav…he went to stand behind Shiro who looked on the verge of having a heart attack at his mere presence. Someone should probably do something about that.

"Everyone hold on," Allura advised as she began to maneuver the ship to a white greenish planet. Cloyetera. "We'll be entering Cloyetera now. Hold onto your seats."

That was all the warning they got before the ship began to rock. Hunk had not gotten used to entering a planet just yet. It was like being on an airplane. The whole thing would rock as it began its decent, people held onto their armrests until finally the rocking stopped only to be replaced by a smooth descent.

The castle of lions broke through the atmosphere until all Hunk could see was clouds. Within seconds they broke from that too and the castle stopped its rocking until it was just smooth sailing. Allura alerted them that it was all right to stand and so one by one everyone went to the front to get a better look at their new destination.

Cloyetera…had gotten bigger. Much bigger.

Buttery sunlight that softened the already winter day greeted them.

Last time they were here it was still summer. There had only been one big island in the center. Now though? Now there were five other islands surrounding the main island. The island where Lance's home was located at was in the middle while the other new five islands surrounded it.

It was incredible.

His friends made sounds of awe where they had their faces plastered to the giant windows. Was that a Ferris wheel? And over there, that was definitely a rollercoaster! That island was growing brightly in different shades of colors. It reminded Hunk of a rave. Not that he'd ever been on a rave per se, after all his parents would have a heart attack if he ever went to one, but he had seen enough TV shows to have an idea of what they looked like.

Another island had what looked like a volcano in it. The place still had small buildings in it though so maybe they weren't in danger of that volcano erupting. The volcano was a little too red for Hunk's liking though. Black smoke was coming out from the top. Each building was capped with a soft green copper roof and pale chimneys that puffed tendrils of smoke into the sky. Another island had what looked to be ships flying around. As in titanic sized ships, some were battle cruisers. Giant pieces of metal lay scattered in the middle of the street. Other ships with sails of a woman holding a bow marked each one where they loitered in the sea. According to Lance, it was the mark of the Amazons.

The picture of the woman was beautiful. You could see only one side of her; dark black hair cascaded down her back, one leg bended as she arched her back, her bow aimed at the sky. She looked like a fairy warrior.

The fourth island looked very pink. It reminded Hunk of a mall. He could see fountains, ice cream shops and – was that a yogurt place? This one had curving streets, they whole place seemed to sparkle like a pink sapphire. And the last island had a bunch of small buildings surrounding it. It had rolling steep hills, the buildings looked to be crafted from white marble. If he squinted he could just barely make out Amazons drinking tea or eating.

"Holy shit!" Pidge exclaimed in awe. No one bothered to correct her language. It was pretty fitting at this moment. "Cloyetera got huge!"

"Yup," A low-pitched voice responded. Hunk and the others turned to see Reyna and Adina wearing a black winter coat that had a fur trim. They had gray tight pants and black boots that reached all the way up to their knees. Adina was wearing ear gray muffs to cover her ears. Reyna stepped forward to take in her home and grinned. "We've recently expanded."

"I'll say," Pidge snorted. "Is that a roller coaster? Tell me that's a rollercoaster!"

Reyna's chuckle was somewhat deep but she nodded. "It is. We added five new islands. The entertainment island where its pretty much an amusement park, the relaxation island where you can find spas, the engineering and science department where we do all our big experiments, the restaurant island where all types of cuisines await you and the last one is just a huge mall."

"Our princess informed us of your interests whenever she called home," Adina added as she stepped forward, one hand on the glass while she looked down at her home with a proud smile. "We made sure to add something all of you would like. I hope you really enjoy them, I've personally been to all five of them and trust me, they're fun."

Awww.

Good old Lance.

Eyes sparkling in excitement, Keith turned to Reyna with a hopeful look. "What about fighting arenas? Do you still have those?"

Reyna wolfishly grinned. "Oh yeah. That's in the amusement park island; we have an even bigger coliseum at the center. We have all types of tournaments there so I'm sure you'll like it."

Keith, Krolia, and Zethrid looked particularly pleased at that. All three of them had wide smiles on their faces as they turned their gaze back to the amusement park island.

Hunk himself really wanted to try out the restaurants island. And maybe the science and engineering department as well. Shiro was looking at the relaxation island with such longing Hunk had to look away.

"By the way," Pidge said, her tone all-suspicious. "Where are Lance and her family?"

Reyna frowned at her tone but answered anyway. "They're still getting ready. They should be done right before we exit though."

"She's having trouble with her hair," Adina said with a sheepish smile.

Pidge just hummed in response. "Anyone she's interested in seeing the most?"

Matt shot her a dirty look.

Everyone but Keith took a sharp breath and turned toward Reyna.

The violet haired Amazon frowned and nodded. Pidge's eyes narrowed. "Her mom."

Phew.

Pidge deflated, the others heaved giant sighs of relief.

Keith looked around and frowned. "You guys are acting strange."

Please, please don't say anything Hunk silently thought.

Thankfully, nobody did. They just told Keith he was imagining things.

The main island where Lance's home was getting closer, they must have finally noticed them because something shot to the sky before sparks of white light illuminated the sky and the main island shimmered. Everyone took a breath. What they'd been seeing hadn't been real. They thought the island was still the same but it wasn't. As soon as the particle barrier was removed, they were able to see what the island really looked like.

It did look the same but where the holographic imagine of a woman had stood in the center before, it was now replaced by a giant tree. A tree that reminded Hunk of the Tree of Life. The whole thing was glowing. Blue, red, yellow, white, green, purple, etc. So many shades of colors on that tree.

Hunk squinted. They didn't look like Christmas lights though. Adina smiled. "Those are the Kaleidoscopic Fireflies. They only appear during winter."

"Only because we put their favorite tree in the center of the city," Reyna snorted. "Those creatures love that tree. It's their home. They glow day and night. Pretty right?"

"Its beautiful," Lotor whispered in awe.

Flying figures swerved downward towards the island. Gryphons. But that's not what had them all gasping. Its what followed after them that did. There were women in the sky. Women…with wings. Their wings were beautiful. Some were white. Some were black. Some had a hint of blue in them.

They were moving too fast though. They swerved on what looked to be a wickedly fast current.

So those were the Valkyries.

The castle of lions was getting closer. As per last time, Allura found that's same spot of land where she had landed last time and headed straight for it. The spot was covered in snow now. This close Hunk could see the dozens of women running in their direction. Others that had been flying in the sky switched directions and headed their way. A crowd was beginning to gather.

Where the heck was Lance?

All too soon the ship touched the ground and Allura left her platform looking excited. "Well, we're here! Shall we go greet our guests?"

Everyone nodded eagerly. Hunk and Matt shared a look with Allura.

"What about Lance?" Keith asked with a frown. "Maybe I should go get them."

Reyna waved her hand. "Nah, she'll be here. She knows how much her mom likes to be punctual. Let's just go, they'll catch up."

Keith didn't look happy but Reyna put her arm around his shoulder and dragged him towards the door. Everyone reluctantly followed, whispering along the way in hushed tones.

Its just as they reached the castle doors that pounding footsteps headed their way. Hunk heaved a giant sigh of relief.

Lance was finally here.

Maybe she'd be able to fix this giant mess that Pidge had started.

* * *

This was bad. This was very very bad.

"Stop squirming!" Aiden snapped at her when she shook her head for the third time in a row. "I'm trying to make this hair presentable!"

"Sorry." Lance mumbled as she tried to keep still.

Apparently her hair was a mess, not that Lance particularly cared at the moment. Why? Because they were almost to Cloyetera and Lance hadn't talked to Keith about her not going with them once they repaired the castle of lions. As Aiden brushed her hair, the triplets pulled out practically her whole closet as they argued which outfit she should wear.

Haggar just had to destroy her transparent bracelet didn't she?

Fricking witch.

The triplets had been at it for a while and had yet to decide. Her father wasn't helping matters either. He vetoed any clothes that they did manage to choose. 'This one is too short' he said or 'you want your mother to have a heart attack? Your sisters breast are practically exposed!'

Lance thought her father was exaggerating. Mikey had disappeared a few minutes ago claiming that he had the perfect outfit and had yet to return. Lance had tried escaping, she tried making an excuse, but her father refused to let her go find Keith until she was all dressed.

It's a good thing she'd taken a shower last night _before_ Not Shiro tried to kill them all. Otherwise she would have taken longer.

Her three brothers started yelling about what color to wear when Lance finally snapped at them. "It doesn't matter what color it is, just pick something already!"

The triplets exchanged looks, some silent language that they'd probably learned in the womb before shaking their heads. "It has to be perfect," Kyrian glared at her. He and her other two brothers had already changed to green winter jackets, black pants, green beanie hats and black combat boots. Aiden had changed to a blue parka, his headphones around his neck where she could hear some type of classical music softly playing. His black pants were soft as all heck, and his combat boots looked really nice.

Aiden and her always had the best taste in clothes. He'd even taken off his glasses and put on contacts. It showed his handsome face and those well-groomed eyebrows she was secretly jealous of.

Lance glared at the triplets as best she could without moving her head. They just winked in her direction. She sighed and fiddled with her thumps. Allura was right. She should have told Keith about her decision much sooner.

Heck, she should have told him when she decided it back at the Dossiers. But she couldn't. They'd just been reunited and Keith was starting to smile again…she just couldn't.

She had wanted to tell him as soon as she woke up from the healing pod but Shiro sending them to their rooms had ruined _that_. Then the funeral happened and Keith had gone to talk with his mom right afterwards. She'd wanted to tell him after movie night but that witch Haggar had ruined that as well.

She'd been so drained that she'd slept longer than the others and by the time she was up, Lance only had minutes before they reached Cloyetera. Unfortunately for her, her family had dragged her off to her room so she could look presentable.

Lance sighed for what must have been the hundredth time as she wracked her brain on how to fix this. Keith was going to be so mad. And hurt.

If there was one thing Lance never wanted to do, it was hurting Keith. He'd already had a tough childhood, he'd lost his dad, he lost Shiro (he found him again but that's besides the point) and he had lost her as well. Sure, he found her but those three months hadn't been easy for him.

How was Lance going to tell him that she was leaving him once again? That she'd be leaving the team and would no longer pilot the Blue Lion?

With the truth she supposed.

She was leaving for a good reason after all.

She still had time though. Once she greeted her mom and they finished the council meeting, which they probably _would_ have since she was bringing in Lotor, Lance would find Keith and tell him then.

Feeling suddenly hopeful Lance straightened in her chair and looked at her reflection. Aiden was doing a Milkmaid braid. He'd braided three strands on one side of her head, and wrapped it around the top of her head where he pinned it behind her other ear. A few strands still stuck out, like her side bangs but all in all she didn't look bad. She couldn't help but stare.

Whoa.

Aiden grinned back at her from the mirror. He looked proud. "Looks good right?"

Lance could only nod like an idiot.

The triplets stopped their argument to whistle in her direction. Her father's baby blue eyes looked misty. It had Lance's cheeks turning red.

At that moment Mikey barged in with a shit-eating grin on his face. It had Lance and the rest of her family worried. Last time Mikey had this expression was when he almost robbed a bank. He didn't steal any money. He just wanted to prove that he _could_.

He somehow got away from the cops.

Lance remembered her parents yelling at him. The triplets had been pretty mad that he hadn't invited them. Aiden hadn't looked surprised in the least and Lance had wanted his autograph. He'd been on TV after all. His face had been covered but there was no forgetting her brother's big physic.

"I've got the perfect outfit for you Lei-Lei!" Mikey had his hands around his back. "Te va a encantar!"

So she was going to like it huh?

With everyone's attention on him Mikey pulled out an outfit that had everyone cooing and her reeling back in horror. What Mikey was holding was a blue long winter coat that looked more like a Lolita dress than anything. It had buttons instead of a zipper, a black bow in the center of the chest, the pockets on the side were cut into a black heart shape and oh god. The _hoodie_. Were those cat ears at the top?

Lance didn't even own this outfit!

Where had Mikey found this?

"We have the boots for that outfit right here!" Alan suddenly shouted as Kyrian and Colt shoved themselves inside her closet and each pulled a pair of black boots that reached all the way to her knees.

"Maravilloso!" Her father exclaimed as he clapped his hands in delight.

Aiden whispered lowly and shot her grin. "Aww, you're going to be a kitty."

Lance hissed at him.

Aiden threw his hands up and backed away but not before laughing once more. "You got your lines down and everything already. What commitment."

If Lance had more energy she would have easily brushed of the six pairs of arms on her person as they began to undress her but she was tired. Besides, she was wearing a bra and underwear. Everyone in her family had seen each other naked at one point. They had little cousins after all, and whenever they went to the beach or the pull someone always came out butt naked.

In no time at all Lance was deemed presentable and after taking about a dozen pictures, her father and Mikey insisted, they finally left the room. The castle of lions had already stopped moving. They'd arrived in Cloyetera.

Hopefully the meeting wouldn't take very long and she could talk to Keith right after. Everything was going to be okay. Happy thoughts Lance. She could do this.

* * *

Its just as Allura was going to press the button to open the doors that Lance and her family arrived. Hunk shot her a relieved look and immediately headed her way. Keith beat him to the punch though.

He practically materialized next to her. Keith looked really good in winter clothes. Despite the cold, he hadn't parted with his fingerless gloves though. His expression softened. He tilted his head causing his hair to fall to his face, as he offered her a soft small smile. "You have a thing for cats?"

Was it just her or was everyone giving her the stink eye? Pidge in particular seemed a little surly. What had she missed?

Lance grinned and leaned into his personal space. "Well," she smirked. "I've become fond of a certain someone's purring."

Keith's cheeks turned bright red and he awkwardly coughed.

Adina squealed in delight. "Oh, your outfit is so cute your highness!"

Ezor walked around her, inspecting her from head to toe before nodding in approval. "Very nice."

"How are you feeling Lance?" Lotor asked her as he sent a few strands of silver hair behind his shoulder.

"A little better. Still tired." She turned to Shiro who looked oddly serious. In fact, it looked like his Space Dad face was on. Seriously what had she missed? If her powers weren't still drained Lance would have totally tried to read her friends minds at this moment. "And you? How are you feeling?"

Shiro seemed to consider her question slowly before nodding. He offered her a small smile. "Not too bad."

Placing her hands on her hips Lance beamed at her friends. "You guys ready to greet the crowd?"

Allura shot a look at Pidge who rolled her eyes but nodded. "As ready as we'll ever be."

"Then let's go. This outfit makes me uncomfortable."

Allura didn't need more prodding as she stepped forward and pressed the button for the doors. As the doors began to lift upward and the ramp lowered itself the sudden bright light had them all covering their eyes.

Lance stepped forward and the sudden discomfort that she had been feeling when she put on her coat/Lolita dress, slowly ebbed away as the cold air hit her. She assumed it was cold anyway. She could see the pale cobblestones a little further away dusted in white snow. Deep inside her, rising with every step she took forward, her new power stirred.

It wanted to be used.

If only Lance wasn't so tired.

Cool wind kissed her cheeks, the sweet scent of honey suckle drifted in the air.

Home.

She was home.

Women of various forms of dress had gathered. Some were in coats, others were still in their togas but the winter version that came with fur all along the seams and around the shoulders, and some were even in their riding leathers. Lance scanned her eyes until they settled on a familiar brown.

It was her mother.

At the sight of her Lance felt the beginning of tears start to appear at the corner of her eyes. Her mother put a pale hand over her mouth and then she was running. Lance rushed forward as well and met her halfway.

The scent of vanilla and lavender invaded her nose as her mother pulled her into her arms and held her tightly. Lance didn't care that they had an audience as her mother gently took Lance's cheeks in her hands and brushed away the tears. And as Lance lifted her head and beheld all the joy and concern and love shining in her mother's eyes Lance began to cry all over again. "My sweet girl," her mother whispered as she kissed her cheeks. "Welcome home."

The crowd of women released a mighty cheer and surged forward right after, some petted her back, others ruffled her hair, and some openly started bawling their eyes out. Lance swore she wasn't going to cry again but it'd been a while since she'd seen her mom. Since she'd been home.

Excuse her for being a little emotional.

Her mother looked the same as the day Lance had left. Her jet-black hair gleamed in the afternoon sunlight, her brown eyes unusually bright as they met hers once more. Her mother was wearing a pale blue long-sleeved dress, her usual dark brown short fur coat hanged around her shoulders. Today she'd braided her hair to the side where it hanged over her right shoulder.

Her mother glanced up, her eyes searching the crowd until she found who she was looking forward. Lifting her finger she made a come-hither motion and Lance turned, surprised when Keith suddenly stepped in front of them.

Keith looked tense, his mouth set in a hard line as he waited for whatever my mom had to say. Lance really hoped her mother didn't punch him, unlike her father; her mother's punches were five times harder.

The crowd of women had parted, making room for Shiro and the rest of her friends to step forward. The black paladin looked tense, ready to step in just in case Keith needed him, despite the fact that he was in no condition to do so.

Lotor and his generals were looking around in wonder. Zethrid looked so pleased at the gathered women. So did Matt. He kept winking at anyone who caught his eyes. Some giggled, others scoffed, but Matt didn't care. He looked like he was in paradise. Mr. Holt and Slav were moving their heads every which way, pointing out buildings or anything that seemed remotely interesting to them.

Krolia looked mystified, her violet eyes full of child-like wonder as she cupped her hands to catch a roaming Kaleidoscopic Firefly. This one was purple.

Pidge was looking around the entire woman with narrowed eyes; was that the spray bottle on her hands? Hunk and Allura were talking to her in hushed tones, the Altean princess holding onto the back of Coran's orange jacket as he began to march his way over to a bunch of giggling girls as he twirled the end of his mustache and made the girls swoon.

Lance's dad and her brothers were already making their way to their side.

Lance's gaze went back to her mother. Was she going to punch Keith too? Say something mean or would she let him be?

She needn't had worried. As soon as her mother's face softened Lance knew that Keith would be all right. And she was right. Moments after, Keith was lifted off his feet as her mother hugged the living daylights out of him. He released a surprised squeak, his face contorted to pure disbelief. As her mother settled her fiancée down, she didn't release her hold on his shoulders as she bore into his eyes with such intensity that it would have had Lance looking away.

But Keith didn't.

He stared right back as she smiled at him. Uncertain and surprised but no longer tense. "Thank you for bringing her back Keith. And welcome back." She winked and whispered quite loudly for everyone to hear. "I believe some of these ladies have missed you."

Many women shouted in denial, others blushed and fanned themselves, while the rest just chuckled.

Keith's face turned red. He offered the Amazons a wave that they immediately returned with a cheer and a 'welcome back Kogane!'

"Unfortunately," Lance announced as she snagged his hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. "He's already taken. Sorry ladies."

Wolf whistles were aimed in their direction. Even their friends joined in. Coran and Pidge all but drowning them out. Keith arched a brow at her, clearly amused.

"I see you're still able to gather a crowd," A familiar voice teased from somewhere behind them. A tall pale woman in fancy finery was making her way toward them. Her once bright red hair looked more orange than red. The bracelets on her arms jingled, hiding some of the tattoos on her arms. Her black wings were tucked in tight to her powerful muscled body. Behind her about a dozen more women, all with tattooed arms, and different colored wings marched along.

The Valkyries.

The woman who had spoken was named Afya and she was the Queen of the Valkyries. Lance smiled, she'd always been fond of Afya, her daughter on the other hand…not so much.

As if she knew Lance had been thinking about her Zooey turned her green vibrant eyes in her direction and scowled. Great. Still a beotch, or so Reyna would say.

As always, Zooey was stunning. Lance tried not to look to interested but she was sure she failed. If possible Zooey had gotten even prettier since the last time Lance had seen her. Now, if only she'd stopped scowling all the time…

Zooey's wine-red hair reached the middle of her back now; she'd apparently already gotten her tattoos as well. Swirls of leaves and small flowers curled up her arms. The Valkyries loved nature, and to show their love for it they tattooed something that resembled it onto their arms. If they ever wished for it, they could make the tattoos glow.

It was actually pretty cool.

Lance glanced back at the Valkyries princess and couldn't control the grin that formed on her lips as her blue eyes met Zooey's vibrant green ones. They were the same height now. It always irked her when she had to tilt her head up whenever Lance wanted to talk to her.

Not wanting to make a bad impression, Lance inclined her head in Zooey's direction. "Zooey."

Keith's grip on hers tightened. Her friends gasped.

Pidge's eyes widened. "So this is the bit –"

Matt wisely covered her mouth before she could say more.

The Valkyries princess stared. "Hn."

Lance's fingers twitched. "Did you say something?"

She smirked. "Hn."

"I'm sorry, is there something stuck in your throat?"

Zooey's smirk slid off her face and she glared.

"No seriously," Lance continued in fake concern. "Are you sick? Do you need some water?"

By this point, everyone had stopped all chatter and were watching in tense silence as the Amazon princess tried to get a response from the Valkyries princess. Many gulped. Many wings moved in agitation. Her friends looked on in interest, Hunk nervously looking back and forth. Shiro looked like he wanted to say something but Reyna and Adina shook their heads at him.

After what felt like forever, Zooey muttered only one word. "Hag."

Lance released a fake gasp, going so far as to hit the side of her head to see if she'd heard right. "Oh, my gosh. A whole word. That has to be some kind of record right?" She looked around her but everyone awkwardly coughed and avoided her gaze. Lance didn't mind. No one wanted to get in trouble. She turned back to Zooey whose pale fists had clenched. "I can do better though. I'll say four." Making her smile as blinding as she could, Lance leaned forward, mischief twinkling in her eyes. "You are a bitch."

The last thing Lance saw was green eyes widen in disbelief before a heavy weight collided with her as she and Zooey went down, rolling around the floor, pulling at each other's hairs as the crowd gasped. There was just something about Zooey that genuinely pissed her off. Lance had tried making friends with her back when they were young but the girl had been nothing but mean to her. So Lance had been mean right back.

A punch was aimed her way but before it could make contact, Lance bucked her hips, sending Zooey flying backwards. The Valkyries princess's black feathers spread wide in anger, many women backed away, before Zooey jumped to her feet and tackled a now standing Lance around the middle causing them both to plummet back to the floor in a tangle of limbs, wings, grunts, and a whole lot of name calling.

Zooey even went so far as to snarl in her face.

Rude.

Everyone else stared in awe. Most didn't look surprised, some were even cheering. Lance could definitely hear Pidge shouting among the crowd. Keith moved in to intervene only to be stopped by her mother's guards. Since he couldn't intervene he decided to cheer her on.

"Kick her ass Lance!"

Shiro shrieked. "Keith! Don't encourage her!"

"Give her the one two Lady Lance!" Coran shouted while raising his fists in the air.

"Kick her in the boobs!" Zethrid cheered. "And if that don't work, try the crotch!"

"Guys!" Shiro snapped. "Seriously stop!"

Lance pulled a fist back, so did Zooey but before either of them could punch the other in the face, a great force made them stop mid-motion. The two of them froze. The sound of heels stopping in front of them made both Lance and Zooey turn their eyes in the direction to see their mothers looking exasperated.

Queen Afya shook her head, her light green eyes looking both amused and irritated. "Well, we should have expected this Lexi. Our daughters hate each other after all."

Lance's mother pinched the bridge of her nose and released one of the biggest sighs of her life. Had she been talking to Shiro lately because it sounded as exaggerated as his. "Honestly. And here I thought you two would finally get along."

Neither she nor Zooey responded. They were frozen on the floor, punches stopped mid-way, as her mother hadn't released her hold on them just yet. Her mother looked to her brothers as Queen Afya looked to two older Valkyries in muscles shirts.

Mikey's big arms went around her middle; pulling Lance away as the other two Valkyries grabbed Zooey and pulled her back as well. Only when they were a good distance apart did her mother release her hold on them.

As soon as she did Lance sagged in relief in her brothers hold. Zooey snarled were she was being held back. Upon seeing that Lance was looking at her, she flipper her off.

Lance scoffed, lifted both hands and did the same with two fingers.

Many people gasped, some women fainted at the audacity.

Keith looked oddly proud.

Pidge looked to be taking pictures.

"Enough you two!" Her mother scolded the two of them. Her father took her hand in his and her mother visibly relaxed. Her face softened just a bit as her father traced her knuckles with his thumb. "Let's just go to the council room. We've much to discuss." Her eyes briefly went to Lotor and his generals before she turned on her heel and walked away, her father easily matching her stride. Many of the Amazons followed after her. All except for Lance's personal guards. Cesti waved and winked in her direction.

Queen Afya and the rest of her Valkyries followed after her, Zooey as well though she didn't seem all to happy about it.

Only when Zooey and her entourage were a good distance away did Mikey put her down. Keith and Pidge barreled their way over to her fist. The two of them wore maniacal grins on their faces, claiming how Zooey totally deserved it. Shiro looked mildly disappointed but he managed a few chuckles as he remembered the fight. Reyna and Zethrid gave her a high-five so did Lotor who looked quite entertained.

Allura and Aiden fiddled with her hair, shaking their heads as they tried to fix it. Hunk, Matt, and Mikey anxiously looked her over but Lance told them not to worry, she hardly felt it. At least some of her energy had returned during the skirmish. Slav wanted her autograph for some reason.

The triplets just laughed the whole thing off claiming that Zooey had it coming. Its as they were making their way to the council room that Lance's guards stepped forward to give her hugs. Cesti's blond hair had been straightened. Ami and Tami had curled their short green hair, making their red reptile skin shine. Cyra's red hair was done up in a ponytail. Diona's blue splotches that adorned her face seemed to have lessened. Harley and Harmony, the two blonds were clasping hands, looked very happy. Harmony and Ezor immediately strike a conversation, the two of them talking about the tail-like appendage that went down their backs. Echo joined as well, she had two blue tail-like appendages that reached her back as well. Erie hugged Lance; her light green skin seemed lighter.

It was good to catch up with her friends. They'd all been in the same class when they first started their training. There were a few more women in her class but Lance had chosen these twelve, Reyna and Adina included, to be her guards. She'd grown particularly close to them.

Many asked her about her engagement ring to which Keith would stutter and cough, claiming that he was working on it. Matt saddled up to the t wins and immediately started a conversation with them. Lance didn't know what they were talking about but the twins were giggling so it must have been good.

Slav was looking at Cyra in wonder, a dreamy look on his face. Shiro looked immensely relieved as he walked beside Allura who was already giggling.

Pidge was talking to everyone, sizing them up, giving them the stink eye. Seriously, what was going with her?

The chamber they were led to had deep cushioned oak chairs that had been arranged in a massive circle in the center of the room. The chairs were made to accommodate anyone, even the Valkyries with their wings. Kolivan and his blades were already there. The leader of the blades offered them a nod of acknowledgement where he sat on the second chair to the right of Lance's mother. Lance's dad stood behind her mother, his hands on the back of her chair for support. Queen Afya sat to her left, Zooey standing beside her.

As Lance and her friends stepped onto the polished marble floor, the air changed to something warmer. Sun streamed through the open archways. One whole wall revealed water, they were pretty underground, and they could see different type of fish swimming by. The water itself looked to be laden with pink and gold water lilies. Seated in what looked like a seat made out of coral sat Queen Luxia, queen of the Mer.

The upper portion of her body was humanoid while everything from the waist down was a blue fish-like tail. She didn't have any pupils but her colors were a pale blue. Queen Luxia had two stiff appendages that behind her head, they looked like they were making an upside down heart. Two other Mer, both female, escorted her. One looked to have red hair, pink eyes, and a beautiful red tail. The other one was blue, two appendages that looked like pigtails cupping her face. This one had gray eyes, and a deep blue fist tail.

Lance offered Queen Luxia a greeting that she returned with a nod and a smile.

Lance and the rest of the paladins took a seat on the table. Lance herself took the seat beside her mother, offering Kolivan and Queen Afya a greeting. Zooey she chose to ignore. Lotor said at the end of the table facing her mother while his generals flanked behind him.

Okay, she just needed to get through this council and then she could talk to Keith. Almost there, she just had to wait a little longer, she could do this. Keith sat next to Shiro and Allura on the right while Hunk and Pidge took a seat on the left. Everyone else took a few steps back and stood.

A few Amazons passed out small treats, others donuts. Her friends happily took them.

"Welcome," Lance's mother said, her voice soft and soothing. "Thank you all for gathering here in such short notice. I believe you all know why we're here."

"Does it perhaps have to do with Zarkon's son who is sitting here all placid?" Queen Luxia murmured, her voice carrying throughout the room.

Axca bristled behind Lotor, her yellow-blue eyes narrowing. Lotor sent her a look until she settled down.

"And what is Zarkon's son doing here?" Queen Afya commented as she leaned her elbows on the table to get a closer look. "I'm actually surprised he's not dead. Hasn't his father all but disowned him?"

"He," Lotor said drily," Has a name. You may call me Lotor. And I am here to offer up my services and any Intel I have on my father and his army to you."

The three queens in the room slightly widened their eyes at that. Queen Luxia cocked her head, brushing away a sapphire like fish that had swung to close to her face. "Oh? And what do you want in return? To make you Emperor?"

Lotor's silver hair glittered like fresh snow in the bright room. "Nothing like that. All I want is for my generals to be spared. You can do whatever you please with me." Lotor's generals protested but he held a purple hand up and they quieted, though they didn't seem at all pleased. Even Narti's cat Kova looked agitated. "There are things that I've done that I'm not proud of. They were on my father's orders but that is no excuse. All I want is for my father to go down for everything he has done. His tyranny has to end."

"Why should we trust your Intel?" Kolivan finally spoke. His voice was deep but soft. "For all we know, those are traps you've constructed to slowly get rid of us."

"Forgive me for interrupting," Shiro said, as everyone snapped their attention to him. The black paladin straightened in his chair, not once flinching at those intense stares. "While I may not know Prince Lotor all that well yet, I believe we can trust him."

"And why is that?" Queen Afya asked, an orange brow lifted.

"Because he helped Keith and I when we crashed in planet Zaebos." Lance answered instead. "Without him, it would have taken Keith and I much longer to leave the planet."

"He saved our lives countless of times," Keith added as he leaned his forearms on the table. "Trust me, I didn't trust him either. Not at first. But despite all the names I kept calling him, or how much hostility I aimed his way, he never once betrayed us."

Lotor placed a hand over his chest. "Aww, Keith. I knew you liked me."

Keith snorted, crossing his hands over his chest. "Shut up Fabio."

"Keith!" Lotor gasped. "And here I thought we were making progress."

"Hmph, don't push it."

"There was…a certain incident that happened just yesterday," Allura murmured before raising her voice. "Lotor and his generals helped us out. I didn't trust him yet either but," She glanced at her and Keith. "My two friends trust him, and I trust them. If they believe that Lotor will not betray us then I believe it too."

"He made a blood contract with me," Lance suddenly announced. The three queens in the room gasped at that. A blood oath was not to be made lightly. "I trust him with my life. Listen to him."

Zooey leveled a flat look in her direction. "To think that you'd trust a _male_. And a Galra at that."

Lance resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Not all males are bad. Plenty of them have saved my life."

Zooey snorted, tucking her wings closer as she crossed her hands over her chest. "That just proves that you've gotten weaker."

More than one person protested to that but Zooey didn't bother listening. Lance's guards casually slid closer, their eyes narrowed. Keith looked ready to shank her. Pidge was already lifting her spray bottle. Even sweet Hunk looked upset.

"If we were to listen to you," Lance's mother said, her voice high enough to get everyone's attention on her. "How would _you_ suggest we take down your father?"

Lotor respectfully bowed his head, something the other queens plus Kolivan seemed to approve of, before he laced his fingers together and leaned forward. "Have any of you ever heard of Kral Zera?"

Neither of the queens of Kolivan seemed to know what it was. Neither did Lance or Zooey.

Lotor nodded and began to explain, "Kral Zera is a coronation ceremony for a new emperor or empress of the Galra Empire. It's held on planet Feyiv, a sacred land and one of the first planets that the Galra conquered."

Everyone leaned forward, quietly listening.

"Potential candidates are summoned by The Archivist," Lotor continued. "It is there where they must ascend the steps of destiny, battling against each other if necessary in order to relight the sacred flame _Kral Zera_ at the top."

"This ceremony," Queen Luxia leaned forward, her eyes shiny in the water. "Can anyone do it?"

Lotor shook his head. "Only a Galra can."

"What about half-Galra?" Kolivan asked politely, angling his head. The move had his silver braid spilling to the side.

Lotor hesitated before answering. "It is…usually frowned upon. But if that person relit the flames then there is nothing that can be done."

"And your father will be there?" Lance's mother asked next.

"Yes," Lotor answered with a nod of his head. "Along with his army. The same goes for all the other candidates."

Allura gasped, her blue eyes wide. "Which mean that if we intervene we may be able to get rid of Zarkon and any other big threats!"

Zethrid grinned back at her. "Yup. You can't intervene with the leaders per se, but their armies are free game.

"We have to go!" Pidge added. "It'd be a good chance to take down all the big guns in one fell swoop."

"I don't know," Hunk mumbled nervously. Her friend swiped another donut from the tray. "It sounds kind of dangerous."

"But we can at least try," Keith insisted.

"It is a good opportunity," Shiro agreed.

"It may be possible that some of my spies in the Galra Empire get chosen as candidates," Kolivan murmured quietly. "They'd be able to get rid of some of the great leaders in the Galra Empire."

Whispers began to fill the room. Lance quietly ate a cinnamon donut while everyone finished their conversations.

"This ceremony," Queen Luxia inquired, "When will it take place?"

"Four months from now." Lotor answered. Her friend pursed his lips before leaning forward. "If I may, if you do decide to send in your own armies, I request that I go as well."

The queens frowned, Kolivan narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not interested in the throne," Lotor hurried on to say, "Nut if anyone is going to take down my father, I want it to be me." He took a deep breath. "If you decide not to let me go, then I will consent to that as well. I just wanted to put in the request."

For a moment the room turned silent as they slowly digested that. Lance's mother cocked her head, so did Queen Luxia, Queen Afya and Kolivan.

Oh.

Her mother was talking to them privately.

If Lance wasn't so tired she might have thought to listen in. At the moment everything just sounded warbled, like they were trying to speak underwater but you couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

After ten tense minutes later her mother nodded and turned to her. "Do you trust this man?"

Lance didn't hesitate with her answer. "With my life."

Lotor smiled at that.

Her mother gave her a long look before she nodded once. She clasped her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. "Very well then. The decision is unanimous. We shall be contacting the rest of the Voltron Alliance and informing them of our plans." Her mother opened her eyes. "We have four months to prepare." Everyone sagged in relief, excited chatter filling the room. "Prince Lotor will be staying in Cloyetera where he will provide the paladins of Voltron further information on how else to weaken Zarkon's army until then."

Lotor nodded, bowing his head. His generals put a fisted palm on their chests and bowed in gratitude. "I understand that the castle of lions suffered a lot of damage?"

Allura nodded.

"Then we shall offer you our services in repairing your ship. We shall also be providing you with more supplies." She glanced at Shiro. "The science and engineering department would be more than willing to create you a new arm young man."

Allura and Coran smiled at each other. Shiro nodded in thanks, some of the tension leaving his body. Hunk looked immensely relieved at the mention of more supplies. Pidge and Matt were already insisting they go help create Shiro's new arm to which her mother agreed. "Thank you very much your highness. You've no idea how much this means to us."

Her mom waved her off. "Nonsense. You've done so much for my daughter; you made her last moments with you happy and worthwhile. Since Leah will be staying in Cloyetera, you have my guarantee that she will give the Galra a fight for their lives."

Lance's eyes widened.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

Her friend's eyes widened, and as one they all turned to her in shock but Lance couldn't see them, couldn't hear them as Keith turned wide blue-gray eyes to her. "Lance," Keith sounded agitated, his breathing turned heavy. "What the fuck is she talking about?"

Many people gasped at the curse word and normally Lance or Shiro would have scolded him for it but at the moment the two of them were still in shock.

Her mother gasped, a hand going to her mouth as she sent her an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. "I thought he knew."

"Is it true?"

The sound of Keith's voice made her want to sink into her chair until the floor swallowed her. Lance opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. This wasn't the way she had wanted him to know. She'd wanted to do it privately, not in front of so many people.

" _Lance_."

The room went absolutely silent.

Nobody dared to even move.

"Say something!"

Keith didn't tear his gaze from hers. Every shallow breath she took, the way her palms clenched and unclenched were they sat on top of the table, they way her face crumpled. Keith saw it all.

"When did you decide this?"

Somehow, Lance found her voice. "Shortly after waking up in planet Zaebos."

Keith took a sharp breath.

There were no more lies, no more avoiding the issue. The truth was out, it lay sprawled bare and open before him and everyone else in the room and all Lance wanted to do was wipe that look of betrayal from his face, to get rid of the hurt that he was surely feeling at the moment but she couldn't.

She'd caused that.

What right did she have to try and console him after refusing to tell him that she was leaving the castle of lions?

And yet…

She couldn't bear to see that look on Keith's face.

It made her insides twist painfully. Made her want to get on her knees and beg for his forgiveness. More than anything, she wanted to explain her reason. Perhaps if she explained he would understand. Lance stood up from her chair, one hand already reaching for him but Keith shot to his feet so fast that he knocked his chair backward.

"Don't."

Keith's chest was heaving; she could see the color purple spreading up his neck. His fangs had appeared, so had his ears that were pulled down. Krolia and Kolivan stepped forward, their hands reaching for him, telling him to calm down.

Keith backed away from them. Shiro stood up next but Keith just backed away some more.

"Keith –" Lance tried reaching for him again but he actually snarled at her. Regardless, she didn't back down. She didn't flinch. Her guards, Reyna and Adina, even her brothers took a step forward, hands on their weapons. Lance wanted to tell them that they didn't need those weapons and to back away but then Keith lifted his eyes to her and Lance felt like her world was crumbling.

"Just," Keith took a step toward the door. "Just leave me alone."

And then he was gone and Lance fell to the ground, bowing her head as she hugged her elbows.

What had she done?

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Let me know what you guys thought :)_


	36. Chapter 36

"We are so hilarious. I feel bad for the people who don't get to listen to our conversations and enjoy our hilariousness."

\- Probably Lance McLane

Chapter 36

Keith has been avoiding Lance for four days. Whenever Lance entered the room, he'd leave. He'd even jumped out a window when she cornered him just to avoid talking to her. Thankfully it was only two floors and he was fine but still. This couldn't go on.

Shiro and Krolia had already told them that when he was ready he'd talk but Pidge was getting impatient. So her theory about Lance breaking up with Keith had been wrong. Thank fucking god.

But somehow this was worse.

Her two friends were obviously miserable so why the fuck weren't they doing anything about it?

Lance was at least trying to reach out to him. When Keith's Galra side had come out, Pidge was ashamed to say that it scared her. She wasn't the only one but still, it made her feel shitty. The only one who hadn't flinched or backed away whatsoever had been Lance.

She'd tried to explain and no matter how much Keith kept avoiding her, Lance hadn't given up. Though everyday she looked worse. Not in appearance but her mood was just off. She'd stare off into the distance, she'd sigh a lot, and was oddly quiet. She'd stopped singing. She wasn't smiling as much.

It was like she was just going through the motions but her heart wasn't in it. She hadn't been eating all that well either.

Her parents were worried.

Mikey and his brothers had insisted they track down Keith to give him a beat down but Lance pleaded at them not to. Only then did they agree to leave him alone.

Pidge hadn't been happy when Lance told them she was leaving the team. No one was. They'd just gotten her back.

But after she explained her reason?

Pidge couldn't stay mad at her for long. Lance needed to train and master her new power. Her friend has been the only one who has actually managed to give Haggar a hard time. If there was anyone out there who could kill that wrinkly old bitch, it was Lance. Regardless, her friend received the same lecture Shiro had gotten about keeping secrets from everyone until she looked like she was going to cry before they hugged it out and all was right in the world.

Except that Keith was still avoiding her.

Pidge didn't understand Keith. He knew that they would be leaving Cloyetera next week. He knew he didn't have a lot of time to spend with Lance. So why the fuck was he still avoiding her? He should just talk to her, work things out, and then spend every waking moment with her until they had to leave.

He was obviously miserable as well. The few times that she'd managed to see him he had looked dull of life. Whenever he'd see Lance from a distance he'd stare at her longingly before shaking his head, furrowing his eyebrows in anger, and leaving. Still, the way his eyes would go all soft when he so much as heard Lance's voice spoke volumes. He still loved her, which was good, but come on. Just talk to each other jeez.

Pidge was pretty sure that she heard him singing 'All by myself' by Mariah Carey the other night in his room. Keith _hated_ Mariah Carey. But Lance loved her. Pidge had also heard Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, but thankfully no Taylor Swift or Adele yet. Pidge would have barged in his room otherwise to put a stop to that nonsense. Lance wasn't any better, if she played another My Chemical Romance or Evanescence song Pidge was going to shank her. Her friend didn't listen to many songs like that but going out with Keith had introduced her to quite a few. She learned to love them, something Keith was immensely relieved by.

It was almost Christmas! New Years would be next week!

Pidge scratched both sides of her brown hair in frustration and screamed. Hunk, Lance and Matt gave her a strange look. With the way Lance had been acting all quiet and moody, Pidge and Matt had decided to have a sleepover in her room. The Amazon princess had seemed a little relieved at that and ushered them in. Hunk had already been there, as he had been for the past three days. The yellow paladin had refused to let Lance be alone. He was her rock, watching over her, making sure she ate at least some soup and sleeping over because apparently Lance was having nightmares about Haggar.

Lance hadn't told anyone about them, but Hunk had confided in Pidge who then told Matt. Thus, the unanimous decision to sleepover had been made.

Pidge leaned her hands behind her where she sat on the brown-carpeted floor and took a look around Lance's room. It was huge. Ten times bigger than the one at the castle of lions. Its walls were blue with golden patterns that curled around the room. There was a drawing of a castle, like the ones Pidge would see in picture books about princesses. The castle was dark and grey, small yellow windows drawn in each pillar. Red dark roses were drawn on sides, two bigger than the other three, and one purple flower at the side. There was a blue road so dark leading up to the castle that it looked purple. And standing in the middle of the road stood a blond girl in armor with her sword raised in the sky.

It was beautiful.

And apparently drawn by Lance.

According to her it was the story that had decided her name. She'd liked it so much that she'd drawn a scene straight from the book, with a few teaks of course. Rose shaped figurines glowed a bright blue in the ceiling. They were like the constellations Lance had in her room back at the castle of lions only instead of planets and stars, they were different flowers.

Ivory furniture and rugs complimented the room. Beanbags of different color were on the other side of the room. The gigantic bed was made of a similar color scheme, the curtains that hung from the towering headboard drifted in the cold breeze from the open windows. It was snowing. Pidge was actually freezing her ass off and Lance must have noticed because she made her way over to the windows, five of them, on barefoot feet and closed them one by one before falling onto her bed with a long sigh. The heater was turned on moments by voice command.

"Hunk," Lance said with a sigh. "If Keith decides to call off the wedding, will you marry me instead?"

The yellow paladin walked to her side, got down to one knee, and took her right hand in his before giving it a scorching kiss. "I'll be a gentle lover."

The comment had Lance bursting into giggles.

It made Pidge and Matt smile in relief.

"He won't call off the wedding," Matt insisted with a pout where he was slouched on one of the beanbags. "He'd be a fool to call it off." Everyone had been given new clothes to wear while the castle of lions was being repaired. Loose pants and faded shirts that felt silky smooth. They hadn't wanted anything super fancy for sleeping.

"He was just so mad though." Lance sighed as she stared at her towering headboard. "He doesn't even want to be in the same room with me."

The way Lance spoke, how small her voice sounded, it had Pidge's heart clenching. Lance should never be anything but happy. Mischievous. Playful even, but never sad. Pidge should have never doubted Lance's feelings for Keith. The way she spoke about him, the way her eyes would follow him from a distance…the girl was smitten.

"Give him some time buddy," Hunk reassured her, sitting down next to her on the bed to pat the hand splayed over her stomach. "How about you and I sneak down to the kitchen to get some cookies? I saw some Oreos."

Lance gave him a sad smile but turned her head. Her blue eyes lacked their usual shine. "That's okay. I'm not really hungry."

Hunk shared a wide-eyed look with Pidge and Matt. Lance was refusing Oreos? But she loved them! She never turned them down!

Pidge growled and shot to her feet. "That's it!" All eyes turned to her, Lance's a bit slower than Hunk and Matt, and blinked owlishly at her. Pidge pointed a finger at her friend. "Get up! We're going out!"

Lance gave her a confused look before sighing and laying back down. Pidge picked up a red pillow from the rocking chair behind her and slammed it on Lance's face. Hunk and Matt exclaimed in shock but Pidge didn't care. They were babying her too much. Enough was enough. The Amazon growled and sat up, tossing the pillow back on her bed before glaring at her. Her blue eyes were blazing.

Good.

It was the most emotion Pidge had seen on her for days.

Pidge had just about enough of Lance being sad. Anger was better than sadness any day.

"You haven't left the house in days!" Pidge continued now that she had Lance's attention. "Pretty sure you haven't showered, you haven't done your daily beauty regimens and you've all but stopped eating!" Pidge was breathing hard at this point. Matt and Hunk tried to calm her down but she refused to listen. Lance was her friend. And right now she was hurting. But that didn't mean she had to stop taking care of herself! If Lance needed someone to throw a pillow at her just to get a reaction from her then Pidge would gladly do it. "Stop acting like a little bitch and leave the house for a bit."

Lance frowned at her. "Don't curse." She mumbled, before crossing her arms over her faded blue shirt. She gnawed on her lower lip before looking at Pidge from the corner of her eye curiously. "Where would we go anyway? It's almost midnight. Plus, it's snowing."

"You said you like surfing right?" Lance glanced at her from her lashes, quietly nodding. "Then we're going to the ocean and you're going to take a swim and not think about Keith for a good few hours." Lance opened her mouth, probably to say something stupid that would have Pidge throwing another pillow at her before Pidge shot her a dark glare and Lance closed her mouth. "Got it?"

Lance stared at her for a good five seconds before nodding and slowly rose to her feet. Matt and Hunk beamed and started pulling on their coats, slippers, and headed down stairs. Lance was pretty much immune to the cold now so she'd only put on her blue lion slippers, Allura had given them to her to keep, changed to some black shorts and a blue tank top and followed reluctantly after them.

Pidge had to go back and tug on her arm when she didn't move fast enough.

Lance's house was huge but despite the late hour one could still hear light chatter from the other rooms. Shadow lifted his big head as they were tip toeing their way across the living room and gave them a curious glance. There was a giant empty bowl by his side. Lance put a finger on her lips to shush him. Shadow cocked his head before bringing it down and letting out a small whine.

Clearly he didn't want to be left alone. Sighing quietly under her breath, Lance made a come hither motion and Shadow bounded to their side in three quick strides, his blue tail swaying happily before nudging his owner, almost causing Lance to topple over. Luckily, Hunk caught her before she could fall.

Deciding that they didn't want to be interrogated by the guards surely waiting outside, they climbed on top of Shadow who crouched down once they were all settled, felt the world squeezing them, before cold air hit them and Pidge opened her eyes to see that they were already outside.

Shadow didn't waste time and started running towards the beach close to Lance's house. It wasn't long before Pidge, Matt and Hunk shivered, their teeth shattering at the sudden coldness. Lance and Shadow were the only ones not bothered by it. From this distance Pidge could still see the giant three lit up in different shades of colors, could see the firebirds erupt into flames whenever they zoomed by, could see gryphons and Valkyries fly by, could smell the sweet scent of honey suckle only for it to be replaced by the smell of the ocean as they neared it. The air turned colder. Waves lapped gently across the shore, if one looked closely you'd be able to see the bright pink lights from the city the Mer people lived in.

Lance's pets had gone into the forest, eager to explore their surroundings. Only Shadow returned. He'd popped into the council room as soon as Keith had stormed out. Perhaps he had sensed that his owner was in distress. Pidge didn't know but Lance had clung to him like a lifeline before burying her face in his blue fur.

Shadow hadn't left her side in days either; only when he got hungry did he wander downstairs before returning later.

Shadow slowed to a stop on the sandy beach and slowly Pidge and the others got off. Hunk was rubbing his hands over his shoulders, trying to get blood flowing. Matt was jumping up and down, wrapping his orange coat tighter, his teeth shattering. Pidge was cold too but she glanced to the left where Lance stood completely still, her face scrunched to the side in indecision.

Pidge scanned the area and looked around the massive rocks surrounding them until she found what she was looking for. Lance's surfboard, blue with red flames on the side, was leaning against one of the rocks. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Pidge walked over, picked it up, and all but shoved it in Lance's face.

She took it slowly and stared at it incomprehensibly before Matt and Hunk gently pushed her toward the water. Despite her slow state, Lance remembered to at least take off her slippers lest they get wet.

Their friend stood silently at the edge of the water, board tucked under her arm as her gaze roamed over the dark horizon. The waves lapped at her heels, somehow calming her for her tense shoulders loosened up and she curled her feet under the wet sand. She looked to be struggling, indecisiveness weighing in.

Pidge, Hunk and Matt stood silently behind her, the three of them leaning over each other for some kind of warmth. Lance needed this; she needed to do this alone, needed to get some fresh air. Pidge _knew_ that. It took all of her self-control not to go over there and give Lance a harsh push and send her sprawling into the ocean.

Whenever Lance was sad there were few things that got her out of her slump.

The first one was Keith.

That one was impossible at the moment because the red paladin was refusing to talk to her.

The second thing was taking a personal spa day in her room and putting on her face cream, doing her eyebrows, do some yoga. They'd already tried that though and Lance hadn't seemed up to it.

The third thing though…Lance loved to swim. There was a pool in the castle of lions that Lance loved to use. It was located up in the ceiling and despite living there for quite a while, Pidge and the others hadn't quite figured out how to get up there and use it. But Lance had. She loved it. She could spend the whole day there.

Now that they were in Cloyetera, Lance's home planet, she had a whole ocean to swim in.

Lance moved one leg. Pidge, Hunk, and Matt held their breath. She took off her shirt until she was left in a sports bra and let her shirt fall to the sand beside her.

She stepped in slowly, water washing over her ankles, then up her calves, submerging her body in the sweet caress of the sea. For a moment she just stood there, waist deep, and looked up at the sky. Snowflakes landed on her lashes, on her hair, her face. Lance took a deep breath and set her board against the surface. Lance didn't hesitate after that. She climbed on, and began to paddle against the tide. She didn't turn back. Just kept moving, kept pushing, until Pidge couldn't hear her sobs from that far away.

Hunk sniffled.

So did Matt.

Pidge didn't, she smiled. Albeit sadly.

Lance needed this. She'd been holding back, telling everyone that she was fine when she clearly wasn't. Lance didn't like to make others worry and with Hunk not leaving her side for the past few days, and everyone giving her these pitying looks…it must have taken Lance some effort not to dissolve into hysterics.

Pidge took a few steps forward, watching as the tears ran down her friends' face before they were hastily wiped away. A small wave was coming and Lance began to paddle towards it, slowly getting to her feet to ride the tide. She glided through the water, nothing too fancy at first but after the third wave, this one a little higher, Lance began to do some tricks.

And eventually, Lance began to laugh.

Pidge, Matt and Hunk exhaled in relief.

Hunk actually cried a little.

Pidge didn't.

She just had something in her eye.

Honest.

Shadow released a howl at the sky and sat down on his paws, his tail swaying lightly as he watched his owner glide through the waves.

A giant red tentacle suddenly popped out from one of the waves Lance was riding and almost gave them a heart attack as it wrapped around Lance' form and moved her side to side in the air. Her board fell somewhere in the ocean. If Lance hadn't started laughing wildly, Hunk would have dived in to save her. He'd already taken off his coat and his shirt. Matt had been in the process of removing his boots. Pidge had taken out her Bayard, ready to electrocute the thing if it so much as touched her friend wrongly.

They needn't had worried. The octopus seemed friendly and anyone who could make Lance laugh was okay in Pidge's book.

Lance would be fine.

Shadow would keep an eye for her too.

Something caught her eye and Pidge turned, startled to see Cesti, Cyra, Ami, and Tami leaning on a boulder of rocks. Reyna, Adina and the rest of Lance's guards were making their way to the beach as well. Even the ones that were off duty were here. They were in their armor, their only source of warmth a thin jacket. Damn, when the fuck had they gotten there?

Pidge hadn't heard them at all.

And here she thought they were being sneaky.

These Amazons were good.

Cesti and Reyna gave them a wave before turning their attention back to their charge.

Some even dove right in the icy water, crying out in surprise, but Lance just laughed at them. Happily splashing water whenever they got too close.

Turning on her heel, Pidge started heading back to Lance's mansion. Her face set in determination. Hunk and Matt hastily put their clothes and shoes on before sprinting after her. They hastily waved good-bye in the Amazons direction before catching up to her.

"Pidge," Hunk wearily asked as he marched beside her. "Where are you going?"

"You've got that no nonsense face," Matt added on her other side, his hands rubbing up and down on his forearms.

"It's time to talk to Keith," Hunk and Matt blanched. "Enough is enough. One way or another he's going to talk to Lance or so help me I will hurt him in ways he didn't even know were possible."

"Oh, boy." Hunk groaned.

"Here we go." Matt added with a wince.

* * *

Lance was a wild and beautiful creature.

She was like a cougar. Or a hummingbird. She brought playfulness and joy into someone's life. She lifted their spirits up. She's strong. Exhibits leadership. She's courageous. She could be cunning. She's independent. According to the research he'd done, Lance's spirits animals were those two. She exhibited traits from both those creatures. And out of everyone Keith has ever met, Lance is the only one who truly seems to enjoy life.

But like that cougar and hummingbird, Lance wants to go her own way. She's wild. And like all wild creatures, he has to let her go. Deep down, Keith had always known that keeping Lance close to him wouldn't last. Part of it was because he sometimes thought she could do better than him. He wasn't the most sociable guy out there and he wasn't the easiest to get along with. But Lance had stayed y his side. It didn't stop his self-doubt but he was glad that she had stayed. But the thing about Lance? She was constantly moving. Always curious about her surroundings. Always going her own way. She moved to the beat of her own rhythm.

It was selfish of him to try and keep her at his side, to lock her away, to force her to stay with him. Because she would, if Keith really asked her, _begged_ her to, then Lance would stay. They were going to get married for fucks sake! But it didn't mean that they'd be together twenty-four seven. Keith loved Lance.

He did.

There were times when the two of them needed space from the other though. To interact with other people. To spend some time apart. But the thing is…he'd just gotten her back. He'd almost given his life for her; he fought tooth and nail and went through hell until they could finally be together again. His life was finally starting to make sense again. He was able to get up in the morning with a smile, albeit a small one for he was not a morning person, but a smile nonetheless for he knew that Lance was back and somewhere in the ship.

He could go to her room and she'd be there. He could go to the training room and she'd join him. He'd be able to go to the kitchen and find her there, smiling, and cooking with Hunk while they tried to make breakfast. He'd be able to smell her everywhere she went on the ship. Her scent had been disappearing, she was gone for three months after all, and just when he was sure that she'd still be there when they finished the repairs in the castle of lions and go on missions together just like before, he suddenly finds out that she's not going back with them?

Seriously, what the fuck?

Truth be told, he's _pissed_.

As much as he's moping, because he _knows_ that he's moping, because only a depressed person would listen to frickin _Adele_ , he's also seriously mad as fuck. He's pissed that Lance didn't tell him. He's pissed that she had all this time to tell him she was staying in Cloyetera only to keep quiet. He's _furious_ because he thought that the two of them didn't keep secrets from the other. And he's furious that she wasn't the one to tell him. Sure, Queen Lexi hadn't known she was spilling her daughter's secret but still.

Lance hadn't told him _shit_.

He had every reason to be pissed at her.

Despite how angry he was or how much he wanted to punch that fucking gorgeous face of hers, he also wanted to kiss her. Hold her close. Just fucking _talk_ to her. And it's _infuriating_. He wanted her back. He wanted to bicker with her, to have her tease his hair only for him to call her Princess Leah and have her face turn bright red at the nickname.

He wanted Lance to tell him that they're going to be all right. He wanted her to sing to him or practice her pick-up lines on him despite how cheesy it all is. She brought music into his life. She got him out of his comfort zone and got him to try all these strange new things. She made him actually _enjoy_ these strange new things even when they're in a crowded area.

Somehow, Lance had a way of making him think that it's just the two of them there. She made him laugh, made him meet new people despite how awkward he is around them.

Lance…makes him _happy_.

Keith sighed as he finished polishing one of his knives before setting it down next to him on the bed only to retrieve another one and start the process all over again. Cleaning his knives usually relaxed him but so far it hadn't helped. All he could think about was Lance. He'd been eating way too much as well. He'd been skipping out breakfast and dinner with the rest of his friends because he knows Lance will there as well. At least he has plenty of cups of noodles and granola bars in his bracelet to keep him going.

Though constantly eating junk food couldn't be healthy.

Avoiding her hasn't been easy. Her presence is _everywhere_. No surprise there though, they were staying at her house. He made sure to stay out as long as possible but every time he hears someone laugh all boisterous and loud, his heart stutters. His palms get sweaty. It later turns to disappointment because it's not Lance's laugh. He hates how he goes to Lance's favorite café that she introduced him to when he first crashed in Cloyetera all those months ago, and look at the door with this longing look. He keeps hoping Lance would come in but at the same time he also wants her to stay away.

Keith…doesn't know what he wants.

Well, that's a lie.

He wanted Lance. He wants her to stay with him and the rest of the paladins. He wants her to be the blue paladin again. Keith furrowed his eyebrows and paused in his polishing to think. Now that he thought about it…he didn't even know _why_ Lance had decided to stay in Cloyetera. He never found out. He'd asked Shiro and his mother who had been there when Lance had told the rest of the team after he'd stormed out but neither of them refused to tell him.

Said he should go ask her himself.

Fuck that.

He'd have to actually _talk_ to Lance in order to do _that_. And if he did, then he'd have to apologize. The thing is, Keith doesn't know _how_ to apologize. He and Lance had fought before but it had never been anything truly bad that it had the other ignoring the other person. Would Lance even _want_ to forgive him?

He'd jumped out a fucking _window_ just to avoid talking to her.

He snarled at her in his Galra form.

If anyone did that to him he'd say fuck them.

Would Lance say the same to him after he'd ignored her for four days?

Maybe.

And the thought scared him.

Would she want to call off the wedding because she finally figured out that Keith was an asshole? That she could find someone better? The thought made him both restless and anxious. The thought of Lance leaving him hurt. He should just talk to her. Her room was just across the hall. He could be there in less than two minutes, knock on her door and…say what?

Sorry for jumping out a window and avoiding you but you kind of deserved it for not telling me you were staying in Cloyetera after repairs are done on the castle of lions? Sorry for snarling at you when I went full Galra on you? Sorry for being my asshole-ish self? All good starts.

Well, at least one of them was.

Sighing, Keith reached across the bed until his fingers curled around Lance's blue iPod, he had yet to return it, he felt a little closer to Lance when he used it, and scrolled down until he found Adele, plugged the earphones in before the first song started to play. He was only two minutes into 'Turning Tables' when his door was suddenly kicked open and in came an angry looking Pidge in green loose pants and an oversized dark blue jacket. Were those snowflakes in her hair?

Hunk and Matt skidded to a halt behind her. The two were dressed similarly, loose pants, oversized jackets, and teeth shattering. Their slippers left sandy footprints on the blue carpet.

Pidge arched an angry brow at him. "Are you listening to Adele again?"

She sounded so angry. So suspicious.

Keith immediately denied it.

Pidge narrowed her eyes and reached a hand for one of the earphones when Keith began to panic. Quickly removing the earphones, he wrapped them around the IPod before chucking the whole thing across the room.

Pidge, Matt and Hunk stared incredulously.

Hunk licked his lips and narrowed his eyes at him. The yellow paladin looked ready to throttle him. "Did you just break Lance's IPod?"

Keith's eyes briefly went to the discarded device across the room, praying that he hadn't broken it, before fixing his face into an annoyed scowl. He crossed his arms over his loose long red shirt and arched a brow at all three of them "Why are you guys here?"

"We're here because of Lance," Pidge finally said, her own face mirroring his own. Keith was going to deny feeling a chill go down his spine at the look. He was probably just cold. Her response didn't really surprise him. He was actually a little surprised that they hadn't tracked him down yet. In fact, now that he thought about it, only Shiro and his mom had confronted him. Only once though.

After that they didn't show up and hound him to go talk to Lance. Not even Mikey and the rest of Lance's brothers, which was…odd. Were Mikey and his brothers planning his murder right this moment? Is that why they'd left him alone? So he could enjoy these last days of freedom before they hit him on the back of the head with a shovel, dragged him into the woods where they would proceed to do some kind of ceremonial killing?

Because if they were, Keith was so _not_ okay with that.

"I'm not talking to her." He said, giving his three friends a flat look. One that he hoped conveyed the clear message of 'get the fuck out of my room before I drag you out.'

"Keith –" Matt started.

"No."

"You should really talk to her," Allura said, poking her head into his room. Shiro, Coran, and his mother stood behind her. "She really misses you."

He threw his hands up in frustration. Sure, just come on in everyone. It's totally okay.

 _Not_.

Keith scoffed. "She wouldn't have to miss me if she were to just go back with us when the repairs in the castle were done."

Shiro sighed, stepping into the room to sit next to him on the edge of the bed. "Keith, I really think you should hear her out." He said it gently, his gaze all soft and brotherly that it had Keith looking away. "I think if you heard her reason, you'll understand."

Keith pouted and glared at the floor. "Why are you guys ganging up on me anyway? Aren't you guys angry at Lance too?"

"We weren't mad," Coran finally spoke, his index finger twirling the end of his mustache. The man was thankfully wearing pants this time. They were orange and fluffy looking, matching Allura's purple ones. "We were surprised."

Pidge snorted. " _I_ was mad. Pissed actually."

"So then why –"

"Because she explained." Allura said, her eyes all soft and sad. Her four mice patted Keith's knee. "Yes, we were surprised. Yes, some of us were mad. But Keith," He looked away, her gaze too much for him to handle. _Everyone's_ gaze was too much to handle. "After she explained we understood."

"They lectured her too, you know." His mother said as she leaned against the wall, one knee bent while the other touched the floor. "Almost made her cry."

"I don't want Lance to leave the team either," Shiro added as he put his hand on Keith's shoulder. His brother looked better than the last time he'd seen him. The healers in Cloyetera had been checking up on him regularly while the science division was already in the process of making him a new arm. "I'm honestly scared that without her Haggar might take over my body again. I'm scared that without Lance there, we won't be able to function all that well. But I know we're going to be all right. And Lance knows this. That's why she is able to leave without worry."

"I know I haven't been here long enough to know what everyday with Lance being around is like, but the few days that I did get to spend with her?" Matt shook his head and smiled. "Its obvious that she's the one lifting everyone's spirits up. I'm definitely going to miss her."

"But here's the thing Keith," Hunk took over, his face all-gentle, a smile one his face. "Lance isn't being taken by an evil organization this time. She'll be able to call us and we'll be able to call her as well. Whenever we need to reach her, she'll just be a click away."

"We can even visit." Allura added with a smile. "Or she could come to us. We'd find a way."

"Lady Lance will always take our calls," Coran added gently. "It won't matter if she's fighting or if she's in the toilet." Everyone scrunched up their face. "She will always, without doubt, answer our calls."

"You're going to talk to her." Pidge took over, her no nonsense face back on. Keith opened his mouth to protest but Pidge cut him off before he could speak. She pointed a menacing finger at him. Keith was ashamed to say that he shuddered. "If you don't we'll drag you kicking and screaming all the way to her room. Enough is enough. I'm tired of babying the two of you." Her mouth scrunched up into a pout. "Besides, a sad Lance is just wrong."

"Amen to that." Matt nodded sagely.

Keith peeked up at his friends from his lashes. "She's sad too?"

His friends scoffed.

"Dude!" Hunk exclaimed with a wave of his hands. "She's not eating."

"She's not laughing." Pidge added.

"She didn't even bat an eye when I practiced my pick-up lines on her." Matt said with a pout.

"She hasn't left the house in days." Allura added scooping up her four mice.

"Pretty sure she hasn't showered either." Shiro grimaced.

"She even turned down my offer to experiment with the new food in her fridge." Coran added dejectedly.

"Plus," Hunk added with a wince. "She's been having nightmares so sleep hasn't come very easily."

Keith's head snapped up at that, his eyes wide in surprise. "She's having nightmares?"

"Yeah," Hunk confirmed with a sigh. Everyone looked at the yellow paladin with wide eyes. Lance had mentioned that to him. That she was afraid she'd dream about Haggar. She hadn't had nightmares before though…Well, now that he thought about it…all the times that Lance had slept since she'd come back, someone had been with her. _He_ had been there. "I've been sleeping over everyday but she still keeps waking up in a cold sweat." He turned back to Keith and gave him a pleading look. "Just talk to her. She needs you Keith."

"Come on Keith," Shiro squeezed his shoulder. "We know you miss her too."

Keith looked up at his friends and something about their pleading and open faces made something in him crack. "Shiro," He said, and Keith _hated_ how small his voice sounded. It sounded more like a whine. And suddenly it felt like he was falling apart, like every piece that made him who he was, was disappearing until all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry.

His friends looked at him in worry, all of them surging forward to pat him on the back, ruffle his hair, pull him into a hug. "What if Lance doesn't want me anymore? What will I do if she doesn't want to talk to me? I jumped out a fucking _window_ for fucks sake! I snarled at her in my Galra form! What if she's scared of me now? And all she wanted to do was explain and I couldn't even bother to listen!"

He was babbling by now, though it sounded more hysterical than anything. If Lance decided she didn't want him anymore, Keith would shatter. Without a doubt that kind of rejection would destroy him. "I'm an asshole!" He continued. "I'm awkward, I push people away, I curse like nobodies business and –"

Warm hands squeezed both of his shoulders until he finally stopped his babbling only for him to look up and see his mother looking at him in concern. Her violet eyes looked a little misty but she looked stern. "Now you listen to me Keith," She began. "That girl loves you. She loves every part of you. I know I haven't known her very long, or you for that matter, but the way you two interact? The way you two look at each other?" His mother squeezed the cheek where he now had a scar and smiled softly at him. "That's love. Trust me Keith, she still wants you."

"Look," Pidge said, snapping everyone's attention to her. "You can be mad at her. Your anger is completely justified." Her face softened. "Hell, you can even punch her if you want, though you'll probably break your arm in the process but hey, whatever you need." Her eyes turned pleading, a hint of worry mingled with it as well. "Just…hear her out. Okay?"

Keith's eyes drifted to the floor before he shifted uncomfortably. He huffed, blowing air towards his bangs as he pointedly looked away from the smug looks his friends were now sporting. He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine." He muttered. "I'll go talk to her now."

When he looked up he scowled. His friends actually looked proud of him.

"I'm still mad at her though."

"Well, go on!" Coran impatiently said. He took off one of his slippers and waved it at him. Was Coran actually threatening him with that? Like seriously? Allura face palmed. "Go talk to her right now!"

"The hell he will," A male voice snorted at the doorway. Everyone jumped, clearly startled. And for good reason too. Not one of them had heard the sound of footsteps or noticed the five new bodies poking their heads inside his room.

Honestly, they should have closed his door a long time ago. It was a miracle that Lance herself had not come to investigate all the noise.

"You've ignored my sister for four days straight," Mikey continued with a glare. His hands were wrapped around a shovel. Keith looked at it wearily.

"Our sister hates being ignored," Aiden continued, his hand wrapped around a long sniper rifle. "And she's depressed."

"I don't know if you've ever seen a depressed Leah," Kyrian continued as he waved a metal bat at him. His brown chocolate eyes narrowed. "But it's not pretty."

"She refused to take a bath with me," Mikey pouted. Everyone looked at him in horror. Mikey bristled. "What? She loves it!"

"Dude," Kyrian sighed, a hand on his forehead. "She totally doesn't."

"Yes, she does!"

Aiden snorted. "Maybe when she was like five."

Mikey lifted his shovel at his brothers threateningly.

Shiro licked his lips nervously, his eyes on the weapons held by the rest of Lance's brothers. "What's with the weapons guys?"

Colt grinned, petting the shovel in his hands as if it were a cat. "We were coming to kill you." He said it like he was talking about the weather.

Hunk whimpered.

Krolia and Shiro edged a little closer to him.

Matt looked like he was ready to bolt. Traitor.

Alan shrugged, both hands on the shovels' handle where he laid his head. "Can't do it now though." His brown eyes roamed over his friends who were looking just as wide-eyed as he was. "Too many witnesses."

Keith gulped.

Alan frowned, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Then again…"

Pidge pulled out a razor. Shiro did a double take. Matt didn't look surprised. "Bring it," the green paladin challenged, waving the razor menacingly in the air. "I'll cut you bitch."

"Oh dear god!" Hunk swiped the razor from her hands. Pidge protested and made to get it but the yellow paladin raised it in the air. "Where the heck did you find this anyway?"

Shiro heaved a giant sigh of relief.

Krolia chuckled and ruffled Pidge's hair. "I always knew I liked this kid."

"Please don't encourage her." Allura groaned.

Aiden sighed, adjusting his glasses a little higher. "For the record, I told them hitting you with a shovel on the back of the head and burying you in the woods was a bad idea." Some of the tension released from Keith's shoulders. Good old Aiden, always making his brothers see reason. But damn, Keith had been right about how they wanted to kill him. Aiden's mouth lifted up into a serene smile. "I told them it'd be better for me to just snipe you from a distance and let someone else take care of the clean up." He shrugged and sighed dejectedly. Keith and his friends gaped. "But they wanted to get their hands dirty. Oh well."

He actually looked _disappointed_.

Never mind, Keith decided.

Aiden might be the scariest of them all.

Mikey combed back his brown hair and waved the shovel in his hands in Keith's direction. Matt and Coran had to take a few steps back lest they get hit. "You hurt my sister dude."

"I thought we were bros," Keith quietly said. Ever since their talk, Mikey had been calling him bro. Keith made a face each time the man said it but he secretly liked it. The way he said it with this soft look made him smile. Now he understood why Hunk and Lance called each other that.

Mikey narrowed his dark blue eyes at him. "Not when you hurt my sister dude."

Keith deflated.

"Keith knows what he did was wrong," Shiro started, turning Mikey's attention on him. "He just needed time to sort through his anger but he's ready now. Let him talk to Lance."

"Nope." Mikey turned his attention to Keith and glared. "You owe her a gift. It's the least you can do for ignoring her."

"A gift?"

Allura clapped her hands in delight. "Oh! You can buy the engagement ring!"

"Yup," Aiden agreed. "Enough is enough. My sister deserves a ring."

"It better be fucking huge." Kyrian warned.

"And sparkly!" Colt added.

"It better have people turning heads!" Alan finished.

"You heard them," Mikey grinned. "You can talk to Leah _after_ you get an engagement ring."

Keith slowly nodded, trying not to show how disappointed he was that he couldn't go talk to Lance at this moment. He'd finally made up his mind. What if waiting another day to talk to her only made things worse? What if he lost his nerve later? Would Lance be okay or would she have more nightmares? Would Lance refuse to eat yet again? Keith was pretty sure Lance wouldn't care about getting a gift though. If anything she'd just want to talk to him. At least…that's what he thought. And how the fuck was he going to buy a wedding ring anyway? He didn't know what size Lance's finger was. He didn't know anything about rings! He didn't shit about shopping for gifts.

Allura patted his shoulder and sent him a reassuring smile. "Not to worry. I shall help you pick out a ring."

"I know Lance's ring size!" Hunk piped in.

"It has to be something extraordinary!" Coran added with a jump. He nodded slowly, his eyes already twinkling. "I shall come too! You may need my expertise!"

"I want to go too!" Matt added with a wave of his arms. Pidge nodded as well, something about being cooped up in the house too much.

"This seems fun," Krolia murmured. "I want to see too."

"And we'll go to," Mikey said, his brothers nodding eagerly. "It has to meet our expectations!"

"Count us in too!" A new voice shouted. Everyone jumped, turning to the door to see Lotor and his generals in their pajamas. Ezor had been the one to speak. Lotor looked apologetic. Zethrid walked right in and made herself comfortable on the floor. Axca lingered by the door, her short blue hair loose. She looked good like that. Lest uptight. Ezor's orange hands gripped Keith's own pale ones and gazed at his eyes with the biggest puppy eyes he'd ever seen. "Please? Can we go?"

Keith shrugged and inched away. He needed all the help he could get. "Okay. Just calm down."

Ezor squealed in delight.

"But you better talk to Lance right after," Lotor scolded him. The pajamas he'd been lent looked a little big on him but somehow he still managed to look regal. "Lance is depressed. And I'm honestly worried about her."

"I will." He said quietly.

Shiro looked around the gathered crowd and nodded, a smile on his face. "Then it's decided. First thing tomorrow, we'll all go and help Keith pick out an engagement ring."

Allura bit her lip. "About that." Shiro looked at his girlfriend questionably. "You'll be staying."

Shiro's mouth opened wide in disbelief. "What? But why?"

Allura placed a hand on her boyfriends' shoulder and gave him the most serious look she could muster. "Because you suck at picking gifts."

Shiro spluttered.

Keith couldn't help but chuckle.

So did everyone else.

"Shiro," Allura continued in a deadpan voice. "You gave me cleaning supplies for our one month anniversary."

Shiro threw his hand up. "You said you loved it!"

Allura was quick to correct him. " _Coran_ loved it."

The Altean advisor nodded his head vigorously. "Best mop I'd ever seen. I love it."

Shiro's bottom lip wobbled and he sighed. Looking up at his girlfriend with a pout his voice sounded more like a whine. "So what am I suppose to do? Just stay here until you guys come back? That's so boring!"

Keith had to tap his ears twice just to make sure he was hearing right. Was Shiro seriously acting like a toddler?

"Actually," Allura beamed and her smirk widened. "Your job is to keep Lance distracted."

"That's right!" Coran was quick to add. "If Lady Lance sees that we're all gone she'll surely come after us."

"You've got a mission Shiro," Pidge continued. Shiro straightened at the word 'mission.' "Don't let Lance know what we're doing."

"Keep her mind occupied," Hunk waved a finger at the black paladin. "Get her to eat. Get her to leave the house. Just keep her busy."

"Can you do that," Matt clasped his hands behind his back, straightened, and looked Shiro in the eye. His voice turned a little deeper. "Officer Shirogane Takashi?"

Shiro straightened and saluted him. "Sir, yes, sir!"

Matt gave a sharp nod. "At ease soldier."

Keith almost face palmed.

Oh, my god.

Shiro…they totally got him.

Pidge and Matt silently high-fived each other. Shiro was already muttering ideas on how to keep Lance busy.

He actually looked excited.

Lance was going to have a field day with him.

Keith could already tell.

As everyone began to disperse, Keith couldn't help but stare longingly at his door, hoping, _praying_ that Lance would walk in. But she didn't. He retrieved her iPod from the floor, plugged the earphones in and began to try and get some semblance of sleep before tomorrow's big day.

If he wanted to talk to Lance he needed to buy her a pretty extraordinary ring. He didn't know if he could do that but at least he had his friends helping him out.

And once he had the ring, Mikey would let him talk to Lance.

"One more day," he mumbled into his pillow. "One more day and then I'll be able talk to you. Just wait a little longer Lance."

* * *

 _Okay, Shiro. You can do this. Just knock on her door and ask her if she wants to hang out. Everyone else is counting on you. You're the black paladin. You've faced tougher thins than this. You got this._

Taking a deep breath, Shiro rapped his knuckles against Lance's door and waited anxiously for his friend to open it. Keith and the others had already left early morning but not before Allura and Matt reminded him about his "mission."

Shiro almost scoffed. This would be a breeze. Lance was like a cat, she was easily distracted. He had this mission in the bag.

He frowned.

Why was Lance not opening the door? It was only seven-thirty in the morning…she should be awake by now. He knocked a little harder but there was still no response. Shiro glanced at one of the windows down the hall and noticed it was lightly snowing outside.

At the sight of it, Shiro had an idea.

There was something else he could do but he really _really_ didn't want to. He knocked on her door a little more urgently and got no response. Lance was in there though, he could hear her mumbling. The black paladin sighed. He didn't have a choice. He had to use his last resort.

Glancing both ways to make sure no one was there to witness him embarrass himself, Shiro pressed his whole body on Lance's door, pressed his ear to the metal door, and uttered the words he really didn't want to say. "Do you want to build a snowman?"

There was an incoherent scream from inside before the sound of something tumbling to the floor was heard. Oh, _that_ got her attention all right. "You have to say it right!"

Shiro's face felt warm. He didn't want to say it again. He almost died just saying it once. No way. Nope. He wasn't going to repeat it. No matter what Lance said, he would refuse.

"Please?" Lance's voice sounded so small. It sounded more like a whisper.

It had Shiro's heart clenching painfully in his gut. God damn it Lance.

Glancing both ways once again to make sure he didn't need to kill anyone for being a witness to this, he opened his mouth and began to sing. "Do you want to build a snowman? Come on, let's go and play." He put his back to her door and sagged to the floor before spreading his legs. He was planning on singing in a deadpan voice but like Lance always said, if you've got the talent, flaunt it. So he did. His voice sounded fantastic. "I never see you anymore. Come out the door! It's like you've gone away!"

Lance was giggling on the other side. Normally it would irritate Shiro because she was laughing at him but this was the first time he'd heard Lance laugh in _days_. If him singing this ridiculous song lifted her spirits up just a bit then god damn it, he was going to sing it. It certainly didn't stop the blush from forming on his cheeks though. This was embarrassing! But he had a mission. He could do this.

Making his voice a little louder he continued. "Do you want to build a snowman? It doesn't have to be a snowman! Do you want to build a snowman? Or ride our bike around the halls?" He frowned and stopped singing. "Actually scratch that last part, riding our bikes inside the house is dangerous. I'm putting my foot down on that one."

Lance let out one more giggle before the doorknob rattled and the door swung open. Shiro got to his feet. His friend was smiling widely, her cheeks looked flushed, and she looked quite smug. Regardless, it had Shiro sighing in relief. That is, until she opened her mouth. "Hey, Space Dad."

Shiro gave her a look. "Stop it."

Lance's lips twitched but she didn't say anything. Just leaned on the wall. He could just make out Shadow's blue tail from his spot. "What's up?"

For some reason he was suddenly feeling nervous. He and Lance hadn't hung out as much since their bonding moment all those months ago. They probably would have spent a lot of time together if she hadn't been taken. He hadn't seen her in months. What did they do when they were together besides tease each other?

Oh, god.

What if she found him boring now? What did they even talk about? He didn't remember.

Lance must have sensed his turmoil or read his mind because she cocked her head to the right and hesitantly opened her mouth. "Do you…want to hang out with me today?"

Shiro perked the fuck up. He couldn't have agreed faster if he tried. There was just one thing he had to confirm. Taking a delicate sniff, Shiro tried to keep his voice neutral. He'd guessed right. He put his hand on her shoulder. "On one condition."

Lance cocked her head.

"Please," it sounded more like a plea. "Take a shower."

Lance's face went blank.

Shiro stared right back perfectly serious. This was for her own good. Personal hygiene is important.

For a moment she didn't say anything and Shiro was worried she'd shut down on him but then a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes and Shiro's body tensed. Lance smiled. It had Shiro breaking into a nervous sweat. "Sure thing Space Dad."

Shiro frowned at the name.

Glancing at her nails, Lance looked up at him through her lashes. "What time do you want me to pick you up from the nursery home?"

Shiro's face went blank.

Lance stared back perfectly stone-faced.

When Shiro spoke he was sad to say that his voice cracked. "Just how old do you think I am?"

Lance gave him a Cheshire smile. "You don't want me to answer that."

Then she shut the door on his face and said she'd be ready in a few minutes. Shiro could only stare at her closed door in stunned silence before he lifted his hand and called Keith with his transparent bracelet through voice command.

Keith picked up on the third ring. " _Shiro, what's wrong?"_

Shiro pouted and his voice cracked. "Your future wife is mean!"

" _Shiro, what the fuck?"_

* * *

Shiro was pouting. He knew it. Everyone else they passed as they made their way to the docks saw it but he didn't give a damn. He wasn't old. It didn't matter that his whole hair had turned white. He was almost twenty-five thank you very much. He was still hip. Still cool. What was that word teenagers would say? Oh, right. He was off the heezy!

Lance stumbled beside him with a snort, a hand over her mouth as she tried to contain her laughter. Shiro pushed her to the side and kept walking. His nostrils flared. Lance needed to stop reading his mind. He was still mad at her.

With shaking shoulders Lance made her way to his side once again, her lips were set in a tight line but it was clear she was still laughing at him. Lance hadn't put on a jacket like he did. She was in a black T-shirt that clearly belonged to Keith because the words _'Aliens are real!'_ was written in big fat red letters. She was wearing jeans and her black and white converse. Shiro frowned. Lance was starting to wear too much black. Keith's taste in clothes was clearly rubbing off on her.

Her hair was still damp and she smelled vaguely of raspberries. At least she'd taken a shower.

Lance nudged at his shoulder with her own. "Are you still mad at me?"

Shiro didn't answer. Just continued pouting.

Lance pursed her lips.

He was perfectly aware that he was acting childish but he didn't care. He was still young, no matter what anyone else said.

Many of the Amazons and Valkyries walking by were bundled up in heavy overcoats, scarves, and some even had mittens. Most greeted them when they passed, looking relieved to see their princess out and about. They all seemed preoccupied with taking in the sights, shopping, and just having a good time.

The giant tree in the middle of the island was hard to miss. And this close, Shiro could see how humongous it really was. He had to crane his neck quite far but he was sure there were firebirds nestled inside as well. Frankly, that seemed like a bad idea. What if the thing caught on fire?

But other than that, it was beautiful. And it was warm. Very warm. Shiro's body suddenly felt like it was going to overheat. He could see why some of the women had taken off their coats in this section of the city. One didn't need to wear a coat for the tree was like a giant furnace.

Lance walked a little faster. She looked uncomfortable. Shiro picked up his pace to catch up, passing the giant luminescence tree. A small swarm of kaleidoscopic fireflies flew over to them and Shiro stopped, mesmerized.

Could he touch them?

Beside him, Lance lifted her hand and raised her index finger. A red firefly made its way over to it and perched itself on her finger. The thing grew a bright red before flying away. His friend didn't seem hurt so he hesitantly raised his own hand, spread his fingers, and waited with baited breath as a blue and purple firefly perched themselves on his fingers.

They felt warm.

They were beautiful.

The two glowed a bright color before flying away, back to the tree they were lightning up like Christmas lights. Lance wrapped her hand on his wrist and tugged him in a different direction. Away from the docks. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure where they were heading to anyway.

He glanced nervously at Lance who was still tugging him to who knows where. He licked his lips. "Lance, where are we going?"

Lance's mouth twitched. "It's a surprise."

Her response gave him a bad feeling. A surprise from Lance could either be something big that would cause him to have a heart attack or it could be something small, like giving him his whistle back. No wait, that had actually been a pleasant surprise. He wasn't in the best of condition though, so if Lance was planning something big he had to let her know that his body couldn't take it.

Not at this moment anyway.

"Lance," her blue eyes briefly went to his before looking away. "You're not going to take me to the entertainment island are you?" She didn't answer. His voice turned a little panicky. "Because my body can't take it! I'm supposed to be relaxing! No extraneous activities."

Lance looked at him like he was an idiot. If she weren't pulling his hand, Shiro would have smacked her for the look. "I know. I'm taking you somewhere else. Don't worry, I have the whole day planned."

Shiro exhaled. He shakily nodded. At least she wasn't taking him to that giant roller coaster he'd seen when they first landed. He wasn't a fan of them. He'd seen _Final Destination 3_ thank you very much. No way in hell he was getting on a roller coaster after seeing _that_.

"How," Lance hesitated. She opened and closed her mouth before looking at him shyly. "How is Keith doing?" Shiro arched a brow at her. Lance suddenly looked flustered and she looked away. She began to speak in a rush. "It's just I haven't seen him at breakfast or dinner. Which means he's stuffing himself with cup of noodles and junk food. Which means he'll get fat and those abs of his will disappear!"

Shiro's mouth twitched.

Lance's face turned red and she let go of his hand in order to flail her arms. "Not that I wouldn't love him if he was fat! I would! I'd call him my chubby wonky –"

Shiro snorted and snickered at that.

–"but I'd still love him! Is he eating right? Is he taking proper showers? I bet he hasn't combed his hair in days!"

"Lance."

"I just, I'm worried! And he won't talk to me so I was just wondering –"

"Lance."

Lance turned to him with misty eyes. "Does he hate me now?" Shiro startled at that. His friend bit her lip and sadly looked at the ground. She'd stopped walking; she looked on the verge of tears. "Does he want to call off the wedding?"

The way she said it, like she really believed her own words, had Shiro's anger dissolving in an instant. Regardless of the fact that Lance was the princess of this planet, Shiro couldn't help but still feel responsible for her. He knew she could take care of herself but as long as he was in Cloyetera, she was still going to be under his care.

As a leader and a friend it was his job to make sure that everyone in his team was doing okay. It didn't matter that Lance was no longer the blue paladin. It didn't matter that she was leaving the team to start a new, possibly dangerous, journey. She was always going to be part of their team. And no matter how old she got, Shiro was going to keep looking after her and the rest of his teammates. They were his family.

And seeing Lance in so much pain was not okay. A surge of protectiveness welled up inside him and he pulled her into a one armed hug. Lance practically melted against him and she sniffled. He stroked her hair and made his voice as soothing as he could. "Of course he doesn't want to call off the wedding. Keith loves you Lance. Right now he's just blowing off some steam. He was angry." He glanced down at her. "You should have told him."

Lance glanced down but she nodded. "He didn't mean it, you know."

Shiro blinked. "He didn't mean what?"

"To snarl at me." Lance clarified. "When Keith feels too much, his emotions go haywire. His Galra side comes out." She lifted her head and looked at him through pleading eyes. "He didn't mean to scare everyone." She glared to the side. "There was no need to pull out weapons on him. He's still learning to control his Galra side. He was probably ashamed that he scared everyone. Can you –" Lance hesitated and gripped the back of his black jacket. "Can you tell him that it's okay? That I'm not mad he did it? I feel like he's probably beating himself up for it and since he won't talk to me I was hoping that you would talk to him instead?"

For a moment Shiro could only stare at her in wonder. Keith and Lance were definitely soul mates. Even while separated they knew what the other was worried about or thinking. Keith _had_ been beating himself up for growling at Lance. He'd been worried that he'd scared her away. When he and Krolia had confronted him after he bolted from the meeting, it was the first thing he asked. He was still pissed but he was also worried that Lance now hated him. Shiro and Krolia had assured him that she didn't and honestly?

That was probably true. Shiro had been watching the two closely and while everyone pulled out a weapon and jumped when Keith growled at Lance, Shiro's eyes went to the Amazon princess. She hadn't flinched. She hadn't backed away.

She didn't _waver_.

What more could Shiro ask for of Keith's future wife?

Shiro could only smile. Keith had picked a good woman to marry. Shiro wholeheartedly approved. His smile gentle, he reached up and ruffled Lance's hair, enjoying the startled look she gave him for the action. "You can tell him yourself the next time you see him. I'm sure he'd believe it more if it came from your own mouth."

Lance frowned and stepped back to give him some space. "But he won't talk to me."

"He will."

Lance looked at him dubiously. "How do you know?"

He shrugged. "I just do." He smirked. "And if he doesn't then I'll tie him up and deliver him personally to you." Lance's mouth twitched. "I'll even put a bow on his head."

Lance laughed. The sound sweet and so so real. His friend had a tendency to put on a fake smile when she didn't want to worry her friends. It didn't fool Shiro though. He watched everything. He knew when she was faking. But right now…right now it actually sounded genuine.

Her face a little flushed, she hooked her arm around his and continued to drag him to who knows where.

Who knows?

Her surprise might actually be a good thing.

* * *

Lance took them to the healing chamber.

Was she taking him for a check-up? Seriously?

He couldn't help but pout. He'd actually been looking forward to this surprise of hers but if it was just a check-up then he was not in the mood. He visited the place enough times already. He didn't want to come in if he didn't have to.

Lance poked his cheek and had the audacity to smile at him. "Relax. You'll like your present. Trust me."

Not trusting himself of possibly whining and receiving more odd stares he kept his mouth shut and nodded. The lights were low and glowed a warm blue. It was definitely cold inside but at least he was all bundled up. Lance led them to the elevator and pressed the number three on it before leaning back on the wall.

Some classical music played inside. It was mostly violins but it sounded nice. All too sound they had reached their floor and the two of them stepped out. There were healing pods all over the place but in the right corner sat a desk.

And behind that desk was a middle-aged blonde woman with short curly hair and stern hazel eyes. Olwen. The head healer. Noticing their presence the woman looked up from her book and smiled, gesturing to the two chairs in front of her desk. He'd seen a lot of her over the past few days since they'd arrived in Cloyetera.

Shiro shot a questioning glance at Lance who sat down beside him. Why were they here? Olwen closed her book and gave them her full attention. She was still dressed in her white long dress, the star shaped pin fastened above her right breast. Unlike the golden shaped pins, this one shimmered in different colors when the light hit it just right.

Right now it was blue but as she leaned forward it changed to a pinkish color. "Your highness, Mr. Shirogane," she greeted them. "Its nice to see you again."

Lance inclined her head. "And you as well Olwen."

The head healer turned to him and she suddenly looked excited. She turned her attention back to Lance. "Did you tell him? Has he agreed?"

Shiro arched brow. Had he agreed to what?

Lance looked down at her lap in embarrassment. "Not exactly?"

Olwen glared. "Well? Do it now."

Lance released a whoosh of air and turned to him. She looked nervous. "Shiro, the reason I brought you here was because –"

He gestured for her to continue.

His friend took another deep breath before exhaling. "Because we want to grow you a new arm."

Shiro's mind went blank. "I'm sorry, what?"

Lance flailed her arms. "It's perfectly safe!"

Olwen nodded at the front. "Her highness is correct. It certainly takes time but we have been successful numerous times." She cocked her head; a single curly blonde strand fell forward before she pushed it away. "Would you be interested in that?"

Shiro didn't know what to say. They could grow him a new arm? How exactly would that work? All Shiro could imagine was planting someone's arm, burying it, and then watering it every few days until it sprouted but that was silly. No way that could happen.

Shiro licked his lips nervously.

Lance squeezed his shoulder and peered into his eyes. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. But if you ever change your mind, the option will still be available."

He glanced at Olwen. "This…procedure…how exactly would you grow me a new arm?"

Looking quite excited the older woman began to explain. They would need to cut a few pieces from his stump in order to start growing the new appendage. After that they would place it inside one of the healing pods that they had, injecting with vitamins every day to get it to grow. It'll take at least a month before it starts to resemble an arm. Once it starts resembling an arm the healers will measure his other hand, take pictures of it, and change the doses the new arm needs. That too will take another month but after that the new arm will look exactly like his other arm.

And finally, after all of that they will put the arm in a stasis where it will stay until Shiro was ready to have the last procedure done. Olwen told him that it would be a long procedure because they'd have to attach all the nerves and do a test to see if the new hand takes to its host but after that…he'll have his arm back.

It sounded too good to be true. But Lance would never lie about something like this. She wasn't cruel enough to do so. If Lance had mentioned this to him then she obviously believed it would work. Did Shiro want his arm back?

Yes, he kind of did.

But they were in a war. What if something happened and he lost his arm all over again? The prosthetic that his friends and the science division were making would surely fare better during their upcoming battles but after…if they really got rid of Zarkon during the Kral Zera ceremony…then yeah. He'd definitely be interested.

If he let them take a few pieces from his sump now they could start the process. It would take months anyway and when their fight with Zarkon was over, his new hand would be waiting for him.

Shiro glanced up. "Who would do the procedure at the end? The whole attaching of the nerves?"

Lance opened her mouth, her body turning to Olwen when the older woman spoke before her. "Her highness will."

Lance almost fell of her seat. "I'm sorry what?"

Olwen blinked innocently at her. "What part did you not understand your highness?"

Lance gestured her hands wildly in a circle. "Everything!" Her blue eyes were wide in disbelief. "I don't know how to do that procedure!"

Olwen's lips twitched. "Yet."

Lance startled. "What?"

"You don't know how to do the procedure. At least not yet, but you will." Her hazel eyes seemed to twinkle in the warm blue light. There was a certain glint that Shiro couldn't identify in them. Determination perhaps? Pride? "Don't think I've forgotten about you not finishing your training young lady." Lance winced and fidgeted in her seat. Olwen smiled. "You'll be home for a while, plenty of time for you to learn and master this procedure."

Shiro licked his lips. He'd made his decision. "I'll do it if Lance does the procedure at the end."

Lance gaped at him.

"Lance," Shiro started, his voice gentle. "You can do this. When you put your mind to it you can do anything. That's how I know that this procedure will go well. Because you'll be the one doing it. I trust you. Do you trust me?"

Lance shakily nodded.

Shiro smiled and patted her knee. "Then trust in my decision. You can do this Lance. I have total faith in you. What do you say?"

Lance grew silent, gathering her thoughts. She glanced at Olwen with a serious expression. "Do you _really_ think I can do this?"

Olwen didn't hesitate. "There is no doubt in my mind your highness."

That seemed to be the right thing to say because Lance slowly nodded and turned to him. "Okay. I'll do the procedure at the end. I won't fail. You can count on me Shiro."

Olwen nodded and clasped her hands together on top of the desk. "Excellent." She turned to Shiro and tilted her head. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

Cutting off pieces of his stump hadn't hurt. They gave him something so he wouldn't feel anything but once it wore off Olwen was kind enough to remind him that he'd feel a little discomfort. As he slowly got to his feet his eyes drifted over to the corner where both Lance and Olwen were currently discussing something. The two were bent over a container filled with green water, Olwen's usual stern voice somewhat gentle as she pointed things out to Lance.

His friend for her part looked oddly serious. She kept pointing at things and asking questions before typing them down on her new transparent bracelet. It was still hard to believe. He'd be able to have his hand back. He'd be able to be _normal_ again.

In case he still had doubts Olwen lead them to the fifth floor where she was already growing limbs for some of the Amazons who had lost a limb during battle. They were a strange sight. Some looked like balls of cluster. Others looked the size of a baby's arm or leg. Olwen assured him that they were growing nicely though. To think, his arm would soon be joining this room as well. Lance already assured him that she'd send him pictures as his arm grew. For some reason that comment made it sound like he was eager to see the process of a baby born.

Shiro exhaled and took a look around the room before he began to put on his jacket. It was still chilly inside. A slightly colder hand took the jacket from his grasp and he turned, not surprised to see Lance standing in front of him. The scent of raspberries followed her everywhere.

"Need help?"

Shiro nodded.

In no time at all Lance had bundled him up. She'd even put a gray scarf around his neck. He felt oddly embarrassed. He was the adult here. Lance just grinned at him and smiled. "Happy early Christmas present Shiro."

He pulled her into a one armed hug and squeezed her tight. What Lance had given him…it was beyond words. _"Thank you_ ," he murmured into her hair. "Thank you."

Lance patted his back and stepped back. "Now come on, we still have a whole day to explore."

Shiro was already in a good mood. He had a feeling that if Lance told him they were going to jump off of cliffs next he'd probably agree in a heartbeat.

Lance snickered. "No cliffs. I promise."

"So where are we going next?" He asked her as they made their way out of the healing chamber and back outside. It was already ten in the morning. He hadn't known they were in there that long.

Lance sent him a wide grin. "We're going to get massages."

Shiro stared. He didn't know if he was all that comfortable having someone see his scars while they massaged him. He scratched his cheek. "I don't think I'll like it."

Lance walked ahead. "You'll love it."

He followed after her. "No, I won't."

"Yes, you will."

"Lance, I really won't."

* * *

He fucking loved it. The woman giving him the massage looked like she could snap him in two and not break a sweat while doing it but _damn_ , she knew just where he hurt. Her pressure was great and all too soon Shiro was putty in her hands. This lady had just made it into the top five women that Shiro would sell his soul to. The lunch lady was still number one though; he had yet to taste a better Mac & Cheese than hers.

"I'm telling Hunk." Lance teased.

Shiro briefly tensed. "Don't you dare."

On the other side of the curtain where his friend was getting her own massage she laughed. "I told you you'd love it."

Shiro who was face down and getting the best massage of his life did not appreciate her smug tone. "Shut up Lance."

Her laugh turned into a groan. "Abby, that is the _spot_!"

"So much tension in your shoulders your highness," Abby murmured. She had a bit of an accent; so did Shiro's own masseuse whose name was Claudia.

"Well," Lance huffed. "Almost dying and dealing with a ten thousand year old witch can do that."

Shiro snorted. "Amen to that."

With a groan Shiro relaxed on the table as Claudia's warm hand slid smoothly up and down his legs, he'd so needed this. "So much tension," Claudia murmured. "You should have come sooner."

Shiro hummed in response. He had the feeling that if he spoke his words would sound more like a croak. He could stay here all day. He was definitely going to come back. Perhaps he'd bring Allura.

"No can do," Lance groaned on the other side. "I still have plans for us."

Shiro let out a groan of his own when Claudia used her elbow to massage his scapula. "Nothing will be better than this."

Lance snorted. "Oh, Shiro you have no idea what awaits us next."

"Fine," he grumbled. "Just let me sleep."

The last thing he heard was Lance's light chuckle. He woke up about an hour later feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. As soon as he was done getting dressed, they gave them both a pinkish robe, Lance pulled the curtain apart and dragged him off to some other room where they proceeded to get facials and Shiro will forever deny it, but he got his nails done.

He didn't let them paint them but he got a nice little trim. His face felt so nice and smooth right after and getting pampered wasn't all too bad. The Relaxation Island was definitely becoming his favorite island by far. Sure, he hadn't visited the other four yet but so far this place was number one.

It had a Japanese feel to it. Though that made sense since according to Lance, this island was made specifically for him. Everything he liked, it was here, though clearly the spa was something Lance wanted herself.

Even the restaurant that Lance led them to was styled in Japanese. They served sushi here and though the food was a different color, the food tasted exactly the same as the ones from Earth. Shiro almost cried. Getting to the island itself had been pretty cool. They had these sphere like vehicles to maneuver from island to island. Shiro got to see the scenery from underwater; he got to see giant sea horses in all types of color. He got to say hi to some of the Myr swimming by. Even saw a giant red octopus.

He'd been a little worried when they finally got to the island. There was a volcano that kept puffing out black smoke. Lance assured him more than once that it wouldn't erupt but Shiro couldn't help but keep a close eye on it anyway.

Lance chuckled where she was nibbling on a rice ball, she had barely touched her meal, before her eyes glanced around the room and she gasped. Her eyes were wide in disbelief.

Shiro was immediately on alert. His eyes narrowed, he picked up Lance's fork, ready to stab any danger coming their way. "What is it?"

Lance opened and closed her mouth for several seconds before she uttered only one word. "Slav."

Shiro shot to his feet. "Well, time to go."

Lance frantically pulled at the sleeve of his robe and pointed at something behind him. Probably that tumor-inducing creature. Shiro wasn't going to turn. He was having a great time; he didn't need his mood to be ruined. "I'm not looking Lance. I'd rather die." He made sure to look at anything else _but_ behind him. If they didn't get out of here soon and that bastard saw them then Shiro would use the fork held tightly in his hand to commit murder.

Lance could probably get him out of jail.

Perks of being friends with the princess of this planet.

"Shiro," Lance's voice sounded incredulous. "I think he's on a date."

Shiro whipped his head in the direction she was pointing at so fast he felt his neck crack. As soon as his eyes made contact they widened. "Holy shit."

"Don't curse," Lance paused. "But yeah, holy shit."

A few tables away from them sat Slav and a red headed Amazon. Slav was wearing a similar robe like he and Lance were, they'd cut holes for his six hands, and he was wiggling his eyebrows at the woman across from him.

The woman giggled into her hand before she reached for another rice ball in the center only to bump into one of Slav's hand as he went to retrieve one as well. For a moment the two just stared at each other. Slav was blushing and Shiro would bet good money that the woman was too. It was like a scene in a typical shoujo manga.

Shiro resisted the urge to gag. Slowly sitting back down lest he attract more attention to himself, he ducked his head and whispered to Lance who was still staring in disbelief. "You think she's blind?"

Lance's lips twitched. "Maybe deaf too."

Shiro nodded solemnly. It was the only explanation that made sense to him. Or maybe Slav had used hypnosis. The guy was a genius; Shiro wouldn't put it past him.

"Oh, my god." Lance gaped. "I think that's Cyra."

Shiro turned, eyes wide as can be and gaped. "What the fuck?"

The redheaded woman still had their back to them so he couldn't confirm or deny what his friend said. He turned a little more to get a better look when Slav glanced his way and gaped. Shiro shot to his feet and pulled at Lance's hand. "We have to go!"

Lance resisted. Why? Why was she resisting? Did she want him to commit murder? Because if she did then she was going to have to join him. No way he was going to jail by himself. Did the Amazons even have jail cells? Or did they just jump straight to the execution? "We haven't paid yet!"

Shiro pulled her more urgently but Lance had always been a little stronger than him. She barely budged. "Forget about that! We can come back later!"

"Shiro?"

God fucking damn it.

He knew that Indian accent anywhere.

Shooting Lance one of the dirtiest looks he could muster, he begrudgingly turned to see Slav standing in front of their table. Cyra was clutching one of his arms. Glancing nervously at Lance, she offered them a sheepish wave.

Lance for her part offered a tight smile.

Slav's attention was solely on him. He looked at him with pity. Shiro clenched the fork in his hand tighter. "So you saw."

What?

Slav sighed and shook his head. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out."

What the fuck?

"But its true," Slav glanced up at Cyra who blushed a pretty pink and tightened his hold on her arm. "I'm in love."

Shiro didn't know why Slav was telling him this. He kept looking at Shiro like he was sorry.

Lance put a hand over her mouth to hide her chuckles.

Shiro gave her a strange look.

Was he missing something?

Letting go of Cyra's hand Slav placed a hand on Shiro's knee. The black paladin for his part was contemplating whether to use his fork or not. He could probably make it out the door if he ran…

Slav's eyes twinkled as he gazed at him. "Just remember, it's not you, it's me."

Shiro's mind went blank.

Lance released a howl of laughter.

Maybe he should use the fork on _her_.

By now all the occupants inside the restaurant were watching, whispering amongst themselves. Slav was speaking in a loud voice, enunciating every word slowly and accurately. It made Shiro want to punch him. If this were any other situation, Shiro would have smiled at the fact that Lance was openly laughing again but she was laughing at _him_ so she could go fuck off.

"You and I were never meant to be," Slav continued in a soothing voice. Shiro could feel his face turning into scowl. Cyra looked nervously at him. She looked like she was getting ready to bolt. Slav patted his knee and took hold of his face with four of his hands. Shiro bared his teeth at him. "Perhaps in another reality," he sighed wistfully. "You will find someone better. You will get through this." Lance really needed to stop laughing. "Just remember," Slav paused and smiled at him. "You and I will always be best friends."

Shiro stared. It's at this point that Shiro realized he should have let Slav die that day they crashed into that water planet instead of giving him CPR.

Slav put all six of his hands as if in prayer and lightly bowed to him. "Namaste."

For some reason that pissed him off too.

With nothing more to say, Slav stepped back, took hold of Cyra's pale hand and began to walk out of the restaurant.

"Who was that?" Cyra whispered to Slav as they began to leave.

Slav patted her hand kindly. "Just someone who has a thing for me. Don't worry, I've straightened him out."

Cyra gasped and slightly turned to look at Shiro. "Poor thing."

"Quickly," Slav said. "Let's get out of here."

And then they were gone.

There was a ringing in Shiro's ears. He could feel everyone openly staring at him but he didn't really care. It was the pitying looks he couldn't stand. It made him want to punch the look out of them. Lance was still laughing, well, it sounded more like a wheeze at this point. Shiro eyed the fork in his grasp, idly wondering if he should use it, but he'd probably get the shit kicked out of him by everyone in the restaurant if he stabbed their princess.

"Salt."

Lance slowly stopped laughing and cast him a curious look. "What?" Her voice sounded more like a croak.

"We need salt." At Lance's still questioning look he scowled. "We need to purify this place."

Grinning way too wildly for his liking, Lance shot to her feet, scooped up the two jars of salt on their table and began to throw its contents at everyone and everything.

Oh, god.

What had he done?

He should have known Lance would go overboard.

"My eyes!"

"Your highness, what are you doing?"

"Hey! That salt isn't cheap!"

As Lance began to cackle in the background, snatching salt from the other tables, a serene smile overtook Shiro's features. Nothing had happened. He just had a good lunch with Lance. Slav was never here. He repeated those three things over and over until he believed it.

Satisfied, he snatched another jar of salt and threw some at Lance who was currently running from the owner of said restaurant. Lance got him back pretty quickly by lifting all the remaining jars of salt in the air with her power and returned fire. Unfortunately, it hit everyone else too.

"Your highness!"

"My hair!"

"That's it!" Another woman screamed, this one a Valkyrie. "It's on!"

Soon enough everyone began to throw salt each other. Then food. Shiro swore he saw a shoe at some point but it didn't matter. Shiro was already bathed in salt, all that bad juju was surely gone by now, and he was a having a pretty good time.

All in all, he felt that the purification was a huge success.

* * *

They got kicked out of the restaurant. No surprise there. Shiro couldn't help but think that Lance had done this more than once and gotten away with it. As the middle-aged owner of the restaurant scolded the two of them for dirtying her place of work, Lance had looked bored. She didn't even bother hiding that fact either. Kept yawning and looking at her nails.

Shiro didn't think that was too wise considering the three blades strapped to the women's belt but Lance didn't seem too worried. Shiro would have to scold her later when they were alone. When the woman was finally done yelling at them, her face red in anger, Lance had simply slipped a bag of coins in her direction and put a finger over her mouth and winked at her.

The woman opened the bag, gaped, and then smiled warmly at them. Her attitude did a one-eighty. "Come back anytime!" she had said with a huge smile on her face. Shiro had still felt the need to apologize though, and he made Lance bow and do the same. She shot him a dirty look but did it anyway.

His friend was a bona-fide troublemaker.

She and Keith were fucking _perfect_ for each other.

It only occurred to Shiro later on as Lance began to lead them to their next destination that _he_ should have been the one distracting _her_. His friends had given him a mission and here he was, having Lance lead him everywhere she wanted. _She_ was the one distracting _him_.

That should be okay, right?

Lance had left the house. She'd taken a shower. She was laughing. She hadn't had a whole meal just yet but he was sure he could fix that too. He had still completed his mission.

Right?

Shiro was going to say yes.

He was having a pretty good time overall as well. He and Lance needed to hang out more.

Up ahead, Lance shouted at him to hurry his 'old ass up' so they could get to their next destination. Shiro scowled. Such language; Keith was definitely rubbing off on Lance. She used to be such a good girl too. Lance and Keith really needed to talk to each other again. That way at least Lance could call Keith whatever name she wanted and not get her fiancée all butt hurt like he currently was.

Keith would gladly and eagerly call her something twice as nasty and Lance would just laugh it off. The two of them were so weird.

If he had been paying close attention he would have noticed that Lance was leading them to a vehicle that closely resembled a bus that led up the volcano. It's only when the air turned much hotter and a little more humid that Shiro looked at his surroundings. There was some sort of resort all the way up here. It looked fancy.

Shiro could only stare at the falling snow that looked more like ash. In fact, he was pretty sure it _was_ ash. That volcano was puffing out a lot of smoke. Was that thunder?

Lance pulled at his sleeve and pushed him inside.

"Lance –" his voice sounded more like a croak.

Lance ushered him to a pink room with cubbies. "You'll be fine Shiro. Enjoy the hot springs."

Shiro's mind came to a halt. "Hot springs?"

"Yep! Enjoy!"

And then she was gone.

A part of him wanted to leave because they were way too close to that volcano but the other part of him really wanted to jump into those hot springs. His stump was starting to throb. They'd let them know if the volcano erupted right? Surely he would feel it if it did.

Shiro glanced at the glass doors a little further ahead. He could just barely make out smoke, rocks, and a lot of dark green water. The sun had already gone down but despite all the walking he had done today, he didn't feel all that tired.

He still felt oddly relaxed.

Oh, what the hell?

Why not?

Ridding himself of his clothes took a little longer than he would have liked, he had one arm, cut him some slack, but he managed to do it without having to call someone for help. Putting a towel in front of him to cover his assets, he couldn't quite wrap it around his waist; he slid the door open and walked out. White smoke immediately greeted him. The air felt warm.

On his right were showerheads and stools, even buckets and sponges, to take a shower. He was about to head right over there when someone made a strangling sound.

Shiro whipped around at the sound and felt his face turn red. Submerged in the hot water all the way to her neck was Lance. Her blue eyes were impossibly wide. Shiro was so startled to see her that he dropped his towel.

Lance stared.

Shiro stared, completely horrified.

And then he was running, all but diving back into the room he'd just been in when he heard a click. Shiro recognized the sound immediately. That was the sound of someone taking a picture.

His back pressed to the white doors Shiro shouted. "You delete that picture right now young lady!"

Lance didn't answer.

And that's when he heard the ringing.

" _Hello_?" Allura's nervous voice sounded. Shiro could just barely hear the others in the background. " _Lance, is something wrong?"_

"Allura." Lance greeted, her voice oddly serious. "I just called to tell you that I have seen paradise and it is Shiro's ass."

Allura made a strangling sound.

So did Shiro.

Allura released a squeak. " _I'm sorry?"_

"I just wanted to tell you that you are a very lucky woman." Lance paused. "But Keith's is still better."

Allura released an indignant cry. " _Now you listen here –"_

"I'll send you pictures. Bye bye."

The light went dead.

"You can come out Shiro!"

The fuck he will.

"Why are there no dividers here?" He shouted. His voice sounded a little higher than normal. His chest was still wildly beating and he was pretty sure his face was still red. No way he was coming out. Keith would kill him.

"You do realize that this is a planet full of women right?" Crap, he'd forgotten that. "We don't need dividers. But if it'll make you feel better…"

Numerous splashes were heard soon after; Shiro could feel the ground slightly shake under his feet. When it finally stopped it was deadly quiet.

Cautiously, Shiro slid the door open just enough for him to poke his head out and blinked. All the rocks had been rearranged horizontally in the middle. There was a huge rock in the center surrounded by some medium sized rocks on both sides. Had Lance done this?

"Is that better?" Lance called from the other side of the huge rock.

Shiro heaved a giant sigh in relief. Yes, it was. Now they couldn't see each other. He was still mad at her for the picture though. She'd sent it to _Allura_.

Huffing, he made his way to the showerheads, relieved that the smoke in the room made it hard to see, and began to wash himself. "Are you still mad at me Space Dad?"

Shiro clenched his jaw. "Don't call me that."

Lance paused, and when she spoke her voice sounded subdued. "Do you really hate that I call you that?"

Shiro glared in her general direction. "Of course I do! I'm not old Lance!"

His friend sighed. "I don't mean it to tease you, you know."

Shiro gave the area she was in a deadpan look.

"Ok," Lance amended. "Sometimes it _is_ just to tease you, but Shiro," She hesitated. "You know I love my father right?"

He nodded stiffly but when he remembered that she couldn't see him he opened his mouth. "Yeah?"

Lance sighed in content. "My father and I are very close. He's the one I usually talk to, no offence to my mom. I love her but most of the time she wants to talk about me taking over as queen. Whenever I went home, I liked to spend time with my dad. He's the one I feel the most comfortable talking to. Sure, he nags me and scolds me sometimes but that's just because he cares."

Where was Lance going with this?

"When I joined the team," Lance continued wistfully. "I saw the way the others looked up to you. You clearly cared for them. You even cared for _me_ and you hadn't known me all that long yet. I like talking to you. I feel like I can talk to you about anything and you wouldn't judge me. You'd given me advice when I needed it. You make sure I eat my meals, or take me to bed whenever I fall asleep in the halls. You even set up a bed time for us!" Lance chuckled and took a deep breath before letting it out. "The reason I call you Space Dad is because you remind me of my dad. And trust me, that's a compliment." Lance paused. By this point, Shiro was standing still, eagerly waiting to hear what she had to say. "But if it really does bug you, I suppose I can stop calling you Space Dad."

Shiro…felt oddly touched. Everything Lance had just said made him want to go over those rocks separating them just to hug her. And here he thought that Lance was just teasing him about his age this whole time. It figured there was a deeper meaning to it. He knew Lance loved her father; Mr. McLane had come and talked to her over the past few days. So had her mother but Mr. McLane was the one that actually got Lance to leave her room and at least roam the house instead of just her room. The two had spent some time together in the music room and although Lance hadn't picked up an instrument and joined her father while he played the piano, she had stayed, her face oddly relaxed as she just listened.

Did Shiro really want Lance to stop calling him Space Dad? Especially after hearing her reason as to why?

Shiro huffed, slowly submerging himself in the hot water. It was already making him feel better. He walked all the way to the center where the big rock was and leaned against it. He huffed and pouted. "Well, after hearing _that_ …I suppose I can let you keep calling me that."

There was an incoherent scream from the other side before Lance's head suddenly popped up at the top of the big rock to gaze down at him. She was grinning, her blue eyes shining. "Really?"

Shiro frowned, all too thankful that the green water made it very hard to see his assets. "Sit back down young lady. You'll break your neck."

Lance grinned and sat back down on the other side. "Sure thing Space Dad."

Shiro splashed his face with some of the hot water. "You really like giving out nicknames, don't you?"

"Yup," She paused. "I wish Keith would give me one."

Shiro popped one eye open. "Have you given him any?"

"Yeah, but he's not a fan of them."

"What were they?"

"Babe."

Shiro cringed.

"Cuddle muffin."

Oh, god.

"Sexy pants."

Nope.

"Boogabear."

"I can see why he hated them."

Lance let out a frustrated groan. "Where they that bad?"

Shiro snickered as he closed his eyes. "Has he given you a nickname?"

He could practically feel Lance's pout on the other side of the rock. "No."

"Would you like one?"

" _Yes_."

"You should tell him."

Lance made a series of groans. "That's embarrassing! He has to find it himself."

"Lance." His voice was slow and patient. "This is Keith." He paused so she could let that fact sink in. "He probably won't."

"Oh, my god." Lance gasped. "You're right."

The two shared a laugh.

"So," Lance said after a moment of silence. "Why did you have to keep me distracted today?"

Shiro almost choked on the water. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Shiro."

"Yes?"

"I can read minds you know." Had she read his? Rude. "And no, I didn't."

Shiro narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Really?"

"Well, I didn't need to. You were thinking it pretty loudly. Almost yelling it actually." Shiro felt the blood drain from his face. How much did she know? "Not much."

"Lance!"

 _Stop reading my mind!_

"Sorry!" She sounded flustered. "Habit."

Shiro raked his hand over his hair, pushing the bangs away from his face. "How much do you really know?"

"Like I said," Lance was definitely pouting. He could hear it in her voice. "Not much. I stopped listening. Figured it was important."

Shiro heaved a giant sigh of relief. Good. He hadn't screwed up the mission.

"Shiro?"

"What is it Lance?"

She hesitated. "I know it's late but there's one more place I want to go."

"Lance, it's almost ten-thirty. It's way past your bed time."

"…I'm going to ignore that because it's actually past _your_ bedtime," Shiro spluttered. "But this is important. I need your help."

His interest peaked, he leaned back on the rock to hear better. "What do you need help with?"

Silence.

"Lance?"

"I need your help picking out an engagement ring for Keith!" She said it all in one breath that Shiro was surprised he was actually able to understand it.

Lance wanted to go shopping with _him_?

She was asking _Shiro_ to help her pick a ring for Keith?

He couldn't help but think back to what Allura has said just yesterday. "But…I'm not good at choosing gifts."

Lance snorted. "For girls maybe."

Shiro frowned. Why did ever keep saying that?

"But that's what I'll be there for. You can ask me for advice when it comes to picking out gifts for Allura and you help me out with Keith."

That was true he mused.

"So, what do you say?" Lance's head popped on top of the big rock he was leaning against and grinned at him. Brown strands of hair were plastered to her cheeks. "Want to help me pick out a ring for Keith?"

Shiro felt himself smiling. "It would me my honor."

Lance gave him a huge smile. "Thanks Space Dad."

And strangely enough, the silly nickname made him smile a little wider.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_

 _Keith & Lance next chapter! I promise!_


	37. Chapter 37

"Great couples still get angry with each other, but they continue to discuss until there is a solution even if it takes several days." -Bob Grant

Chapter 37

Keith couldn't help but wonder for the fiftieth time that day why choosing an engagement ring for Lance was so hard. It shouldn't be right? They knew her ring size thanks to Hunk and not surprisingly, Mikey. They knew what her favorite colors were. They knew the exact price range they could go up to which was pretty high since everyone wanted to pitch in for some reason. They knew more or less what her tastes were like.

So why was this so hard?

Oh, that's right he thought sourly. Because everything he pointed at got immediately vetoed. What was wrong with the heart shaped ring?

"Too girly." Pidge had said.

"Not sparkly enough." Mikey had commented.

"The diamond should be bigger." Allura said knowingly. Even her mice had crossed their little paws over their chests and shaken their heads.

He pointed at one shaped like a flower with three small little red diamonds on each side.

"Oh?" Lotor had commented, lifting the ring up to the light so he could see better. "Those are diamonds? Why, I thought they were pebbles."

Coran scrunched up his face, twirling the end of his mustache in thought. "They just don't scream razzle dazzle to me, you know?"

"Come on guys," Hunk had whined. "I think it's cute."

He pointed at one that was completely black, a giant red diamond shaped like a rose in the middle, with three blue diamonds on each side.

"Too gaudy." Ezor had commented with a sniff.

"I like it," Krolia had commented. She looked like she wanted to buy it for herself.

Matt covered his eyes. "It's too blinding."

Kyrian snorted. "Not shiny _enough_ you mean."

"No." Aiden had grimaced. "Too shiny."

Zethrid had snorted. "This is taking too long, I'm going to get a snack."

Axca and Narti had followed after her. They weren't much help to begin with anyway so no huge loss there.

Keith wanted to pull at his hair in frustration. They'd been at this all day! It was almost eleven thirty at night. Just half an hour before midnight. His feet hurt. He was hungry. He was frustrated and his friends were annoying the shit out of him. Plus, he really wanted to call Shiro and ask him what the fuck was with that picture that Lance had sent to Allura.

What the fuck were those two doing that gave Lance the opportunity to see Shiro's ass anyway? They'd all listened in when Lance had called Allura about an hour ago. They'd been startled, contemplating whether the Altean Princess should answer the Amazon's call. After much deliberating and whispering, Allura had answered, on the condition that everyone keep their mouths shut.

It didn't stop them from huddling in a circle to hear better though.

Clearing her throat, Allura had finally answered, albeit a bit nervously. "Hello?" She licked her lips. "Lance, is something wrong?"

" _Allura,"_ Lance had said on the other line. Her voice was oddly serious. It had everyone standing straighter, their faces anxious. Keith's heart felt like it would burst right out of his chest just from the sound of her voice alone. It'd only been four days since he'd last heard her voice, but to him it felt like a lifetime ago. Oh, how he missed her voice. He wanted her to speak more. Unfortunately, her next comment had him narrowing his eyes into slits. " _I just called to tell you that I have seen paradise and it is Shiro's ass."_

Allura made a strangling sound.

Pidge and Matt stared wide-eyed look.

Hunk choked.

His mother's brows went all the way up to her hairline.

Mikey and his brothers shared a confused glance.

Lotor had a hand covering Ezor's mouth lest she start squealing.

And Keith?

He was wondering if he should go find Shiro and strangle him. What the fuck was his brother doing? Showing off his ass to Lance like he had no shame. How dare he?

"I'm sorry?" Allura's voice sounded more like a squeak. Her face was practically plastered to her transparent bracelet with the thought that if she pressed closer, she could somehow hear better.

" _I just wanted to tell you that you are a very lucky woman."_ Lance paused. _"But Keith's is still better."_

Keith's face felt warm.

Pidge gave him a cheeky grin.

Krolia wolf whistled in his direction.

Coran and Matt clapped his back with huge grins.

Hunk looked scandalized.

Everyone else made kissy faces at him. Keith had to cover his face with both hands lest everyone see the wide smile that was adorning his face. Yes, he was embarrassed. Yes, he was going to have a talk with Shiro about showing his ass off to his fiancée even though that should have been an obvious thing _not_ to do, but he couldn't help but feel oddly smug. Was his ass really that great? Lance seemed to think so.

Allura released an indignant cry and narrowed her eyes, one finger raised menacingly at the bracelet clamped on her arm. "Now you listen here –"

Lance interrupted her before she could begin her tirade. _"I'll send you pictures. Bye-bye."_

And then the line went dead.

For a moment there was absolute silence.

But then Allura's bracelet released a small little chime alerting her she had a new message and all at once, everyone surged forward, trying to get a good look at these pictures that Lance had sent. Allura hissed at them, even biting Ezor's hand when she wouldn't let go.

Take a chill pill jeez.

Huffing, Allura took a few steps away, turned her back on them, and opened her messages. She took a sharp breath. Everyone inched forward. They couldn't see her face, but her pointy ears? They were quite visible. And quite red.

"Princess?" Coran took another step forward, his orange-gloved hands outstretched in her direction. "Is something wrong?"

Allura didn't answer. She fell backwards, surprising everyone, but Coran was already there, catching her in his arms. He lowered them to the ground, Allura's face rested on his shoulder as Keith and the rest of his friends got to their knees to see if she was okay.

They'd caught quite a few looks from the Amazon's walking around the mall but Keith and his friends paid them no attention. The mall itself was huge. And pink. Way too pink for his taste but some of the things they sold were fucking amazing. It put the swamp moon to shame. They'd been walking around all day and they had yet to reach the end, at least that's what the map on every floor said. He liked looking up at the ceiling where it was all just glass so transparent one would think it wasn't there in the first place. It gave everyone a look outside where they could see the moon and the stars. Occasionally a firebird would fly by. Sometimes a Valkyrie or even the gryphons themselves.

Pidge had put a hand on the Altean Princess's shoulder. "It was ugly wasn't it?"

Allura had whipped her face to glare at her. Then her whole face softened and she looked up at the sky with a dreamy look. "It's beautiful."

Several people gagged.

Himself included.

"Let me see!" Ezor had demanded. She didn't wait for permission and instead took hold of Allura's hand to look into her bracelet. Krolia leaned in too.

"Well damn." Both women said at the same time.

Keith looked at his mother in horror. "Mom!"

She shrugged helplessly. "It's a great ass Keith. There's no denying it."

Keith covered his face and groaned. He did not want to hear this. Especially from his mother, it just made everything weirder.

Coran took hold of Allura's wrist to gaze at the picture as well. He huffed. "I hate to admit it," his voice sounded more like a grumble. "But that man has a better bum than _me_."

Matt gasped. "No!"

Coran rounded on him. "I know right?" he huffed. "I'm in shock too."

Lotor looked at it dubiously. He narrowed his blue-yellow eyes, flipped his silver hair behind his shoulder and sniffed. "I've seen better."

"He looks at himself naked all the time." Ezor whispered quite loudly. Lotor whipped his head to her, his blue-yellow eyes narrowed in warning. She ignored him. "His isn't bad either."

Keith did not need to know _any_ of that.

Allura fanned herself, her long silver hair cascading down her back. "I'm going to make this my wallpaper."

Pidge gave her a disgusted look. "TMI Allura. TMI."

"Yes, yes," Mikey complained as he got to his feet. "Her boyfriend's ass is great. Can we go back to looking for a ring for my sister? I want to go home at some point."

 _Yes._

And so after getting a dreamy-eyed Allura to her feet, they continued their search for the perfect ring. That was about an hour ago and Keith was slowly losing hope that they would ever find that goddamn ring. According to the map, they had reached the half point and all it'd taken them was practically the whole day.

"Guys!" Hunk bounded up to them, two bags of food in his hands and something blue that resembled a bagel in his mouth. He quickly finished it before speaking. "They have Lance action figures!"

Mikey pushed everyone aside and all but barreled in the direction Hunk had just come from. Quite a few Amazons glared at him but Aiden and his brothers quickly apologized before running after him. There was no stopping Mikey when it involved his sister.

Pidge blinked, a wide grin adorning her cheeks. "No way!"

"No seriously!" Hunk insisted. "They even have us too!"

Coran tapped his chin. "Did they get my mustache right?"

"Umm."

"Am I there as well?" Allura asked eagerly, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Well."

"I want a Keith one." His mother suddenly said. "Was he there?"

Keith shot his mother a look. He didn't know if he should be embarrassed or touched. He settled for something in between.

Hunk made a frustrated noise. "Just come and see for yourselves!"

Deciding that they probably needed a break anyway, they all headed in the direction Hunk was pointing at. The store was pretty big with low lighting. It reminded Keith of the Hot Topic stores he'd visited back on Earth. Some kind of battle song was playing in the background. The place was practically packed; they had to maneuver around the tight bodies just to pass.

Everywhere he looked, there was Lance. There were posters of her back when she had short hair. Some she was sleeping under the tree. Others she looked in the middle of battle. Some where she was sitting at a café just drinking some tea, her expression serene and calm. The action figures decorated the shelves. They looked really well done. Keith's favorite had to be the one where Lance looked to be in the middle of a fight, her blue lightning surrounding her as her eyes were a bright blue. How they actually made the lightning look so alive was a mystery to him. His second favorite was one where Lance was riding Nyx, her hand high in the air as it clutched a spear in her hand, her mouth open in mid shout. She looked fierce.

The body pillows were…worrying. It looked like Lance was doing a provocative pose. Some she was even in a bathing suit, water running down her blue two-piece bathing suit as she winked at the camera. If Keith didn't have his friends with him he might have bought it. The most worrying one was the one where Lance was clutching a body pillow in only a thin tank top and underwear. She was sleeping.

Clearly, she hadn't posed for this particular picture. How the hell had they gotten it? Did Lance know? Because if she didn't then maybe it was time to tighten the security in her house.

Hunk had been right though. There were definitely action figures of everyone else on the team as well. He saw his fellow paladins in their paladin armor, even Lance; Coran's was there too. The man in question quickly made his way over to check it out. A Matt action figure was there as well surprisingly enough. Even Lotor and his generals were there as well. Lotor was already admiring his own action figure with a huge grin.

Narcissist.

There was also an action figure of Keith mid-run, a battle cry at his lips as he raised his Bayard high in the air. Krolia immediately went over to it.

Mikey was already at the counter, talking to an Amazon with green skin, obsidian eyes, and short red hair. She had a bow and a few arrows strapped to her back, coupled with a blue tank top with black shorts. Aiden and his brothers were pushing people to try and stop him from doing something stupid.

"If I give you pictures of my sister of when she was little could you make action figures of them too?"

The woman's eyes gleamed and she shared a look with her friend, this one a blond Valkyrie with skin so white she looked like an albino and grinned. The Valkyrie leaned her too pale hand on the counter. Thorn like vines decorated both of her hands, Keith swore they shimmered. Her white wings moved slowly in anticipation. "That depends, how many pictures we talking about here?"

Mikey grinned. "I have a scrapbook for every year since she was born."

The two women shared another look, clearly interested. The Amazon narrowed a red brow at him in suspicion. "What would you want in return?"

Mikey shrugged. "Just a discount for every item you make using them."

The Valkyrie blinked at him. "Even the body pillows?"

" _Especially_ the body pillows."

Sharing another look, the two women nodded. "It's a deal then."

Mikey grinned only for him to yelp as Aiden smacked him upside the head. "What the hell did you do?"

Mikey looked at his younger brother like he was stupid. "Made a deal. Duh."

Aiden groaned into his hands. "Leah is going to be so mad."

Mikey huffed, a pout quite visible on his face. "Then don't tell her."

Kyrian narrowed his brown eyes at him. "I'm telling dad."

Mikey hesitated but turned his head away. "Fine, go ahead."

Alan and Colt shared a look and grinned maniacally. "We're telling mom!"

Mikey spluttered and ran after them. "Get your asses back here!"

Aiden and Kyrian sighed and followed their brothers out of the store.

As his friends dispersed to see their own action figures, Keith was in the middle of picking up a Lance water bottle, it had a picture of her winking, when Zethrid, Axca and Narti came running in, their eyes wide and panicked. Well, not Narti since she doesn't have eyes but clearly she was agitated. Her long tail was standing on end.

"We have to run!" By now his friends and he himself had already surrounded her, confused as to why Zethrid looked so panicked. "Lance and Shiro are here!"

Everyone blanched.

"God damn it Shiro," Pidge grumbled. "You had _one_ job."

Matt grabbed at his brown hair, clearly panicking. "What the hell do we do?"

"Hide?" Hunk suggested nervously. He was so rattled he kept reaching into his bags of food before shoving the items in his mouth. Keith was pretty sure you weren't supposed to eat them while still in their wrappers.

"Run?" Lotor asked already edging away.

"Pray she won't see us?" Allura nervously suggested.

"Guys," Krolia said in a loud voice. "Calm down!"

Axca sprinted back to them and pointed a blue finger at the door. "They're just around the corner!"

His friends started screaming. Matt was still grabbing at his hair. Hunk's eating intensified. Coran had jumped into the racks of clothes in an effort to hide himself. Pidge was shoving him aside so she could fit in too though there was clearly no room. The women in the shop looked amused, already chuckling. Some even leaned back on the wall to enjoy their panicking.

Hoes.

"What do we do?" Allura shouted when they still did nothing but stand there. Even the mice on her shoulders were squeaking in terror.

"Stay fucking calm!" Keith shouted back. He actually kind of wanted to bolt but his friends were freaking out too much. Someone had to calm them down.

"It's every man for themselves!" Matt shouted before diving into another rack of clothes. When he found he didn't fit he ran in another direction. His friends released another panicked scream.

"Wait –" Keith never got to finish his sentence before his friends suddenly took off in all directions trying in vain to find a hiding spot. The red paladin stood there like an idiot just gawking for far too long that his mother had to go back and haul him into one of the dressing rooms where Lotor, Allura, and Hunk were already in.

It was a very big dressing room, okay.

"I wonder why this store is so packed," Lance's voice suddenly sounded close to the shop. Keith took a sharp breath. Hunk was still a nervous wreck that he reached for another chip only for Lotor to put a hand on his wrist to stop him. The Galra Prince sent him a warning look.

Noticing that someone was getting in the way of his food, Hunk's voice got real low. His eyes closed to half-mast. "Think about what you're doing Lotor. We just became friends, do you really want to jeopardize that and lose your arm at the same time?"

Lotor looked startled. Slowly, cautiously, he raised his black-gloved hands in the air in a placating manner until Hunk stopped looking so terrifying.

"Hey Shiro," Lance called. Her voice had always been loud. She didn't even need to shout to get people's attention, her voice always carried across the room. "Let's go check it out."

Keith heard Shiro sigh. "Fine. But you have to eat this sandwich. You haven't eaten a full meal all day."

"Yeah," Hunk whispered lowly. "You tell her Shiro. Get her to eat."

Allura stifled a laugh.

Krolia and Lotor grinned.

Lance grumbled under her breath but didn't agree to it. Their voices were getting louder. Curious, Keith slightly opened the door to the changing room, the friends with him glaring at him all the way. He ignored them. He just wanted to see his fiancée.

And not in pictures or in those cursed body pillows, but in person. It'd been a while since he'd seen her up close. He only had to wait a few seconds before a familiar brown haired girl walked into the store.

Lance.

Lance was here. Inside this store. Just a few ten feet away. If he opened the door he could reach her side in _seconds_. A part of him wanted to. The other part was still worried she'd turn him away.

He _did_ jump out a window to avoid her.

And if that weren't bad enough, he went all Galra on her and growled at her.

His heart started beating a hundred miles a minute. His palms felt sweaty, and not just because he was wearing his black fingerless gloves. No matter how many times Keith had seen Lance, it always blindsided him. It hit him like a truck to the chest. Left him out of breath and temporarily disoriented him until Lance opened her mouth to speak and Keith was reminded to breathe.

Edging closer to get a better look, Keith frowned. Lance looked skinnier since he last saw her. She had dark circles under her eyes and although her eyes lacked their usual shine, they looked a little more alive.

At least, that's what Lotor, Hunk and Allura so kindly informed him as they too leaned in closer to take a better look. Her long hair looked a little damp, as if she'd just taken a shower.

Something that Hunk and Allura immediately sighed in relief for. She was wearing his shirt. He knows it's his. Lance usually doesn't wear black but Keith clearly remembered giving her this particular shirt. The thing said ' _Aliens are real!'_ in big red letters. It had been one of his favorites but the Altean washing machine had shrunk it making it unwearable. He hadn't wanted to throw it away so Lance had said she'd take it off his hands.

The thought of Lance wearing one of his shirts had sent a thrill down his spine and he'd agreed all too quickly. He remembered Lance smirking at him, her eyes playful and teasing as she took the shirt from his hands, as if she knew what he'd been thinking and was pleased.

"Holy crap!" Lance shouted as she finally took in her surroundings. Shiro stepped beside her and gaped. His brother was all bundled up in a black jacket, warm fitting gray pants, and a gray scarf around his neck. His boots looked pretty warm too. Lance put a hand over her mouth, her blue eyes wide as they raked across the posters, the action figures, and finally the body pillows. She made a strangling sound. "It's…it's –"

Shiro narrowed his eyes into slits, his father mode switch on. "We'll go talk to them. We'll make them throw all this stuff out."

Lance didn't say anything. She took a few steps forward, a hand still over her mouth. That hand trembled. The Amazons and Valkyries inside the store shuffled their feet, clearly nervous. Some were biting their nails, others looked ready to bolt. The two owners of the store were holding on to each other with wide eyes.

So Lance _hadn't_ known about the store.

Shiro walked to her side, his face set into a worried frown as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Lance? Don't freak out."

"Shiro," Lance all but whispered. It sounded like a whine.

Keith and his friends leaned in to hear better.

"Lance, are you okay? Do you need to sit down?"

"Shiro," Lance finally said after a pause. "It's beautiful."

Pidge let out a snort where she was hiding with Coran.

Lance whipped her head at the sound.

Keith and his friends whipped their heads back inside the dressing room lest Lance see them.

Coran put a hand over his and Pidge's mouths to stifle their laughter.

Shiro made a choking sound.

Hunk's shoulders were shaking with mirth, a hand over his mouth to hide his chuckles. Lotor and Krolia were doing the same. Allura was grinning. In the room next to them, Keith could just barely hear Matt and Ezor trying to stifle their own laughter as Axca shushed them. Zethrid huffed.

"Did you hear that?" Lance suspiciously said as she narrowed her eyes.

Shiro sounded tired. "Hear what?"

Lance tapped her chin. "It sounded like a familiar gremlin."

Pidge bristled where she was hiding, her brown eyes set in anger. She looked ready to go confront the Amazon. Coran gave her another stern look and put an arm around her shoulders.

Shiro sighed and pinched the top of his nose. "You're hearing things Lance. Anyway, we came and we saw what they were selling; now let's go and get what we really came for. I want to go to bed."

"But _Shiro_ ," Lance protested as she picked up one of the action figures of herself and shoved it in Shiro's face. The black paladin had to take a step back. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Shiro pursed his lips. "I guess."

Keith winced.

Wrong thing to say Shiro. Really wrong thing to say.

Allura and Hunk were already shaking their head at their leader.

Lotor was already wincing.

His mother sighed where she leaned across from him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Men."

Keith wasn't surprised in the least when Lance suddenly gasped, taking one step back as her eyes got all teary and her bottom lip wobbled. She'd always been dramatic like that. Shiro suddenly looked panicked. "You don't think I'm beautiful?"

Shiro gaped, his hand flailing in a calm down gesture. "No! That's not what I meant!"

Lance sniffled. "But this figure looks exactly like me and you said it was ugly!"

"I never said that!"

"You think I'm ugly!"

"Lance, I don't!"

"Liar!"

"Lance!"

"Just admit that you think I'm ugly!"

"I don't!"

"Then prove it!"

Shiro startled, his mouth opened and closed, he was clearly agitated. "What do you want me to do?"

He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

Lance sniffled and she crossed her arm over her chest. "Buy something."

Shiro stared. "What?"

"Buy something." She repeated.

Shiro sighed and he slumped his shoulders. "Fine. I'll buy one."

Lance gaped at him in outrage. "Just one? Am I that ugly that you can only bear to see one item of me? I bet it'll be one of those tiny erasers so it'll make it hard to see my face!"

She sniffled and she looked on the verge of tears. Shiro looked around the room for any signs of help but all the women in the room were glaring at him. Some had already taken out weapons. Some looked like they wanted to spit at him. One of the women even gave him the finger. Clearly he would find no help here. A few tears ran down Lance's cheeks and she covered her face to sob.

Keith felt his heart constrict painfully in his chest. He almost blew their cover to go over there and comfort her but Lotor held onto the back of his collar. Hunk bit his nails, worry etched all over his face.

"I'll buy five!" Shiro shouted. Lance's tears didn't stop. "And one body pillow!"

Lance paused and peeked at him through her hands. "Really?"

"Really." Shiro hesitated before placing his hand on her shoulder. "Just _please_ stop crying."

Lance sniffled, snuck another look at Shiro through her fingers before she put them down and devilishly grinned. In one swift move the tears were wiped. Her eyes weren't even red! No sign that she'd been crying at all. Keith did a double take at the bottle in her hands. Were those fake tears?

Holy crap.

Keith _loved_ this woman.

Shiro noticed the bottle before she could pocket it. Keith suspected she did that on purpose as well. Lance _did_ love to tease their leader. Shiro's mouth opened in disbelief. "Did you –"

Lance turned to the two women over the counter with a huge grin. "You heard the man ladies! Five action figures and one body pillow!"

The Amazons burst into applause. Some got down on their knees to bow in respect. Lance crossed her ankles and took a bow, clearly enjoying the attention. Shiro was still gaping. Lance snatched the sandwich in his bag and took a bite out of it.

Shiro finally found his voice. "You tricked me?"

Lance shrugged. "You wanted me to eat this sandwich. I wasn't going to do it unless I got something in return." She waved her sandwich in his face. "This is _turkey_. I _hate_ turkey."

"She does." Hunk and he sagely whispered with a nod.

Pidge was trying very hard not to laugh. Matt who was on the room next to Keith's wasn't doing so well. Ezor was laughing too. Keith wanted to join in. This was just too good.

 _Lance_ was just too good.

Shiro sniffed. "You're the devil."

Lance finished off the sandwich in three more bites. "It's called a compromise Shiro. We both won in the end. I ate the sandwich you kept nagging at me to eat –"

–"I don't nag!"

–"And you made me a little richer."

Shiro spluttered. "What?"

Lance looked down at her nails. "I get thirty percent of the profit in here."

Of course she did.

Shiro's lip wobbled. "You're mean."

She was crafty as fuck.

Lance just laughed, something else his friends were also relieved to hear, and walked to the counter with a sway of her hips. Keith couldn't help but stare openly. "I'm cunning." She clicked her tongue at him. "There's a difference."

Shiro grumbled under his breath, taking out the blue card that Queen Lexi had given everyone so they could buy the things they wanted. She said they could even keep what they didn't use but clearly the action figures and the body pillow were expensive because Shiro looked like he was going to cry.

Lance leaned over the counter and grimaced. "Is that a Slav body pillow?"

Shiro's face contorted into a scowl so fierce that a few women took a step back. He scanned the items he'd just bought with his bracelet before they disappeared. They'd be in his inventory later.

Maybe Keith could convince him to give him that body pillow of Lance.

Nah, that'd be weird right?

Definitely.

The only logical choice was to steal it.

The green skinned Amazon looked embarrassed. "Cyra paid us a visit and insisted we make a few."

The blond Valkyrie next to her grimaced. "We've only made three so far." She shuddered. "They're ugly."

Yeah, that sounded about right.

Lance glanced a look at Shiro before turning back to the two women. "I'll take all three of them." Shiro gaped, a scream at the tip of his tongue, when Lance held a finger to him telling him to keep his mouth shut. "On one condition." The women tilted their heads. "You stop production of this –" Lance faltered, trying to come up with something to call Slav.

Shiro oh so eagerly helped her out. "Waste of a sperm."

Lance's lips twitched, her shoulders shook. "Waste of sperm." A snort came out before she cleared her throat.

Shiro nudged her shoulder. He looked oddly serious. "Go on. You were telling these ladies something important."

It was getting increasingly difficult not to laugh.

Lance cleared her throat. "Yes. I shall buy these three pillows of that waste of a sperm," Shiro grinned maliciously. "On the condition that you stop its production immediately _and_ let us burn our purchases right here and now."

The women gaped. "Inside our store?"

"Yes." Lance and Shiro said at the same time. Their tone made it clear there was no room for negotiation.

"But it might set the place on fire!" The green skinned Amazon yelled.

Lance glanced at her nails. "I'll take care of that, don't worry."

Shiro put his hand on the counter. "Take the deal." The 'or else' was left out but the two women seemed to understand what he really wanted to say.

The two women shared a glance and began to whisper back and forth to each other for a good two minutes before coming to a decision. "All right then." She glanced up at her customers who were clearly listening. "Everyone stand back! We're burning stuff ladies!"

Seriously?

"Woo!" A woman screamed. "I love this month!"

"I'm so glad our princess is back!"

"I hate that fucker too!"

What the fuck was happening?

All too soon everyone had stepped back, the racks of clothes were moved to the side, Coran and Pidge somehow managing to hold on for dear life and not fall. Shiro took the three body pillows, scowled at them, and placed them in the center of the room. Lance ran over and placed a few sparklers and oh my god, were those mini fireworks?

'So jealous' Pidge mouthed at him when they locked eyes.

Yeah, Keith was kind of jealous too.

Setting things on fire was fun.

Keith edged a little closer to see and grimaced at the picture on the pillow. It had Slav winking, a rose in his beak of a mouth, while three of his hands made a come hither motion.

They were disgusting.

Hunk actually looked like he was going to throw up once he glanced at them.

Allura and Lotor couldn't stop grimacing, though their lips were twitching.

Krolia only looked once, grimaced, and looked away.

Pidge looked like she wanted to join in while Coran pulled her back from the back of her collar.

Matt was still laughing, Keith could hear it but since there was a lot of excited chatter going around at the moment, no one else noticed. It sounded more like a wheeze at this point.

Lance was handed a lighter who she then shoved in Shiro's face. "This is your big moment Shiro."

"Sure wish Pidge were here." Shiro mumbled.

"Yeah," Lance sighed wistfully. "She'd love it."

The two shrugged and smirked. "Her loss."

Pidge bristled.

Grinning way too wildly, Shiro plucked the lighter from her hands like it was a gift from god and all but skipped to the pillows on the floor. Someone dimmed the lights. Kneeling beside them, he lit the closest one to him and quickly stepped back. Moments later a blue sphere engulfed the three pillows and everyone began to cheer.

"Burn!"

"Burn!"

"Burn!"

"Die motherfucker!" Shiro screamed at the top of his lungs.

Allura and her mice gasped. "Shiro cursed."

"Shiro curses all the time," Keith whispered back with a roll of his eyes. "He just keeps himself in check."

"Lance told me he curses non-stop in his head." Lotor gossiped where he was leaning below Keith to get a better look.

Krolia snorted and rolled her violet eyes. "I'm not surprised in the least."

"Yeah!" A woman screamed. "That's for calling me fat!"

"Anyone want mimosas?"

Everyone _did_ want a mimosa.

It was a fucking party in here. Is this what Lance and Shiro did when they hung out? Set things on fire? Drink mimosas? Keith was definitely jealous. It made him wonder what kind of shenanigans they had gotten into wherever islands they've been at before.

All too soon the three body pillows were on fire, Lance made the blue sphere surrounding them a little bigger. Big enough that people had to step back. Mini fireworks shot to the top of the sphere, turning into shapes of flowers, stars, and little hearts.

Everyone ooh and awwed.

It was kind of beautiful.

Was Shiro actually crying?

Lance was grinning from ear to ear occasionally taking a sip of her mimosa. Shiro didn't even scold her.

Everyone else cheered, popping out with sunglasses lest they blind themselves with the bright lights. Once the pillows were nothing but ash Lance got rid of the shield, smoke came out making everyone cough, but no one seemed to mind. They were still grinning.

Lance whispered something to Shiro's ears and even from here Keith could see the mischief in his eyes.

He nodded back.

Together the two of them clasped their hands as if in prayer, bowed, and uttered only one word. "Namaste."

Seriously, what the fuck?

Lifting whatever remained of the pillows to the trash Lance nudged Shiro's shoulder. "Am I forgiven?"

Shiro shook his head, a smile on his face. "Yeah, yeah."

Grinning, Lance hooked her hand around Shiro's and nudged him to the door. "Now come on, we still have some shopping to do."

"No more setting things on fire Lance."

"Aww, you're no fun."

"I mean it Lance." Shiro sounded stern. He snatched her mimosa and downed it in one go. Lance bristled. "And you're eating the rest of these sandwiches."

Lance grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

She sighed. "Ok fine. Stop being such a Space Dad."

She waved at the women in the store who were clearly sad to see her go and then they were gone.

Keith and his friends waited at least a full minute before coming out of their hiding spots. They met up at the corner of the store. For a moment there was only silence. No one spoke.

And then Pidge growled low in her throat and opened her mouth. "Okay, who else is fucking jealous?"

Everyone raised their hand.

He did too.

"Yeah," Pidge blew a strand of brown hair away from her face. "Me too. Me too."

"At least Lance is eating." Hunk offered to appease them.

"And she's out of the house." Lotor added.

"She definitely showered as well." Coran nodded with a smile.

That was true.

"All right guys," Allura sighed as she wiped away a tear from laughing too much. "We still have a ring to buy. Let's find it and go home."

Mikey and his brothers bounded up to them at that moment. They coughed, some smoke still lingered inside the store. Some women were still drinking their mimosas and chattering amongst themselves. Looking at the angry pouts everyone was sporting, they frowned at them. Mikey opened his mouth. "What the hell did we miss?"

"A fucking party." Pidge grumbled under her breath.

* * *

Just to be sure that they didn't run into either Lance or Shiro again, Allura's mice were given the job of following them around. The Altean Princess had a telepathic connection with her pets so just in case their two friends were headed their way, the mice would let them know.

It was almost midnight.

And once again, his friends were arguing amongst themselves about what ring to get for Lance. The Amazon at the counter looked like she was slowly losing her patience by the way her eye kept twitching. Despite that she was somehow still smiling pleasantly. It looked a little forced in Keith's opinion though.

The red paladin was getting pretty frustrated himself. Why was this so hard? This was the twenty-third store they'd been in. What if they didn't find a ring tonight and he had to wait another day before talking to Lance? Would she be okay? Would _he_ be okay? He just wanted to talk to her again.

Without her at his side, life seemed dull. This whole place felt like it was suffocating. There were too many people here, he was getting restless, and he just wanted to go back to Lance's house.

Sighing, Keith looked over at his friends and Lance's brothers who were still arguing about what ring to get and made his way out of the store. He needed some air. They were still inside the mall but if Keith had to spend another moment with his friends he might just strangle them.

He opted to sit on one of the many blue benches they had around the area and sighed deeply, stretching his aching legs. This is why he hated shopping. It took too long, he had to deal with crowds, and it just wasn't his thing. He rolled his neck one way, then the other, trying to relax his muscles. He felt tense.

The sound of light footsteps made him turn his head to see his mother coming his way. She'd donned a black jacket with gray pants and black boots on today. Keith himself had already taken off his own jacket, all that walking tired him out, leaving him in a black T-shirt, black almost gray pants, and his black and white boots.

His mother took a seat next to him and didn't say anything for a couple of minutes before speaking. "You seem frustrated."

She kept her attention on the store across from them that sold chocolates. An Amazon and her daughter was currently inside, the little girl pulling at her mother's blue toga to get her attention.

Keith sat up a little straighter in his seat. Staring determinedly at anywhere but his mother lest she notice he was also annoyed. He'd found out over the past few days that she could always tell what mood he was in without him having to tell her. "Just frustrated that my friends haven't made up their minds about that ring."

His mother hummed. She turned her head slightly in his direction, her violet eyes poring into him. She hesitated, she seemed almost unsure, before she finally began to speak. "I know you love your friends Keith." She sounded almost cautious. "But do you really need their approval for choosing an engagement ring?"

Keith looked down, examining the ridges scratched into his boots. He'd need a new pair soon. "Kind of? I'm not very good at this."

Krolia tilted her head. "At what?"

Keith gestured to the whole mall. "Shopping I guess." He shrugged and bit his lip. "I've never been close enough to someone that it made me want to buy them a present. I've never really had friends before. Not to mention a fiancée." He scratched at his hair in frustration. "I don't think I can do this alone. What if I pick something and Lance hates it? What if it's not big enough or shiny enough? I just –" He sighed and slumped in his seat. "I just don't want to mess up anymore than I have."

There was a beat of silence before he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Cautiously, he looked up to see Krolia looking at him. "Keith, you and I both know that Lance loves you. Out of everyone here, you know her the best. It doesn't matter that you've never done this before. I'm sure Lance will love whatever you pick for her." Krolia looked back at the store where his friends were still arguing. "I know everyone wanted to help you in choosing a ring but you should have the final say. A little input is fine, but I believe your friends have gone overboard."

Keith wrinkled his nose. They kind of had he supposed.

His mother turned until she was completely facing him. "Let me ask you this, what is Lance's favorite color?"

"Blue." He answered without hesitation.

"Does she like girly things?"

Keith almost scoffed. "Not really."

Krolia nodded, a small smile on her lips. "Then we can rule out hearts and flowers."

Keith's mouth twitched.

Krolia tapped her purple chin. "Does she seem like the type to like huge diamonds?"

Keith turned so he was facing his mother. He crossed his legs until he was sitting crisscross. "She'll probably think it's gaudy."

Krolia nodded. "Then you can rule that out too." Keith heaved a sigh of relief. Krolia smiled gently at him. "Does that make it easier to choose?"

Keith thought about it and found that yeah, it did narrow things down quite a bit. He'd been thinking too much about this and his friends hadn't helped with all their input. All the things he had just ruled out were pretty much all the things his friends had suggested. Maybe he shouldn't have taken their suggestions so seriously?

Krolia got to her feet and lent him a hand. "Come on. Let's try this one more time."

Hesitantly, Keith reached up and took his mother's hand and let her guide him back into the store. The sound of his friends arguing grew louder the closer they got.

"This isn't big enough!" Mikey was protesting.

"Well the color isn't right anyway," Allura argued right back. She paused. "But maybe _I_ should take it instead."

"The pink one was cute though," Coran added. "If you buy one, you get the other one fifty percent off."

"Why do we need another one?" Pidge argued.

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "In case she doesn't like the first one?"

"Guys, just pick something." Hunk whined as he rubbed his belly. "I'm hungry."

"Are you sure these are diamonds?" Lotor asked the Amazon behind the counter. "Because these look fake." Axca looked at the woman threateningly. Zethrid and Narti had gone off to a food stand with Aiden and the triplets a while ago. Ezor was doing some shopping of her own.

Keith couldn't help but grimace. His mother guided him to another section of the store, as far away from his friends as they could go. It was a pretty big store; every time someone spoke it seemed to echo. Keith just wanted to leave. All the bright lights were getting too him.

"Just ignore them." His mother advised. She stopped them at another glass case filled with all sorts of rings varying in different colors and shapes. "Pick something that catches your eye."

A little unsure, Keith stepped forward and looked down at the glass case where hundreds of rings were on display. His eyes skipped the really girly ones, all the pink and yellow ones, and ignored all the ones that had the diamonds way too big to look comfortable. That didn't leave him with many options left but at least he'd narrowed the list down quite a bit.

His eyes skimmed over the remaining rings until something finally caught his eye. Leaning down so he could inspect it better, Keith's blue-gray eyes zeroed in on a ring at the far end of the corner. The diamond was blue and shaped into a snowflake. It looked more aquamarine than anything. The ring looked like it curved, small little white diamonds curved down on both sides.

Keith could only think of Lance's new ability, how she could now manipulate ice, and found himself smiling. Krolia leaned down, trying to see better. "Did you find something?"

Keith nodded, his eyes never once leaving the snowflake ring. "Yeah." He pointed it out to his mother who smiled. "That one." He was suddenly nervous. "What do you think? Should I pick something else? Or –"

Krolia cut him off with a small chuckle. "Keith, it's perfect."

Keith couldn't help the flush of pride those words caused. The Amazon behind the counter his friends were at quickly made her way over to them, her smile still looking a little forced. His friends didn't even notice she had left; all of them too busy arguing amongst themselves to notice anything else. Slipping a green stray of hair behind her ear, the pale woman leaned down. "Have you decided yet?"

Licking his lips, Keith nodded and pointed at the ring he wanted. "That one."

The woman's red eyes softened and she smiled, for once it didn't look forced, before she reached inside and pulled it out. "It's for Princess Leah correct?"

Keith nodded a little shyly.

The woman smiled, nodding in approval. "Well, since it's for the princess I'll give you a discount." Keith started to protest but the woman just waved it off. "Don't worry about it. You seem to make her very happy, perhaps not at the moment…" She gave him the stink eye and Keith flushed. She smirked, two fang like teeth flashing. "But this is a good way to apologize. I'll even throw in a free engraving, if you want that is."

Keith thought about it. Did he want it engraved? What would he even say?

"Say something sweet." Krolia suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.

Keith gave his mother a deadpan look and gestured to all of him. "Have you met me?"

Krolia's lips twitched. "I'm sure you can think of something."

Keith had something in mind but it sounded kind of lame. Oh well. Hopefully Lance would love it. Beckoning the woman to come closer, Keith whispered what he wanted engraved to her ear so his mother wouldn't hear.

The woman gave him a strange look but shrugged and said she'd be back in a few minutes after making the adjustments and the engraving.

"What did you choose to put?" Krolia curiously asked him.

Keith felt his cheeks go warm and he coughed uncomfortably. "Don't worry about it."

Krolia just hummed but didn't pry any further which Keith was immensely grateful for. The sounds of frantic squeaks made him blink in surprise. His friends paused in their arguing, Allura running forward to scoop up her four mice, before they began to squeak at her in a panic.

Allura squinted as she raised her palm up so everyone could see. "What?"

The mice squeaked some more, the green one pulling at Allura's hair while he pointed at something outside. "She noticed you? Both of them did?"

The mice nodded.

"What are they saying?" Hunk nervously asked.

Allura pursed her lips. "Lance and Shiro noticed them." Everyone paled. "They know we're here."

Well shit.

The Altean Princess gasped.

"What?" Matt screeched. "Do they know what we're up to?"

"Are they coming our way?" Pidge paled.

"How dare they?" Allura demanded. Her blue eyes were narrowed in anger.

"What?" Lotor demanded. He looked ready for battle. "What's happening? What did they do?"

Allura pouted. "Lance and Shiro gave them cotton candy, whatever _that_ is. Apparently it's to die for." She stomped her pink boot on the floor. "That's not fair!"

Everyone groaned.

Seriously?

Her mice squeaked some more. Allura nodded. "They've already gone home."

"What were they doing here in the first place?" Aiden asked suspiciously. His dark blue eyes were narrowed as he tapped his chin. "I mean, props to Shiro for getting my sister out but I'm surprised she didn't pull him into the face cream stores instead."

Allura turned to her mice who glanced at each other and smirked.

That was…strange.

"They refuse to answer." Allura looked completely shocked by this. Her mice tell her _everything_. "Did they bribe you? Is that what this so called cotton candy was for?"

Her mice just crossed their little arms over their chests and looked away. Okay, Keith had to admit, that was a little cute.

His friend let out an indignant cry. "That's not fair! Was it that good?" Her mice nodded, all four of them smacking their lips and feigning to faint. Allura bit her nail. "Darn that Lance. She's good."

No, Keith silently thought. Allura's mice were just too easy to bribe.

"Here you are." The Amazon from earlier came back with a small black box. "I hope it meets your requirements."

His friends rounded on him.

"You chose a ring?" Allura accused.

"Was it shiny enough?" Mikey tried to take the box from the Amazon's hand but she smacked his hand away. Even flashed her teeth at him. Keith liked this Amazon.

"Keith," Lotor said in a serious tone. "Those diamonds were real right?"

Keith snatched the box from the woman's hands and took several steps back. When his friends made to move towards him, Krolia stepped forward and blocked their path. Giving his mom a grateful look, Keith opened the box to examine the ring and smiled. It looked perfect.

"Let us see!" Pidge argued as she tried to move behind his mother.

Krolia didn't budge.

"Come on guys," Hunk whined. "I'm sure Keith picked something good. Let's just go home."

"But I want to see!" Mikey protested.

Aiden sighed deeply through his nose before snapping his fingers. Within seconds the triplets had an arm around their older brother and began to drag him out.

"Let go of me you traitors!"

Several women stopped to look; some snapped pictures while others took their children away from the sight of Mikey McLane getting dragged out of the store. His screams could still be heard after a few minutes. Grumbling under their breaths, his friends began to file out of the store, throwing him glares along the way but Keith didn't give a fuck.

If he let his friends see the ring they might change his mind again and Keith just wanted to go home.

Turning to him, Aiden clapped him on his shoulder with his blue-gloved hand. "I hope you chose well."

Keith hoped so as well.

Quickly paying the woman lest he forget, she wished him a good luck and hurried after his mother and friends.

It was finally time to talk to Lance.

* * *

"He should talk to her right now!" Pidge argued about an hour later in Keith's room. They'd all arrived a few minutes ago, changed into their pajamas, before his friends and his mother all barged into his room to decide whether he should go talk to Lance now or wait until morning.

"It's one thirty in the morning!" Mikey argued right back in a white loose shirt and red checkered boxers. "My sister deserves her beauty rest!"

"I think she's reading actually," Hunk piped in nervously where he sat on one of the couches in the room. Allura sat next to him where she was currently braiding her hair, her mice helping her along where they sat on her lap.

The glare Mikey threw at the yellow paladin had him letting out a squeak of fear. Aiden smacked his brother upside the head where he so kindly told him to calm the fuck down and keep his voice down.

Mikey grumbled under his breath but lowered his voice all the same.

The triplets grinned.

Lotor released a yawn of his own where he sat with his legs stretched in front of him on the floor. Zethrid and Narti had already gone off to bed. Axca seemed like she was desperately trying to keep awake while Ezor braided her short blue hair with a grin. The Galra Prince rubbed at his eyes with his black silk sleeve and released another yawn. "Just do it in the morning. Let's go to bed."

Keith had meant to go straight to Lance's room as soon as they got back. Instead he took a different turn and ended up in another hallway. At one point he did end up at Lance's door though. His heart had been hammering, bruising and painful. His fingers had curled around the doorknob before he changed his mind. He turned a few more corners before deciding to just go back to his room so he could properly decide. He just needed to gather his thoughts.

Honest.

Then his friends had burst in and started arguing once again.

At least Keith had changed into his pajamas before his friends arrived. He was a big fan of his 'Mothman, are you there? It's me Keith' shirt that he had made in middle school. It was a little faded but it was still comfortable and despite not wanting anything fancy, Keith had to admit that the red loose pants made from silk that he'd been given were very comfortable.

His door suddenly opened and everyone instantly shut their mouths only to sigh in relief at the sight of Shiro walking in. The black paladin had changed into some loose gray pants, a Big Hero 6 shirt that looked a little faded, and his black lion slippers. His white hair looked a little damp, as if he'd just come out of a shower. He looked oddly relaxed.

Shadow trailed after him before going over to Keith to lay his big head on his lap. The red paladin immediately began to scratch him under his chin. He hadn't seen Shadow in days. He'd almost forgotten how soft and cuddly he was.

"You guys are back." Shiro said with an easy smile. He took a seat at the corner of Keith's bed where he was sitting crisscross himself. Reaching to pet Shadow on the head he turned to his friends. "How did it go?"

Everyone glared at him.

Shiro's smile faltered and he frowned. "What's wrong?"

"What did you and Lance do today?" Pidge asked suspiciously. She crossed her arms over her long green shirt. It was so long it passed her knees.

Keith had to give his brother some credit. His poker face was flawless. It portrayed nothing. "We just went out to eat. Got a couple of massages and you know." He shrugged. "We had fun."

This little weasel.

He clearly left some parts out.

If Keith and his friends hadn't been there to witness said things they might have believed him.

Keith narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Any particular reason you felt the need to show Lance your ass?"

Shiro's face twitched.

"Yes," Allura was quick to add. She narrowed her own eyes at her boyfriend. "It's a beautiful bum," Shiro's face went bright red. "But I wanted to be the first one to see it in person one day."

"Is this what you do when you hang out with other girls?" Matt teased in his light blue long sleeve and gray loose pants. "Show them your ass?"

Shiro spluttered.

"You sick fuck!" Pidge accused, though her eyes were shining in glee. "She's underage!"

"She's engaged to your brother!" Hunk oh so helpfully added with a scandalous look.

Krolia scoffed where she was leaning on the wall. She'd put on a white tank top and black shorts leaving her purple skin free for all to see. "Men."

"Dude," Mikey added with a grimace. "You're too old for her."

Shiro's eye twitched. He always hated being called old.

"And here I had heard tales of how chivalrous the black paladin is," Lotor added with a devilish grin. Ezor was already laughing her ass off. Axca's shoulders were shaking in mirth. "Looks like the rumors were wrong."

"Young man," Coran added. His mustache drooped. "I'm very disappointed in you."

For a moment Shiro was speechless, his obsidian eyes wide, before he began to quickly explain. Sucker. "She took us to a hot spring! I didn't know they didn't have any dividers!" Keith sent him a warning look. Catching the look Shiro was quick to add. "I didn't see anything! I swear!"

"But she saw _you_." Matt concluded with a grin.

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes. She didn't see much though. I ran."

At the still suspicious looks his friends were giving him Shiro began to look worried.

"Fine." Keith finally said after making his brother sweat enough. "We believe you." Shiro looked relieved. "Anything else?"

"Nope."

This damn liar.

Pidge apparently had enough. "You god damn liar! We saw you!"

"Saw what?"

"The burning of the Slav pillows!" Matt added.

"The mimosas!" Hunk continued.

"The cursing." Allura added.

Keith wolfishly grinned. "Lance's acting."

Shiro immediately scowled. "It's called bonding. Lance and I were having a bonding moment."

Lotor shrugged, swatting his long silver hair behind his shoulder. "He's not wrong."

"That's how we bond too!" Ezor nodded enthusiastically. "We burn stuff!"

"And then we drink." Axca confirmed with a dreamy look.

"Zethrid does the cursing at the end." Lotor added with a small grin. At least Lotor and his generals knew how to have fun.

"By the way," Shiro suddenly turned to Keith. "You should pick a pet name for Lance."

Keith arched a brow. The fuck? That came out of nowhere. "Did she say that?"

"Yeah, she wants a pet name."

Keith blinked in confusion. "I call her Princess Leah."

"Technically that's her title," Pidge added helpfully. He sent her a glare.

"What else did you guys do?" Kyrian wondered as he moved a black strand away from his face. "The mice wouldn't talk."

Shiro zipped his lips.

It had everyone taking a threatening step forward. Shiro wouldn't budge though, he just kept insisting it was Lance's secret and she would tell them eventually. It was nothing bad he assured them once they looked ready to storm her room. Unfortunately, this started a whole new argument about keeping secrets from the team and everyone started arguing once more.

Keith sighed and ran his fingers over Shadow's blue fur. The Band-Aid with the red and blue flowers that Lance had put on him was starting to peel off. He'd put tape around it just in case but it was only a matter of time before it fell. Though putting it over his black finger-less gloves hadn't been a good idea to begin with.

"What do you think?" He whispered to Shadow. "Should I go talk to Lance right now or wait till the morning?"

Shadow's sea green eyes sharpened, Keith swore that he smirked, and suddenly there was that brief sickening feeling that always accompanied teleportation and then he was suddenly sprawled on the floor of a room he immediately recognized. Roses that glowed blue in the dark marked the ceiling. A gigantic bed with a towering headboard that had curtains was on his right. Ivory furniture and rugs complimented the room. There were beanbag chairs on the other side. The lights were dimmed but the light coming from the windows gave them plenty of light.

This was Lance's room.

He'd been inside plenty of times to ever forget how it looked.

There were new additions, like the new drawings on each wall that displayed different scenes but he'd know Lance's room anywhere.

Soft music played around the room and there, standing on top of a four-legged stool where she was currently painting something on another wall was Lance. Her face was relaxed and open. Her hair was slightly ruffled were it curled down her back. Her blue pajamas looked soft and loose, her blue shirt hanging a little of one shoulder giving him a clear view of that unmarked skin. Those shorts looked too short in his opinion. She was humming as she painted, her attention so focused on what she was drawing that she had yet to notice him. A tiny smile was on her face.

She was beautiful.

Shadow glanced at him with a grin and released a bark that had Keith instantly panicking because Lance had definitely heard. Stifling a laugh, she turned and froze when her blue eyes met his own panicked ones. She dropped her paintbrush, yellow paint splattering on the floor.

The smile she was sporting had disappeared but she wasn't yelling at him. She didn't look angry either. Her lips slightly parted. Her eyes widened. She was clearly surprised to see him there. That made two of them.

Keith didn't know what to say. He was here, albeit not by choice, but he finally had the chance to talk to Lance. He opened his mouth.

And nothing came out.

His stomach flipped, once with a nervous kind of excitement, and again with a twinge of anxiety. He'd spent most of the day trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say, how he was going to say it, and where he should even begin. But now that the time was here it was like a cat had his tongue and was holding it hostage.

He tried again and only got the same results.

Frustrated, he turned his head away.

Lance tilted her head, pursed her lips, and opened her mouth. This was it. She was going to call off the wedding. She was going to tell him that they were over. She'd probably call him an ass or something worse. Keith's whole body went stiff, and he mentally prepared himself to not make a scene but what came out of Lance's mouth was something he wasn't expecting at all.

"Do you know how to draw stars?"

Keith owlishly blinked at her.

"What?"

His voice sounded more like a croak.

"A star." Lance repeated like he was an idiot. He felt himself bristle. "You know the thing that has five pointy things at each end? We see them when we look at the sky every night?"

He gritted his teeth. "I know what a star is Lance."

Lance exhaled dramatically. "Oh, good. I was about to start a whole PowerPoint just in case you didn't know what a star was." Keith narrowed his eyes. Now he was starting to get a little angry. "Anyway, I'll repeat the question. Do you know how to draw stars?"

Keith got to his feet and frowned. "I guess."

"Then pick up a brush and start painting. I'm terrible at drawing them."

"What?"

Lance groaned and covered her face. When she looked up she had yellow splotches of paint on both of her cheeks. She looked kind of cute. "Keith. You have no idea how terrible I am at drawing stars. Allura's mice did a better job than me and those little rodents had the audacity to laugh at me as they did it! You know how annoying that is? To be upstarted by a couple of mice? My pride has been wounded! So you have to get up here and draw something better so I can show them whose boss!"

Something about the way that Lance seemed genuinely distraught at being outdone by a couple of mice, and the childish pout on her face, add to the fact that this was all just so _dumb_ , so purely innocent and blatantly contrary to what he had been expecting, that in spite of everything he was feeling, he felt himself smile. Lance was obviously trying to make him comfortable and it was working.

He decided to go along with it, silently thanking her for not forcing him to talk about what they needed to talk about just yet. "You got outdone by a couple of mice? I thought you were an artist."

Lance narrowed her blue eyes at him, but they didn't seem angry. In fact, they looked both relieved and a little playful. "First of all, those mice are talented. I'm sure Allura has been secretly coaching them to outdo me."

"Of course she has."

"And second of all," Lance continued, ignoring his sarcastic reply, with a pout. "I never said I was an artist. I just practiced a lot and now I'm an expert."

"Right." Keith agreed unconvincingly, letting out a single huff of laughter. "An expert who can't draw stars?"

"Can you?" She countered.

"Damn straight."

She offered him a clean brush. "Then prove it."

He snatched the brush from her hand, picked up another stool and placed it next to her, before he placed his feet on the darn thing and huffed. "I will."

"Okay then."

"Good."

"Awesome."

"Hoe."

"Bitch."

Keith huffed but he couldn't help the smile that adorned his face as he dipped his brush on the small bucket and began to paint. The familiar banter was reassuring. It both thrilled him and had him sagging in relief. The next few minutes passed by in comfortable silence. Keith was drawing and painting the stars like Lance wanted them to complete the scenery while she tried to copy them in her notebook, every now and then asking him if those looked better than the last batch.

They weren't.

At least not yet.

They looked a little lopsided, which had her turning her mouth to the side, before she huffed and turned to another page and began to draw the new patch. Keith himself was no artist but stars he could definitely do.

They drifted into silence once again. The only sound coming from somewhere in the room was the Vampire Weekend album Modern Vampires of the City. He'd showed Lance this band as well and she really seemed to like them.

As the minutes dragged by, Lance would hum under her breath and dance a little on her stool every now and then that it had Keith tightening his lips in an effort not to laugh, though a few chuckles still made it out.

They continued like this for the next fifteen minutes, or so Lance's clock on her desk said.

He should say something. This was his chance. They were finally alone and Lance was clearly waiting for him to say something. Where to begin though?

"Umm…"

"Yeah?" Keith snapped his head in Lance's direction so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash. Both of them were a little startled at how quick he'd responded. Lance almost fell off her stool but Keith quickly caught onto her wrist.

It was cold.

But it didn't bother him.

Apparently Galra had very hot body temperatures.

"I –" Lance rubbed at her arms once Keith reluctantly let go of her wrist. He missed it instantly. She frowned, looked him in the eyes and said. "I'm sorry."

Keith blinked in surprise.

"I should have told you I was leaving the team."

Keith put his brush down at the desk and dropped his hands to his side as he cautiously peeked at her from the corner of his eye. "Why didn't you?"

Lance lowered her head a little. Brown strands fell forward before she hastily moved them away. "I…was scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

Lance let out a whoosh of air. "Of you getting mad. Of you changing my mind." She hesitated. "But mostly, I was scared that if I told you, then it would make it real." At Keith's confused stare, Lance began to explain. "A part of me didn't want to go. I guess…I knew that if I told you about it, you might change my mind. I _knew_ you could. Part of me wanted you to. But I knew I couldn't let that happen. So I made up excuses and kept it to myself until I had no choice _but_ to tell you." Lance lifted a hand in his direction before deciding against it and let it fall to her side. "I didn't want you to find out that way. _I_ should have been the one to tell you. And for that I am sorry."

Keith pursed his lips. "First of all, yes, you should have told me. Second of all, yes it would have been better to hear from you but the secret is out. I know. And lastly, why the fuck do you want to leave the team anyway?"

At Lance's confused stare he couldn't help but flick her forehead. She scowled at him.

"You haven't told me yet."

"Oh." Her eyes widened. "Right. I forgot about that."

When Lance didn't say anything for a while he scowled at her. "Well? Are you going to tell me or not?"

Lance peeked up at him through her lashes before exhaling. She stood a little straighter in her stool and wrapped her palms around the red crystal necklace on her neck. He could see the Band-Aid he'd put on her left hand wrapped around her finger. It looked like she too had wrapped tape around it to make it stick. "Do you remember the day I was taken?"

Keith's eyes narrowed to slits. He swore the room turned colder. How could he ever forget that day? He'd been so close to getting her back but no matter how fast he pushed Red to go faster, and no matter how many shots he fired at the Galra ship, he'd been unable to reach her in time. All he could do was watch as that Galra ship disappeared through a wormhole with Lance still inside. Completely at Haggar's mercy.

The despair he had felt that day was something he would never forget. Lance had been terrified, she'd been crying, and Keith hadn't been able to reach her. It was the most useless he had ever felt.

He nodded stiffly. He didn't trust his voice not to break if he spoke.

"That day," Lance continued as she gripped her necklace tighter. "We were so close to escaping. The ships were _right_ there. But so was Haggar." She paused and her smile turned sad. "I was so confident you know? We'd made it quite far and I was so sure that I could take her and get everyone to safety and then find you and the others. I was absolutely positive." Her voice turned anguished. "But I was wrong."

Lance bowed her head; her eyes went to the ground as she clenched her hands into fists. She looked like she wanted to cry and Keith wanted to reach out and hold her, because seeing Lance cry had always been his undoing. He couldn't stand it.

But he was also sure that if he touched her right now, she probably _would_ start crying. So he waited, ignoring his own desire to reach out and touch her and just watched her gather herself. He kept his mouth shut.

After what felt like an eternity, Lance breathed in deep and loud, standing a little straighter to gaze up at him. Unshed tears were at the corners of her eyes but she was refusing to let them fall. "I've always been confident in my powers. In myself. I figured if I put my mind to it, then I can do anything. But that day, Haggar was just toying with me. She gave me some of my powers back and I thought it'd be enough but it wasn't. I wasn't strong enough." She laughed bitterly. "I didn't even compare. I lost. And –" Lance bit her lip in anger. Her blue eyes blazed. "It was frustrating! It was humiliating! But more than anything it pissed me off!"

Lance was breathing hard at this point. If she weren't standing on top of the stool, she'd probably be pacing in a huff. She closed her eyes briefly, and Keith watched as she tried to calm herself down. Her brow smoothed out. The lines around her mouth began to relax. Her shoulders dropped, the tension slowly leaking out of them. Her palms relaxed and uncurled themselves from the fists she had been making.

"After that I destroyed the mood bracelet, she was going to use it to find you guys, and put myself to sleep," Lance continued softly. "Haggar wanted my body and I couldn't let that happen. I knew you'd find me eventually so all I had to do was wait." Her eyes narrowed. "But some of Haggar's magic leaked into my head before the shield around my body finished and she was able to get in. For months she tortured me in my head. Made me forget about you and everyone else. I tried to hold on. I tried so hard and just when I thought about giving in, you found me." Lance gave him a soft smile. He could see the gratitude in her eyes. "When I was in Liya's head, I saw Haggar through her memories. That witch had given the go ahead on that whole operation in planet Zaebos. It made me angry. So, so angry. Liya and all those men in the village hadn't deserved being treated that way."

Lance clenched her fists, her eyes narrowed. "And when I fought her again recently when she possessed Shiro, it took all of my strength to stop her, but if Narti hadn't been helping me, we might have lost Shiro. She wasn't even there in person and we had a tough time. She has to be stopped. The reason I want to stay in Cloyetera is because I want to train. I want to be strong enough to beat Haggar."

Lance took a shaky breath, running her fingers through her hair as she shifted nervously on the stool she was standing up on. "When you told me that Blue had chosen Allura as her new pilot…a part of me was a little sad. But the other part of me was relieved. You didn't need me anymore."

Keith looked up sharply at that. "Lance, we're always going to need you. If this is about the Blue lion then Allura already said she'd stand down and let you take your position back."

Lance shook her head. "I can't do that to Allura. She deserves the right to fight in this war as well. I can't ask her to stand down, it wouldn't be right."

Keith clenched his fists. "Then you can still stay! You can work the castle along with Coran and Matt and –"

Lance placed a hand on his shoulder. "Keith, if you were in my shoes, and Red had chosen someone else to pilot her, would you want to stay behind in the castle and offer backup? Or would you want to be at the front lines? Helping out our friends?"

Keith opened his mouth but Lance cut him off. Her blue eyes hardened. "I want you to really think about it Keith. What would you do?"

Keith blinked and furrowed his brows as he began to think. If Red had chosen a new pilot would Keith want to stay behind and work with Coran back at the castle? The answer was obvious. No. He wouldn't want that. He'd feel useless. He'd want to do something. If anything, he'd probably leave the team and join Kolivan and his Blades because at least that way he'll be contributing to the war in a big way.

It's with this realization that Keith finally understood why Lance wanted to leave. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, slamming into his chest so hard that it took his breath away. Despite the differences in their personalities, he and Lance were quite similar when it came to battle. The two preferred to be at the front lines. Always. Lance wouldn't want to stay behind at the castle. She'd want to be out there, fighting alongside them. If Keith told her to stay, Lance would. But she'd be miserable.

And it would eat away at him because he'd be the reason why she was feeling that way.

"I don't want to go Keith." Lance softly said as she tucked a black strand of hair behind his ear. The touch made him shiver. "But I need to. I have to train. I have a new ability now, one that I'm not in complete control of yet. I can't stay at the castle of lions and try to master it. I might cause a black out or I might freeze everyone's toes off and get a lecture from Shiro." Keith huffed a laugh at that. "But if I stay in Cloyetera, there are hundreds of women who can keep me in check if I go out of control. I'll be safe. And I'll get stronger."

Lance placed both of her cool hands on either side of his face and placed her forehead against his. "This won't be forever. We'll still keep in touch. Just –" She hesitated and closed her eyes. When she opened them she looked uncertain and her blue eyes looked misty. Her voice was but a whisper. "Just tell me it's okay. Tell me I'm making the right decision. That I won't lose you if I stay."

Oh, this silly girl.

With gentleness he didn't know he possessed, Keith wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes. Lance took a sharp breath and stood absolutely still. A part of him still doesn't want her to go. He always wanted Lance to be at his side because that's where she belonged but despite what he wanted, he knew that Lance had to do this. Haggar has been alive for more than ten thousand years. And after all this time the only one who has given that witch a hard time is Lance. She's survived countless times. Lance can beat Haggar. Keith _knows_ she can.

So she'll have to stay in Cloyetera. She'll have to leave the team. But his friends had been right. The Galra wasn't taking lance this time. He knew where she would be. He knew that she'd be safe because all the women in this planet _loved_ her. That was proven every time Lance walked around the city. Women would smile and wave, they teased her, asked her how her day was, invited her to their home and anyone who would dare hurt her would surely regret it. She had a whole store selling her merchandise for fuck's sake! The Amazons would put their lives on the line just to keep her safe. And if her training does get a bit out of control then the Amazons can definitely take it. Queen Lexi will be here as well, reining her in. Mikey and his brothers will make sure she's taken care of. So would Lotor and his generals who Lance had quickly befriended. They'll watch her like a hawk.

People have always said that long distance relationships never last. And yeah, most were right. But Keith had faith that he and Lance could overcome this little separation. It won't be forever. And they could still call and visit each other. Perhaps they'd even go and buy some mood bracelets just to have that bond reignited because Keith really missed being inside Lance's head. To know her every thought. To have the power to close his eyes and see through Lance's eyes and know what she was doing. To share some of the pain she endured so she could keep on fighting.

Keith wasn't going to lose her. He was in for the long haul.

Lance gripped both sides of his face. "Do you mean it?"

 _Reading my mind?_

She huffed a laugh. "Sorry. You were taking too long. I got restless." Lance licked her lips nervously and Keith's eyes followed the movement closely. It'd been too long since they'd kissed. "So I can stay in Cloyetera?"

Keith nodded, tightening his grip on her own face for emphasis. "Yes. You can stay."

"I won't lose you?"

"Never."

"And you promise not to call off the wedding?"

He chuckled. "I thought _you_ wanted to call off the wedding."

Lance looked startled. "What, why?"

He gave her a deadpan stare. "Lance." He sounded exasperated. "I jumped out a window to avoid you. I growled at you in my Galra form! I was a total asshole to you for days! It's my fault you haven't been sleeping well and it's my fault that you haven't been taking care of yourself!"

Lance huffed and leaned back so she could put her hands on her hips. "First of all, that jump was beautiful. You landed on your feet just like cat. You already purr, your ears look like a cats, so I'm going to call you Kitten from now on." Keith bristled. "Second of all, it's not your fault you growled at me. I know you're still getting used to your Galra side without having to take your pills. It's okay. I'm not mad or anything. I forgive you if it makes you feel better though there's nothing to forgive. And thirdly, you've always been an asshole Keith. My future husband is an ass but I love you anyway. You won't change my mind about that. This wedding is still on." Keith's heart fluttered at that. "And lastly, I was just depressed that you weren't talking to me. But now you are and suddenly my appetite is back. What do you think about nachos? You think I can sneak to the kitchen and avoid a lecture from Shiro about eating late at night?"

Keith couldn't help it. He laughed. Just like that all his worries had disappeared. Lance forgave him for growling at her. She praised him for his jump out the window. The wedding was still on, despite the fact that he was an asshole. She still wanted him. And after that serious talk, she's suddenly talking about nachos? Seriously?

His heart felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest. He was just so _relieved_.

Lance huffed and lightly punched his shoulder. She tried to look stern but Keith could see the way her eyes were twinkling, could see the smile that was slowly spreading. "It's a perfectly good question Keith. Shiro is always watching. He's caught Hunk at least three times already. My poor best friend was so startled he ran back to my room and cried." She paused. "Though that didn't stop him from trying again. Hunk's got some balls."

For some reason that made him laugh harder and this time Lance joined him. The two of them just stood there on their stools, doubled over as tears began to form on their eyes from all the laughing they were doing.

Without a word, they embraced. They moved at the same time as if something on a whole different plain had decided it for them. Lance pressed her face into his neck and Keith felt himself melt. "I'm sorry." Lance whispered.

Keith tightened his grip on her. Holding her as tightly as he dared. "I'm sorry too."

"Let's never fight again okay?"

"Deal."

And for a long moment, the two of them stayed like that, just holding on to each other like their lives depended on it. The scent of raspberries and honey suckle invaded his nose and Keith breathed in deeply where he lay his chin on top of Lance's head. He loved this smell. It was all Lance.

"I love you Keith."

"I love you too," Shiro's words rang through his head. Licking his lips nervously, Keith decided to try a nickname and see if she liked it. "Honey."

Lance fell off her stool.

Keith's eyes went wide. "Holy shit, are you okay?"

Lance's whole face was beet red, she opened and closed her mouth but all that came out was a strangled sound.

Realization kicking in, Keith slowly grinned. "Did you like that? Sweetie?"

"I will punch you." Lance threatened, no real bite in her words. She looked embarrassed.

"Okay, babykins."

"Keith!"

"Something wrong, babe?"

Lance's face turned even brighter. Keith didn't think it was possible. It had him grinning like a madman.

"If you're not going to say anything else, then don't say it." She turned her face away to hide her flaming cheeks.

"But darling –"

"I'm warning you Keith."

"Noted, snookums."

"You're on thin ice Keith."

"You love it." He paused and grinned as Lance backed away from him. "Princess Leah."

"That's it!"

For a moment nothing happened. He was too focused on Lance's red face to notice the pillow flying towards his face until it was too late. He got a face-full of squish and fluff, his head jerked back from the impact and he fell off the stool and landed on his ass with a dumbstruck look.

Lance started howling with laughter right next to him.

"Lance!" He spluttered, snatching the pillow from where it fell next to him and flung it back. It smacked Lance square in the face, but she was already laughing too hard to even care. Switching to her side, she all but crawled to her bed and snatched another pillow. Keith barely had time to pick up the pillow he'd thrown at her to defend himself. Shadow barked enthusiastically, disappearing only to appear next to Lance who took hold of his fur and teleported away.

"That's cheating!" he screeched. "Shadow you traitor! I thought we were close!"

Lance's laughter seemed to echo from all over the place. It made it very hard to pinpoint her exact location. That's when he felt a sort of rift and Keith flung his pillow right by the door just as Lance had materialized. It hit her right in the face and made her stumble backwards. She gaped at him.

Picking up another pillow, Keith grinned and made a come hither motion. It had Lance bristling. "Come on honey," the Amazon turned scarlet. "Is that all you've got?"

"Oh, it's on." She paused for dramatic effect. " _Kitten_."

This time it was Keith who was left a blushing mess. The way Lance said it all soft and _suggestive_ …Keith couldn't be blamed for blushing. All too soon, they were on opposite ends of the room, chucking pillows across the room in poor attempts to hit the other person. It had them giggling like a bunch of twelve-year olds.

A part of Keith couldn't help but think that this whole thing was stupid, but despite the thought, it didn't stop him from stupidly grinning his ass off when some of his pillows made contact with Lance's face. Making a run for Shadow, Keith took hold of his fur, gave the wolf a dirty look that had him rolling his eyes at him, and then he disappeared only to appear behind Lance a second later.

Keith took the opportunity to tackle her from behind where he proceeded to tickle her sides until she cried and begged him to stop. When Lance opened her eyes, and Keith stared right back, they took a single breath before Keith leaned forward and kissed her mouth with all the force and desperation of what he felt. He'd missed her. And not being able to kiss Lance should have been a crime. Keith pinned her wrists above her head but Lance didn't seem to mind.

Her back arched off the ground as Keith's mouth went to her neck, peppering it with kisses and bites. To think, just a week ago Keith could hardly be in the same room as her without feeling angry. Now they were making out and holding on to each other with such ferocity that it had Keith's head spinning.

He loved it.

His hands on her wrists loose, Lance got out of his hold and then her hands were under his shirt. Despite how cold her palms were, every touch felt electrified, his body felt like it was on fire. And when Lance's hand went a little lower to cup him, Keith swore under his breath. Smirking, Lance gave his hardening length a squeeze. "Like that?"

"Jesus Christ Lance." His hands found their way under her shirt until he was cupping her right breast as his other hand slowly trailed downward. Lance sucked in a sharp breath. "You know this means I have to punish you. Right?"

Lance's eyes grew mischievous. "Do your worst."

Keith's smirked turned wider, accepting the challenge, he opened his mouth to say something when suddenly the door was kicked open and they got an earful of panicked screams. The two of them froze on the floor.

"My eyes!" Pidge screamed as she covered her eyes.

Matt stared with wide eyes. "Holy crap."

"I don't see a condom!" Shiro bellowed.

"What the fuck are you doing to my sister?" Mikey screeched. His voice reached a very high note. He looked like he was going to pass out. Aiden's back was to them but his shoulders were shaking with mirth. The triplets crowded around Mikey when he _did_ in fact fall to the floor in a daze.

Hunk covered his eyes. "This is why I told you we should have knocked!"

Allura fainted. Coran was so shocked by what he was seeing that he didn't notice the Altean Princess fall to the floor.

"Yeah!" Ezor cheered. "Get some!"

"Finally." Krolia huffed with a little grin.

Axca took one look and left.

"So should we just go?" Lotor seemed pretty calm about this whole situation. "They look busy."

"Well?" Shiro demanded. His nostrils flared, his cheeks looked bright red, and he couldn't quite keep eye contact. "You guys have anything to say for yourselves?"

Keith and Lance shared a look. Rolling her eyes, Lance huffed and turned to Shiro with the most serious expression he had ever seen. "It's _exactly_ what it looked like."

Keith choked.

Mikey fainted.

Allura looked like she just might join him again as well.

Pidge wolf-whistled.

The words didn't seem to make Shiro feel any better. His face turned scarlet and he looked ready to combust. Not wanting to make things words, Keith slowly got off Lance and fixed her shirt before helping her to her feet. Shiro pinched his nose and counted to ten.

It was kind of amusing.

"W-we didn't actually do it." Keith grumbled quietly.

Pidge arched a brow. "But you got close?"

Lance grinned devilishly. Mikey, who had woken up, started hyperventilating upon seeing that grin.

"It's none of your business!" Keith snapped, his other hand slapping over Lance's mouth lest she make the situation worse. He was flustered enough. Everyone but Shiro and Mikey grinned. "Why are you guys here anyway?"

"We heard laughter," Lotor explained, though he still looked highly amused. Goddamn Rapunzel. "Then we heard stuff being knocked over and then nothing."

"We thought you killed each other!" Allura shouted as she petted her mice.

"Clearly we were wrong." Aiden added with a smug grin. His dark blue eyes were twinkling behind his glasses.

"Did you guys make out?" Pidge teased.

"Pidge!" Shiro barked at her.

The green paladin shrugged. "Just want to make sure. We have a bet going on."

Shiro covered his face with his hand and groaned. "What is it with this team and making bets?"

"We like to make things interesting." Matt teased. He and Pidge turned those brown eyes at him and Lance. "So? Did you?"

Keith tightened his lips. Lance? Not so much.

"You know what?" Lance challenged. "We _did_ make out. A lot. In fact, we were about to have sex but you guys walked in!"

Keith physically choked and stumbled backwards. Shiro gasped and put a hand to his chest as he stumbled backwards into Allura's arms. Lance opened her mouth. Horrified, Keith reached forward to cover her mouth again but Lance batted his hands away.

"It would have been epic!" Lance screamed at the top of her lungs.

Coran cheered.

Lotor and Ezor clapped.

Hunk's lips twitched upward.

"My little sister was going to lose her virginity?" Mikey panted with wide eyes. He put a hand to his chest and stumbled forward. "You're too young!"

Lance gave him a droll stare. "You know I've had sex before right?"

Mikey choked. "You never told me this!"

"She told me," Aiden raised his hand. "She wanted advice for her first time. We're both bi so she really wanted more information."

"She called us too." Kyrian added. Colt and Alan nodded beside him. "Mom and dad knew too."

"Had a whole Skype family meeting and talked about it." Aiden lastly added.

Mikey looked betrayed. He pouted. "Why didn't I know about this?" His eyes widened and he stumbled forward to shake Lance's shoulders. "Who was it? Were they gentle? Oh my _god_." He shook her harder. "Did it hurt? Did they break your heart? Who is it? I'll kill them!"

Lance got out of her brothers' hold and crossed her arms over her chest. "And _that_ is why I didn't tell you."

She turned to Shiro who looked ready to pass out. "Before you say anything," Lance took Keith's hand in hers and laced their fingers together. "Keith and I made up."

"You don't say?" Matt muttered.

"And he's sleeping in my room today." Lance continued, totally ignoring Matt's sarcastic reply. Keith was a little surprised about this but he was not complaining at all. He squeezed her hand, a smile threatening to break as Lance winked at him.

Shiro apparently, was _not_ okay with that.

Shocker.

"Now you listen here you two!" Great. His dad voice was on full effect. Everyone groaned. "First of all, I'm very happy that you two have made up. Second of all, just because you have, doesn't mean you can start ripping each other's clothes off and dirtying the floor. There is a bed." Seriously? "And thirdly, and this is the most important thing." Shiro paused and his eyes scanned the room briefly before turning stern eyes at them. "Where the hell are the sex tool kit boxes I gave you two all those months ago? Do you guys need me to give you the talk again? Because I'll do it!"

Allura whispered into her boyfriend's ear. Shiro straightened and waved a menacing finger at them. "And no, you can't sleep in the same room together by yourselves." Keith and Lance immediately protested. "I'll sleep here too and keep an eye on you both. That bed looks big enough to fit ten people."

For a moment there was absolute silence as everyone took that in. And then everyone spoke at once.

"I've been sleeping here way before you guys," Hunk protested with a wave of his arms. "I'm not going anywhere!"

"Matt and I are already brought our stuff since yesterday, so we're staying too!" Pidge exclaimed, high-fiving her brother who nodded furiously next to her.

"Lance and I haven't had a proper sleepover for a while," Allura looked delighted. She patted her mice. "We too shall join in."

"Well," Coran added with a twirl of his mustache. "As Allura's guardian, I have to keep my eye on our fearless leader lest he makes a move on my niece." Shiro spluttered beside a blushing Allura. "I too, shall stay. Got to keep an eye on you youngsters."

"These sleepovers are fun." Krolia murmured. "I'll stay as well."

"You can all leave!" Mikey barked. "Leah and I are going to share the bed by ourselves!" He turned to Lance with dark sparkly blue eyes. "I can read you a bed time story! I'll even sing you a lullaby like old times!"

"I happen to like my too big bed so I'll be taking my leave." Lotor announced with a yawn. "Good night everyone." Ezor followed after him with a backwards wave.

Aiden pinched his nose. "I wanted to go to my room but I can't just leave Mikey here. He can be…a lot."

"I don't need a babysitter bitch!" Mikey barked.

"I'll have to stay as well." Aiden continued as if he didn't hear his older brother protesting. The triplets didn't want to be left out either and declared they would stay as well.

Keith couldn't help but pout. Lance's protests went unheard as everyone began to settle down on her bed. Lance protested to that as well and dragged Keith to the middle, claiming that it was their spot and if anyone wanted to fight about it, then she would definitely win. Shiro looked like he really _would_ challenge her but refrained after both Krolia and Allura gave him scathing looks, telling him to take a chill pill.

In the end, he and Lance took the spot in the middle. Lance curled up next to him, placing her head on his chest while he put a hand over her shoulder. She'd forgotten to wipe the yellow paint off her face. Hunk lay behind Lance on his side. His yellow blanket covering him as he tucked his arms to his chest and scooted closer to his friend. Pidge and Matt lay behind him. Shiro lay behind Keith, watching over them with a cautious eye. Allura tucked herself to his back and draped an arm over his stomach. Krolia and Coran lay at the foot of the bed already asleep.

Mikey and his brothers had to sleep on the floor to Mikey's displeasure. Aiden had taken out blankets and pillows from his sisters' closet and placed them on the floor so they could all rest comfortably.

Lance had fallen asleep within minutes and Mikey had taken the chance to jump to his feet and take pictures of her while everyone glared at him and told him to go the fuck to sleep. The older McLane sibling flipped them all off.

Aiden said something to him in Spanish though and the next second Mikey was under the covers, pictures be damned. It was kind of impressive. Shadow curled up next to him.

Keith was on the edge of sleep when Lance's hand found his own under the sheets about half an hour later before giving it a squeeze. "Thank you for being here."

Keith squeezed back. "Thank you for letting me stay."

Everyone else had already fallen asleep. Different types of snores filled the room, Allura and Mikey's being the loudest. They didn't want to wake up anyone though, especially Shiro, so they settled for whispering back and forth.

Lance could have started a telepathic conversation but she wanted to hear his voice. When Lance squirmed closer, he didn't protest. She still had yellow paint on her cheeks but some had faded. "Anytime."

She closed her eyes, smiled, and drifted to sleep once again. For a while, Keith listened to Lance's heartbeat thumping. It was strong, sure, steady, and soothing. Closing his own eyes, Keith sighed and settled himself to a better position. One arm wrapped around Lance's waist while the other one rested on her hair.

Making sure no one was watching, he kissed her temple.

"Good night Lance."

" _Good night, Mullet."_ Came a sleepy murmur in his head.

Keith smiled.

* * *

Lance was gone when Keith woke up the next morning. So were Hunk and Shadow, he noticed as he did another scan for the Amazon. It was hard to tell if Lance had been gone for a while or just a few minutes. The spot that she'd slept on was cold to the touch but with her new body temperature, it was hard to tell at what time she had left. Hunk's side was cold too.

Perhaps they got up at the same time?

Lance's scent lingered all over the room. On the sheets, on the pillows, the scent of raspberries and a hint of cinnamon made him want to sink deeper into the covers. The sheets were tucked gently underneath his chin, wrapping him up in a cocoon of soft, silky fabric.

His friends and his mother were still sleeping soundly. What time was it anyway?

Every morning since they'd arrived he made sure to go to one of the training rooms that they had in the house. They were more advanced and a little more dangerous than the one they had at the castle of lions, which was really nice; Keith loved a challenge. Oftentimes his mother would join him as well.

Warm sunlight shone from the five windows in the room, giving the room plenty of light. He could hear the chirping of the firebirds in the distance. Movement echoed around the house, though that wasn't anything new. A lot of people besides them were staying here as well. Even Queen Afya and her daughter Zooey were here as well. They were at the southern wing, as far away from Lance where she was staying in the northern wing with the rest of the paladins and Lotor and his generals.

The Queen's did not want their daughters to come to blows anytime soon.

He was on the verge of sitting up to glance at the clock on his bracelet when a voice made him jump. "So did you give her the ring?"

"Jesus Christ Pidge!" He put a hand to his chest as he glared at the green paladin on his right. The little gremlin had the audacity to grin at him. "I thought you were sleeping."

"Nope." Pidge used her elbows to sit up a little straighter where she leaned her back on one of the blue pillows on the bed. "Stop dodging my question." She squinted at him. Her eyes looked smaller without her glasses and her brown hair was all over the place. It looked like a rat's nest. He made sure to tell her that. Flipping him off with both hands, Pidge nudged him with her elbow. "So? Did you give her the ring or did you pussy out?"

"Pidge," Shiro grumbled where he was lying on Keith's left side on his stomach. His voice sounded muffled. "Watch your fucking language."

Several people gasped. Was everyone just pretending to sleep or what?

"Shiro cursed." Allura gasped quietly. "Watch your language Shiro!"

"He's not a morning person." Matt grumbled next to Pidge. He too was lying on his stomach, his face hidden by one of the pillows. "He needs coffee."

"This is why Keith curses non-stop." Krolia yawned as she sat up a little and rubbed her eyes. "Terrible influence."

Shiro grumbled something under his breath.

"Coffee sounds good." Coran chirped in with a huge smile. How the man was in such a good mood already was beyond him. "I've become a fan. These Amazons know how to make it just right!"

That was true.

Keith was a big fan of their coffee as well.

"Back to the matter at hand," Mikey joined in as he sat up with a grumble on the floor. A bit of drool lingered at the corner of his mouth. His eyes looked bloodshot and his shoulder length hair was standing on end. He looked like shit. Keith made sure to tell him that as well. Mikey said something rude to him in Spanish. His eyes promised death. It made Keith grin. "Did you give my sister the ring or what?"

Keith hesitated as all eyes turned on him. Even Shiro and Matt peeked at him from where their faces were covered by their pillow. He pursed his lips. "Not exactly?"

Several grumbles followed the statement.

Pidge and Mikey threw their pillows at him. Hard.

"It didn't come up!" He shouted as he raised his hands to cover his face from any more oncoming pillows. Mikey threw one more pillow at him and his shoe just for good measure before he relented. Asshole.

"Well." Shiro sat up with Allura's help until he turned and laid his back against his pillow. He offered Keith a tired smile. "At least now you can make it more romantic before giving it to her."

"Holy shit." Kyrian exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes. "He's right."

"Leah loves romantic gestures." Alan agreed with a yawn.

"She says she doesn't," Colt continued with a cheeky grin. "But we all know she loves it."

"So?" Aiden sat up and put his elbow on his knee and his chin on his right palm. He calmly put on his glasses to look at him properly. "What are you going to do? Take her out to dinner? Take a walk at the beach? Cook her something?"

Several people snorted at the last suggestion. Keith couldn't blame them. It didn't stop him from bristling though. As his friends continued to stare at him expectantly, Keith felt the blood drain from his face. "Umm."

Allura's blue eyes widened in outrage. Her mice had crossed their paws over their chests and were openly cowling at him. "Tell me you have a plan."

"Of course he does." Krolia defended him. She turned those violet eyes to him. "Right?"

As all those eyes turned on him again, Keith felt the urge to jump out the window. He could totally make it. All he had to do was jump over Matt and Pidge, dodge Mikey, for surely the man would try to catch him, and fling himself out the window to sweet freedom.

Shiro must have sensed his intentions for he gripped the edge of Keith's shirt. The red paladin scowled. Seeing that there was no chance of escape, Keith glared to the side, crossed his hands over his chest, and remained silent.

When he didn't answer, his friends groaned again. It made Keith want to punch them all in the face. Like they could do better he thought with a sniff.

"We can help you." His mother said once the grumbling of his friends had died down. "I'm not sure I can offer much since I'm not one for sappy things but lucky for you," She smiled. "You have others here who can help you."

Some of the tension left his shoulders at his mother's statement.

"Do something sweet." Aiden voiced out. "Pick a special place that means a lot to you two. Anything come to mind?"

Keith thought about it. Honestly, the only place that came to mind was Lance's secret hideout where he first met her. Lance had dragged him out of Red while the metal robot sank into the ocean. It's where he and Lance would sneak to over the next two weeks when he first landed when she didn't want to go to any court meetings. Keith remembered the two of them sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night just so they could take a swim around the beach in the area and just talk as they dried themselves off. It was a place to get away from everyone else, where they could just talk and be themselves without having any prying eyes.

Even Reyna and the rest of Lance's guards didn't come after them while they remained there. The Amazons would give them some privacy for they knew when Lance needed a place to get away from her princess duties.

Keith nodded slowly. "I might have a place in mind."

His friends beamed. Shiro nudged him with his shoulder. "Then do it there."

"You can have dinner there!" Allura clapped in delight.

"Bring in some candles and flowers to make the room more romantic." Coran added with a devilish grin.

"Bring condoms." Pidge said with a straight face.

Several people choked.

Shiro and Mikey wheezed.

Matt covered his sister's face with his hand. "Put some romantic music."

Giving the green paladin a stern look, Shiro turned his features into something less hostile and patted Keith on the back. "It'll be Christmas at midnight. You can do it then."

"I'm sure the yellow paladin would not mind making some food for you both." Krolia added with a tiny smile as she crawled over to him to push back his hair from his face. Keith felt himself flush in embarrassment. "You can do this."

His friends voiced their agreement.

Mikey puffed up his chest. "Just leave the set up to us."

"You can keep our sister distracted." Aiden piped in.

"Just tell us the location." Kyrian added with a thumps-up. Colt and Alan nodded, their short black hair looking disheveled.

Okay, maybe he could pull this off after all. Keith allowed the corner of his mouth to lift upwards into a tiny smile to let his friends know that he was grateful. Sniffing the air, Pidge shot up to a crouch and sniffed the air a few more times before her stomach grumbled. Her eyes were narrowed and she looked predatory. "Do you guys smell that?"

Matt sniffed the air and moaned. "I smell pancakes."

"Cookies." Allura whispered in delight.

"And enchiladas!" Aiden moaned as he shot to his feet. He turned to his brothers looking oddly excited. "You guys think dad and Leah are cooking?"

Mikey shot to his feet and made a run to the door. "Dibs!"

The triplets spluttered, scrambling to their feet before making a mad dash after their brother. "That's not fair!"

"You leave those enchiladas alone!" Aiden barked as he ran out the door. "Mikey!"

"I smell coffee." Shiro all but skipped to the door with Allura and Coran hot on his heels.

Keith and his mother calmly made their way out the door, the two of them almost falling as Pidge and Matt all but pushed them out of the way. Rude.

Following the heavenly scents of food, Keith and his mother arrived at one of the kitchens in Lance's house to find both Hunk _and_ Lance cooking away. Lotor and his generals were seated at the table with a plate of steaming bread at the center. Zethrid wasted no time in digging in. Mr. Holt was chatting quietly with Axca and Narti, he looked quite animated. Ezor was talking Lotor's ear off but he didn't seem to mind, just nodded along quietly as he nibbled on the bread. Mr. McLane was there as well, helping Hunk and Lance with another dish. Keith was surprised to see Queen Lexi who sat at the table with a pout on her face.

Pulling at the sleeve of her loose pink shirt she eyed her husband with a frown. "I still don't understand why I can't help out."

Mr. McLane turned those baby blue eyes to his wife and gave her a deadpan look. "Lex, mi querida, mi Amor, the wind beneath my wings, the stars to my moon." Lance snorted beside a chuckling Hunk. Lotor grinned. Mr. McLane wiped his hands over the dark blue apron tied around his waist. He lifted both of his wife's hands, kissed each one, and looked her in the eye. "You suck."

His answer had Queen Lexi spluttering in protest as Mikey and his siblings howled in laughter. Keith and the rest of his friends took a seat at the long rectangular table doing their best to hide their own laughter. It seemed Lance's parents would be joining them for breakfast. Or maybe they'd been there everyday and he just hadn't noticed because he kept leaving the house in order to avoid running into Lance.

Her laughter fading, Lance straightened from the piping-hot cookies she'd hauled from the oven, her brown hair half up, the red apron over her blue T-shirt and black jeans dusted with flour. Hunk looked no better; his pink apron was covered in flour. Some even coated his cheeks, Lance looked like she had flour in her hair as well. The two offered everyone a greeting before they put the tray on the counter, picked up a cookie and began to munch on them.

Lance's eyes widened mid-chew. "Hunk!"

Hunk's obsidian eyes widened as well. "Lance!"

The two had tears running down their face.

Should Keith be worried?

Grinning, the two shouted at the same time. "We did it! Best cookie ever!"

And cue the fist-pump, the ten second waltz to celebrate, the praise for each other's skills, before Hunk finished their little celebration by dipping Lance to the floor and twirled her back to his side. Mikey bristled. Keith was kind of jealous too. Everyone else clapped.

Pidge leaned her elbows on the table and grinned. "Let me try one!"

Sharing another grin with the yellow paladin, Lance cleared her throat. "My friends. Mother. Father. My brothers." Lance paused. "Mikey."

"Hey!" Mikey shouted.

"Hunk and I have finally found it. Our treasure. Our Atlantis. Our golden egg. We found the one cookie to rule over them all."

With a flourish, Hunk whisked the delicate towel he'd just placed over their creation to reveal their newly invented cookies. Mikey shoved one into his mouth to both Lance _and_ Hunk's dismay. With his mouth still full, he let out a moan and said. "Fucking delicious!"

Queen Lexi and Aiden smacked him upside the head for his language _and_ for talking with his mouth full.

Lance crossed her hands over her chest and scowled. "Your opinion doesn't count Mikey."

The older McLane sibling spluttered, cookie crumbs spraying across the table to everyone's horror. Axca looked ready to throttle him. "What? But why?"

"Because you say that about everything I make." Lance rolled her eyes.

Mikey protested, his dark blue eyes narrowing. "Because everything you make is delicious!" He glared at everyone seated at the table with murder in his eyes. "Anyone who says otherwise will get a fistful of fist!"

Lance and her family groaned.

"Mikey," Lance sounded exasperated. "I once made you a chocolate cake that wasn't actually chocolate."

Mikey paused in his glaring to curiously look at his sister. "What was it?"

"Mud."

Mikey blinked once. Twice. Three times. And shrugged. "I bet it was healthy."

Everyone groaned.

"Anyway," Hunk cut in with a frown. "The perfect cookie has to have three rings. The center should be soft and just a little bit gooey. Middle ring should be chewy. And the outer ring should be crispy."

Pidge groaned. "Guys, just let us eat the cookies!"

"Be patient," Shiro said, squeezing her arm. "I'm sure it's almost over."

Allura nodded on Pidge's other side. "And in the end we'll get cookies!"

"You have to eat it while it's warm," Lance continued. "It has to be at the perfect room temperature."

"If you guys don't stop talking, they won't be warm anymore." Pidge grumbled. Hunk and Lance shot her a glare. Mr. Holt gave her a stern look. Keith kind of agreed with Pidge on this one. Those cookies smelled delicious, he really just wanted to try one already.

"There have been many attempts at making the perfect cookie," Hunk barreled on with a nod of his head as he began to pace, his finger raised in the air. "Some might argue that Louise Saeki back in Louisiana has perfected the perfect cookie."

"Some might argue that Charles Alistair Lawrence who lives in planet Smaelara did a better job," Lance interrupted as she paced in the opposite direction, a finger raised in the air.

"But news flash!" Hunk exclaimed and turned to them with a triumphant grin. "Our cookie? It's amazing."

"It'll make you cry." Lance added.

"Your life will flash before your eyes!"

"It'll make you reveal all your darkest secrets!"

"But most of all," Lance and Hunk said at the same time, "You'll love it!"

Zethrid and Pidge slid off their stools. Lotor's tank of a general huffed. "That's it. No cookie is worth all this crap. I'll hunt for my own food."

Lance patted Zethrid's bicep and gave her a pitying look. "Oh, you naïve woman." She clicked her tongue in Pidge's direction who Hunk had steered back to her stool. "These cookies are so much more. Sit or you shall not partake in this glorious adventure everyone else is about to experience."

With a grumble both of them sat down and crossed their arms over their chests. Keith resisted the urge to laugh. Yes, he was hungry. Yes, he was contemplating whether or not to dive across the table and just snatch one of the cookies before making a run for it. But the other part? It was highly amused.

Lance opened her mouth but before she could speak, Mr. McLane put a hand on her shoulder. "Leah, as much as I want to hear more, would it be all right if we all sampled you and dear Hunk's masterpiece?"

Lance beamed. "Yeah, okay daddy."

Pidge threw her hands up. "Seriously? Just like that?"

"Why didn't you speak before?" Matt wailed.

Mikey looked at his father with wide eyes. "Teach me your ways."

Together, Lance and Hunk put the tray full of cookies on the table and told them to dig in. Nobody wasted any time in doing so and eagerly picked up a cookie before stuffing it in their mouths. Keith froze. So did everyone else.

Why?

Keith didn't know about the others, but he was in heaven. A memory of when his father was still alive flashed before his eyes. The two of them were fishing at a lake his father had chosen. Keith's hook tugged, a sign that he had caught something, and he immediately turned to his father who shot to his feet and pulled Keith's little eight-year old body against his chest, tugging them backward lest they lose their pray.

After a few tense seconds, the two of them fell to the floor, and when Keith looked up he smiled because at the end of his line was a fish. And not a small one. It was huge! At least to Keith it looked big. His father had ruffled his hair and congratulated him for his big catch. That was one of his fondest memories. Keith hadn't noticed he was crying until his mother poked at his cheek.

Her violet eyes looked misty as well. "You all right?"

Keith nodded mutely. He glanced at whatever was left of his cookie with wide eyes. "Holy shit."

"Did your life flash before your eyes too?" Krolia asked him.

Keith's eyes widened further. He nodded. "Whoa. These cookies are good."

Shiro sobbed next to him. "The truth is I've been reading the _Holy Bible_ series before bed since we came here!" He covered his face. "I read it out loud and make my voice different to match each character! I even do the moans!"

"I once impersonated Matt when he was invited to a party and told everyone he was gay!" Matt spluttered. "I'm the reason the girls at his middle school only wanted him as a friend!"

"This isn't my final form!" Coran wailed. "This is!" The Altean advisor grunted, squeezed his eyes shut, and suddenly his whole face and hands were covered in orange hair. Allura fell off her chair. "I just wake up extra early and shave it off before anyone wakes up!"

"Sometimes I sneak into Prince's Lotor room while he's showering and take pictures of him to sell on the dark web!" Ezor shouted with a wail. Lotor choked on his cookie. "I'm loaded!"

"I steal his underwear and sell it!" Zethrid babbled before pointing at Narti. "She keeps an eye out while I do it!"

Narti hid her face with her hood, Nova hissed at Zethrid in anger. Axca was being oddly quiet, going so far as to look at anywhere but Lotor.

"I told you guys these cookies were awesome!" Mikey shouted with glee.

"One time, when Pidge was away, I went to her room and tried on one of her dresses!" Matt covered his hands and sobbed. "And I liked it!"

"I recorded it!" Mr. Holt admitted.

Matt looked at him in horror.

"What's in these cookies?" Aiden demanded. "I feel like sharing things that I've never told anyone before!"

"We impersonate each other all the time!" Kyrian blurted out. Colt and Alan hugged each other, their brown eyes watery. "We get away with so much stuff!"

Queen Lexi chewed thoughtfully. "This is not bad. I like how it's not too hard and not too soft." She licked the tip of her fingers. "Very nice. We shall offer these during the party later on."

"Best cookie of my life." Mr. McLane stated. He ruffled Lance's hair who practically preened at the praise.

Keith wasn't jealous.

Like at all.

* * *

Once everyone had settled down, the food was passed around and they began to eat. Everything was delicious. The enchiladas that Mr. McLane made were really good. They were a little spicy but once you added all the other toppings it was pretty good. They made eggs, waffles, toast and a lot of bacon.

Lotor was all but hogging the bacon. Zethrid and Pidge looked ready to fight him. Luckily, Hunk made a few more and everything was settled. They're only mistake was allowing Ezor to drink coffee. She loved it so much she finished five whole cups within minutes.

She was currently vibrating in her seat, trying to take Axca's own cup of coffee. Zethrid was in love with the waffles. Lance added a little bit of whip cream on them and Zethrid practically swooned. The food was passed from person to person, and at least three different conversations happening all at once. There was a pitcher of orange and cranberry juice on the table; Mikey spilled his drink at least three times before Queen Lexi sent him a stern look that had him trembling in his seat.

Laughter echoed loudly in the kitchen and despite everyone's reluctance, they finished off the cookies that Hunk and Lance had made; this time there were no weird side effects. Lance sat next to him the whole time, just babbling on about whatever came to find and though Keith didn't say much, Lance didn't seem to mind. The triplets made kissy faces at them the whole time but Keith just flipped them off to Shiro's displeasure. Krolia made sure to shoot a glare at the black paladin every time Keith acted out.

Shiro sent Keith a scathing look every time she did.

Allura had thankfully taken Coran to the restroom to shave off all the unnecessary hair on his body until all that remained was his mustache and the hair on his head. Shadow had made his way inside and happily barked before going over to his giant bowl of food located a little ways away from the table.

"So," Pidge began, setting her fork down so she could grin in Lance's direction. "I heard you and Keith are going on a date today?"

Keith choked on his drink.

Lance let out a gasp and her eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"Uh…" Was Keith's eloquent answer.

"Yup," Pidge continued with a devilish grin. "He said he wanted to spend time with you."

Lance leaned into him. "We can go to the amusement park then!"

"Hey wait!" Pidge protested. "I want to go there too!"

Keith tore his gaze from Lance's excited gaze to look over at Pidge with a brow raised high. "But Pidge," he smirked. "It's a date. Which means you can't go."

Pidge spluttered.

"I wanted to go check it out too." Matt pouted as he took a bite of his blueberry pancakes.

"It does sound fun." Ezor murmured as she took a sip of her cranberry juice that Lotor passed her. She grimaced at the taste.

"We should all go!" Mikey blurted with a huge grin. "That way I can keep my eye on them."

Queen Lexi clapped her hands in delight. "Why don't you all go? I recommend the rollercoaster."

Mr. McLane and Shiro paled.

"Hell yeah!" Mikey shouted. "Let's do that!"

"I want to try this punching machine the little one keeps talking about." Zethrid pointed at Pidge who bristled at the nickname.

Lance and he shared a look.

" _Ditch them after the first ride?"_ Lance suggested to him in his head.

He squeezed her hand and grinned. " _It's like you read my mind."_

"Hey!" Mikey pointed at them. "Stop flirting!"

Oh man, hopefully this was all part of his friends' plans to set up the perfect place for Keith to give Lance the ring he'd picked out for her.

He could do this.

Right?

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_

 _I wanted to update sooner but my hand needed surgery (again) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider came out so I've been pretty busy. Plus, Florence and the Machine concert is next Wednesday and I've got tickets! So excited!_

 _Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!_


	38. Chapter 38

"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."  
 _\- Ingrid Bergman_

Chapter 38

"Make sure to pull her seat for her."

"Shiro."

"And make sure to open the door for her."

"Shiro."

" _And_ be back by ten."

"Shiro!"

There was a pause. "Fine."

Keith sighed in relief.

"Ten-thirty."

"Shiro!"

Keith looked up at his brother with a scowl on his face. Shiro stared back perfectly serious. Matt who was watching the exchange with a wide smile on his face decided to speak up. "Come on Shiro, let them stay later than usual."

"Besides," Hunk piped in where he sat on the sofa in Keith's room munching on the last batch of cookies he and Lance had made earlier. How the yellow paladin wasn't spilling his darkest secrets was a mystery to him. Perhaps he was immune because he had helped in creating them? Either way, it was really unfair. "We're going to an amusement park Island. I doubt there will be doors for him to open."

"I doubt there will be fancy restaurants there as well," Lotor added where he sat with one leg crossed over the other on the edge of Keith's bed. Although he had spoken, his attention was solely focused on the thick pamphlet detailing all the attractions in the amusement park island they would be going to soon, courtesy of Queen Lexi. It looked more like a novel. "I see no mention of any restaurants here. Although," He paused, flipping to the next page where his yellow-blue eyes twinkled in excitement. "They have this game where you can win an Ikaroa."

Keith knitted his brows. "What in the hell is that?"

Shiro waved a threatening finger in his direction.

Keith ignored it.

"It says here that it's a long fish that supposedly gave birth to all the stars in the Milky Way," Lotor explained in joy. "Others say that they are the Mother Goddess of all the stars."

Matt stared wide-eyed and crawled over to his side to snatch the pamphlet from him. "And you can win one by getting a ball in a cup?"

Hunk paused in his chewing to look up in surprise. "Seriously?"

Keith rolled his eyes before going back to his meager stack of clothes. "It's probably a scam."

Shiro nodded where he was eyeing Keith's stack of clothes draped over the other side of his bed. "It's probably fake. Amazons lie and tease all the time." He narrowed his eyes. "They're evil."

Hunk chuckled, sending his leader and friend a cheeky grin. "I think they only do that to _you_."

Shiro pouted before turning his attention back to Keith who had taken the chance to quickly put on what he really wanted to wear in the first place. The black paladin's white brows furrowed. "Keith, are you seriously going to wear _that_?"

Keith sighed for the fiftieth time in the last half hour and resisted the urge to throw a pillow at his brother. "What's wrong with _this_ outfit?"

"Those pants are ripped."

Keith rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in frustration. "That's the _style_ Shiro!"

Shiro scoffed, his nose upturned. "It's the style to wear ripped pants? Since when?"

"Since forever." Keith, Matt, and Hunk answered.

Lotor frowned, tapping his lavender chin in thought. "It's…not bad."

Shiro turned his obsidian eyes to the Galra Prince. "Don't encourage him."

Lotor just chuckled.

"Are they supposed to look that tight?" Shiro continued as he walked around him. He was starting to look panicked. "Can you even _breathe_ in those?"

Keith rolled his eyes. "They're called skinny jeans and yes I can breathe just fine."

"Back in my day –" Shiro began.

Matt snickered and whispered quite loudly. "Sixty years ago."

Shiro's eye twitched. He threw a pillow at his friend who only laughed harder. "Men would dress in comfortable clothing. They'd tuck in their shirts –"

Keith groaned.

"They'd slick back their hair."

Keith made a gagging sound.

"Their clothes would be ironed."

Keith scowled at the look Shiro threw his way.

"They'd throw in a bit of cologne."

Keith discreetly sniffed at his armpits.

"And they'd wear bowties."

Keith looked at him in horror.

Matt arched a brow at his best friend. "Did you wear a bowtie on you and Allura's first date?"

Shiro opened his mouth and closed it. He frowned. "I was in my paladin armor…"

Lotor looked at him through his peripheral vision. He flipped to the next page. "Going on missions doesn't count as a date."

Shiro looked shocked. "What?"

Keith threw his hands up. "Exactly! I was shocked too!"

"But they should!"

"That's what I said too!" Keith exclaimed. Finally! Someone who agreed with him. Keith looked away with a pout. "Lance said it doesn't."

"Oh my god." Shiro paled in sudden realization. He stumbled back, his one hand resting on the edge of Keith's bed for support. "I don't think I've gone on a date with Allura."

"Well," Matt grinned. "You can go on one now." Matt got to his feet and took a few steps towards the door. He gave his friend a smirk. "Should I find you a bowtie?"

Shiro paled.

Keith grinned, eyeing his brother's clothes. "You should tuck in your shirt."

"But –"

"And slick back your hair." Hunk added with a teasing grin.

"I –"

"Iron those clothes." Lotor added joining in.

"Guys –"

"But most importantly," Matt started with a huge grin. He looked to Keith to Hunk and to Lotor with a conspirators grin.

"Don't forget your bowtie!" All four of them yelled simultaneously.

Shiro huffed, looking quite betrayed. "Okay, I get it. Dress how you want."

Sweet victory.

Shiro pursed his lips, opened his mouth to add more but before he could, Lotor cut in with a smile in Keith's direction. "Be confident, you can do this."

If anyone had told him a few months ago that he'd have the Galra Prince in his room helping him with his clothes and wishing him well on his date like any good friend would, Keith would have cut them. He'd had them committed. Boy had the times changed. "Thanks Lo-turd."

"Oooo!" Hunk covered his mouth. "He called you a turd!"

Lotor's smile disappeared only to be replaced with a scowl. "What is it with you and giving me names?"

"It's a sign of friendship on Earth." Matt explained.

Shiro shook his head with a sigh.

"That sounds like a lie." Lotor mused. "But fine. Two can play that game." He tapped his light purple chin in thought. "Have fun on your date you little shit."

Keith nodded in approval. "Now you're getting it bitch."

"Guys," Shiro stressed. "Stop it."

"Sure thing," Lotor and Keith said in unison. They grinned. "Space Dad."

Shiro covered his face with a groan.

Matt patted his friend's back with a laugh. "You have to admit Shiro, you walked right into that one."

"Do you have the ring?" Hunk nicely asked as he also patted a pouting Shiro's back.

Keith looked through his pockets before feeling a small bump on the back of his black ripped jeans. He exhaled. "Yeah."

Matt patted his back and sent him a proud grin. "Then just have a good time and we'll set up everything else in the location you told us about."

"Right."

To say that Keith was nervous was an understatement. He was pretty sure that this was the first time he and Lance were going on a date. That trip to the space mall didn't count. They hadn't even been dating yet. And according to Lance, all those missions where they almost died didn't count.

They should Keith thought with a pout. They'd been somewhere new. They'd eaten…interesting things. They'd had a good time beating up all their enemies, they'd bonded even more, they'd joked, and there had definitely been a lot of kissing. Wasn't that what a date entailed?

After everyone finished breakfast, Queen Lexi and Mr. McLane had left for another council meeting with the rest of the Voltron Alliance. Mr. Holt had left with them claiming that he wanted to check if Shiro's new prosthetic arm was done yet.

As soon as the adults left, the girls aka Allura and Ezor, had dragged Lance to her room to find her clothes for her and Keith's date. Everyone else followed while the rest of the guys minus Coran went to Keith's room to help him choose his own clothes as well. Apparently Keith had no sense of style. At least, that's what Lotor claimed. The red paladin made sure to punch him on the shoulder for the comment but let the Galra Prince plus Shiro and the rest come in anyway. It's not like he had much choice in the matter.

They'd try to break down the door otherwise.

Well, Matt probably would.

And Matt was very good at convincing Shiro to follow his lead.

Shiro beamed. "Hunk and I can cook you both a nice meal."

Keith and Hunk looked at him in horror. Matt almost fell off the bed.

The yellow paladin pursed his lips. "Shiro, buddy, I love you, I really do." He paused as Shiro arched a brow at him. Hunk took hold of Shiro's chin. "But you can't cook."

Shiro immediately scowled, wrenching himself from the yellow paladins' hold. "Yes, I _can_!"

Matt snorted as he stretched his long limbs on Keith's bed. He snuggled into the red velvet comforter with a happy sigh. "Offering people gum isn't cooking Shiro."

Hunk and Lotor looked at the leader of Voltron incredulously. Keith snickered. He remembered that. That was certainly a Thanksgiving to remember. Just sitting there in awkward silence because Shiro had somehow managed to screw up all the food that his mother had cooked only for the evening to get even more awkward when Shiro brought out a stack of gum and asked if anyone wanted a piece. It was Turkey flavor he claimed. Matt had fallen off his chair in a fit of laughter.

Shiro's face turned slightly red as he waved a finger at his best friend. "That was one time."

Before Matt could retort, his bracelet let out a little ping. He had a message. Bringing it up to his face, Matt quickly read the message before he bolted upward with a huge grin. "Dad says your arm is ready!"

Shiro's own eyes lit up in excitement. "Really?"

"Yep," Matt nodded he started heading for the door. "Katie must have gotten the message as well. Let's go."

"Not until you put on a jacket," Shiro muttered.

Matt rolled his brown eyes but picked up his discarded brown jacket from the floor, quickly stripped it on, and pulled the zipper up before he started heading out.

"Keith, are you –" Shiro's voice cut off as he turned to him. Keith didn't pay his brother any attention as he put on his leather jacket; his black combat boots and began to walk out. He especially like his red V-neck shirt with three UFO's beaming up a bunch of cows. Double-checking that he had his Blade of Marmora knife strapped to his back he smiled. His Bayard was on his hip. And the blue crystal necklace was wrapped securely around his neck.

"Keith, you look like a hooligan!"

"Hooligan?" Lotor curiously asked Hunk as he wrapped his purple scarf around his neck. "What is that?"

"Something old people say instead of calling us troublemakers." Matt casually replied.

Shiro glared at his back. "For the last time, I'm not old!"

"Sure you're not buddy." Matt patiently said with a deadpan stare. "Because a young person still says that they're hip and cool."

"Don't forget off the heezy." Keith added with a devilish smirk.

Shiro gasped. His eyes narrowed. "Lance tattled."

"Yup," Keith grinned. "But back to my point. Young people don't say _any_ of that."

Hunk's chuckled as he walked out with a confused Lotor.

Shiro actually looked shocked at that. "They don't?"

"Oh my god." Matt opened the door without a backwards glance. "This is my best friend guys."

"Did you guys hear?" Pidge ran up to them looking excited and out of breath. The green paladin was wearing a green over-sized coat with brown mittens. Her black pants looked oddly comfortable. The green beanie on her head threatened to fall but before it could Pidge just brought it down lower. "Shiro's arm is ready!" She turned those excited brown eyes to Shiro. "Wait till you see what we did to it!"

Shiro squinted his eyes at her. "It's not pink or anything right?"

The green paladin huffed. "Dad said no."

"Thank god for that man." Shiro muttered under his breath.

"A pink arm would have looked lovely," Allura appeared behind Pidge in a purple jacket, her white hair was loose where it curled at the tips. Her pink pants and boots matched the scarf wrapped around her neck. The Altean princess smelled like lavender and pumpkin pie. Shiro's whole face practically melted at the sight of her. A dopey smile appeared on his face. Allura seemed pleased as she walked to his side before taking his hand in hers. Shiro's blush intensified.

Keith and Pidge made gagging sounds.

Shiro glared at them but one small peck to his cheek from Allura quickly wiped it away.

"You're going to get cold!" Mikey was yelling a few doors down. "At least put on a scarf."

A droll voice answered him back. "You do realize that I don't get cold anymore right?"

Lance.

Keith's eyes lit up and he began to make his way over there. He made sure to hit Pidge upside the head on the way when she muttered "Whipped."

He totally was; didn't mean she had to call him on it though.

"Why didn't you wear pants?" Mikey continued as Aiden exited the room and pinched his nose, praying for patience. His broad cheekbones twitched. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his trim brown hair with a roll of his eyes. The triplets exited next, their dark hair looking disheveled, as if they'd run their hands through it repeatedly in exasperation.

"I think she looks cute," Ezor gushed in her own long gray coat as she exited right after Aiden and the triplets. She clapped her green-gloved hands in delight. Zethrid and Narti walked out next, the two of them in big black coats that reached all the way to their knees. Narti had put on a hoodie under her coat, its hood covering her face as her cat Nova perched herself on her owner's shoulder for warmth.

They'd even put a hole on the back so Narti's tail could be free and loose.

Axca exited right after them looking around. When her yellow-blue eyes found Lotor's she immediately headed to his side. She was wearing her black bodysuit uniform, her black boots and a simple jacket. She looked ready for combat.

"Thank you," Lance sent Ezor a grateful nod as she finally exited her room with Mikey hot on her heels. Keith's breath hitched. The Amazon princess was wearing a short strapless royal blue dress, black boots that passed her ankles, a black-cropped jacket that ended at her elbows, the red crystal necklace around her neck and…Keith furrowed his brows.

"Are those my fingerless gloves?"

Lance jumped in surprise. She hadn't noticed him reach her side as she argued back and forth with Mikey. Her cheeks turned slightly red when she noticed him. Her jaw dropped and she swallowed. Hunk had to snap his fingers in front of her to snap her out of it. Guess he'd done a good job picking his clothes after all. "You have like five pairs."

Keith grinned.

Mikey shot a glare in his direction. "Are you the reason my sister is dressing like some rocker chick?"

Keith arched a brow.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Leah said you'd probably dress up like a punk." Keith's eyebrow twitched. "So she wanted to wear a similar style."

"Aiden!" Lance's cheeks turned red. "You weren't supposed to tell him that!"

"I think she looks badass!" Kyrian let out an impressed whistle.

Alan and Colt were already taking pictures of her.

Keith couldn't agree more.

Shiro frowned at her. "That dress is too short Lance."

Mikey shot the black paladin a nod. "Exactly! What the old guy said!"

Hunk's eyes got wide. "Ooooo. He called you old Shiro."

Matt and Pidge started snickering.

Shiro's brow twitched. He gave the older McLane sibling a cool glance. "Never mind." He gave Lance an approving nod. "It looks great."

Lance beamed at the praise.

Mikey spluttered in protest.

Their friends chuckled in amusement.

Shiro nudged Keith with his elbow. 'Compliment her' he mouthed to him.

Keith stood a little straighter. Lance gave him an expectant look. "Uh."

Nice. Smooth Keith. Real smooth.

He cleared his throat, his mind trying to come up with a really good compliment when his eyes landed on the edge of Lance's dress and he squealed. Everyone startled. Lance's grin grew wider as Keith surged forward on his knees to get a closer look.

As soon as he lifted the edge of her dress a little higher everyone released a strangled cry. Mikey started hyperventilating.

Pidge started cackling. "Damn Keith, at least wait until you're alone!" Matt covered his and his sister's eyes.

"Pull her dress down Keith!" Shiro said in an unusually high voice. "This is not what you do on dates!"

"Oh my." Allura looked away with an awkward cough.

"Earth males just go straight to dessert," Zethrid released an impressed whistle. "Should we leave them alone?"

Keith had no idea what his friends were saying but knowing them it was probably something stupid. He didn't have time to check and frankly he didn't feel like it. They basically disappeared from his mind.

Why?

Because the edge of Lance's dress had a stitching of a small UFO beaming up Mothman and Keith was trying very _very_ hard not to jump his fiancé's bones in the middle of the hall. Holy shit, the stitching was beautiful.

Lance grinned down at him. "You like it?"

Keith looked up at her with dreamy eyes. "Marry me."

Lance laughed. "Trying to."

Keith shot to his feet. "We could elope."

Lance put her arms around his neck and leaned in to him. "Will Elvis be there?"

"It wouldn't be a wedding without him."

The Amazon laughed, her laughter so infectious that despite trying to look serious, Keith's face broke into a grin and he soon joined her. "We'll have Kolivan dress up as him." Lance managed to gasp. "He already said he'd marry us."

"We'll get him the wig!" Keith wailed. The image alone had them both breaking into laughter once again.

Their friends looked confused.

"I think they forgot we're here," Hunk muttered.

Pidge scoffed. "Assholes."

Zethrid rolled her eyes and began to walk away. "I'm going to leave now."

The rest of their friends followed after her but neither Keith or Lance even noticed them leaving.

"Oh man," Lance wiped a tear from her eye. "He's going to be _so_ mad."

Keith snorted, putting an arm around Lance's waist. "It'll be our day, who gives a shit?"

Lance tapped his nose. "Language."

The comment only had Keith grinning even more; god he loved this woman.

And here he was being all-nervous about how their date would go. With Lance by his side, there was no doubt that it was going to be fun.

* * *

There were several people in the room, all of them looking excited when they finally made it to the engineering building. Hunk, Pidge and Matt went inside the room where they would be doing the process of putting on Shiro's new arm.

An Amazon wearing a lab coat over her short cobalt toga was looking over a console next to them. The woman's black hair was swept back, revealing broad cheekbones, ivory skin, and luminous brown eyes. Mr. Holt was standing beside her looking like a dwarf compared to her. He was nodding along to something she said.

Olwen was there as well, guiding Shiro to lie on the examination table. They'd already removed his jacket, leaving him in a simple white muscle shirt. Everyone else had to stand outside and look through the transparent glass as the people inside with Shiro nodded and began to move.

Grinning, the Holt siblings picked up a long steel box between them and set it down on the table next to their leader. Keith touched the glass that separated them and gave his brother an encouraging smile. Shiro smiled back. He looked nervous.

That made two of them. Lance gave his hand a squeeze while Krolia patted his shoulder where she stood on his other side.

With a dramatic flourish, Pidge removed the lid from the box and Matt and his father took out Shiro's new prosthetic hand with a grin.

It was mostly white with a touch of gray all the way to the elbow. It mimicked Shiro's other natural arm perfectly. Glancing up, Olwen's stern gaze found Lance's own blue eyes before motioning for her to come in. Lance looked surprised but let go of his hand to enter the room before stopping next to the middle-aged healer.

Keith didn't know what they were talking about but Lance nodded looking oddly serious. Two more Amazon wearing lab coats entered the room before gently taking the new prosthetic from Matt's hand.

As they began to adjust it, Olwen began to talk in small whispers as Lance nodded along, the two of them watching the procedure very closely. Olwen said something to the two Amazons who shrugged before Lance and Olwen took over.

Lance closed her eyes. Olwen did the same.

"Do you think there's a problem?" Allura nervously asked. The Altean princess was biting her pink manicured nails in worry.

Coran patted her back reassuringly. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

"Look," Aiden pointed. "They've attached it."

Shiro looked a little uncomfortable.

"Can you try moving your fingers for us?" The Amazon with the swept back hair asked.

Shiro nodded and began to concentrate.

His fingers twitched.

"Try flexing it." Mr. Holt asked.

This time it took a little longer but Shiro managed to do what they asked.

"How does it feel?" Pidge nervously asked.

"We tried to make it a little lighter so you wouldn't be weighed down as much," Matt replied.

"It's…okay." Shiro finally answered. "It's not moving as fast as I want it to though."

Olwen nodded and turned back to Lance. "Put your hands on the new arm." Lance did as she was told. "What do you feel?"

Lance hummed under her breath. "A surge of energy, like a circuit." She hesitated. "But…something feels off."

Olwen nodded in approval. "What do you feel?"

"Like…a wire is not attached."

"Then attach it."

Lance pursed her lips.

"You can do this. Your healing powers already know what to do." Olwen turned her hazel eyes to Shiro. "This might hurt just a bit."

Shiro nodded looking nervous.

Lance's hands glowed a warm green and Shiro jolted, a hiss escaped his lips but Lance just tightened her own, muttering an apology. After a few more seconds, Lance opened her eyes and stood back. "I think I got it."

"Try flexing your arm for us again." The same Amazon repeated.

Shiro took a shaky breath and looked down at his hand before flexing it. He sighed in relief.

Pidge and Matt high-fived. Hunk and Mr. Holt exhaled in relief.

"Good." The Amazon tapped a few things in the tablet in her hands before turning to Mr. Holt. "Next test."

Mr. Holt nodded, bending down to pick up a weight. When it became evident that it was too heavy, Hunk went to help him out. And when it became clear that it'd probably take them hours just to walk to Shiro's side, Lance took pity on them both and took it from their hands and handed it over to Shiro. He flexed with it no problem.

The Amazon grinned. "Good. Very good." She put her tablet down and reached for a handful of arrows. "Try lifting these in the air. If they feel too heavy you may put your hand down."

But Shiro didn't do that. He left his arm in the air for a good five minutes without breaking a sweat. Keith had practiced with those arrows before and he knew that each one weighed at least more than fifty pounds. The fact that Shiro was lifting them no problem was a very good thing.

"We adjusted it to be able to have the same strength as us," The Amazon explained. "Now I want you to concentrate and turn your arm into a sword."

"I can still dot that?" Shiro asked in surprise.

"Oh yes," the woman explained. "Your friends were very adamant about that."

Shiro smiled gratefully at his friends. Keith shot a suspicious look at his friends. Matt and Pidge looked like they had a secret. Hunk was covering his mouth. Even Mr. Holt looked on the verge of laughing.

Lance shot them a suspicious glance.

As soon as Shiro transformed his hand into a sword, Keith immediately understood though.

Lance's siblings started laughing.

Shiro blinked in surprise before turning stern eyes to the Holts. "Did you guys seriously add the light saber sound from Star Wars in my hand?"

"Yes."

"It'll be really helpful!" Pidge protested. "Try swinging it!"

Shiro still looked a little unwilling but did it anyway. The light saber sound sounded off with every swing.

Keith couldn't help but laugh.

"Merry Christmas Shiro!" Matt cackled.

"For the record we did try to stop them," Hunk said between chuckles.

"We got bribed," Mr. Holt chuckled. "Though to compensate we did add a gun blaster in there."

"Well it's something." Shiro grumbled. His friends beamed. "You guys still suck." He grumbled under his breath. Despite sounding mad his face looked more amused than anything.

Lance and the rest of the aliens in the room looked confused.

Lance huffed as she exited the room. "I have _got_ to see these movies."

"You and me both." Lotor grumbled besides her looking just as confused.

* * *

"Don't forget, we must be on our best behavior," Allura reminded them for the fifth time. "No more burning things." She turned those stern blue eyes to Lance and Shiro. The black paladin shuffled his feet looking embarrassed.

Lance gave her friend a cool glance. "No promises."

Allura and Shiro sighed like a bunch of disappointed parents. It looked like Space Mom and Space Dad were unsatisfied with her answer. They shouldn't be. Lance wasn't going to make a promise she wasn't going to keep.

"If my sister wants to burn stuff then she can go ahead and do it," Mikey huffed. "Besides, I'll be keeping an eye on my bro Keith here in case he makes any sudden moves."

Keith choked.

Lance pursed her lips. "You're staying with us?"

"Yep." Mikey nodded and gestured to the rest of her brothers. "We all are. I have baby pictures I want to show."

Lance paled.

Kyrian wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "And boy do I have _stories_."

"Remember that one time with the diaper?" Alan turned to Colt with a laugh.

"And the mud?" Aiden chuckled.

Pidge was already grinning. "Oh, this I have to hear."

"I want to hear about the diaper." Keith teased her way.

Coran clapped his hands. "I love stories!"

Nope. No way. Not going to happen.

Mustering up a charming smile, Lance began to talk. "You don't need to hear that." She turned her blue eyes to her brothers who were looking diabolical. "Didn't you guys want to check out the other rides?" Her brothers looked confused. "You know, the ones far, _far_ away from here."

Aiden gave her a cool glance. He'd put on his contacts today. "Oh, I see how it is. You don't want us to embarrass you."

Lance threw her hands up. "If you know the reason why aren't you leaving?"

Kyrian scoffed. "Because we're you're brothers."

"It's our job –" Alan began.

"No," Colt interrupted. "Our _duty_ to embarrass you."

Mikey pouted, throwing her his version of the puppy eyes. Lance was immune. "I just want to show off my pictures of you."

Lance pointed at a random direction. "Leave."

"Hell no." her brothers simultaneously said.

" _Now_."

"Make us."

By this point they had already gathered an audience. Amazons and Valkyries have stopped to watch the show. Shiro and Allura tried to intervene but neither Lance or her brothers paid them any attention. Pidge was recording the whole thing. Hunk and Matt looked nervous next to an amused Keith.

Zethrid and Ezor had already left. Axca and Krolia looked like they wanted to leave too though Lotor didn't seem to be budging.

Arguing wasn't going to solve anything. She was left with no choice. Whenever there was a disagreement in the McLane household there was only one thing that would settle things.

Lance narrowed her eyes. "Rock paper scissors?"

"You're going down Lei-Lei!" Kyrian shouted.

Shiro face palmed.

The rest of her brothers flexed and began to stretch. Lance stretched her arms, her legs and turned her head every which way to get rid of the cricks in her neck before she was ready. As one, all six of them gathered into a circle and began to remove their clothes.

Several people blanched.

Shiro choked. "What are you doing?"

Mikey gave everyone a strange look as he dropped his green jacket to the floor. "Playing rock paper scissors."

"Duh." Kyrian rolled his eyes as he removed his jacket.

"We just explained that," Alan removed his red jacket and turned to Colt. "Right?"

Colt nodded and tossed his own red jacket to the floor before he began removing his dark blue turtleneck.

"I swear," Aiden turned to Lance who had already removed her own-cropped jacket and was in the process of removing her boots. "Sometimes I think you're friends are hard of hearing."

Lance tossed her boots to the floor and began to remove her dress. Keith choked. "I know right?"

"That's not how you play rock paper scissors!" Shiro wheezed as he and Keith spread their arms out to try and cover her from view. Hunk picked up her jacket and tried to put it on her to no avail. Their audience booed at them.

"It is in the McLane family." Aiden explained as he took off his blue long sleeved shirt before dropping it on the floor leaving him in nothing but his dark skinny jeans. Lance wolf-whistled in his direction. Her brother had gotten some really nice abs. His face a little red, Aiden cleared his throat. "We play strip rock paper scissors."

Krolia put an arm around Keith's shoulders. "This is the family you're marrying into."

"Better get used to being naked!" Pidge cackled.

The black paladin gave Lance and her brothers a dirty look.

Lance let out a giant sigh at the look, tossing her head back dramatically, and paused in the process of removing her clothes. " _Fine_." Her brothers looked disappointed. "We'll keep most of our clothes on."

"Oh, thank the heavens." Allura breathed as she fanned herself. It didn't stop her eyes from roaming each of Lance's brothers in appreciation though. Something Shiro also noticed and did not seem happy about.

Her dress halfway off leaving her in only in her black bra, Lance stepped forward into the circle her brothers had formed and grinned, unaware of the women taking pictures with dreamy looks. "Ready?"

Grinning back at her in only their boxers, her brothers grinned. "Bring it on!"

They lasted nine rounds before Aiden and Lance were the last ones standing.

Mikey had been the first one out. Then it was Colt, Alan and Kyrian.

Lance and Aiden circled each other like a bunch of predators.

Hunk was biting his nails. "The suspense is killing me."

"I know right?" Pidge was clinging to his left side, her brown eyes wide as she watched them.

"Who do you think will win?" Matt whispered anxiously.

"Lance." Keith automatically said. "She's got this."

"I agree." Lotor responded as he watched the showdown. "Lance is unpredictable but she usually gets her way."

"Earth games are so fascinating," Coran murmured quietly to an enraptured Allura.

She and Lotor nodded, their eyes never once leaving the sight before them.

"This is ridiculous." Shiro said in an exasperated voice.

Several people shushed him.

He gave them all a dirty look.

"Come on Lance," Keith whispered encouragingly. "Don't make me lose this bet."

"Yeah!" Mikey cheered on the floor in his red boxers. "Kick his ass Lei-Lei!"

Aiden threw him an angry look. "Dude, I'm on your side."

"Oh, right." Mikey sheepishly laughed. "Habit."

Lance sent her older brother a pout. "You're not cheering for me?"

Mikey seemed to have stopped breathing.

The triplets were on him in seconds. "Don't listen to her dude!"

"She's playing mind games!"

"Quit stomping on his heart!" Kyrian shouted at her as he wrapped a too still Mikey in his arms. "He's delicate!"

Lance's bottom lip wobbled. Her eyes got misty. She sniffled. "I thought we were close." Mikey wheezed. Lance almost smirked. Now for the finisher. "Big brother."

"We _are_ close!" Mikey shot to his feet. "Take this nerd down Lei-Lei!"

Her brothers gave him a harsh glare. "Mikey!"

Lance took the chance to step forward, her closed hand opening to reveal what she'd chosen.

Stumbling forward in surprise, Aiden thrust his own hand to the middle and opened his own hand.

There was a moment of silence as everyone leaned forward to see what they had chosen.

Aiden had chosen paper.

Lance had chosen scissors.

The crowd took a sharp breath.

And then Mikey was scooping Lance in the air shouting at the top of his lungs. "And the winner is Leah!"

The crowd dissolved into cheers. People were hugging each other. Some were crying in joy.

"Man." Krolia exhaled in awe. "I think I love this planet."

Keith snorted shooting his mom a wide smile as his eyes went to Lance who was still being paraded in the air thanks to Mikey. "You and me both."

* * *

As the crowd that had gathered finally disappeared Lance and her brothers began to put on their clothes with a grin. Her brothers were still shooting dark glares at Mikey for betraying them but he didn't seem to care. He was too busy looking at his sister with pride.

Lance had missed strip rock paper scissors. The last time she did it was four years ago when she and her mom had gone to Cuba. Lance didn't remember what the argument was about but beating her aunts and uncles at rock paper scissors was always fun.

As she finished tying off her boots, she turned to see that the rest of her friends' cheeks were already flushed with cold. Some burrowed deeper into their coats. Was it that cold? If it was she couldn't tell. Her blue eyes went around the amusement park island with barely contained excitement. Some Bruno Mars song was blaring through the speakers. The place was packed and it wasn't even ten yet. She'd talked a lot with the Amazons in how she wanted this specific island designed. She wanted the rides to be both scary and exciting. She wanted to give it an Earth kind of vibe.

Her friends had talked about how much they'd missed their homes back on Earth. Lance did too. She still had plenty of family back in Cuba. She missed her abuela and her little cousins. Her aunts and uncles. Her dad had six other siblings, all of whom who already had children of their own as well. Thanksgiving dinners were certainly one of her favorite holidays of all time. The house would be packed.

Children would be running around chasing each other. The house would smell of posole and tamales. The men would be out in the yard drinking and watching the game while the women would put on their novelas as they gossiped and made food.

Her aunts would drag Lance's mom into the kitchen in hopes of teaching her how to cook to no avail. In the end Lance's dad would take over her part while her mom tried to control the running children in the house. The triplets would be among them blasting the kids with water guns while Mikey and Aiden gave the rest piggyback rides or joined them in their tea parties.

After dinner they'd all go to the small fair out in the town that they had every year and just have a good time. Lance looked up at the giant roller coaster that stretched around the whole island, to the dart games where you had to pop the balloons, and to the boots and stalls selling candy apples and bananas smothered in chocolate to the churros.

Rides stretched out in every direction, squeezed in the spaces between vendors, casting thick shadows over the cobblestone streets. Hot air balloons as well as gryphons and firebirds filled the sky. The fountain in the center of the island was filled with aquamarine water that threw a cascade of bubbles in different colors into the sky, giving the island a dreamlike look.

Lance knew that if you touched one of the bubbles it wouldn't erupt. It'd feel soft to the touch.

She hoped her friends liked it.

And…she gripped the transparent bracelet attached to her wrist. She hoped to find a suitable time to give Keith the engagement ring she and Shiro had picked out for him. How should she do it? Should she get down on one knee, say a pick-up line that had him swooning and pop the question? Should she do it at night when everything looked better? Or should she do it at midnight after that mandatory event that everyone was required to go to?

Speaking of that special event…

"I know we're all going to split up here," Lance started. Her friends turned their attention to her. "But whatever you're doing or wherever you are, just make sure to head to the docks around eleven. Once there you will be given instructions on what to do."

Pidge arched a brow. "Why?"

"It's a surprise but there's something we do at midnight that is absolutely mandatory."

Her friends looked over at Keith with worry. Keith looked alarmed as well. Strange. Should she read their minds to find out what _that_ was all about?

 _Don't do it_ her inner voice said.

Lance huffed and shook her head. No, she better not.

She didn't want to be _too_ nosy.

"Uh," Keith licked his lips nervously. He shared a glance with everyone else. "How long does this event last?"

"About an hour." Lance tapped her chin. "And after that there's a dance before we party till the morning."

Keith deflated. He looked like someone had just proven to him that Mothman was actually _not_ real and bragged about it to his face.

Lance crossed her arms over her chest. She cast her friends' a suspicious glare. "Why? Do you guys have something to do at that time?"

Her friends immediately protested. Lance wasn't fooled for a minute.

"A-anyway!" Allura clapped her hands. "Don't worry, we'll all be there at this mandatory event. Don't worry!" She began to tug at Shiro's wrist. "Now remember what we said and just behave yourselves!"

"No more stripping!" Shiro shouted at Lance and her brothers.

They scoffed.

"And remember to have fun!" Coran added after.

As Allura dragged the black paladin away, Shiro whispered something in Keith's ear and gave everyone an unreadable look that had them all nodding.

Oh, how she wanted to read their minds!

Coran offered Krolia his arm. "To the candy apples milady?"

Krolia gave him a strange look but took his hand anyway. The two of them disappeared into the crowd. Mikey came up to her and gave her a bone-crunching hug before letting go. "We'll be leaving now. If you need us just call me instead."

Aiden slapped his shoulder as the triplets dragged him away.

Axca and Narti began to drag an unwilling Lotor to a booth with water guns. As soon as they were gone Pidge turned to the rest of them. "Now that the old people are gone –"

"I'm telling Shiro." Matt threatened with a smile.

Pidge narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Anyway. Now that the old people are gone, let's go check out the big roller coaster!"

"Are roller coasters fun?" Keith curiously asked.

Hunk vehemently shook his head. Pidge pushed him aside to stare at Keith with wide eyes. "Have you never been to an amusement park? What about a fair? Or a carnival?"

Keith looked away with furrowed brows, his eyes on a nearby food cart. "Not really."

Right. The whole foster kid thing. Of course he hadn't been to one. Lance latched onto his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry, I'll show you how it's done."

"Starting with the roller coaster!" Matt crowed.

Hunk started groaning as they made their way there. He didn't stop even as the Amazons ushered them to the front of the line, and he didn't stop as they climbed into the two-person cart where he sat beside a grinning Pidge who had just barely passed the 'tall enough to ride test.' Lance and Keith sat in the cart behind them while Matt sat next to an Amazon by the name of Neomi. The two immediately began to hit it off, Matt even showing off some of his best pick-up lines that had Lance throwing him a thumps-up and Pidge groaning.

"Why do I always let you guys talk me into doing dangerous things like this?" Hunk groaned in front of them where he was gripping the bar so hard his knuckles had turned white. The seatbelts made a cross over his body as he fastened it on as tightly as he could. The ride hadn't even started yet. "We could be doing something fun like the tea cup ride I saw on the way here!"

"Because you love us." Lance answered him. Her answer had him throwing her a half-hearted glare.

As everyone else settled down, one of the Valkyrie's in charge of the ride began go down the line to hand brown paper bags and something to bite on to everyone. Hunk looked alarmed.

"Is it too late to get off this thing?" He squeaked.

"Yes." Pidge grinned at him.

Hunk looked down at the items in his hands with horror. "Oh my god."

"It'll be fine," Matt nervously said. He turned to Neomi who was looking excited. "Right?"

Neomi paused. After a minute she handed her own brown bag to him and patted his hand. "I think you'll need this more than me."

Matt blanched.

"How long until this starts?" Keith demanded looking for all the world like he was taking a leisurely walk on the beach. Lance was sure that once the ride started that expression wouldn't last very long. In fact, she was really hoping it would turn into a huge smile. "I'm getting bored."

On cue, the attendant gave them a two-finger salute and flipped a switch, sending them into motion.

"You better hold on to your mullet lest it gets blown away Keith!"

Keith sent her a scowl that looked more like a pout. "It's not a mullet!" Lance gave him an unconvinced look.

They were already at the top. Firebirds and gryphons chirped at them as they flew by them. It was a little windy today and the sun was out, perfect weather to have a date. Lance gripped the bar in front of her and Keith took her lead. Hunk was trembling at the front. He'd made the mistake of looking down. "Oh my god. I'm going to die!"

That was the last thing he said before they took a nosedive and went down. Hunk and Matt screamed bloody murder as they zigzagged in ways Earth rides never did, it had them constantly jerking in unexpected directions. At one point they completely left the tracks as they did a loop and began to fall only for them to flip and land on the rails below them, sending them hurtling into the ocean. Just before they did, a sphere like shape surrounded each cart and everyone got a good look at the Myr people swimming by before they were thrust outside again. Keith's screams had turned into roaring laughter. Pidge was cackling. Lance's hair was blowing in every direction but she didn't care.

And here came Lance's favorite part. Sphere like shapes surrounded their carts once again and suddenly Hunk and Pidge began to scream at the front.

Why?

Because there were no more rails.

"Lance?" Hunk turned to give her a panicked look. "There's no more rails! Is this normal?"

Lance didn't answer.

"Lance?!"

Lance and Keith gripped their bars tighter. Keith began to grin maniacally. "Hold on!"

And then they were falling into the ocean. Matt and Hunk started sobbing. Pidge began to scream. The carts separated until they were all in a straight line. And still they were falling.

"I regret everything!" Matt hollered.

His black hair whipping in his face, Keith turned to her with a slight frown. She had to give him props. He wasn't freaking out about falling from really high places. Then again, this is the guy that flew their hover bike off a cliff with a smile. "Lance?"

Lance just grinned. "You'd better bite down on something!" She threw her hands in the air. Keith mimicked her. "Here comes Ozzy!"

Eight red tentacles suddenly sprouted from the ocean with a deafening roar, all eight limbs retracted and as the eight carts began to go down, the tentacles hit them simultaneously with such force that it had Lance's ears ringing.

Everyone screamed and shrieked as they were thrown in random directions spinning. Lance could see the whole island zoom by within seconds. They all looked like a blur of colors. Hunk and Matt's sobs had turned into hysterical crying by this point. She could hear them from whatever direction they'd been thrown in.

And as they began to reach the end of the island, an unknown force suddenly jerked Keith and Lance's cart downward and Lance opened her eyes to see them back on the rails. This time a sobbing Matt and a cheering Neomi were at the front. Pidge and Hunk, the latter throwing up in his paper bag, were behind them. Keith and Lance landed behind them with a hard thud, the two of them out of breath, their hairs sticking up in every direction. There were five more crashing thuds as the other carts landed behind them and then they were off once again, only this time it was a slow, smooth sailing as the ride came to a gentle stop and they stopped before the grinning attendee.

"So?" The Amazon and the Valkyrie asked as everyone wobbled off the ride. Every passenger looked like they'd been threw a hurricane. Their hair stood on end, some people were stumbling over each other, and others looked like they'd forgotten who they were. "How was it?"

As if to answer her, Hunk snatched Pidge's brown paper bag and hurled. Matt curled in on himself on the floor as Pidge fell on her butt beside him looking dazed; her cropped brown hair standing on end. Lance was sure she herself didn't look any better.

Lance gripped a happy looking Keith's hand and shrugged. "It was all right."

Hunk hurled some more.

* * *

Groaning, Hunk stumbled to the nearest trashcan and threw away his now full of vomit paper bags. Lance offered him a water bottle and a piece of gum, which he took with a small glare and a huff.

"I had no idea roller coasters were so fun," Keith hummed in wonder, still grinning from ear to ear. His hair was still a little mussed. Reaching forward she began to fix it to his embarrassment. Batting her hands away he turned to the others. "Want to go again?"

Matt, Hunk and Pidge actually paled.

Hunk took several steps back and shook his head. He made a cross with his hands. "Nope. No way. I refuse to go anywhere else with you two psychopaths."

Lance made a loud, exaggerated noise of mock offence, leaning away from her best friend as she put a hand to her chest. "Psychopaths?"

Keith just shrugged like it wasn't the first time he'd been called that. It probably wasn't. He smirked. "That's fair."

Lance held her offended face for all of five seconds until the corner of Hunk's lips made her snort and elbow him. "I'm not a psychopath." Her friends and even Keith gave her a look. She huffed. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Pidge started. "But I definitely don't want to ride that roller coaster again." Matt nodded vigorously beside her. "Once was enough."

"That's true." Lance nodded. "It's not something for children."

Pidge's eyebrow twitched. "Why are you looking at _me_ when you say that?"

Lance studied her nails. "You're imagining things."

"Liar."

"We'll just ride something else," Matt hastily added before she and Pidge could resort to blows and wiggled his brows at her and Keith. "Now you two can enjoy your date."

Keith and Lance blushed.

"Just make sure you keep your make out sessions to PG-13." Pidge grinned smugly. "Not everyone enjoys watching you two go at it like a bunch of rabbits."

Keith spluttered.

Lance clicked her tongue. "You're all just jealous."

With one last wave and a knowing smirk from Pidge, the three of them separated from them and began to talk about the other rides they could go on instead.

Left by themselves, Lance turned to Keith with a grin. "So? Want to go again?"

Keith's answering grin made her bounce on her toes. "Oh, fuck yes."

* * *

They rode the same roller coaster two more times before deciding to check out other rides in the vicinity. They went on one where they sat in a bunch of seats along with twenty other people before a screen. Keith thought it was going to be some kind of movie and he prepared himself to not look too disappointed, but he was pleasantly surprised when the screen turned on and it felt like they were soaring. The seats they were on began to vibrate, they dipped down, and it felt like they were gliding. It felt like they were passengers in a space pod. Another ride that he liked was one where you got on a swing, strapped yourself in, and swung outward as the ride twirled you around.

There was just so much to look at. So many wondrous displays and loud noises and laughing Amazons. The food on display let out mouth-watering scents that had him drooling. The architecture was a mix between Greek, Mexican, and something futuristic.

And yet, somehow, no matter where he looked, Keith's gaze always wondered back to the Amazon beside him. To Lance. She was excited to show him everything, her hand pulling at his wrist insistently, a huge smile on her face as her other hand pointing at various things he was sure he was going to enjoy.

Keith had lost count on how many rides they had been on but it didn't matter. He was enjoying himself. In one of the gift chops they passed, Lance had tried on an enormous yellow floppy hat and some huge sun glasses where she did an imitation of a rich white lady that was so frighteningly accurate that Keith couldn't help but double over in laughter. The whole world seemed to be spinning as they got off their latest ride, making Keith hold on to Lance lest he lose his balance. Though Lance herself didn't look too good either.

Well, she still looked good.

She _always_ looked good.

Her balance on the other hand? Not so much.

She took another step and toppled over to the floor with a laugh, pulling a wobbly Keith to the floor with her. It had them breaking into laughter that sounded more like a wheeze. A few Amazons stopped to ask if they were okay but they just waved them off. Once their laughter had died down, Lance pointed to something at the distance. "We should do that one next."

Keith followed her gaze, all the way to the docks where he could see a clutter of people milling round what looked like Jet Ski's. "Some kind of race?"

"I think so." Lance got to her feet and held out her hand for him to help him up. "I didn't help with this one so I'm kind of curious to see what it is."

Keith shrugged. "Fine by me."

It took them about twenty minutes to get there, mostly because Lance stopped to buy some kind of kebab that looked like a rat on a stick. She assured him it wasn't but after a lot of whining and a whole lot of pouting, Keith finally gave in and tried some.

It wasn't bad.

It was actually really good.

But one look at the smug look on Lance's face had him shrugging his shoulders and stuffing his hands inside his leather jacket. "It was all right."

"Keith Wilhelm Kogane, you are a dirty little liar."

Grinning at the adorable pout his fiancée was giving her, Keith just shrugged and walked away leaving Lance to catch up to him with a huff.

When they finally got there the sun had already risen in the sky and the day had grown a lot less chilly. They refused to take off their jackets though. They made it to the starting line, surprised to see Lotor and Axca also participating.

The Galra Prince gave them a wave before he and Axca climbed on what looked like a purple jet ski. Lotor at the front and Axca behind him. The two had removed their coats due to the change in weather. Turns out it _was_ a race. The rules were quite simple. The ten groups of two had to race around all five islands, shooting at the bulls-eye signs that the firebirds, gryphons, or even the sea creatures will have somewhere in their body, and make it back to where they first started. Each pair was handed only one gun that rubber bullets, they didn't want to hurt any creatures, while the other person drove the jet ski. Whichever team had the most points by the end of the game would win.

They couldn't shoot at other competitors. No bumping other skis. If you fell off your ride, you were out of the race; it didn't matter if only one person from the team fell. No powers were allowed. That rule had every Amazon letting out a whine and a grumble. Every Jet Ski had a booster that would greatly give them a boost but it could only be used twice so they had better use it wisely.

Simple right?

Keith thought so too.

That is, until they started.

"We should do something about your hair." Lance suggested.

Keith looked at her in confusion, making Lance fondly roll her eyes at him.

Taking the gun in her hands, Lance tucked it in her belt before reaching into her jacket's pocket, and moved to stand behind him. Without warning, her hands began running through Keith's hair, _which was fine_ – Keith was fairly sure he'd stopped breathing but somehow managed to keep a cool look despite the wolf whistles and kissy faces the other competitors were throwing his way. Lance pulled his hair up off his neck. When she was finished, Keith lifted a hand to his hair and felt the small ponytail with a smile.

"There," Lance murmured quietly to him. "Not only will this increase our chances in winning but it'll also make me go crazy over you." She gave him an appreciative look. "Looking good Kogane."

His cheeks turning a slight red, he coughed into his hand and climbed on the Jet Ski, his hands on the handlebars. He needed to _not_ look at Lance right now. "Just get on already."

Stifling a laugh that had him sending her a scowl, Lance took her seat behind him, wrapped her own hair into a ponytail, and wrapped her hands around his middle. "Let's win this."

Keith grinned; this was going to be fun. "Let's kick some ass."

He wasn't at all surprised when Lance lightly punched his shoulder. " _Language_."

* * *

The first thing he noticed was the wind. If Keith's hair wasn't done in a ponytail he was sure that his hair would be whipping around his face. The Jet Ski was fast; it was like riding a motorcycle. Keeping up with the other competitors was a simple feat. Metal like butterflies flew by them, recording everything back to the screens in the island they had just been in. At first nothing happened, it was just smooth sailing, drops of water occasionally hitting him in the face, the pressure of Lance's hands wrapped around him, and then suddenly, _things_ began to sprout up from the aquamarine ocean.

It had Keith and the other competitors swerving to avoid running into them. Some shouted. There was a yelp followed by a splash before a woman's voice rang out from one of the butterflies. Giant white pillars sprouted from the ocean in random places almost making them crash.

" _And the first team is out!"_

Dozen of firebirds and gryphons flew high above them, some in front of them, and others behind them, and then Lance and the others were suddenly shooting.

"Don't miss." He goaded as he swerved to avoid what looked like a whale's fin.

Lance scoffed behind him. "I never miss."

The flying creatures in the sky shot out at a zig-sag, some flying so low they almost threw off a few competitors. Lance squeezed the trigger behind him, releasing a barrage of rubber balls that hit their targets head on.

The woman announcer let out a squeal that had all the contestants wincing. _"That's our princess! Isn't she cool?"_

Lance let out a groan as the other competitors whistled in her direction.

That announcer was totally bias.

It didn't matter that her targets were moving. Lance wasn't missing at all. They were making good headway and they had gathered quite a lot of points. Everything was going great so of course that's when things had to get difficult. Keith knew the moment he heard an earth-shattering wail that they were fucked.

He was right of course because moments after, eight gray tentacles shot to the sky below them and sent him and the rest of the competitors upward like a catapult projectile. Several people screamed. Some fell of their rides. The ocean was thirty feet below them. Momentarily weightless, Keith gritted his teeth as they began to fall back into the ocean, he managed to yell a 'hold on' to Lance who tightened her grip, before they were submerged into the ocean.

The impact felt like being hit with stones. Keith accidentally bit his lip, the metallic taste washing away as Keith pushed the Jet Ski upward to get them back into the race. They were almost there when Lance began to urgently tug at his jacket. His cheeks puffed from holding his breath, Keith turned his head slightly in her direction to see that she was pointing at something.

Turning, his eyes grew wide as something purple and long with big shiny teeth that looked a lot like a mix between an anaconda and an eel raced towards them. Actually, make those three creatures. His eyes growing wide, Keith gripped the handlebars tighter to get them the hell out of there. Time to use that booster.

From his peripheral vision he could see a few other competitors struggling to get away from their own sea creatures. One group had a group of Myr people tugging them off their jet ski. Lotor and Axca were among the competitors, somehow still on their ride, as they tried to fight off what looked like a brownish shark with horns. Others were wrapped around a gray tentacle that belonged to a huge octopus while others had already abandoned their rides and were just trying to get to the surface. Keith didn't know much about Amazon games but was any of that allowed? With one last push, Keith let out the air he'd been holding as their jet ski resurfaced.

The creatures that had been following them didn't seem to care though. They leaped at them from a few feet away but Lance was ready. Keith hadn't noticed it before but each one had a bulls-eye sign on their bellies. With them leaping over them, Lance was able to hit the bulls-eyes dead on. She hit them all in quick succession.

Keith could have sworn he heard the creatures click their tongue in disappointment before they dove back into the ocean and swam away.

Keith could only gap in amazement as he turned his head to look at a dripping Lance. "Holy shit." All of a sudden he felt strangely out of breath. Keith's chest filled with pride and before he could stop himself, his hands were around Lance's face where they pulled her forward until he was kissing her with all the force of what he felt. He conveyed his awe, how proud he was, how utterly in love he was with her until they had to break for breath, both of them breathing harshly and panting.

Her lips slightly swollen, Lance cleared her throat. "Told you I never miss."

The words had him surging forward once again and Lance's cold wet fingers pressed against his skin, and even though they were kissing, Keith could feel Lance's lips curl into a full on smile.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, they won.

Before they could even reach the finish line, a loud horn had sounded off indicating that since all the other teams had already fallen somewhere along the way, Keith and Lance won by default.

What did they win for their troubles?

Free meals from any food stall in the island.

Keith felt that they should have gotten to at least keep the Jet Ski for their troubles but he supposed this wasn't too bad either.

It had given him a reminder of how good of a shot Lance was though, and hey, the make-out session was pretty great as well.

But the real reward?

Seeing Lotor shriek about his hair as Axca tried to comb it back into something better certainly made his day.

* * *

"Ma'am, I am a trained soldier and the leader of Voltron and I can assure you with perfect certainty that this game is _rigged_."

The Amazon behind the counter at the shooting gallery gave him a droll stare and popped her green bubble gum. "Maybe you just suck."

Shiro felt himself bristle. Beside him, Allura nervously wrung her hands. "Come on Shiro. Just drop it."

"But clearly its –"

"What's going on?" A familiar voice spoke up.

Turning, Shiro and Allura turned to see a wet looking Keith and Lance holding hands, too wide smiles on their face, as they made their way over to them. The black paladin really hoped they hadn't gotten into any trouble.

Glancing at Keith's left hand Shiro was surprised to see that Lance hadn't given him the ring either. Perhaps she was waiting for a good opportunity.

Or maybe she'll have the chance to give it to him when Keith himself proposes to her all over again.

Resisting the urge to pout like a toddler, Shiro pointed at the shooting gallery and scowled. "This game is rigged." Lance gave him a dubious look. "I hit the bulls-eye each time and the targets refused to go down."

Keith gave him a strange look. "What do you want with an ugly stuffed animal that looks like a turd playing a guitar for anyway?"

Allura's face turned slightly red. "That's called a Midget Bunyip!" She stomped her foot. "They are majestic creatures!"

Keith shrugged. "Well, it looks like a turd."

Lance looked away to hide her laugh.

Shiro had to physically hold back his girlfriend lest she kill his baby brother for being an ass. Though he secretly agreed that it _did_ look like a turd playing a guitar.

Lance shrugged. "Maybe you just suck."

The Amazon behind the stall vigorously nodded her head. Her gentian-blue eyes got a dreamy look as she looked up at the Amazon princess. "That's what I said too!"

Shiro sent the woman a scowl. The Amazon scowled right back at him.

See?

Amazons were _evil_.

"Okay, miss hotshot." The Amazon behind the counter bristled at the tone Shiro directed at Lance but he paid her no mind. Not even when she flipped him off which he _did_ see. Rude. "You try then."

Shrugging, Lance stepped up to take the rifle the woman behind the counter offered her and turned to Keith. "Guess I'm winning you a stuffed animal." Keith's lips twitched. "Which one do you want?"

Fixing his eyes into a blank stare, Keith's eyes roamed around the prices before they zeroed in on a purple one that looked a lot like a mini hippo. Keith _loved_ hippos.

Lance gave the red paladin a knowing smile. "Ohhh." Keith's whole body twitched. "Because it looks like a hippo right?"

Keith huffed and looked away. "N-no. It's just better than that turd looking one that Allura wants."

Did Keith want to die?

Allura's tone was calm though her blue eyes were blazing. "Shiro, I might just kill your brother today."

Shiro groaned. "Please don't."

"It's so cute Keith." Lance gushed, fluttering her lashes at the red paladin. Maybe Lance wanted to die too. "Who knew you liked cute things as well?"

"Well," Allura gave Keith a teasing grin. "It's not as sophisticated but I will admit that it _is_ adorable." Turning to Lance with a grin, she pretended to whisper in the Amazon's ear though everyone clearly heard what she said. "Can you imagine him cuddling up to it at night?"

Lance's smile widened and without warning the two princesses's squealed.

Keith looked Shiro straight in the eyes and deadpanned. "Kill me now."

Chuckling, Shiro lifted his new hand and pointed a finger gun at him. "Blam."

Lance turned indignant blue eyes at him. "What the heck was that?" Huffing, she grabbed the pistol and pretended to fire at them. "Don't you mean, Pow! Pow! Pow!"

Keith gave her an unimpressed look. "What was that noise?"

Lance grinned. "Laser guns."

"No Lance," Hunk said with an upturned nose as he suddenly appeared. Matt and Pidge trailed after him holding bags of churros. Shiro was kind of jealous. "I think you mean Prew! Prew! Prew!"

Lance looked unconvinced. "That sounds more like fireworks."

Tilting her glasses higher up her nose, Pidge handed her bag of churros to her brother and did a finger gun. "Technically, they're more like Pa-choo! Pa-choo! Pa-choo!"

"OK!" Shiro pinched his nose. "Enough with the bad sound effects!" His fellow paladins pouted. "Besides, it's more like Blam! Blam! Blam!"

Were the poses he did for each Blam necessary? _Yes_.

Keith sounded outraged. "What?"

"You're crazy." Pidge added with a roll of her eyes.

"No way!" Lance continued.

"Uh, wrong!" Hunk finished.

Shiro crossed his arms over his black jacket and looked away. "You're all in denial."

"Everyone shut up," Lance fumed quietly. "I'm going to win my kitten a stuffed animal." Shiro and Allura snorted. Pidge choked on her churro.

"Aww," Hunk cooed. "You guys gave each other pet names?"

"Kitten suits you Keith." Matt cackled.

His cheeks slightly red, Keith sent his fiancée a warning look. Lance ignored the look and continued. "Prepare to be _amazed_."

Shiro crossed his hands over his chest. This ought to be good.

Keith gave him a cheeky grin. "You're going to regret challenging her Shiro."

Shiro rolled his eyes. We'll see.

The Amazon behind the stall leaned forward with an eager grin. "Will it be hard mode your majesty?"

Shiro blinked. There was a hard mode? What mode had _he_ been on?

Lance's voice turned challenging. "Oh, definitely."

The woman excitedly handed her another rifle and stepped back before pushing a button from the controller she was holding. Amazons and Valkyries who were playing nearby paused in their own games to watch their princess. Lance seemed to like the attention judging by the wide smile she gave the crowd. Some battle music began to play and suddenly the wall inside as well as the stall itself began to expand, the targets moving so far back that Shiro had to squint.

And then the targets turned into small metallic balls and began to move in random directions. Shiro felt his jaw open. This seemed much harder than the time he played it. Twirling the rifles in both hands, Lance closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

This game was timed.

The player had twenty seconds to shoot as many targets as they could and however many points you get at the end will depend on what prize you can get. It didn't matter that your target exploded because you hit it. Unless you hit the little bulls-eye it had, you didn't get the points.

Lance opened her eyes and squeezed the triggers, releasing green rubber balls, each target exploding once it was hit. There was so much powder raining down in the air that Shiro could not, for the life of him keep count on how many Lance had shot.

And then Lance was running, her shots never stopping as she caught up with the moving targets that were flying down the line. People began to cheer. Bodies pressed closer, jabbering excitedly as their princess continued shooting.

When it was finally over, it took a moment for everyone to register that the game was over. There was colored dust everywhere but everyone's eyes went to the little box that had tallied the points.

Shiro's eyes went wide. "Seven hundred and twenty points?"

The crowd burst into applause. Lance sent him an innocent smile that had him bristling. "Looks to be working just fine."

"Oh, your highness." The attendee gushed. "That was amazing!"

Lance pointed at the purple hippo looking stuffed animal, and handed it over to Keith who looked both thrilled and mortified at the same time. Turning to him, Lance sent him a charming smile. "Shall I win something for Allura too?"

Shiro scowled.

"Ooooo!" Hunk's eyes got wide. Pidge and Matt broke into laughter. "She called you out Shiro!"

"I can do it!" He huffed as he took the rifle from the attendee who was already shaking her head.

"Don't strain yourself." Keith teased, his arms wrapped around the too big stuffed animal.

"Don't you have a hippo to cuddle?" Shiro snapped back.

Keith's face turned red in embarrassment but he still managed to flip him off.

Allura placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shiro, you don't have to go so far to get me a stuffed animal."

Shiro clenched his jaw as he stepped forward. "Nope. You wanted that turd looking stuffed animal." Allura's eyes narrowed to slits. Crap. Had he said that out loud? "A-anyway, I'll get it. Don't worry."

* * *

It took him three times but he finally got that blasted animal and a happy face sticker with the words 'you finally did it!' from the grinning attendee but he got it.

Despite the laughing he received from his fellow paladins and Matt, seeing Allura smile and hug the turd looking stuffed animal to her chest made it all worth it.

The kiss she placed on his lips wasn't too bad either.

It was as they were all making their way to another game when he felt it.

The minute Shiro felt the hairs on his arm stand on end he knew something bad was coming.

Lance stiffened where she walked next to Keith. She sniffed the air. "Something wicked this way comes."

"Well that was ominous." Matt grumbled.

Keith and Hunk gave her a strange look. Pidge's eyes narrowed behind her glasses. "You guys have a weird feeling too?" Shiro and Lance nodded. Pidge rubbed her bare arms. They'd all removed their jackets by now. The weather had turned warmer. "Something's telling me to make a break for it."

"I don't feel anything." Hunk commented. He turned to Matt, Keith and Allura. "What about you guys?"

They shook their heads.

Shiro eyed his surroundings with a wary eye. Looking over at Lance and Pidge, who were eyeing their surroundings with suspicion as well, he frowned. He had a bad feeling. And judging by Lance and Pidge's reactions he wasn't the only one.

But why?

Was something bad going to happen?

His gut told him _yes_.

The minute he felt a clammy hand wrap around his bicep Shiro knew he should have run for the hills. "Best friend," Slav whimpered as he rubbed his face on his shoulder. Shiro felt vile going up his throat. "I am sad."

Upon seeing who had made an appearance, Lance and Pidge turned on their heel to run but before they could Slav pulled the two of them close for a hug. The girls shrieked.

That's what they got for trying to leave without him.

Maybe he should have everyone do another teamwork exercise because _some_ people constantly forgot that you never leave a man behind.

"Umm, is everything all right Slav?" Allura kindly asked him. Behind her, Hunk was holding onto Keith and Matt's sleeve when they attempted to run.

"I am so sad." Slav repeated, ignoring her.

"Dude, you okay?" Hunk tried next.

Slav ignored him too.

"They asked you a question you ass!" Keith finally snapped. Slav didn't so much as look at him. The red paladin looked ready to murder him. It took both Hunk and Matt pulling back at his shirt to stop him.

Their shrieking finally dying down, the girls gave Shiro a look that pretty much translated to 'talk to him'.

The black paladin clenched his jaw and looked away.

Hell no.

Slav tightened his hold on them. _"I am so sad._ " He repeated.

Shiro almost rolled his eyes. How many times was he going to repeat it?

After an intense stare down with Lance and Pidge, the Amazon princess sighed in resignation and turned to Slav. "Umm, why are you sad?"

Slav looked up with misty eyes. "I'm so glad you asked."

Like they had much of a choice Shiro thought with a roll of his eyes. He had to stop doing that or else his eyes would stay lodged at the top of his head. Despite how wimpy he looked, Slav had a hell of a grip.

"Cyra broke up with me!" Slav cried, big fat tears running down his cheeks. "Why?"

"She finally came to her senses?" Shiro automatically supplied.

Pidge shrugged. "Because you suck?"

"You talk about other realities a lot?" Lance added. "Honestly, nobody cares about them. They're boring."

Slav looked offended. "My theories are interesting!"

"No," Shiro deadpanned. "Nobody here is interested in your dreams or what they might mean. It's extremely boring."

"I am _hurt_." Slav pouted. "I think this is the most hurt I've ever been."

Seriously?

 _This_ hurt his feelings?

"Your feelings have been noted." Lance shrugged. "And we don't care."

"Yeah," Pidge agreed. "Suck it."

Slav tapped his chin with a third hand. "But then again, only _true_ friends would tell you the real cold truth." He tightened his grip on them and squeezed their shoulders and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. Pidge and Lance shrieked. Shiro had to take deep breath lest he cause a scene. "You guys are the best." He let them go. "Now help me win her back."

"Oh." Lance edged away. "We're kind of busy right now"

"I just don't want to." Pidge looked away.

"I'd rather die." Shiro told him straight out.

Slav gave him a coy smile and elbowed him. "Come on best friend. This might be your last time to get some alone time with me." He winked.

Don't throw up in front of your girlfriend Shiro.

His face etched into one of disgust, Shiro edged away from him. "Yeah, not gonna happen."

"We were going to play a survivor game anyway," Matt hastily added. Shiro could have kissed him for the excuse.

"Yes!" Lance vigorously nodded her head. "There will be guns and knives and a whole lot of battling."

"We already made the reservation too!" Pidge added as she pretended to look disappointed. "Oh well."

"You're all liars." Keith rolled his eyes. "Just tell him you hate his guts."

Allura elbowed him hard on the stomach. Keith let out a wheeze.

They'd already tried it anyway and the little turd had totally pretended not to hear each time.

"Oh." Slav's shoulders slumped.

"If you let him join, I'll join Lance's team to beat the crap out of him." Cyra suddenly appeared looking annoyed as fuck.

Slav's eyes sparkled and he reached for her. "Darling!"

Cyra hissed at him.

Not that this wasn't a very nice scene to see but were they actually going to play this survival game?

Shiro turned to Lance. _Are there actually survival games in here?_

Catching his eye, Lance nodded slowly before turning to Cyra. "What did he do exactly?"

Cyra put her hands on her hips and huffed. "I was reaching for a dumpling and you know what he said?"

Allura and Pidge shook their heads.

Cyra made her voice sound like Slav's and made a face. "He said, 'Are you sure you want to eat another one? You're getting dangerously fat.'"

The girls gasped.

Shiro winced. Yeah, you never tell a girl any of that

Matt face palmed. "Idiot."

Hunk shook his head. "Dude."

Lance took a menacing step forward. "You're going down bitch." Keith's brows shot up in delight. Slav actually trembled. "No one calls my friends fat."

Cyra's green eyes turn misty. "Oh, Lance I knew you'd understand."

Tapping her bracelet, Lance began a brisk walk with a huff. The others walked hurried to catch up. "We'll need reinforcements though. I'm calling the cavalry."

"Sweet." Keith cracked his knuckles and ran to catch up to Lance.

"Guys," Hunk whined. "Just remember that it's a _game_. Don't go overboard!"

"This sounds quite fun." Allura told a grinning Pidge. "This will be some nice training for you guys. You've been slacking off too much."

The green paladin turned to give Slav a cocky grin. "I just want to shoot Slav in the face."

Slav trembled.

Groaning, Shiro followed after them with Slav still clinging to his bicep. Did this mean that Slav was on his team because he was so not okay with that.

"Guys?" Shiro pushed at Slav's head to no avail. He turned to Allura. "What about our date?"

Allura gave him a sheepish smile, her silver hair shining. "This will be a good addition. Besides," She gave Slav the stink eye. "He's not getting away with calling a girl fat."

Shiro's shoulders slumped.

God damn it.

* * *

When they stopped at a giant white building with huge columns it was to the sight of many familiar faces waiting for them. Lotor and his generals were there. Mikey and his brothers. Reyna, Adina, and Cesti. Even Krolia and Coran were present.

Upon seeing Slav, most of them scowled. Shiro didn't know if that was because Lance had explained what he'd said to Cyra or if they just didn't like him but at least he wasn't the only one who wasn't happy to see him.

At the sight of his sister, Mikey all but skipped to her side, scooped her up, and rubbed his cheek against hers. "Keith was boring wasn't he?" Keith bristled. "That's why you called your big brother right?"

As Lance and her brothers tried to dislodge her from her older brother's tight grip, the others headed their way. Once they were a good distance Reyna bent down to whisper lowly to the group lest Lance hear. "Preparations are mostly done."

"What about the food I made?" Hunk whispered nervously. "They still needed a few more hours to cook."

"Don't worry," Cesti replied, her blue eyes shining. "The rest of Lance's guards will take them over to her hideout once they're ready."

Cyra and Adina gave a thumbs-up.

Hunk sighed in relief. "Good. We want them fresh."

"Allura and I put up Christmas lights in the ceiling," Shiro added beside a grinning Allura. While Keith and Lance had been on their date, Shiro and the others had gone to work on setting up Lance's hideout once Keith had given its location to them to make it a little more romantic. Pidge and Matt had met up with them once they parted with Lance and Keith while Hunk went to the nearest kitchen and set to work on the menu with some help from Lance's brothers.

"Matt and I already set up the speakers and brought Lance's IPod over per Keith's instructions." Pidge went next. She turned to the red paladin who was crouched next to Allura. "You didn't let us know what song you wanted though. Will you be able to find it later?"

Keith nodded determinedly. "I'll find it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Slav whispered.

Everyone ignored him.

"Okay." Shiro nodded with a relieved smile. "Everything seems to be going well."

"Can I just say something?," Pidge raised her hand. The others nodded. "Lance's hideout is frickin awesome!" Reyna, Cyra, Cesti and Adina grinned proudly. "It looks like a lounge and you can even see the stars! Like dude, that is awesome!"

Shiro had to agree. Lance's hideout _was_ awesome.

Her chest puffing with pride, Reyna grinned. "We remodeled the place. Gave it a nice makeover."

"It was Cesti's idea." Adina added as she put a hand on the blond Amazon's shoulders. Cesti blushed. "All of Lance's guards pitched in. it took us a few months but we did it!"

"I'm sure she'll love it," Krolia softly said before turning to Keith. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now the rest is up to you."

Keith looked nervous but he clenched his jaw and nodded once.

Ezor clapped her orange skinned hands in delight. "Oh, this is going to be so romantic! Isn't that right Narti?"

Narti minutely nodded her head. Her cat Nova let out a hiss.

"We put flower petals all over to the room to give it a more romantic vibe," Coran added with a twitch of his mustache. Keith paled. "Everyone girl loves flowers. I'm sure Lady Lance will love it."

Zethrid and Axca made a face at that.

"I took care of the bets just like you told me," Lotor said to Pidge. His long silver hair was done in a ponytail. "Did you set up the cameras?"

Shiro blinked.

Cameras?

Bets?

Oh no. What were these guys up to _now_?

Matt and Pidge high-fived. "You know we did." The green paladin turned to the others. "You guys made your bets?"

Everyone nodded. Even Allura. Slav still looked confused. That made two of them.

"Wait!" Shiro harshly whispered. "What bets? And what do you mean you put cameras in there?"

Keith was nodding along, his gray-blue eyes hard. "What he said. What the fuck are you guys talking about?"

Before their friends could answer another voice interrupted them. "What are you guys whispering all the way over here?"

Everyone jumped, shooting up from their crouch to glance over at the Amazon Princess who was eyeing them suspiciously. Her brothers came to stand behind her looking panicked.

"That's what I want to know too!" Slav demanded. Everyone gave him the stink eye. "They were talking about a surprise."

Everyone paled.

Slav opened his mouth and suddenly Cyra was there, her hand over his mouth lest he ruin everything. "Ignore what he said," Cyra gave a nervous laugh. "He's just talking nonsense since we broke up."

Lance tilted her head. "I could have sworn I heard my name though."

"What?" Hunk nervously laughed and looked away. "You're hearing things dude."

"Y-yes," Allura nodded along. "You must have heard wrong."

"Are you sure?" Everyone looked away from the Amazon princess. "I'm sure I heard my name."

Why couldn't she just drop it?

"That's because we were talking about Keith's new magic trick!" Pidge suddenly shouted. Everyone turned to her in surprise. Keith slightly jumped as Pidge turned to look at him. "Keith has a new trick and he was just showing us to see if you'd like it."

"E-exactly!" Coran was quick to add. "That's why you heard your name!"

Lance looked skeptical. "Is that true?"

Shouts of agreements passed around.

Slav was still trying to pry Cyra's hand from his mouth. Thank god he was weak.

"Okay." Lance turned to her fiancée. Her expression turned excited. She looked like a child going to the candy store for the first time. "Let me see!"

Keith looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Uh..."

Lance's shoulders drooped. "Do you not want to?"

Mikey cracked his knuckles. "My sister wants to see a trick." His dark blue eyes narrowed. "Show her."

Keith turned to Shiro with wide eyes. He was clearly asking for help. Clearing his throat Shiro turned to Lance. "The thing is," Lance turned to him. She looked like she was about to cry. Shiro suddenly felt like an asshole. "Umm, the thing is…"Lance gave him the puppy eyes. Shiro faltered. His palms grew sweaty. "The thing is…Keith was just building up the suspense but enough time has passed so he'll show you now!" Keith glared at him with murder in his eyes. Shiro shrugged helplessly. "Go on Keith. Show her."

With one more glare aimed in his direction, Keith sighed. "Okay. Fine." Lance beamed. Keith coughed uncomfortably. "Just don't laugh if it's not good okay."

Stepping back, Keith held his right hand over his left forearm, slid his fingers down the length of his forearm in one swift move and suddenly Shiro understood what Keith was doing. Looking nervous, Keith made it look like he'd removed his thumb.

Lance gasped in alarm. "Your thumb is gone!"

Pidge face palmed.

Matt was biting his lips lest he start laughing.

Lance pulled at Hunk's sleeve while her other hand pointed at Keith. "Hunk did you see that?"

"Yes Lance, I saw." Hunk chuckled.

"How did he do that?" Reyna wondered. Her yellow cat eyes were wide with wonder.

Adina and Cesti leaned forward to see.

Mikey looked like he was going to pass out over the adorableness that was his sister. Aiden looked amused as the triplets raised their bracelets to take pictures of their sister.

"Astounding," Coran murmured to an enraptured Allura. "Who knew this type of sorcery existed?"

"Certainly not me," Lotor murmured just as shocked by Keith's magic trick.

Krolia looked proud.

Slightly grinning and definitely more confident, Keith brought his hand back to make it look like he'd just reattached his thumb to his hand. "Ta-da!"

Everyone stared.

Even Slav had seized his struggling to stare open-mouthed.

Seriously?

When no one said anything Keith began to look nervous again.

Shiro shook his head; no way this was going to fool –

"How did you do that?" Lance exclaimed as she practically leaped over to him and took both of his hands to inspect them.

"Magic." Keith grinned smugly. He looked relieved. "And a magician never reveals his secrets."

"Whoa!" Lance was practically vibrating as she inspected his hands from every direction. "That's so cool!"

Seriously Lance?

"I'm marrying a magician guys!" Lance boasted as she wrapped her arms around a now blushing Keith. And although he looked embarrassed his gaze turned fond as Lance continued to gush about him. She pressed her cheek to his and lifted him in the air. Shiro couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. "Feel free to be jealous!"

At least she was thoroughly distracted now Shiro thought as they finally made their way inside the building, Lance trying to bribe Keith into telling her how he pulled off his trick to no avail.

Perhaps they could still pull this surprise off after all.

* * *

It was boys vs. girls.

Shiro would have argued, no way in hell he wanted Slav on his team, if the girls didn't look so murderous. It kept any protest on the tip of his tongue die before he could voice them.

Perhaps they'd get lucky and Slav would be taken out quickly. Judging by the death glare Cyra was throwing at the yellow beak-like alien, Shiro's wish might just come true pretty soon.

As Shiro walked over to the circular metal plate that was on the floor, he couldn't help but fidget with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. It was a nice fit but he couldn't help feeling exposed. It left no room to the imagination.

"Anyone else feel like a power ranger?" Matt asked the group as he looked himself over on the wide mirror.

"We just need the helmets." Hunk added.

"What's a power ranger?" Keith innocently asked as he checked his belt for his weapons. They'd all been given weapons made out of rubber. The gun blasters had the ability to chance into the sniper mode, which was annoying since Lance would definitely use that to her advantage. Each jumpsuit had a small gray bulls-eye sign on the chest and the back. In order to defeat your enemy you had to hit one of those marks to get that player out.

And in case they got separated, they were given some form of device that worked as a walkie-talkie attached to the back of their ears.

Whoever had the most teammates left by the end of the game won. Or if the opposing team took out its leader they would automatically win.

Shiro had been chosen as the leader of his group and had been given a red bulls-eye sign on his back and chest to let Allura's team know he was the leader.

They didn't know who the leader was in Lance's team though. Keith claimed it was Lance. Shiro claimed it was Allura. Out of everyone in the group, those two had the makings of a leader. It _had_ to be one of them.

Lance's brothers shook their heads at the red paladin. "Oh, you poor boy." Keith bristled at Mikey's tone. "We have so much to teach you."

"This is a bad idea." Slav paced around the room. Four of his arms were wringing themselves nervously while the other pair wiped at the excessive amount of sweat he was leaking. Hunk offered him a towel that he gladly took. "How will I win back my Cyra if she's trying to kill me?"

"Maybe next time don't call her fat?" Lotor deadpanned as he pulled his long silver hair into a tighter ponytail.

Slav ignored him. He turned his dark pink eyes to him and Shiro forced himself not to scowl. "Best friend, what should I do?"

Shiro didn't answer.

"Perhaps if you manage to stay in the game until the end that will somehow impress her?" Coran suggested with a tap to his chin.

Slav turned hopeful eyes to the Altean advisor. "You think so?"

Hunk shrugged where he sat cross-legged in his black jumpsuit next to Lotor. "Or you could, I don't know, apologize?"

Slav dismissed the yellow paladins advice with a wave of his hands.

Idiot.

Suddenly the door behind them burst open and three women, two Amazons and a Valkyrie, stepped into the room.

"Ready?" The Amazon with the green hair asked.

Shiro glanced at the rest of his team who nodded before turning back to the women. "Yes, we're ready."

"Excellent." The Valkyrie's white wings moved up and down in excitement. "Just remember, martial arts is allowed but you cannot kill your opponent. Even if you knock your opponent out, if you didn't hit at least one of their marks, the player will not be taken out of the game."

"And don't worry," the last Amazon with scales on her cheeks reassured them. "No powers are allowed. I've already informed her highness. You _might_ just have a chance."

"Don't you just love the faith they have in us?" Matt sarcastically replied.

Keith snorted, moving his head from side to side to get rid of the kinks. The scar on his cheek looked darker in the dim lighting. "We'll beat them."

The circular plate they were all on began to rise and with one last wave from the three women, Shiro and his group were sent upward where the game would begin.

The first thing he felt was the breeze. The second thing he noticed was that the ground was too bright and shiny and kept undulating. He had to squint down at his feet to see that the metal plate they were on was surrounded by blue waves that lapped over their boots.

There was water spreading from every direction but on closer inspection he saw the forest further out, just pass the waves. His eyes caught on a rippling square hanging like a warped pane of glass in the air. At first Shiro thought it was the glare from the sun but upon looking closer he realized that those ripples reminded him of the particle barrier that they used in the castle. So they were in some kind of dome like thing.

"Okay guys," Shiro turned to his team. Slav was the only one who was trembling. Oh, nope. Spoke too soon. So were Hunk and Coran. "We're sitting ducks out here. Let's get to the forest and once there we'll begin to hunt down the girls."

"Remember not to show fear!" Slav shouted in an attempt to seem strong as he glanced down at the lapping waves. Take your own device Shiro felt the need to say. Slav looked around, probably hoping Cyra was watching. "Nothing is sexier than self confidence!"

Several of his team arched a brow at that. With a groan, Slav picked up a long rubber sword with some difficulty and jumped into the ocean with a battle cry.

Everyone stared.

Slav did not resurface.

Crouching, everyone stepped closer to check if he was okay.

After ten seconds, only bubbles came up. Had the idiot sunk?

Shiro turned to Keith.

The red paladin arched a brow at him and crossed his hands over his chest. "Don't look at me, he's your best friend."

Shiro felt his eye twitch. He turned to Coran. "W-well he's your friend too."

Coran blinked and coughed uncomfortably. "Y-yes but shouldn't he count double for you? Best friend and fellow team member?"

Shiro turned to Hunk who looked worried. "Hunk? I heard you were a good swimmer. Why don't you, uh go help him out?"

The yellow paladin blinked. He fidgeted on the balls of his feet.

Shiro narrowed his eyes. Unconsciously, his "Space Dad" voice came out. "Hunk?"

"Okay, fine!" Hunk shouted. "I still can't swim! I never took those lessons that Lance or the Blades offered."

Shiro sighed. "Hunk, you promised you would."

"The Blades wanted to put me in with the little kids! I can't be swimming with a bunch of five year olds!" He sniffed. "Plus, they can be really mean when they sense weakness."

Keith snorted. "That's why on the first day, you have to beat up the biggest kid in the yard."

The rest of the guys murmured in approval. "He's right."

"Keith." Shiro tried to look stern. "That only applies in prison."

"Only if you let it be."

Shiro groaned.

Coran looked around the group nervously. "Umm, guys?" Everyone turned to him with a tilt of their heads. "What about Slav?"

Oh. Right.

Desperate, the black paladin turned to the Galra Prince and Lance's brothers who looked bored. "Guys?" They looked away. "Come on, one of you do it."

"Not my job." Mikey huffed. "If it were my sister I might."

"Can't swim." One of the triplets shrugged. The other two nodded.

Aiden looked away.

Lotor pursed his lips. "The yellow paladin is right. He'd probably refuse our help. It's up to you."

Damn it.

Just as Shiro began to get ready to jump, a shot rang out from the distance startling them all. They were so preoccupied trying to figure out where the shot had come from that it took them another second to notice that the bulls-eye on Hunk's chest was blinking red.

He'd been shot.

And then two things happened at once.

The ground below Hunk opened up and the yellow paladin disappeared from the field with a startled yelp and a moment later some kind of anthem played, the sky brightened to a pinkish color, and a picture of Hunk widely smiling while clutching a teddy bear appeared in the sky with a huge red X over it.

"Everyone duck!" Shiro barked in such a commanding voice that everyone automatically did.

"Are we in the Hunger Games?" Matt shrieked as he put his hands over his head. "Because I feel like we totally are!"

Shiro didn't have time to answer because just then two more shots rang out and Shiro growled. They were easy pickings from this position. Aiden began to fire back in random directions. "Everyone into the water and head to the forest!"

"What about Slav?" Coran shouted as he dove into the ocean. Everyone else was already swimming towards the forest up ahead.

"This has to be Leah's doing!" Aiden shouted up ahead. "Only she and I are capable of making this kind of shot."

"Isn't our sister awesome?" Mikey crooned already further ahead.

"I'll get him," Shiro grumbled as he dove into the ocean after his team. He didn't have to swim too far to reach Slav. He was just a few feet below from where he'd fallen. His eyes were scrunched up together; his four pairs of arms were flailing as he tried to swim to shore.

Shiro reached for him and took hold of one of his hands before he moved his legs to go faster and up to the surface. Seconds later they broke for air and Slav took a lungful of air. Shiro didn't give him time to talk, just pulled him along to the forest where the rest of his team was already waiting.

This didn't feel like any normal forest though. They felt different. More…jungle like.

Keith pulled him by the wrist once they were close enough and hauled them both to their feet. They didn't have time for pleasantries though. He could hear footsteps approaching. Allura's team was close.

"Into the forest!" Shiro ordered. Slav took the opportunity to curl his whole body around Shiro's, which made it just a bit difficult to run.

"Duck!" Lotor commanded at him. Shiro dropped to the floor. The rubber knife in Lotor's hand whizzed over his head to hit its target. Shiro turned to see Krolia and Ezor roll in different directions and Lotor's knife landed harmlessly on the floor.

Aiden and Matt came to a stop and dove for the trees for cover before bringing out their gun blasters. Adina and Axca took out their own and began to fire from behind Shiro. Shots rang out from both sides. For rubber bullets they sure sounded like the real thing. Gritting his teeth, Shiro crawled on all fours to Mikey who had an arm extended in his direction, keeping his head down, as Slav trembled on top of him. With one more push Shiro's new prosthetic hand gripped Mikey's and the older McLane sibling hefted him to his side behind a clutter of trees.

"Oh, Shiro!" Allura sang, her voice sounding like it was coming from all directions. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Shiro swallowed. A team where Allura, Pidge _and_ Lance were on was never good. Those three together only spelled trouble. Normally it'd be fine since they were all on the same team but this time? This time they weren't. They were in separate teams and Shiro will admit: he was scared.

At that moment the sound of Pidge cackling somewhere in the distance made him pale. But what really had him on edge?

Lance was nowhere in sight. Neither was Reyna.

And that was the scariest thing of all.

Out of everyone in the opposite team, Lance was the worst.

There was a girlish scream somewhere to the left and Shiro looked up to see the sky had brightened up, and a picture of Coran in a bath towel shaving his legs with a red X over it showed up in the sky while some kind of anthem played.

"Whoever chose these pictures is my new best friend!" Zethrid's amused laughter rang out.

Shiro was all for training exercises, getting his blood pumping and his heart racing, the feel of adrenaline coursing through his veins as his instincts took over was definitely one of his favorites by far but this felt more like a massacre.

Allura's team seemed more organized than Shiro's.

Two of his team members had already been taken out and his team members were doing their own things.

"We should move." Mikey commented. His dark blue eyes scanned the trees. "If I know my sister, which trust me I do, then she's probably hiding in the trees."

"He's right," Keith panted as he suddenly appeared from the bushes. "Lance is probably already aiming at us while we sit here distracted by her team." Despite the fact that everything he was saying was bad news for their team, Keith was grinning, bouncing on the balls of his feet, jittery with excitement.

"Retreat!" Allura's voice rang out further back. Shiro blinked.

Why were they retreating?

The sounds of footsteps fading made him cautiously look behind him.

"I don't know about you guys," Matt panted as he ran to their side. "But let's take this chance to move."

"Yes," Shiro agreed as he finally pried Slav from his body. "Stick to the thick trees, they have snipers on their side."

"Anyone figure out who their leader is yet?" Aiden asked his gun blaster gripped with both hands.

"They were moving too fast." Slav commented. "Maybe it's my darling."

"Anyone see Leah?" One of the triplets asked as he wiped at a bead of sweat from his forehead. Everyone shook his head.

"Well," Lotor let out a whoosh of air. "That's not good."

Shiro couldn't help but agree.

* * *

They'd been walking for what felt like forever with no attacks, which was worrisome, when they finally came to a stop inside a cave that surprisingly enough Slav had found. They hadn't been able to find any drinkable water and with the sun beaming down on them, most of them were already annoyed.

"What if we drew some of them out to one side and overpower them with numbers?" Lotor suggested. The triplets were at the entrance of the cave keeping watch. "They might send more of their team members that way. While they do, the rest of us can split off and look for their leader while they're distracted."

"I don't like the idea of throwing our team members into a fight," Shiro said, but he had considered it. "Might be our best option though."

"Or," Mikey piped in where he was putting his damp shoulder length hair into a ponytail. He eyed Slav with interest. "We could send _him_."

Slav choked on the berries he was eating.

Honestly? Finding the cave they were currently in was the only useful thing he'd done since the game started.

"I agree," Aiden added with a contemplative look. "The girls are pretty pissed about him calling their friend fat. If he went out and got their attention I'm sure most of them will show up just to beat him senseless."

"Then we use the opportunity to pick them out one by one!" The triplets high-fived each other.

Shiro was already nodding, a wide smile on his face as he imagined how that would play out. "That sounds like a good idea." Slav sent him a look of pure betrayal.

Slav narrowed his dark pink eyes. "Is this because I chose Cyra over you?"

Shiro's whole body twitched. He gripped the rubber knife in his palms but before he could answer or most likely commit murder there was a sharp unexpected static coming from the small devices attached behind their ears that everyone flinched. The comms rang out loudly and then there was a new voice in Shiro's ears.

" _Hello, boys_." Pidge practically purred.

"God damn it Katie," Matt muttered under his breath.

Aiden whistled, clearly impressed.

" _Give up your leader and we might consider letting you all go_ ," Pidge continued, doing a fantastic job of sounding sadistic. It made everyone shiver.

Slav glanced over at Shiro, opened his mouth to utter the black paladin's name but before he could, Lotor and Keith pounced on him.

" _You have five minutes to surrender your leader or we will be forced to attack. This is your final warning."_ A muffled voice sounded behind Pidge. _"Oh, and Cyra says to come out so she can beat the shit out of you Slav."_ And with that, the comms fizzled back out to silence and they were left in utter stillness.

Matt broke the silence first. "So we're giving up Slav right?"

Shouts of agreement passed from the group.

Slav's protests went unheard.

"I doubt that will make Lance come out though," Keith rubbed his chin. "I still think she's the leader and if we want to win we have to take her out. Leader or not she's trouble."

"Maybe if we send our strongest fighters to deal with her we might have a chance." Lotor suggested.

"There's no need." Keith smirked triumphantly. "While we were running, I looked at our surroundings and I found something. I have a sure way of taking out Lance, I just have to get close."

Shiro eyed his baby brother dubiously. "And what is this great plan of yours?"

Grinning, Keith reached into the small bag attached to his belt and opened it to reveal his trump card.

Several people gasped in shock.

Slav whimpered and stumbled away from him.

"You monster!" Mikey barked at him. "You wouldn't dare!"

"He's bluffing!" Lotor backed away his eyes looking at Keith in horror. "You wouldn't go so far would you?"

"Against Lance?" Keith snorted as he clipped the small bag to his hip. "I'll definitely use it."

Matt trembled. "How were you able to pick that up?"

"She might not forgive you Keith." Shiro stated seriously. "It might ruin your date. Are you sure you want to?"

For a second Keith looked unsure but then he nodded resolutely. "This is something she has to overcome eventually. It'll be good practice."

Mikey put a hand to his shoulder. "Bro." His eyes grew misty. "I'll be there to comfort her when she gives you the silent treatment."

Keith flipped him off.

Shiro nodded slowly. "Okay, then here's the plan."

* * *

"Remember when I said that Cyra was fat?" Slav yelled where he stood in the middle of a clearing. Nothing but open fields greeted him. "Well, I take that back!"

Silence.

Trembling, Slav wrung his hands and slightly turned in the location Shiro and the others were hiding in among the trees. Aiden and Matt had climbed a tree, changed their gun blasters to a sniper rifle, and were keeping an eye out.

The plan was to offend the girls into coming out. And the best one to do that was none other than Slav. The guy had no tact. Shiro was sure that some, or at least _most_ , of the girls would come out of hiding just to beat the shit out of him.

 _He_ would.

He wouldn't even need prompting. He'd do it for free.

While Lance's brothers and Matt went after the girls that would come out Shiro, Keith and Lotor would go after the rest of the girls that hadn't showed up.

Sounded simple right?

" _Come on Slav_ ," Shiro whispered into the comms. " _Keep going. Aiden and Matt have your back in case anything goes wrong."_

Trembling, Slav turned back and squared his shoulders. "What I meant to say was that _all_ of you Amazons are fat!"

Nothing.

"All you do is eat and fight! Ever heard of doing your hair?" The trees on the other side slightly moved. Slav kept going. "Or dressing up nice? This is why most of you are single!"

A tree shook.

"I bet the only reason this planet doesn't allow males is because most of them didn't want to hook up with any of you in the first place!"

A few bushes rattled.

"And you look like Gorillas!" Slav finished. "Whatever that is…"

"That's it!" Cesti and Cyra appeared in the clearing. The blond haired Amazon looked pissed. "You're going down you turd!"

Aiden and Matt's shots rang out. Both girls managed to avoid it by rolling but Cyra took out a gun blaster and began to fire back. As Slav began to run back into the trees with a girlish shriek, Zethrid and Ezor joined the fight, rubber knives in their palms and faces etched into deep scowls.

The triplets burst from their hiding spot and engaged them in a fight.

Cyra was gaining in on Slav. There was murder in her green eyes.

Then Mikey charged in, his dark blue eyes going wide as he took in Cesti pointing a gun at him. She shot out a blast of rubber balls but Mikey jumped to the side, clipping the Amazon's shoulder with one of the rubber knives as they continued to grapple with each other.

Shiro didn't have time to worry about them as he began to run across the clearing at full speed, Lotor and Keith hot on his heels. Keith sliced at Zethrid, dodging when the woman thrust her knife at his shoulder. One of the triplets jumped on her back and the two rolled around the floor trying to stab each other.

Shiro didn't look back, though the sky suddenly brightened up, the anthem played, and a picture of Zethrid trying on a pink dress with a huge red X on it popped up. A picture of one of the triplets playing with a Barbie doll with a huge smile on his face followed after her.

"Where are they getting these pictures?" Lotor incredulously asked.

"Don't know," Keith panted with a grim expression. "But let's not get taken out. Who knows what pictures they might have of us?"

Shiro couldn't help but silently agree.

He had done a lot of embarrassing things in his life and if anyone could find proof of those, it was definitely the Amazons.

They'd made it deeper into the forest.

A shot rang out from somewhere up in the trees and Shiro and Keith scattered. Lotor dodged and rolled, jamming his elbow into one of the trees hard enough that a few fruits fell from it. There was a yelp and a crash.

"Ow," Adina groaned on the floor as she rubbed her neck. "That hurt."

Lotor didn't give her time to recuperate as he ran toward her, his hands holding onto two rubber knives, slashing at Adina she struggled to her feet. She managed to get a few feet away though.

A second later Adina was down on one knee, shooting as Lotor kept running toward her. But Lotor was fast and it didn't take much for him to spin out of the way, his blade held out to hit the bulls-eye on Adina's chest.

Adina rolled, her black hair coming loose from its braid, tucked her gun to her side, and pulled out two knives to intercept Lotor's attacks.

"Go!" Lotor barked at them as he tried to sweep Adina's legs from under her. No dice. She jumped out of the way. "I'll take care of her!"

Shiro and Keith nodded once and ran.

They'd only been running for no more than a minute before someone jumped out at Keith, his brother letting out a yelp of surprise as his feet were swept from under him. He recovered quickly though, rolling to the side and swiping back with his rubber knife.

His eyes went wide at the sight of his mother.

"Hello, Keith." Krolia greeted, something close to a smile on her face.

"Mother." Keith rolled his eyes with a huff. His gray-blue eyes twinkled in amusement.

"You should have just given up your leader," another voice rang out. Reyna. "Now you will suffer the consequences."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Where are Lance and Pidge?"

"And Allura?" Shiro felt the need to ask.

The two women smiled sadistically.

And that's when they heard it. The sounds of their teammates frantically screaming.

" _Shiro_!" Matt screamed into the comms. " _They're here_!" He sounded hysterical. " _Oh my god! No, step back!"_ It sounded like he was running. " _You demons! I have the power of anime and god on my side!"_ The sound of maniacal laughter rang out behind him. _"You'll never –"_

The sounds of more girls cackling in the air almost made Shiro wet his pants _._

A shot rang out and then there was only a beat silence before the anthem played and a picture of Matt in a girls dress while he checked himself out in the mirror popped up with a huge red X over it.

Matt was gone.

"You see?" Krolia crooned where she leaned against a tree with a smirk. "See what you made us do?"

More screams followed after and Shiro had to close his eyes.

It was pure chaos.

Were they screwed?

" _Oh god_!" Mikey screamed in terror. _"Leah, step back!"_ He began to sob. _"Don't make me hurt you!_ " His running feet came to a stop. " _Ok, fine! Just remember that I will always love you!"_

Another shot rang out and a picture of a sleeping Mikey hugging a Lance pillow in a room full of pictures of _just_ Lance plastered all over the walls popped up in the sky with a red X over it.

"Mikey, what the fuck?" Keith whispered as he took in all those pictures. "Now that's just creepy."

If one listened closely one could just barely hear Lance's horrified scream in the distance.

" _Best friend!"_ Slav cried out. " _I'm not going to make it, just know that if I hadn't met Cyra then maybe, in another reality, you and I…we could have been something."_ What the fuck was taking so long? Someone shoot this guy already. " _But we were never meant to be…"_

Keith had to stifle a laugh.

Asshole.

" _Is that all?"_ Pidge's annoyed voice rang out. " _Because we really want to shoot you."_

" _Not the face."_ Slav whimpered.

Silence.

" _I'll shoot the face and you shoot the bulls-eyes?"_ Cyra suggested _._

Pidge laughed _. "Deal."_

" _Wait, no –"_ Slav's cries were cut off with two bangs.

Moments later a picture of Slav winking at the camera, a rose on his lips while he did a provocative pose appeared in the sky with a red X over it.

The sound of several people gagging all over the field followed.

" _The horror!"_ Pidge screamed.

" _God damn it Leah!_ " Aiden shouted. " _You could have taken my eye out!_ "

" _Just…stay…still!"_ Lance grumbled.

The sound of a groan followed and then Aiden's panicked voice came back. " _Wait! I'm your favorite brother!"_

" _Bye-bye!_ " Lance and Allura sang on the other side.

The sky brightened up and a picture of Aiden covered in head to toe in bubbles while he played with little duckies in the tub appeared in the sky with a huge red X over it.

Seriously, where were they getting these pictures?

"See?" Reyna shrugged nonchalantly. She and Krolia were wearing the same jumpsuit as Shiro's team though there's had a hint of blue in it. "Should have given up your leader."

And then they were at it again, Keith jumping up and slicing forward with his knife at the same time Krolia kicked out, almost catching her son in the chin before he was able to spin away. Reyna's fists snapped out and Shiro only had moments to move, her knuckles snapping a tree in half.

They continued fighting like that for quite a while. All the while three more pictures popped out in the sky. One of Ezor up in the vents looking down at the Galra men while they changed in their lockers. Another one of Narti and her cat as they took a bath together followed by another picture of one of the triplets as he tried on a pink wig with pigtails.

They were screwed.

Utterly and completely screwed.

Most of his team was gone, the girls were having a field day with the remaining members, and Shiro was getting hungry. He always got a little snappy when he didn't eat for a while.

Plus, he was getting tired.

Was it just him or was the sun getting hotter?

It felt almost humid.

His breaths were coming in short bursts. A peak at his right confirmed that Keith was the same. It's a good thing Shiro glanced at his surroundings before turning back to Reyna though.

Why?

Because further ahead was quicksand.

They could use that.

"Keith!"

The red paladin ducked and threw a quick to his mother's midsection, pushing her back, before he turned to Shiro. The black paladin pointed with his head. When Keith's eyes grew wide and he threw a smirk at him, Shiro nodded in approval.

Coming to a unanimous decision without even talking to each other, the two of them grew a little more forceful in their attacks, backing the two women further back towards the quicksand. When Reyna's foot landed in the quicksand, she stumbled and let out a yelp. Krolia turned to her and Keith took the chance to push his mother inside the quicksand.

The two of them yelled in frustration, trying in vain to get out.

Panting, Shiro took hold of one of the vines wrapped around a tree, gave it a tug, and threw it at the two struggling women.

Reyna's hand took hold of the vine, her other hand clutching Krolia's wrist before throwing Shiro a dark look. "You'll pay for this!"

They were sinking pretty fast but Shiro was sure they would get out no problem but by then Shiro and Keith would be long gone.

"Sorry," Keith turned his back on them. He didn't sound sorry at all. "We have a game to win."

And with that, Shiro and Keith ran back in the direction they'd come from. The sounds of two frustrated screams following them all the way.

* * *

Shiro hadn't realized how far they'd gotten in the forest but after ten minutes of running and still no open field, he deduced that they must have gotten pretty far. While they ran another picture had burst into the sky. This one was of Adina having a tea party with Allura's four mice with a huge red X over it.

At least Lotor had gotten rid of another obstacle for them.

Reyna and Krolia were probably still incapacitated so they wouldn't have to worry about them just yet. Which meant that the other team had five girls left. And out of those five, only three of them could be the possible leaders. Shiro still thought it was Allura. But Keith was right, it could also be Lance.

And Pidge?

Maybe.

"Did you hear that?" Keith panted beside him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Shiro turned to his brother. "What?"

But Keith needn't have answered because that's when Shiro heard the sounds of footsteps behind them.

"Stop running!" Reyna snapped from somewhere behind.

Damn.

They got out much quicker than he thought they would.

"Look!" Keith pointed at the distance. "I see the open fields!"

Gripping the two rubber knives in his hand Shiro nodded. "Let's be ready for anything!"

Keith nodded, two rubber knives in his own hand.

With a battle cry, the two leaped into the field, ready to face anything, only to freeze mid-step, and gaped. When Shiro saw Allura first he felt his stomach fall to his feet.

But it's the sight of Lance and Cesti holding a screaming Lotor and the last remaining triplet up above their heads like trophies, Cyra, Pidge, Allura, and even Axca cheering, that Shiro felt something very close to actual fear.

Second thing he noticed? Allura, Lance and Pidge had smothered their bulls-eyes sign with mud making it that much harder to tell which one of them was the leader.

These girls were smart.

But they were dangerous.

Which is why they couldn't hesitate. No matter how much Shiro wanted to run and hide. The girls were distracted, they hadn't noticed he or Keith yet. Turning to his brother, he nodded, and the two of them leaped forward, weapons drawn and managed to take out an unsuspecting Axca and Cyra before running with all their might into the forest.

A picture of Axca tripping headfirst into white sand, her legs dangling in the air while Ezor looked on with a horrified expression filled the sky with a huge red X over it. A picture of Cyra leaping into the air while a Frisbee clobbered her face followed the picture.

Behind them the girls screamed like banshees and charged after them.

Of course they would, Shiro would be surprised if they wouldn't, but it certainly doesn't make the fear he's suddenly feeling go away.

"I'm free!" The last triplet screamed.

A shot rang out.

"Aww damn it!"

The sky brightened up to a pinkish color and a picture of the last triplet wearing high-knee socks popped into the air with a huge red X over it.

"Lance's brothers are weird." Keith felt the need to add while they were running for their lives.

Shiro snorted.

Ain't that the truth.

Bushes rattled to the left of them and just as Shiro was about to throw his rubber knife at the runner, the sight of long silver hair made him rethink that decision. The Galra Prince had gotten free.

He had a bruise on his left cheek, and although his eyes looked haunted, he seemed to be okay more or less. Plus, more back up was always good.

"Those girls are vicious!" Lotor panted, matching his pace to theirs lest they lose sight of each other. "The things they did –" He put a hand over his mouth. "They could have taken us out anytime they wanted!" his voice cracked. "Instead they played with us!"

"Keep it together Lo-turd!" Keith snapped at him, jabbing his elbow to the Prince's face. "We can still win this!"

And suddenly Cesti and Pidge appeared on opposite sides from them, the green paladin on top of Reyna's shoulders, running with them with gleeful expressions on their face. Shiro chanced a look behind him and immediately regretted it.

Lance, Allura, and Krolia were gaining on them, their smiles way too wide and sadistic, that Shiro felt like he was choking on air and convulsively swallowed before he did something stupid like scream or throw up.

He didn't know which one would come out.

Better to keep his mouth shut.

Cesti began to fire at them with her gun blaster; two rubber balls hit him on the shoulder hard enough to bruise before Lotor threw a leg out towards the blond Amazon's legs. Cesti stumbled but continued running.

That stumble was all Lotor needed though. Her body had gone down just a smidge, giving the Galra Prince a perfect view of the bulls-eye on her back. He didn't waste any time and stabbed the thing with his rubber knife.

"Aww fudge!" Was the last thing Cesti screamed before the floor opened from below her and she disappeared. A moment later a picture of Cesti wearing a horrified expression as she gazed at her dreadlocked black hair burst into the sky.

"You'll pay for that!" Pidge avenged.

Grinning, Shiro looked ahead and realized they were coming upon a lake.

And then Keith suddenly let out a wheeze as Lance tackled him to the floor, the two of them calling each other not so pleasant names as they rolled in the mud before Allura and Krolia tackled he and Lotor right after him.

They'd made it to the lake though.

With a grunt, Shiro managed to push Allura off him before she could stab him with the rubber knife in her hand. He felt a little bad about the pained yelp she let out but quickly shook his head to get rid of the feeling.

This was war.

He had to be strong.

No matter how much Allura looked at him with big misty eyes.

She was faking.

Shiro knows she is.

But damn it. He can't help but worry just a smidge.

He didn't go check on her though so maybe he was maturing.

Allura clicked her tongue and ran at him. He'd forgotten how strong Allura was. A punch to his shoulder made him stumble back with a gasp. The Altean princess turned, doing a roundhouse kick only for Shiro to just barely avoid it.

"Give it up Lance!" Keith shouted at his fiancée as the two dodged and rolled, their fists making contact with the other's shoulders, legs, or face. "Don't make me hurt you!"

Lotor was busy facing off with Krolia, Pidge and Reyna. He seemed to e holding his own despite the disadvantage.

Lance let out an incredulous laugh and threw her head back. She switched weapons and pulled out her gun blaster and began to shoot. Keith cursed, dancing out of the way, though one of her shots managed to hit his leg. Keith stumbled, gritted his teeth, and kept edging away from her shots. Lance took the chance to leap onto a tree, the lake just below her as she took aim and waited to make the perfect shot.

"You leave me no choice!" Keith shouted. With quick precise moves, he reached for the small bag attached to his clip on belt, opened the bag, and threw its contents at his fiancée.

Shiro knew the minute Lance realized what Keith had thrown at her when her whole body went rigid.

Shiro suspected she was hardly breathing.

She stood absolutely still on the tree branch she was on, her blue eyes horrified as a black spider the size of Shiro's thumb landed on her nose.

Lance sucked a sharp breath from her nose and uttered only two words. "Aww crap."

It was the last thing she said before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell backwards, unconscious, straight into the lake.

Shiro wasn't the only one who screamed her name in worry.

But Keith was already diving in after her and as they waited for them to come up, everyone stopped their fighting, their gazes on the lake, waiting for their friends to come up for air.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty seconds passed.

Thirty seconds passed.

And just as Shiro and Reyna were getting ready to dive in after them, the sky brightened up and a picture of Lance and Keith popped in the sky.

They'd taken each other out.

Keith was taking a shower in his picture, shampoo in his hair which he had styled into two horns as he sang into a bottle of shampoo, his eyes were screwed shut with one hand in the air with a huge red X over it. Lance's picture was no better. She had fallen face-first into Kaltenecker's poop while the cow grinned at the camera with a huge red X over it.

Pidge snorted in the silence. "Okay. Those were pretty awesome pictures. Am I right or am I right?"

Shouts of agreement passed around the group, most of them laughed, until they made eye contact with each other and immediately got on the defensive.

The fight was still on.

Contrary to what Keith had thought, Lance had _not_ been the leader of her team. Shiro narrowed his eyes. Which meant it was either Allura or Pidge.

"You ass!" Reyna's outraged voice snapped everyone's attention to see that Lotor had managed to hit the bulls-eye on her chest. As the floor opened up below her, she threw her last remaining rubber knife and screamed in victory as it made contact with the bulls-eye sign on Lotor's chest.

"Crap." Was the last thing the prince uttered before the ground opened up below him and took him out of the game.

A picture of Reyna with the back of her toga ripped, revealing pink bunny underwear, greeted the sky with a huge red X over it. A picture of Lotor with shaved eyebrows followed the picture, his silver hair was done in an Afro with a huge red X over it while the anthem played made them all laugh.

That laughter soon faded when Shiro realized he was the only one left in his team. Allura, Krolia and Pidge stepped forward with an added swagger to their hips, and grinned ferociously at him.

Shiro swallowed.

He could still win this.

Allura or Pidge.

One of these two would give his team the automatic win despite having less team members. He could do this.

For a moment there was only silence.

And then they clashed.

Allura aimed a kick towards his face but Shiro stepped back, grabbing onto Krolia's ankle when she attempted to kick him as well, and threw her at his girlfriend. The two fell in a tangled heap of limbs with a groan and Shiro took the chance to grab onto Pidge.

The green paladin bit his hand and Shiro let go of her with a yelp. With a grin Pidge skittered away, disappearing into the bushes.

He hadn't realized she had such sharp teeth.

Jesus, that hurt.

Shaking his hand to get rid of some of his pain, Shiro felt his eyes widen, his breath stuttered, at the sight of Krolia right in his face.

Shiro didn't think, just gripped the rubber knife in his hand as tightly as he could, pushed her back with his prosthetic hand, and hit the bulls-eye on her chest. Krolia seemed more shocked than anything before the floor opened up below her and she disappeared.

As soon as she was gone, a picture of Krolia sobbing as she watched _The Notebook_ in her room, balled tissues scattered all over the place, appeared in the sky with a huge red X across it.

He shouldn't have taken his eyes off his opponent to see the picture. The moment he did, Allura had tackled him to the floor, her knife raised high, before Shiro rolled them until Allura was under him. His hand raised high to hit the bulls-eye on her chest, he didn't see Pidge until he felt pressure on his back.

He cursed.

Just as the floor opened below him and Shiro began to fall, his eyes went to a devilishly grinning Pidge who upon noticing his attention wiped the mud from her bulls-eye sign to show that it was red.

Pidge had been the leader.

 _Not_ Allura.

"Fuck."

It was the last thing he said before the floor closed from above him and he was left in darkness.

This game sucked.

* * *

 _I know, I know. Where's the proposal? Next chapter I promise! I just wanted to show Keith & Lance's date. And for anyone curious, the picture that popped in the sky when Shiro was taken out was a picture of Shiro in his room, dozens of empty Mac & Cheese boxes scattered around his room, tears running down his face as he ate another bowl of Mac & Cheese as he watched The Forest of Fireflies' Light._

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_


	39. Chapter 39

Good friends never say goodbye. They simply say "See you soon." -Unknown

Chapter 39

"Come _on_ Lance!" Keith begged. "How long are you planning on giving me the silent treatment?"

Lance didn't answer. She didn't even turn.

"It's literally only been half an hour." Pidge muttered under her breath.

Keith shot her a dark look.

Pidge threw her hands up and scowled. "Well, it's true!"

Keith huffed, well that half hour felt like an eternity. Is this how Lance had felt when Keith had ignored her for four days straight? How the hell had she done it? Lance had been giving him the silent treatment for half an hour and Keith was ready to pull at his hair and get down on his knees and beg her to talk to him.

But he won't because that'd be dramatic but still.

"I said I was sorry!" Keith continued as he tried to catch up to her brisk walk. "You got me back my punching me in the jaw and getting me out of the game though so I think we're pretty even."

Lance didn't answer. Her cheeks were puffed in anger and she was openly scowling.

The few women who saw her let out a squeak of fear before hastily making themselves scarce.

Keith let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his disheveled black hair before turning to Shiro for help.

His brother winced in sympathy.

He'd warned the red paladin that Lance would not take it well. But did Keith listen? Nope. He threw the spider he'd caught in Lance's face anyway, _knowing_ that Lance was deadly afraid of them. Sure it'd helped in taking her out of the game but still. He supposed using someone's fear to take them down was a pretty shitty thing to do. If someone put on a Barney costume and came at him for a hug, knowing that it was _Keith's_ greatest fear, he'd be pretty pissed too.

Still…Keith _had_ apologized.

And besides, Lance had to get over her fear of spiders eventually. Fainting each time she saw one was going to get her in trouble one of these days. What if she was in the middle of a fight like they'd been today at the survival game and she saw a spider and fainted in front of the enemy? She'd get herself killed. Keith wasn't always going to be there to catch her every time she saw a spider and lose consciousness.

Yes, it was a shitty move. Yes, he felt bad for doing it. But would he do it again? If it helped her get over her fear of them? Yeah, he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"Lance," Shiro turned to the Amazon walking ahead. Lance only slightly turned her head at him. When the game had been over her jumpsuit had been ripped from her hip and she'd been sporting a bruise on her cheek. Luckily, there were healers waiting outside for them just in case. Whatever injuries any of them had sustained during the game had been miraculously healed. And there had been a _lot_. "He did say he was sorry."

Lance clenched her jaw.

"And you do have to get over your fear of spiders eventually."

Keith vigorously nodded his head. Lance gave him a dark look.

"See?" Keith pointed at Shiro. "Even Shiro agrees with me!"

Lance only sniffed at him. "You don't get a say in this Shiro. You betrayed me too."

Shiro gaped from where he was walking behind with Allura holding onto his hand. "I didn't do anything!"

"Oh?" Lance arched a brow. Her hip cocked to the side as she came to a stop to cross her arms over her chest. "Were you not the leader of your group?"

"Well yeah but –"

"Did you not okay this plan of his?"

"Well, kind of but –"

"Shiro, stop talking before I tell everyone what you had to do to get me out of my room."

The black paladin shut his mouth so fast his teeth clicked together.

Pidge and Matt immediately rounded on him with devilish grins. "What did you do?" The two Holt siblings chorused.

"Must have been good if it got Lance to come out." Hunk rubbed his chin suspiciously. "Was it something embarrassing?"

Pidge gasped. "Maybe he bribed her!"

"Or," Matt joined in. "Maybe Lance demanded he do something so bad that he'd rather die than let us know." The older Holt sibling wrapped an arm around his tense best friends shoulder. "Come on Takashi, you can tell me. I'll only laugh at you for a little bit."

Pidge scoffed. "I won't."

"What did you do?" Allura curiously asked him. Shiro averted his eyes.

Damn, there went his back up.

"For the record," Mikey piped in as the Holt siblings continued to prod at their rigid leader. The older McLane turned to his sister. "I told him it was a bad idea but he didn't listen."

Keith glared at him.

"I can't believe he threw a spider at her though." Hunk sent the already distressed red paladin a look. "Dude, that was so not okay."

"Shouldn't you be upset that she took you out of the game before it even began?" Pidge arched a brow at the yellow paladin, momentarily distracted from prodding Shiro into telling them what he did to make Lance come out of her room.

"Nah," Hunk shrugged his shoulders with an easy smile. He, like the rest of them, had put on their jackets again. Keith hadn't realized they'd been playing that survivor game for hours but by the time they'd come out it was already eleven fifteen. He'd had a lot of fun though. Even _if_ his team had lost. "Lance taking me out was actually good for me. I landed in a buffet room."

"Wait, what?" Pidge looked over at Coran who was patting his stomach. "Is that true?"

The Altean advisor wistfully sighed. "Such nice delicacies."

"Come here Leah," Mikey opened his arms for her. "Let your big brother comfort you from this asshole."

Keith and Krolia bristled.

Lance ignored him too. Mikey looked like someone had shot him as he trailed after his sister like an abandoned puppy.

Keith shot Shiro another look for help.

The black paladin shrugged helplessly.

Keith sighed when an idea suddenly popped into his head before nodding determinedly and ran to catch up to Lance. He sure hoped this worked.

"Hey Lance!" The Amazon didn't stop though her pace slowed just a smidge. "What do you call a pig that does karate?"

Lance's brows furrowed as she came to a slow stop. She eyed him suspiciously as Shiro and the rest came to a stop a few feet away to see how this turned out. "What?"

"A pork chop!"

Lance blinked in surprise.

Keith's mind scrambled for more of those lame jokes he'd heard Matt constantly make. He didn't get them himself but Lance always seemed to enjoy them for some reason. "What do you call a bee that can't make up its mind?"

Lance tilted her head.

"A maybe."

Lance's lips twitched.

Keith began to grin. So far so good. One more. "What do you call a fake noddle?" Lance gave him her full attention looking faintly amused. Keith wiggled his fingers for dramatic effect. "An impasta."

Lance was quiet for a full three seconds before a snort escaped her mouth. Her hand flew to her mouth to cover the noise but one more wiggle of Keith's fingers and she was a goner. Another snort escaping, Lance threw her head back and laughed, holding onto her stomach as she tried to catch her breath. Keith was already grinning in relief. "Keith!" Lance let out another huff of laughter. "You made a joke! _Jokes_ actually!"

"I've been known to do those on occasions." Keith said in a deadpan voice but his smile only grew the more Lance continued to laugh.

"I know!" Lance's laugh slowed. She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and smiled. "But it always catches me off guard when you do."

He shrugged. "Well don't expect anymore. Trying to remember all those lame jokes that Matt constantly used on us –"

"Hey!" Matt cried indignantly. "Those jokes are gold! They can get you a girlfriend!"

"Says the guy whose still single." Pidge muttered under breath.

Matt grabbed his sister in a chokehold.

–"was hard enough." Keith continued over them. "I think I lost a few brain cells."

"Hey!" Matt turned to Shiro. "Tell your brother to stop talking nonsense."

Shiro only chuckled.

Keith took a hesitant step closer. Lance tensed. Shiro and the other seemed to be holding their breath. They weren't the only ones. The red paladin reached a hand and hesitantly placed it on Lance's cheek. "I'm sorry." Lance's tense shoulders loosened. "Dinner on me?"

His voice was barely a whisper. It was light but he couldn't quite mask the nervousness in his voice.

The Amazon's lips quirked upward. "Keith Kogane, are you asking me to finish our date?" Her tone was teasing. No hint of anger in her voice.

"That depends," Keith's lips twitched. His palms felt sweaty. He was definitely nervous, his cheeks felt warm as he scratched his cheek as he looked at her through his lashes. "Would you say yes?"

Lance's hand moved forward to push some of the hair out of Keith's face, tucking it behind his ear. The smile she gave him portrayed nothing but love. "How could I say no?"

Keith sighed in relief and his friends released the breath they'd been holding. Thank god they made up. He didn't like getting the silent treatment. Well, not from Lance anyway.

Hunk sniffled as he wiped a non-existent tear. "That was so cute."

Pidge fake gagged. "That was so sweet I think it gave me cavities."

Matt flicked her forehead. "Don't be rude."

Coran blew his nose. "True love conquers all!"

And then Lance pulled at Keith's shirt until they were eye to eye. The look she gave him gave Keith the chills. Her voice got real low. Keith swallowed. "But do that again and you won't like what I'll do to you." She narrowed her eyes at him. Keith swore he saw lightning flash in her eyes. "Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Keith managed to squeak. Was it weird that he thought Lance looked kind of hot as she threatened him? Maybe. But she totally was.

"Good." Lance gave him an assessing stare. Her cheeks turned a slight red as she crossed her arms over her chest and muttered her next words. "I want a piggy back ride though."

"I don't know," Keith mused as he rubbed his chin. "You are kind of heavy."

The punch Lance gave his shoulder had him wincing. Rolling his eyes, Keith crouched down anyway and beckoned her over.

Lance beamed, wasting no time as she took up the silent invitation and situated herself behind his back. "I'm still kind of mad though," She muttered into his hair. "I hate your stupid mullet. And your pretty stupid eyes." She huffed. "And your laugh is dumb too."

Keith's lips twitched. "Yeah, yeah. Love you too."

Lance grumbled under her breath before turning back to the others who were still watching with a teasing grin. "Now let's leave these losers behind, they're cramping our style."

Despite just being threatened Keith laughed and began to walk in the direction all the woman in the island were heading to after adjusting his grip on Lance. It'd grown chilly again. Amazons were in small clusters as they talked excitedly amongst themselves. Up in the skies the Valkyries were flying among the firebirds and gryphons, their wings looking beautiful and shiny with every flap of their wings.

Most of the women were wearing fancier clothes than what they usually wore. Others were in casual clothing.

What was this event that had everyone so excited about? Keith had asked Lance but only got a wink in return. When he'd asked Reyna and Adina they just said it was a surprise and to stop asking. Keith had never been a fan of surprises. If this surprise included someone jumping at him then Keith was going to leave.

"The fuck did you say?" Pidge ran after them looking miffed. Matt and Hunk followed before she did something stupid.

"Pidge," Shiro groaned from the back. "Please stop running. You're going to bump into someone at this rate."

Pidge didn't even turn. "Yeah, yeah."

When the dock finally came to view Lance nudged him to let her down. The place was packed. Amazons were climbing onto long and wide boats in excited whispers. The wide decks were strung with lights and little twinkling bells. The railings were polished wood, intricately carved Myr mid leap.

"Just get on one of the boats with the rest of the Amazons," Lance instructed him and the others. Her eyes darted around the huge crowd in search of something. When her eyes lit up Keith guessed she must have found whatever it is that she was looking for. "I'll see you guys later okay?"

Keith pursed his lips but nodded, watching as Lance met up with her father who looked oddly animated and headed in another direction with her brothers sprinting after them after saying good-bye to them.

"I wonder what this surprise is." Lotor mused quietly.

"Maybe we'll go fight those Myr." Zethrid murmured hopefully.

Reyna just grinned at him and patted his back. "You'll see." She stepped into the boat after Adina and Cesti. The three of them had changed to a long sleeve dress to keep warm. Cyra and Slav had separated from them after the game to talk. Hopefully the red headed Amazon wasn't killing him. At least not in front of witnesses. "Now let's go before all the good spots are taken."

Keith stepped onto the boat, his hair fanning out from the brisk sea air. Reyna glided toward an empty spot along the rail, Keith and his friends following after her as the boat began to fill with more Amazons and Valkyries. Others wove through the crowd holding trays of fluted glasses and finger food. Upon seeing them, Hunk's face broke into a wide smile before going after the closest one with Zethrid and Coran close at his heels.

Keith leaned against the long rail, turning his attention to sea. The sun had long since set and above, the stars were bright, the moon had turned a slight blue. As the ramps were lifted on board once the ship had reached full capacity, the boat gave a sudden groan and then it was moving. The chatter among the women grew louder the farther they went. The red paladin had never been on a boat before but he found that he kind of liked it. The wind in his hair, the spray of water as the boat moved across the waves.

"Where do you think we're going?" Keith turned his head to the side and watched as Shiro crossed his arms over the railing to stare out at the sea. His white hair gently blowing in the wind. Allura had gone with the others to try some of the finger food being passed around.

Shrugging, Keith turned his attention back to the ocean. Dozens of ships filled to the brim with Amazons and Valkyries followed behind them, others were already further ahead, the only light coming from the twinkling lights that each boat had. Boats were coming from every island. Whatever this event was, he didn't know, but apparently it demanded absolutely _everyone_. "Don't know. I just hope no one jumps at us."

"Because you'll punch them?"

"You know that's the first thing I'll do if anyone jumps at me."

Shiro rubbed his jaw with a wince. "Don't remind me."

Keith snickered. "Hey, I warned you not to jump out at me on my birthday." Shiro huffed. "But for some reason you keep doing it."

"I'm hoping one day I'll be able to avoid it."

Keith scoffed. "Good luck with that."

There was a short minute of silence where the two of them just gazed at their surroundings before Shiro spoke again. "Are you ready for later?"

Keith's mouth twisted to the side. "You know I'm not good with planning ahead."

And boy was that the truth. He's never been good at that. But Lance is. If their positions were reversed Keith was sure that Lance would go all out. She'd make a grand gesture, say something totally sappy that would have Keith's heart melting and doing summersaults before she presented him with a beautiful, and no doubt, expensive ring that would make Keith cry like a little girl.

Lance was eerily good at making him feel very…emotional. She had an innate ability to bring it out of him. Most of the time she'd just flutter her lashes, give him a flirty look, and Keith would end up a blushing mess. Something Lance made sure to point out to his embarrassment. She was keeping score.

Keith wasn't always competitive, but he has been known to be stubborn, and one thing Keith has found increasingly hard to do was saying no to a challenge. Especially one by Lance. The girl would throw down a taunt and it was like a fire in him had been lit. He didn't know what he was going to say to Lance before he gave her the ring he'd chosen for her. He'd been rattling his brain to come up with something super romantic but every time he imagined himself saying the _actual_ words… embarrassment like he never felt before would take over his features and the sudden urge to punch something overtook his senses so fast it was disorienting. As embarrassing as imagining himself saying any of that sappy stuff was, Keith really _really_ wanted to beat Lance. He wanted to sweep her off her feet. He wanted to make her swoon. He wanted Lance to feel the way she made him feel every time she spoke from the heart to him. He wanted her to be at a loss of words, her face a pretty red as Keith presented her with the ring.

…And he wanted to one up her and gain another point in their scoreboard on 'Who made the other blush today?' Lance was way ahead.

But despite not having a speech ready yet…Keith was actually looking forward to this. He'd woken up that morning with an odd sort of nervous excited energy. And with his friends chiming in that the preparations were going great Keith had felt butterflies in his stomach. He didn't know what to say to Lance yet but he was ready. He always came up with something when he was put on the spot.

He could do this.

His brother chuckled. His eyes squinted a little in amusement. "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. You always come up with something." His smile grew. "Sweep her off her feet."

His lips quirking up, he playfully nudged his brother to the side. Shiro nudged him back. "Thanks Shiro."

"Anytime little brother."

For a long while they stood there in comfortable silence, gazing out at the sea when a small body in the form of Pidge collided into them. Literally. Shiro almost fell of the railing with a girlish shriek and only Keith's quick instincts had him pulling the back of his brothers' black jacket lest he fall into the icy water.

"Sorry Shiro!" Pidge apologized though she didn't look at the heaving Shiro when she said it. Her mouth was set in a wide smile as she lifted a finger and pointed at something in the distance. "Look!"

Grumbling under their breath, he and Shiro turned and blinked. Hundreds of boats, theirs included, had lined up in a giant circle facing the center. Keith could see Queen Afya and her daughter Zooey two boats down leaning on the railings. The two were dressed in gowns of white, about five sets of necklaces and bracelets covering their arms and neck. One by one passengers, their friends included, came to stand at the railing.

"Hey, look!" Ezor whispered. "The lights are going off in the islands!"

It was true.

Little by little, they could just barely see each building from every island go off. The streetlights went off. The firebirds in the sky stopped burning. Even the kaleidoscopic fireflies lighting up the giant tree in the main island went dark.

Reyna and Adina came up behind them. Her yellow cat eyes all but glowing Reyna grinned. "It won't be long now."

"Until _what_?" No one had told them what to expect, no matter how many times Keith and his friends had asked. Or bribed in Pidge's case.

"Until the beauty of nature." Adina whispered as Reyna piped in with 'until the fun starts.'

Keith surveyed their surroundings, both Amazon and Valkyries gathered on the boats, to the gryphons and firebirds perched on top of the twinkling lights hanging in each boat, waiting excitably for who knew what. Everyone was smiling, eating; others were rocking on the tips of their toes looking like they were one step away from break dancing. Keith arched a brow. "This isn't the fun part?"

Reyna didn't seem to appreciate his sarcastic reply. Her big hand came to rest on his hair before she ruffled it. Keith batted her hand away with a growl. It only had Cesti and Adina laughing at him. "You'll see."

With an amused chuckle the red paladin turned back to the ocean and gasped.

The surface of the water looked dark, an oily blue, and in it millions of stars twinkled – the whole sky duplicated in one still basin. It looked like a pool lit up with galaxies. For a moment it was like the world was nothing but strands of light and dark zooming past them.

No one said the word _beautiful_.

It didn't feel right to give something so marvelous, so dizzyingly wild, a compliment.

No one uttered a word.

Maybe they were just as speechless as Keith himself was feeling.

Someone poked at his shoulder. Turning, Keith turned to see Reyna pointing at something ahead with a smile. With a small frown, Keith and his friends turned to see a somewhat smaller boat separate from the line only to creep forward a foot ahead.

Keith blinked at the people he saw.

It was Lance and her family. Lance's hair had been swept off her face with two butterfly combs, and then left the rest to drape down her back. Mr. McLane was seated on a piano so transparent that it took him a second to notice that it was a piano. All he could see was the sea and the twinkling stars shining. Behind him were Lance's brothers and Queen Lexi herself. And behind them about a dozen other women were seated with an instrument in their hands.

Were they going to play?

Lance and her family had changed clothes. The dress Lance wore looked like it was crafted in tiny blue gems that seemed to glow and shimmer every time she moved. Her dress was long sleeved, the neckline grazed her collarbones, the dress hugging the curves in her body so well that Keith had to swallow twice. His throat grew uncomfortably tight. Was it too hot in here or was it just him?

Shiro chuckled knowingly beside him and Keith felt his body tense. "So Lance…"

Keith groaned, slapping a hand over his face. "Shiro, shut up."

"I didn't even say anything yet!"

"Just don't."

"Don't what?" his brother practically sang the words.

"Whatever you're going to say, just don't."

Shiro just laughed but he raised his hands in a placating manner. "Fine, fine."

Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

"I just wanted to say," Shiro suddenly spoke up, ignoring Keith's groan. "Was that Lance looks very beautiful in that dress."

"I think so too." Allura spoke up with a teasing grin. "Don't you think so too Keith?"

His brother and his girlfriend looked absolutely evil in that moment.

"W-well –"

"She's practically glowing." Pidge added with a grin.

Oh, god. Not her too.

"Look at that dress!" Lotor piped in. Keith shot the Galra prince a dark look. A look that went ignored. "Now _those_ are diamonds!"

"What do you think Keith?" Hunk nudged him with his shoulder. Keith shot him a look of disbelief. Hunk gave him a sweet smile.

Matt wolf whistled as Coran chuckled in amusement. "Damn."

"What do you think Keith?" Krolia practically purred. Her violet eyes looked mischievous. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Her face totally blank, Axca piped in with. "I'd let her bench-press me any day."

Keith spluttered as Zethrid and Ezor broke into laughter. Narti's shoulders were shaking in mirth. Even her cat Nova looked vaguely amused.

His face beet red, Keith tightened his lips and turned his back to them with a huff. "All of you suck."

His friends only laughed at him.

Rude ass hoes.

Queen Lexi surveyed every boat with a keen eye before she turned to her daughter and nodded. Lance nodded back and stepped forward with a violin in her hands and tucked it under her chin. Queen Lexi moved to sit next to a harp and its sweet melody echoed across the hushed crowd as the Queen's fingers gently plucked each string. The Amazons and Valkyries began to hum and Mikey gave the triangle instrument in his hand a few gently placed hits. As the humming of the women turned louder, Mr. McLane's brought down his long fingers over the piano keys and joined them.

The flute players started to play.

"It's Silent Night." Shiro murmured quietly.

And then Lance and her violin joined in after a few more beats and Keith felt his breath hitch. He wasn't the only one. His friends were enraptured. Their eyes were shining in awe. The tattoos on every Valkyrie began to glow a soft blue. Another nudge from Reyna had him turning to the water. At first it looked like jellyfish: fragile spheres glowing purples and blues, pink and light green, orange, red; so many colors. There were hundreds of them.

The song Lance's family was playing came to an end only to smoothly change to another one without missing a beat. And as they played, the glowing spheres began to crack; he could see the Myr swimming around them, their beautiful tails gently flapping as they moved around the glowing spheres in a sort of dance. Down-down-down they went only to come up and wrap their long tails around a glowing sphere before moving on and doing the same to another one.

As the song increased in volume, the spheres cracked even more and tiny little hands with fins shot out from the inside. Lance's face was shadowed in different beautiful colors, a tiny smile on her face as she both watched and played. Her skin was luminous.

Keith's eyes went back to the surface. The glowing spheres were actually _eggs_. Myr were being born right in front of them. And holy crap was it beautiful.

Sixteen pairs of tentacles gently shot upward from the two octopuses they seemed to have, spraying everyone with surprisingly warm water. No one complained. Though a small gasp came out of Keith and his friends as the tentacles swayed to the rhythm of the song. And as they watched the tentacles began to change color. From red to blue, to pink to purple and then to orange.

Women began to sway. Others like Reyna and Adina cuddled together as they watched the birth of the Myr. Tiny little heads with fins on each side of their temples popped out. Small shiny tails were experimentally moved for the first time as the older Myr came up to them each, enveloping them in a gentle embrace that had each pair glowing a soft pink.

Lotor and Matt let out soft sighs.

"This planet is amazing." Krolia murmured at his back.

Allura and Coran sniffled. The Altean princess leaning into Shiro's side where he tucked her close. As the song began to come to an end every Myr gathered, even the ones just born swam up to the surface and threw their long tails out as if they were saying good-bye and thank you.

The tentacles did a similar gesture before they lowered themselves back to the sea.

The Myr and the octopuses were gone by the time Lance played the last note, and the sea went dark once again, hundreds of twinkling stars replacing the myriad of colors that they had just witnessed.

Lance's soft voice echoed in his head. _It's not over yet_. _Look up_.

So he did.

A star vaulted across the sky, brighter and closer than any he'd seen before. Soft gasps escaped his friends as they glanced up to the sky as the Amazons and Valkyries raised their glasses as the star passed overhead. Another passed that first star, and another, until a brigade of them were unleashed across the horizon. The gryphons opened their golden wings to soar among them. The firebirds coated their bodies in flames and joined them. Keith was sure that if he raised his hand he'd be able to touch the falling stars. They were so close.

As each boat began to move back to their individual island, for a long while nobody said anything but every single person gathered was smiling. The stars were still falling, the firebirds, the gryphons, and now even the Valkyries flying high above them.

The silence was shattered by an emotional Hunk.

"I don't know about you guys," he sniffled and smiled gently. "But that was beautiful."

The women who had heard him grinned and just like that conversation started up again. Amazons and Valkyries began to talk in reverent voices, their smiles too wide and their eyes shining.

"It was." Shiro agreed, declaring what everyone was clearly thinking. His gaze was still looking up at the sky, his arm around Allura's slim waist. "It _is_ beautiful."

* * *

Instead of going back to the amusement park island that they'd been on before their boat stopped at the main island where the giant tree in the center of the city was once again glowing in different shades of color.

Every building was lit up. Amazons and Valkyries were already dancing as music was blaring from the speakers. He could feel the thump of the bass in his feet, pulsing up through his chest. Flashing lights further down the street gave glimpses of grinding and writhing bodies. Twinkling lights strung up lit the cobblestone streets. The crowd on the boat eagerly began to leave the boat, they were all but running.

Unwillingly, at least for _him_ , Keith and his friends were swept up with the crowd until they were at the center of the city, the giant tree ranging in different colors giving of hot air that had everyone taking off their jackets. Glasses of champagne were handed to everyone. Shiro taking Pidge's drink with a scolding look before she could even taste it.

Glowing bracelets were passed next. Keith denied taking any of them. He wasn't a glowing bracelet wearing kind of guy. His friends took them though. Even Shiro with some prodding from his girlfriend.

"Come on Keith!" Matt pleaded at him. He shoved a red glowing bracelet in his face. "Wear one!"

"Yeah, no thanks." Keith deadpanned.

"But what if you get lost in the crowd?" Matt tried next. "How would we ever find our precious conspiracy man?" Matt pulled Keith's stiff body in for a hug and rubbed his cheek on Keith's own. "I, for one, don't want to lose our Mothman expert anytime soon!"

"Easy," Keith replied as he pried Matt off him. "I'll be the only _not_ glowing."

Matt pouted. "You're no fun."

"Tough."

Matt turned to Shiro with pleading eyes. Keith's brother had a black glowing necklace around his neck. "Takashi! Talk to your brother!"

"Keith," Shiro tried to look stern but the drink he'd just downed already flushed his cheeks. An Amazon passed by, took the empty cup, and put a new one in his hand. Shiro gaped for a second in bewilderment before shaking his head and turning back to him. "He is kind of right." Keith arched a brow at him. "What if you _do_ get lost?"

Keith almost scoffed. "I'm a grown man Shiro. I'll be fine."

"Say good-bye to Keith everyone," Matt turned to their friends with a sniffle. "This might be the last we see of him."

Pidge lightly punched his shoulder. She faked a sniffle but her eyes behind her glasses were twinkling in mirth. "I'm going to miss my favorite Emo."

Keith spluttered. Why did people always say that? "I'm not Emo Pidge!" His friends gave a him a look. Even his _mom_. "I literally only know how to play _one_ song from My Chemical Romance in piano!"

"And that is why you're my favorite Emo." Pidge continued without missing a beat.

Hunk engulfed him in a hug. "But you're _our_ Emo." Keith glared at him. Well, as best as he could with his face smothered in Hunk's chest. "And we're all going to miss you."

Keith groaned. "I'm not going to get lost!"

"We could have been great friends," Lotor sniffled. The flashing lights made his face look red. "I'll take care of Lance, don't worry."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "The fuck you will."

Matt shoved the red glowing bracelet at him again. "So you'll wear it?"

His face was so full of hope. Keith _had_ to break it. "Not on your life."

"Oh, come on Keith!"

As Matt continued trying to coerce him into wearing the bracelet, Keith made it a point to look at anywhere but him. His eyes landed on the glowing tree. Queen Lexi and Mr. McLane were standing directly under it. The Queen of Cloyetera had braided her black hair into an intricate braid. She wore a gown of pure white. Mr. McLane had brushed and slicked back his brown hair; he was sporting a black tux that showed off a lean but muscled body. With a smile, the Queen looked over the crowd and began to speak. The music was turned down. The huge screens on the tallest buildings displayed her face to everyone in the island. "As always, the Myr thank us for helping their children break free from their shells and wish us a good holiday." She raised a glass filled with golden liquid to the sky. "Merry Christmas to everyone!"

"Merry Christmas!" Everyone echoed as they raised their own glass before taking a sip. The liquid tasted sweet but spicy at the same time. Her drink now gone Queen Lexi devilishly grinned. "Now let's party till morning!"

Cheers erupted from everyone only to be replaced with small gasps as the ground began to shake. Keith's hands went to his weapons, so did Shiro and the rest of his friends. Were they under attack? Were the Galra back to ruin _another_ party? Those fuckers. They needn't had worried though. The rumbling was due to a stage sprouting up from the ground. The crowd gathered in that area hastily moved back to make room.

The stage had all the McLane siblings holding an instrument. Lance had changed back to her royal blue dress, no jacket this time though. The crowd went fucking _wild_. He swore a few women fainted and when Mikey and the triplets began to play they screamed. Those screams only intensified when Aiden and Lance stepped forward with a microphone in their hands. Keith swore he saw someone throw a bra at the stage.

Oh, wait.

Make those four more bras.

These women were crazy.

"Look at our ho being all-cool," Pidge sniffed. "Let's embarrass the crap out of her." Matt looked intrigued.

Shiro eyed her with suspicion. His tone held a warning. "Pidge."

Ignoring the black paladin, Pidge went over to Hunk and climbed up onto his shoulders. Hunk quickly took hold of her legs lest she fall. With another huge grin, Pidge opened her mouth and screamed, "THAT HO IS OUR FRIEND!"

Several people plus Shiro choked.

Lance swiveled her head in their direction, almost tripping, before shaking her head with a nervous smile as she continued singing with her brother who surprisingly had a good voice. Her shoulders were shaking though, like she wanted to laugh.

Pidge wasn't done yet though. The green paladin turned to him. Keith felt that now would probably be a good time to run. He didn't like that glint in the green paladin's brown eyes. She pointed a finger at Lance and then to Keith. "AND THAT HO BELONGS TO THIS ASSHOLE!"

Women turned his way and whistled.

Coran threw his head back and howled in laughter.

Keith's face was blazing.

"Pidge!" Shiro screeched as he made his way over to her.

"THESE TWO ARE OURS!" Pidge continued as she made poor Hunk run away from a screeching Shiro. The yellow paladin looked terrified. The crowd laughed and clapped their hands.

"Yeah?" Reyna shouted over the music a few feet away with her arms draped over a flushing Adina. "WELL, WE HAD HER FIRST!"

Cesti put both hands over her mouth and shouted next. "AND WE LOVE OUR PRINCESS!" She turned to the crowd. "ISN'T THAT RIGHT LADIES?"

The crowd went wild. Bras and heels were thrown in the air with the declaration. It was truly a miracle that no one lost an eye.

Lance's face had turned as red as a tomato but somehow she managed to continue singing though she avoided looking at anyone. Especially Aiden who was wiggling his brows at her as the two sang together.

"Hell yeah!" Zethrid screamed at the top of her lungs before she swept a laughing Ezor into a dance. It looked like they were stomping on cockroaches though. Matt joined the fray by doing the worm to Pidge's horror. Intrigued, Coran went after him and tried to mimic him. Allura pulled a shaky Shiro to the dancing bodies, his brother shooting a 'help me' look over his shoulders.

Keith just shrugged and sent him a 'can't help you' look. Shiro glowered at him but one more tug from Allura and the two were swept by the crowd. Everyone was dancing. Those who weren't were drinking or eating from the trays being passed around. Hunk, who still had Pidge on his shoulders, had disappeared in that direction. Lotor, Axca, and Narti had gone to what looked like a bar. There were women lined up in front of it. Coran had dragged Krolia to the dance floor. The man was currently dancing around her, throwing out disco moves as his mother awkwardly stood there looking at him like he'd gone mad.

Keith couldn't help but smother a laugh when she sent him a questioning look. Keith shrugged. Even Keith couldn't understand Coran. At that moment the song finished and another one replaced it. Matt let out an inhuman shriek when one of the triplets took the microphone from Lance, Kyrian he thought, and began to sing in _Spanish_. His two identical brothers took another microphone as other Amazons took over their instruments.

"It's Despacito!" Matt screeched at the top of his lungs. He was practically foaming at the mouth as he moved through the crowd. "Someone dance with me damn it!"

The crowd parted as Lance herself stepped off the stage to offer her arm to a bouncing Matt Holt. Oh, thank god Keith thought. He didn't think he could dance to this. Matt eagerly took her hand with a girlish squeal that Pidge was sure to use against him someday and with a wink from Lance in Keith's direction the two began to move.

And holy crap were they moving.

The two were pressed together as they danced, all but grinding into each other, but they were good. Really, really good. The crowd moved further back to give them room and when Queen Lexi and Mr. McLane stepped up next to them the crowd erupted in cheers.

Mr. McLane was a hell of a dancer. All of the McLane's were. At one point the two pairs switched partners, their hips swaying, their hands in the air. Matt looked like he was about to have a heart attack when he saw that Queen Lexi was his new partner but after a little taunting in his direction from the Queen herself, Matt's eyes had shone in challenge and began to move.

Lance and her dad were grinning, Mr. McLane was twirling his daughter before bringing her in close, the two moving their feet so fast they were all but a blur. That's when Mikey barged in and began to do the sprinkler-causing Lance to throw her head up with a laugh. Mikey wiggled his brows at his sister until Lance complied and took his big hands. Mikey had thrown his jacket leaving him in a dark tank top and jeans. Mr. McLane didn't seem to mind as Aiden suddenly joined them. And then the triplets themselves came in, microphones still clutched in their hands as they sang and danced.

Most of the crowd joined in, pairing up with the closest person near them with wide smiles. Even Queen Afya had managed to coerce her daughter Zooey to dance with her, some people making room for their wings. Allura and Coran pulled a horrified Shiro into the fray. Krolia had escaped to where Lotor, Axca and Narti were drinking further back. Hunk appeared with Pidge still on his shoulders and began to bob his head and sway from side to side as Pidge groaned and covered her face in embarrassment. Even Ezor and Zethrid joined their circle.

The minute Keith felt a cold hand on his shoulder he knew he should have run for his life as Lance took hold of his hand and pulled him further into their little circle. As soon as his friends saw him they cheered. As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as Keith thought it would be. Lance didn't do any of her fancy moves with him. She just framed her face as she swayed in front of him. After some prodding Keith managed to at least sway and move from side to side. Shiro and Allura showed up to their right, his brother looking lost as he awkwardly moved his hips. That's when Lance decided to change partners. She stood beside Shiro and whispered something that made him relax and soon enough they were doing the robot, their faces blank to make it more believable, as Allura cheered and twirled around an awkward Keith who couldn't follow her movements for the life of him.

Coran joined them by flailing his arms and looking like he was having a seizure causing Shiro to bark out a laugh. Hunk and Pidge stepped in, the green paladin framing her face awkwardly like Lance had showed her where she was seated on Hunk's shoulders as the yellow paladin made faces at Lance who did the same, the two of them doing the sprinkler before Matt came up to them, pulled Keith further into the circle, and kicked his legs high in the air. Keith nearly turned the right fuck around right then and there but Matt's grip was tight.

"Come on Keith!" Matt threw another leg in the air. Keith looked at him in horror. "Join me!"

"Hell no!" Keith shouted as he tried to dislodge himself. The older Holt sibling didn't seem to mind and continued dancing around him. And despite not knowing any fancy moves, Keith danced along with his friends as Lance returned to his side and put her arms around his shoulders so they could just sway.

His cheeks hurt from smiling too much but he didn't mind.

Like he said, it wasn't that bad.

* * *

Keith waited at least a half hour before he tapped Lance's shoulder. She'd been dancing with Mikey and Matt, the three of them stomping their feet and wiggling their hands in the air with the beat of the new song.

Her cheeks flushed and her hair a little mussed, Lance turned to him breathing hard. She frowned at his nervous face, concern immediately taking over her features as she stepped up to him. "What's wrong?"

She had to yell over the music.

Keith swallowed once before shouting back. "I have a surprise for you!"

Lance's dark blue eyes lit up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Keith laced his fingers with hers. "It's somewhere else though."

"Lead the way mullet."

Keith clicked his tongue but dragged her through the still dancing bodies but not without a last glance at his friends who had noticed them leaving. His friends gave him a thumbs-up as wide smiles took over their features. He quickly looked away before Lance could see them. "Keep calling me that and I'll cut it."

Like hell he would. Keith loved his hair. And Lance loved it too; despite all the taunts she threw his way. She loved running her fingers through the black strands and Keith loved it when she gently pulled it when they kissed.

Lance gasped loudly, pointing a threatening finger in his direction. "Don't you _dare_."

"Oh?" Keith turned to her with a cheeky grin. "But I thought you hated it."

"W-well maybe it's grown on me." Lance sniffed with an upturned nose. "If I ever have to identify your body I can just go, 'Officer, before you lift the drape just let me know this,' Lance looked at him with a fake sniffle. "'Does he have a mullet?" Keith's lips twitched as Lance continued. "'Because if he does then it's totally him. I don't need to see the body. Only someone like Keith Kogane would _ever_ have that kind of eighties hairstyle even though it's clearly past its prime."

"Ha ha." Keith deadpanned. "You're hilarious."

Lance beamed and put a hand to her chest. "Thank you so much for noticing."

"And besides, if I cut it you'll lose most of your insults." Keith faked a gasp. "You might do the unthinkable and call me by my actual name."

"The horror." Lance sounded scandalized.

Keith snorted as they finally pulled away from the crowd. "You're a dork."

"But I'm _your_ dork."

"True." Keith mused.

"And you're my mullet."

Keith gave her a flat stare but his lips twitched upward just a smidge.

Lance beamed.

"So what's this surprise?" She oh so innocently asked. She looked nonchalant as she glanced at her nails looking for all the world like she didn't care what this surprise was about.

Keith wasn't fooled for a minute.

Lance was curious.

"You'll see." Was his only answer.

Lance hummed.

"And don't try reading my mind."

Lance scoffed. "I would _never_!"

"You _so_ would."

"Lies," Lance clicked her tongue at him. "Such lies coming from those pretty lips."

"So you think I have pretty lips?" He teased as he changed directions to go through the woods.

Lance turned her head away but not before Keith saw the shade of red on her face. "Shut up Kogane."

Keith only laughed. They drifted to comfortable silence after that. Lance seemed to have figured out where they were going because she went to walk to his side without missing a beat. When they were almost to the hideout, the sound of crashing waves alerted them that they were close; Keith took out the black bandana that Hunk had lent him and ushered for Lance to turn around.

Her eyes wide, Lance complied. "You're not going to take me deeper into the woods to make me into a human sacrifice right?" Keith snorted as he finished tying the bandana around her eyes. Lance gave a nervous laugh. "Because I have to tell you buddy, I'm _so_ not okay with that."

"Lance," he deadpanned. One hand on her back he began to guide her. "Please stop talking."

"Hey!" Lance turned his direction. "It's a perfectly valid question! I don't want to be part of this virginal sacrifice!"

"You and I both know that you're no virgin."

"Is this because Pidge and I put pink hair dye in your shampoo?"

"You did what?!"

"Nothing!"

"Lance." Keith warned.

"Forget I said anything!" Lance tightened her lips and turned in both directions, even though she couldn't see anything, before leaning down to where she assumed he was. "But just between you and me you might want to throw away that shampoo." She changed her voice into a whisper. "I think Pidge messed with it."

Keith rolled his eyes with a shake of his head and pushed her face away. Though his voice came out flat he was grinning. "You don't say."

"True story."

Keith laughed as they came upon a familiar cave. And beyond it was the sea where he and Red had first crashed into all those months ago. Moment of truth. He hadn't come up with a speech yet. He'd been hoping to gain inspiration on the way here but nothing had come to him.

"Keith?" Lance turned in his direction where they had stopped. "What's wrong?"

Keith shook his head. He could do this. He _would_ do this. "Nothing."

And with that, he guided Lance to her secret hideout; his mind scrambling and his heart racing as he desperately tried to come up with something swoon worthy.

Come on brain.

Give me _something_.

* * *

Shiro would be lying if he said he wasn't particularly anxious about Keith and Lance. It'd only been twenty minutes since they'd left. Not that he'd checked or anything. Honest. Had his brother already proposed? Had he swooped Lance off her feet? Made her swoon? Had Lance given the ring she and Shiro had chosen for him already? Had _she_ made Keith swoon? Were they having dinner yet? What song had Keith chosen for them? Was it a song that was sweet and slow? Or was it one of his punk rock songs instead?

Oh, god. He really hoped Keith hadn't chosen a _punk_ song to be _their_ song. Shiro pulled at his hair and let out a small whine. He wanted to _know_. Was that being too nosy? Maybe. But damn it, he had helped in making Lance's room as romantic as he could along with his friends. Didn't that make it okay for him to know how it went? Would it be too weird if he suddenly showed up there and hid close by just so he could hear? Would that count as creepy?

Shiro gnawed on his lower lip. Probably.

But only if he got _caught_.

Allura must have noticed his inner turmoil because she stopped dancing, pulled him aside to a quieter area, and asked him what was wrong. Before he could answer or try to coerce her into coming with him, he hadn't decided yet, Pidge came running after them with a huge grin. An out of breath Matt and Hunk followed behind her.

"It's time!" Pidge cackled like a mad man. Her brown hair was tussled, her sweater was gone just leaving her in a light green long sleeve and jeans, and she looked out of breath. "Are you guys ready?"

"Ready for what?" An out of breath Coran said as he joined their little circle. Lotor and his generals plus Krolia trailed after him with drinks in their hands. Their cheeks looked flushed. Unconsciously, Shiro licked his lips. He needed a drink.

Lotor gave him a knowing look and offered him a glass full of red bubbly liquid. He took it graciously.

"For the show!" Pidge finally answered once everyone had gathered. The green paladin reached into her pants and pulled out her tablet. Matt leaned in close to see what she was doing.

"If you tap that one," Matt was saying to his sister. "You'll broadcast it."

Pidge batted his hands away with a growl. "I _know_."

"Pidge." Shiro looked down his nose at the green paladin. Whatever had her so excited couldn't be good. It never was. "What are you up to?"

With a few more taps Pidge grinned and high-fived her brother. She pointed at somewhere behind them. "Lo and behold my friends." His eyes portraying nothing but suspicion he turned to where she was pointing and did a double take. Lance and Keith were being displayed on all the giant screens.

Oh my god.

His friends gasped. It was only a matter of time before the crowd noticed.

Way to go Pidge.

Now Shiro didn't need to go in person.

Nice.

"So?" Pidge and Matt turned to him with mischievous eyes. "Did we do good?"

Sound stern Shiro, he told himself. It doesn't matter that you're actually really happy about this. He cleared his throat. "Guys, you shouldn't broadcast people when they're going to propose. It's bad manners." Pidge and Matt pouted. Good Shiro. Good. You sounded like a grown up. Way to go you. "Turn it off."

Please _don't_ turn it off he silently prayed in his head.

"Can't do it." Pidge shrugged her shoulders as she turned to Matt. She nudged his shoulder. "Right?"

Matt jumped in place. "Y-yeah!" His voice came out a little high. "We have to be there in person to turn it off."

"Oh, well."

"Shame."

Shiro loved these two geniuses. Doing his best to look annoyed, he pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath. The Holts gave him a cheeky grin.

Damn, Shiro was a good actor.

"Everybody shut up!" Mikey McLane shouted into the microphone. The microphone gave off a screech that had everyone covering their ears. "Can't you see I'm about to see Keith propose to my baby sister?"

The crowd went absolutely still before chaos broke out.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh my gosh, look! They're being displayed right now!"

"Turn off the music!"

The speakers cut off mid-song and within seconds the whole island went dead quiet. The only noise was the howling of the wind but it wasn't too loud. Shiro along with everyone in the area turned their attention to the screens on the tallest buildings and held their breath, their expressions eager.

On the screens he could see Keith leading a blindfolded Lance down to her hideout. When his brother saw it himself he gaped. " _Holy shit."_

Shiro frowned at the use of language _._

" _Holy shit as in you've changed your mind about sacrificing me to the God of Mullets?"_

" _The god of –"_ Keith spluttered. _"There's no such thing as a God of Mullets."_

" _Are you sure?"_ Lance dubiously asked as she turned to face him. _"Because we've been through some pretty dangerous situations and you're mullet has always looked flawless."_

A few people chuckled.

" _Only way that could happen is if you've been praying to the God of Mullets."_ Lance finished _._

Keith groaned and reached behind her head to untie the black bandana covering her eyes. When Lance could finally see, Keith took hold of her shoulders and turned her so she could see what he'd been looking at. Lance gaped _. "Holy shit."_

" _Right?"_

This must be the first time the two had stepped inside Lance's hideout. Reyna said she and the rest of Lance's guards had given it a makeover.

The Persian rug they'd placed on the floor was blue. In the middle of the room, backed against the wall, was a king sized bed draped in blue velvet sheets. That bed currently had red flower petals that glowed shaped into a giant heart thanks to Coran and Ezor. In fact, even the floor was covered in flower petals. Two small desk drawers were on each side of the bed with a lamp sitting on top of them. Those lights were currently on. The left one had Lance's IPod touch lying on top.

Three beanbag chairs were on the floor to the right. A mini fridge was next to it, cake and drinks were inside. Small speakers were in the four corners of the ceiling. Christmas lights had been strung up himself and Allura bathing the room in colors of green and red. And speaking of the ceiling…Lance's friends had made a huge hole there, sort of like a window where they could see the stars and the moon. The glass they'd put to cover the whole the only thing from blocking the cold from the outside.

Shiro knew that if Lance picked up the tiny remote located in the right drawer, she'd find out that with a few press of the buttons a holographic screen would appear right in front of her bed. With another push she could make the view of the sky disappear by pressing another button and making the metal sheet appear to cover it.

To the right was a long red sofa, a mirror hanging on the wall behind it, and a fireplace that the Amazons had somehow managed to make. The thing was already blazing; about a dozen pieces of firewood tied together lay a few feet from it. And in front of it was a small table with a few covered dishes inside. Two chairs were tucked under it. A blue glowing flower rested on a small base in the middle of the table. Shiro watched them, unable to hide his wide smile. The two of them looked both shocked and awed.

Lance and Keith gaped. The Amazon princess took a step toward the mirror and picked up the sticky note clinging to it. _"Merry Christmas from all of your lovely guards,"_ Lance read with a smile. _"We hope you like the makeover we gave your hideout._ _ **We**_ _did."_

Pressing the note to her chest, Lance surveyed the room with a smile. While Lance had been distracted Keith had taken the chance to snatch the IPod on the left drawer. A few seconds later the sound of a piano began to play before the sweet voice of Renee Fleming as she sang 'You'll never Know' filled the room. Lance gasped and whirled, her blue eyes wide. " _This song…"_

" _ **You'll never know…just how much I care…"**_

" _Do you remember it?" Keith stepped forward. "I was feeling antsy because Shiro and the others hadn't found me yet."_

" _So you decided to go for a jog," Lance continued breathlessly. "And that's when you saw me on the floor painting my door."_

" _ **And if I tried I still couldn't hide, my love for you…"**_

 _Keith nodded, looking pleased that she had remembered. "So I walked over and couldn't help but cringe at the current Beyoncé song that was playing from your speakers."_

" _ **You went away and my heart went with you…"**_

 _Lance huffed, teasingly rolling her eyes at him. "Hey! Beyoncé is a goddess."_

" _Sure she is," Keith deadpanned, ducking away from the punch the Amazon threw his way. "Anyway, you asked me to join you and I said –"_

" _Only if you change that_ _ **god**_ _awful song," Lance mimicked Keith. She went so far as to scowl darkly just like Shiro knew Keith would do._

" _ **You'll never know if you don't know now…"**_

 _Keith grinned, stepping closer until they were just one foot away from each other. "So you huffed and handed me your iPod. All but challenging me to find something better." Keith paused then smugly grinned. "I did."_

 _Lance smiled, her eyes going half-mast as she continued. "We went through at least fifteen songs before this one came on."_

" _ **You'll never know just how much I care, you said goodbye…No stars in the sky refuse to shine…take it from me, it's no fun to be alone…"**_

" _It was the best one!" Keith defended, his smile huge and his eyes twinkling in mirth. He scuffed his boot and looked down at the floor. "So I kind of made it our song…"_

" _ **With moonlight and memories…"**_

" _Oh?" Lance's tone was all but teasing as she leaned into him. "When did you decide this?"_

" _When I found out I had the biggest crush on you and broke down and told Shiro." Keith deadpanned._

 _Lance threw her head back and laughed._

" _Hey!" Keith grumbled, his cheeks red. "I was excited okay?"_

 _Lance leaned forward to kiss his cheek as her hands wrapped around his neck. "I love it."_

 _Keith stammered, his blue-gray eyes going wide in relief and surprise. "R-really?"_

" _Yeah." Her forehead placed on Keith's the Amazon offered him a shy smile. "Dance with me?"_

 _Keith's expression softened. He tilted his head, hair falling from his face as he gazed up at Lance, his eyes crinkling, his smile soft. "You're lucky you're cute."_

" _You think I'm cute?"_

" _Shut up McLane."_

" _ **You'll never know, if you don't know now…"**_

 _The dance was slow, the two of them mostly just swaying back and forth as they whispered the song to each other never once breaking eye contact. Keith held onto her, pulling her closer until there was no space between them._

" _ **I speak your name in my every prayer…"**_

 _And then Keith was bending down, whispering something to Lance's ear that made her go a deep shade of red but though she looks embarrassed, she threw her head back and laughed, tightening her hold on Keith's neck. Looking way too satisfied; Keith buried his face in her neck, his shoulders shaking with laughter._

" _ **If there is some other way to prove that I love you…I swear, I don't know how…"**_

Shiro was not crying. He's _not_.

Lance and Keith aren't moving all that much. They're mostly clinging to each other as they whisper the lyrics to each other. That combined with the atmosphere in the room made Shiro's chest feel full and heavy with emotion. He's just so proud of them.

But he's not crying. Nevertheless, he _is_ close. Everyone else though? Big time. Coran has already started bawling his eyes, loudly blowing his nose with a tissue. Mikey is pretty much the same as big tears fall down his cheeks. Krolia's violet eyes look misty. No one talked as they all watched with soft smiles. Hunk looked like he was about to cry. Even Pidge's eyes looked a little misty as she smiled at their friends.

Ezor put her head on Zethrid's shoulder and smiled. The big Galra women wrapped an arm around Ezor's slim shoulders and pulled her close. Shiro suspected those to either had a thing for each other or they were already dating.

Allura gave his hand a squeeze and he didn't know if it was because of the romantic mood Lance and Keith had going on in the screens but she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Either way, Shiro was pleased.

Back at Lance's hideout, the Amazon quirked a brow at the red paladin in her arms. " _Is this what you guys were whispering about earlier?" She teased. "What's with the flowers and the food on the table?"_

" _Don't try to be cute," Keith said, staring intently at Lance. His tone turned teasing. "Are you sure you're a fan of those romance movies you claimed to have watched?"_

" _Romance movies…" Lance breathed slowly. Her eyes grew wide as they turned to the bed and just like that she was blushing._

" _Oh, look." Keith grinned, leaning his face toward her. "I made you blush. I guess that's one point for me." His brother tilted his head to the right. His voice turned scandalous. "Just what dirty thoughts were you thinking that it made you blush? And here I thought you were a lady."_

" _I –" Lance turned her head away with an embarrassed flush. "Shut up Keith."_

 _Ever so slowly, Keith reached for Lance's cheek. The girl in question took a sharp breath as those fingers ghosted over her cheeks. She went absolutely still. Licking his lips nervously, Keith opened his mouth. "Lance."_

" _Y-yeah?"_

 _Keith suddenly looked timid as he all but blurted. "I love you!"_

 _Lance arched a brow and the right corner of her mouth went up. "I sure hope so because we're getting married one day."_

" _I –"Keith bit his lips, his brows furrowed in frustration as he tried to speak. He opened and closed his mouth but nothing came out. Lance looked at him with expectant eyes. She seemed to be holding her breath. "I love you." He repeated. "Wait, I've already said that." He held a hand up and took a step back. "Just give me a second here."_

"Come on Keith." Shiro whispered as he watched his brother on the screen. "Take a breath. You can do this."

By now the song had changed to something else. And the soft voice of Blossom Dearie as she played the piano and sang 'Dance Only With Me' filled the room.

" _Go on," Lance urged, her smile widening. She squeezed Keith's fingers when they dropped from her face to his side. "I know you have some romantic speech to give me."_

 _Keith spluttered. He tried to recoil from Lance's grip but he was effortlessly held in place. "Maybe you don't get one anymore if you're going to demean it like that!" Lance continued smiling at him. Her dark blue eyes were soft as she fondly gazed back at her fiancée. Noticing the look, Keith huffed and looked away. "I'm serious Lance! I've thought about what to say all day and –"_

" _I know," Lance gently interrupted him. "I know you." She tapped his forehead with her index finger. Right where Keith always got a crease when he had something important in his mind. "You think I don't know when you're thinking hard about something?" Keith's frown turned into a pout. "So go on. Take all the time you need, I want to hear what you have to say." Lance paused and smirked. "Even if it's_ _ **really**_ _mushy."_

Thank god for Lance the black paladin thought.

 _Keith huffed. "It's your fault if it's mushy." He grumbled as Lance squeezed his hand. Keith glanced up and seeing the loving smile aimed his way, he smiled back. Tentatively at first. His tense muscles loosed up. His stance turned relaxed. Reaching up he looped his finger around one of Lance's loose strands of hair. "You know I've always admired you."_

" _The loud pitch squeals and the dramatic fan-boying you did when I told you I was an Amazon gave it away pretty quickly." Lance deadpanned._

 _Keith groaned. "I wasn't that bad…"_

 _Lance cleared her throat. "As I remember it went something like this." Lance deepened her voice and made her eyes go wide. "Holy crap! Holy shit! You're an Amazon! I've met an Amazon!"_

Pidge threw her head back and laughed. "Yup, that sounds like him all right."

"Fan boy Keith is the best." Matt chuckled next to his sister.

 _Keith's cheeks turned red, his hands going to cover her mouth but Lance dashed away with Keith running after her. "L-lance!"_

" _Telekinesis?" Lance continued as she ran away from a blushing Keith. "Lightning bolts? Ability to heal? Holy shit!"_

" _Lance!" Keith cried as Lance dove over the sofa and ran to the left side of the bed._

" _But this one's my favorite." Lance crooned with a devilish smirk. She fidgeted on her feet, looked down at the floor, before looking up and biting her lip. "Can I have your autograph?"_

 _Keith threw a pillow at her face. Lance doubled over in a fit of giggles. "You're the worst." He glowered._

" _You were so cute!" Lance gushed as she got to her feet. "I swear, my heart just about burst."_

" _If you keep interrupting me you won't get to hear the rest." Keith threatened._

 _Lance raised her hands. "Go on. I'm done."_

" _Finally."_

" _For now."_

 _Keith waved a threatening finger in her direction. Lance tightened her lips. Satisfied that she was keeping quiet, at least for now, Keith opened his mouth to speak. "Anyway, I think that's how it started. You were just so cool you know? A part of me was surprised that you were even talking to me. Not only because I'm a male but because you were a princess and I was an awkward teenager that didn't speak too much. I was moody and quick to get mad. But you didn't care. You stuck to my side and talked for the both of us. And eventually I began to open up. You never once pushed me when I didn't want to talk about certain things. You patiently waited until I was ready." Keith smiled. "You became my friend. My_ _ **best**_ _friend." He swallowed. "You're dedicated." He smirked. "Maybe a bit too stubborn and definitely way too crazy –"_

" _Hey!"_

–" _But I'm just as crazy for joining you in those dangerous activities so who am I to talk? The thing I love the most about you is that when you put your mind to something, you do it beautifully. You do it until you master it. You never walk away from something you care about. And just like Shiro, you don't give up on me. I was a mess before I met you. I was full of anger and the only thing keeping me sane was the mission we were giving when we became paladins of Voltron. But you made me open up. You made me want to tell you all my darkest secrets. You make me enjoy things. You make me happy, I'm sure you're the only one who's actually made me smile so effortlessly. It's kind of annoying." Lance snickered. Keith walked over to her side and took hold of her hands. "You've always made me feel better. Whether it be in combat when you always had my back or just in general." Keith seemed to have choked up as he squeezed Lance's fingers. "You make me want to be better."_

"Aww." Hunk blew his nose as he watched his two friends in the screens. "That's so beautiful."

Shiro couldn't help but agree. He himself was starting to tear up a little. Allura let out a sniffle and leaned her head on his shoulder as they continued to watch. Reyna and Adina were in each other's arms looking up with crooked smiles. Everyone was here. All of Lance's guards. Her family who was just as enraptured by the scenes unfolding before them on the screens. Shiro even spotted Shadow and Nyx on the stage curled into Mikey's side. Kaltenecker was next to Aiden looking, dare he say it? Pleased. Nagini and Nagg were wrapped around one of the triplet's shoulders lightly hissing.

 _Her dark blue eyes wide Lance coughed. "Keith…too sappy."_

" _Well, it's your fault!" Keith huffed. He looked mortified. "I've hung out with you too much that you've rubbed off on me!"_

" _I'm not saying it's bad," Lance continued quietly. "I swear, if you make me blush right now, I could die."_

 _The red paladin snickered. "You'll be fine."_

" _If I go weak at the knees from looking at those dark, soulful eyes of yours, you'll have to catch me in your big strong arms okay?" Lance's breath hitched. Her hands trembled. "I mean it."_

 _Keith took a deep breath and got down on one knee. "It's time I do this properly." Lance made a soft noise at the back of her throat as Keith presented her with a small black box containing a ring with an aquamarine diamond shaped like a snowflake. "Leah Amalia McLane, will you continue being my best friend, my partner in crime, my all time favorite person by facing whatever comes next for the rest of our lives by becoming my wife?"_

Everyone watching held their breath. Tissues were passed. Anyone who so much as made a noise was immediately punched so it was no surprise that Slav was the first to go down when he started to sob. Cyra was not going to tolerate any disturbances at the moment it seemed. Queen Lexi laid her head on her husband's shoulders as the two watched from the stage with small smiles. Was Mr. McLane actually crying?

" _Keith," Lance breathed, her hands gripped tightly at her chest. Her eyes looked misty. "Are you asking me to be the yee to your yee-haw?"_

Shiro groaned. God damn it Lance.

Startled laughs erupted from the crowd. A few snorts followed after. Others lightly laughed as they shook their heads.

" _We're having a moment Lance," Keith deadpanned. "Don't ruin it."_

" _Well," Lance continued. "I'll only say yes if you promise to be the twinkle to my star."_

 _Keith blushed. "W-what?"_

 _Lance began to lower herself on her knees. "I'll say yes if you'll be the sweet to my dreams. The rain to my bow. The wind beneath my wings. The moon to my stars."_

" _Did you just copy your dad's lines?"_

 _Lance shushed him. "He got it from me."_

" _Sure he did."_

Mr. McLane lightly chuckled next to his wife. Mr. Holt had arrived a few minutes ago and was sitting down next to them looking amused.

 _Lance reached into her jacket and pulled out a black box._

Shiro straightened from where he was watching. This was it! It'd taken Shiro and Lance less than an hour to find what they wanted for the red paladin. They didn't bother looking at anything brightly colored and just walked straight to the darker shade of diamond rings. After a light banter, he and Lance had spotted the perfect ring, the two pointing at it at the same time before high-fiving each other. It was the engraving that they had disagreed on. Shiro thought it should say something sweet. Lance had given him a strange look and gestured to herself with an 'have you met me?' look.

She'd refused to tell him what she'd had engraved in the ring and damn it, Shiro was curious.

 _Keith's breath hitched as he lowered himself to his knees to inspect the ring inside. Lance opened it to reveal a golden ring with an elegantly cut ruby in the center. "Lance, it's beautiful."_

 _Lance grinned. "My turn for a speech so listen up and be impressed."_

 _Keith's eyes turned challenging. "Oh?" he lifted a hand in her direction. "By all means."_

 _Lance cleared her throat. "Well, as you know, I'm pretty crazy."_

" _I noticed."_

" _But you don't seem to care. You hardly bat an eye at my crazy antics. You know how rare that is? To know that no matter what insane idea I come up you'll join me anyway? And with a smile no less! That's like, the best thing ever! Every insult I throw at you, every challenge I make, you throw one right back at me. Yes, you curse." Lance rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "Boy, do you curse. But I don't mind it all that much. Not from you anyway. I never thought that the person I'd fall head over heels for would have a mullet."_

 _Keith opened his mouth to retort._

 _Lance held her hand up. "It's a mullet. You know it. I know it. Stop denying it." Keith rolled his eyes. "Just being in the same room with you brings me this sense of calmness. We could be in a tense situation, surrounded by enemies and I wouldn't care because if I know you're there, right at my back, then I know there's nothing to fear." Lance's smile turned adoring. "I love you. All of you. If you give me your everything then I promise to give you all of me." Keith looked like he was going to cry. "So I'll ask you again." She took a deep shuddering breath. Lance McLane…was nervous. "Keith Wilhelm Kogane, will you be the wind beneath my wings? My stars to my moon? The ice to my fire and marry me? Pretty please with sugar on top?"_

For a moment Keith didn't say anything. Just continued to stare at Lance with his mouth hanging open and his eyes looking all teary. Lance began to look nervous. Shiro leaned forward. People crossed their fingers.

And then Keith closed his mouth and looking almost bashful, he smiled. " _Only if you'll be the yee to my yee-haw."_

 _And then Lance all but threw herself at the red paladin with a relieved laugh and kissed him hard on the mouth, the two of them toppling to the floor with a surprised squeak. But Keith didn't care, just placed one hand on the back of her neck and kissed her just as hard._

The crowd let out a loud cheer.

"Yes!" Mikey shouted at the top of his lungs. "Now that was romantic!"

"That's my son in law!" Mr. McLane shouted as he shot to his feet as he pulled his wife and Mr. Holt for an unexpected hug.

"Finally." Pidge sighed in relief.

"Oh, if only Keith's father was here to see this." Krolia sniffled.

Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he'd be just as proud as we are of him too." Krolia smiled softly at him.

Coran, Matt, and Hunk hugged each other tight as big fat tears came down their cheeks.

Lotor sniffled and smiled next to Axca who didn't smile but whose eyes were warm. Ezor jumped onto a grinning Zethrid's back and wildly cheered while Narti shook her head at them.

Back in Lance's hideout, the two lovebirds were sliding their rings to their ring finger.

 _Lance smiled as she read the inscription. "Move aside Mothman, my Amazon is Here." Tears appeared at the corner of her eyes. "Keith…"_

" _To the Only Mullet I'll Ever Love. You're Welcome." Keith read from his own ring. He snorted and slid it back on his finger. "I love it."_

 _The two got to their feet. "You know…" Long brown fingers inched towards Keith's own until their fingertips were touching. "There's one thing that's definitely overdue."_

 _Keith tilted his head in confusion. "What's that?"_

 _Lance bit her lip and glanced up at Keith through half-lidded eyes. Her eyes were warm and a brilliant shade of blue as the Christmas lights hanging in the ceiling changed from green to red. "You haven't," She cleared her throat and made air quotes with her fingers. "And I quote from Pidge, 'Fucked me into the mattress yet."_

 _Keith went absolutely still. It looked like he wasn't breathing._

Shiro choked on his own saliva at the sudden turn of events. His breath hitching he turned to Pidge and Matt who were a mix between gaping and grinning. "Turn off those cameras."

 _Keith took a step forward and in one swift move he'd swooped Lance off her feet. The Amazon wrapped her legs around him with a dazzling smile. "Oh, hell yeah." He breathed._

"Pidge," Shiro choked. "Turn it off!"

" _There's just one condition," Lance lowly said._

 _Keith arched a brow as he came up from placing gentle bites to her neck. "Oh? And what's that?"_

 _Lance placed her mouth near his ear and practically purred her next words. "Keep the gloves on."_

"Pidge!" Shiro was screaming. He didn't give a damn as he watched Keith's body do a full on shiver as he all but ran to the bed with a giggling Lance clinging onto him like a koala.

Pidge profusely tapped her tablet.

Lance threw her jacket to the floor.

"Holy crap!" Matt squeaked looking wide-eyed.

Lotor and his generals were howling with laughter.

Hunk covered his eyes. "I can't look!"

Keith threw his jacket somewhere on the sofa.

Shiro was starting to hyperventilate.

Boots were tossed to the side.

Allura fanned herself, her cheeks a deep shade of red at the sounds coming from both of their friends on the screen.

Coran looked torn between laughing and shielding his eyes.

"All you fuckers close your eyes!" Mikey screeched at the cheering crowd. He looked murderous. "And someone tell me where they are so I can go kill Keith!"

Sloppy wet kisses were placed on Lance's neck. The Amazon tugged at his red shirt and in one quick motion, Keith was shirtless.

"Oh my god –"

"My eyes!"

"Look at those _abs_!"

"Yeah!" Reyna shouted next to a scarlet looking Adina. "Get some!"

"PIDGE!" Shiro bellowed, his voice going an octave too high for his liking.

"I'm trying!" Pidge growled. "Matt, go get Aiden to help us!"

Matt disappeared in a flash.

"EVERYONE STAND BACK!" Shiro bellowed. "I'M GOING TO BLOW UP THE SCREENS!"

"This _male_ said what?" the crowd screeched.

"I know he didn't just say what I think he said!"

"We're watching something damn it!"

The angry crowd rushed toward Shiro looking pissed.

Allura stepped between him and the crowd holding a whip. "Everyone, step back!" She waved her whip and slapped the ground when the crowd surged forward. "Don't make me use this!"

"She'll use it!" Hunk screamed at them. "She's crazy!"

The women screamed like banshees.

Shiro paled, his eyes going to the screen and to the raging crowd. These women were crazy!

As Keith began to pull down the zipper at the back of Lance's dress, he was practically on her lap, the Amazon princess turned, her eyes narrowing into slits as she looked up from biting Keith's shoulder, and looked straight at the camera.

A shiver of fear ran down his spine as Lance tilted her head and gave a sweet smile. Everyone froze. Some people whimpered. With one hand raised, she flicked her wrist at the camera, and then the screens went black.

But it didn't matter.

Why?

Because she _knew_ they'd been watching.

Lance could sense anything that had to do with electricity. She'd probably followed the circuit all the way to where they all were.

"We're dead aren't we?" Hunk trembled into the now quiet crowd. The crowd that had cut off mid-shout as soon as Lance had looked at the camera.

People were trembling.

At least Shiro wasn't the only one. Others were writing their last wills.

Should he do that as well?

Because Lance had just smiled at them. And when Lance smiled like _that_ , it meant she was out for blood.

Pidge blew a long shaky breath and uttered the words on everyone's minds. "We're so royally fucked, aren't we?"

Yes.

Yes, they were.

* * *

Their hands linked, their naked bodies bared to each other, Lance caressed the firm walls of Keith's mind. The barriers that Lance had taught him how to make immediately fell at her soft prodding, allowing her to go in. Allowing her to pass on her thoughts to him of everything she was feeling.

Keith's hands began to shake around her own, but he didn't utter a word, only closed his eyes so he could feel them properly. When she retreated, his eyes opened until they were staring at each other in silence.

"Are you sure?" His breathing was haggard, his gray-blue eyes all but glowing as he looked down at her.

Reaching up, she moved his bangs from her face and smiled. "More than I've ever been." His fingers tightened around hers. Lance nipped at his bottom lip. "Do your worst."

The words seemed to snap something in him and with a growl his lips found hers, the strength and heat of him pouring into her own cool skin. Per her request, his gloves had remained. Every time the material rubbed against her skin it had her arching her back in delight. Her stomach tightened in anticipation, her breasts turning achingly heavy as Keith's mouth roved down her neck, licking the spot between her collarbone and neck where Galra would bite their mates.

Would he do that too? She hoped he did.

The rest of the world was lost inside Keith's mouth because he was kissing her, kissing her as deeply as he could, wanting everything all at once, right here and now.

Her hands slid into his hair just as he gripped one of her thighs and hoisted her leg over his shoulder. Her eyes went wide as Keith gave her a wicked grin and before she could figure out what that look meant, his mouth was on her.

Lance cried out in surprise.

Her hands pulled at his hair, urging him to go faster as she writhed beneath. Her hand clenched the sheets. Lance had always been vocal and as Keith continued his ministrations Lance couldn't hold back her moans. One hand was at her hip holding her down every time she tried to move. Bastard. Keith took his time. Licked and stroked until Lance shattered, then laughed against her, wicked and dark, before he rose to his full height.

The red crystal necklace seemed to glow where it dangled around his neck. The scar on the right side of his face looked darker. Lance's eyes traveled down to his chest to see the thin pale scar that the metal wolf had given him back at the Dossiers house. And below it, a few inches above his belly button was the scar that had almost taken him away from her forever. It was as long as her index finger, jagged, and slightly gray.

Lance had a similar scar in the same spot where Liya had pierced her with her makeshift javelin. A part of her was surprised that such a small looking wound had bled so much. The wound had actually been bigger but with the healing pod it had been reduced. Most of the scars that they had gotten had completely disappeared except for the worst ones.

Those had remained.

The Amazon knew that if she'd asked Olwen, the older woman could make those marks disappear. But Lance hadn't asked. Neither had Keith. She wanted to keep it. To remember how close they'd been at death's doors, how close they'd been to losing each other but had survived in the end.

Her eyes going soft, Lance lifted herself by her elbows and kissed each scar on Keith's body tenderly, softly. The one on his cheek. The one on his chest. And the scar on his stomach. She sucked and nibbled on each one and Keith's whole body seemed to twitch.

"What are you thinking?" he murmured. He sounded out of breath.

"I'm thinking," Lance confessed as she sucked on his shoulder. Keith shuddered. "That I've always wanted matching tattoos but I suppose having matching scars isn't all that bad."

Keith huffed out a laugh, his fingertips ghosting over her own scar at her stomach and then to the one on her shoulder where the Galra zombie had bitten her. Faint teeth like marks had remained.

And then one of his hands went to the desk on the left, his eyes never leaving hers, as he opened the drawer and came back with a condom.

Her breath loud in her ears, she arched a brow at him. "Someone's prepared."

Keith snorted, ripping open the little square in his hand. "Thank Pidge." Lance's brows went up. "She left a whole pack in there for us with a note telling us to 'go nuts'. That's her gift to us."

Lance snickered. She'd have to thank the green paladin when she saw her again.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, he hoisted her up. "So? How do you want it?"

"Hard enough to break the bed." She breathlessly teased.

Keith laughed and growled. "Yes, ma'am."

 _Ay Dios Mio._

Her hands slid to his shoulders, digging into the hard muscle as he finally, _finally_ , pushed into her with a mighty stroke that had her crying out.

For a minute he didn't move. Let her adjust. When Lance was sure that she would be fine she nodded.

And then he was moving.

Every thrust, every sound he made, had her curling her toes. Her skin felt like it was on fire as she met him stroke for stroke. Hands were tangled in each other's hair; moans and pants filled the room, the slap of skin on skin, the slam of their bodies against the groaning bed. And it was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

No Shiro to separate them.

No Mikey threatening to kill Keith.

No interruptions whatsoever.

Lance could see the stars still falling when she glanced up at the ceiling and past the glass separating them from the outside.

The soft sound of M83's 'Wait' softly playing in the background.

Keith lowered his mouth to her breasts and nipped – nipped and licked and sucked until it hurt before gently licking away the pain and replacing it with pleasure.

And when Lance felt that she was close to bursting, she opened her eyes to see that Keith's fangs were out, his eyes were glowing, and as his teeth sank into the spot between her neck and collarbone she cried out as a jolt went through her. Each drive of his hips had her crying out as she dragged her nails down his back. Hard enough to bruise. And still, Keith didn't lift his teeth.

Something at the back of her mind urged her to do the same. To do it now while Keith's teeth were still latched in her. Her instincts had never been wrong. They'd never led her astray.

So she listened to that feeling and sank her own teeth into the spot between his neck and collarbone and claimed him as her own as he had claimed her as his. His blood filled her mouth, her soul, her mind.

And just like that, everything intensified.

Lance didn't have the words to explain what happened next.

All she knew was that every inch of her burned and tightened, and her control completely vanished as Keith whispered into her ear. "I love you."

Release tore through her, and Keith kept pounding into her, drawing out her pleasure until all she could feel was their new bond. Each pounding stroke had the bond glowing brighter. Strengthening it. Their scents _merged_ , the link between their minds was back, and jolts of electricity wrapped around them for a brief moment before Lance pulled that power back into herself though Keith hadn't been hurt whatsoever. And in their minds, down that new bond, Lance poured her thoughts to him and opened her mouth and all but growled out her next words. "You're mine."

That bond between them seemed to glow brighter and cleared.

"Say it again." Keith panted, his eyes glazed and predatory.

She tugged at his hair. Why had he stopped? She was so close to coming again already. " _You're mine."_

Keith gave her a slow, satisfied smile. "And you're _mine_ ," he snarled and with that Keith sunk his teeth into the same spot and came with another hard thrust.

For long moments, they only stared. Breathed.

A sly smile formed on his lips as he gazed at something behind her. Lance didn't need to turn to know what he was looking at. The image popped in his mind and passed onto hers. When Lance saw what he was seeing through his thoughts she laughed. The headboard was cracked.

Keith pulled out of her slowly and gave her a roguish grin as he lifted himself by his elbows. Black strands were plastered on his sweaty forehead. A sheen of sweat covered his chest. His fangs were still out. Even his cute Galra ears had made an appearance. "Well?"

Lance looped he arms around his neck and licked a long trail up his neck. She felt him shiver. "Do it again."

Keith's answering grin had her laughing as he flipped her onto her stomach until she was on all fours, then plunged deep into her with a growling purr.

This time he went slow. Pulling all the way inside, only to pull back out and leaving Lance whining. It was so slow that in the end Lance was begging and screaming at him to move.

Faster. She wanted him to go _faster_.

He only did when she threatened to slam him against the wall. A threat that had him laughing but complying with her demands.

 _Finally_.

And even when they eventually collapsed on the floor, even as Keith carried her back to the bed and draped the blue soft blankets over them, Lance couldn't stop smiling.

The wait had definitely been worth it.

* * *

Keith woke up the next day feeling both sore and deeply satisfied from his and Lance's exploits last night. Not that he was complaining. Yesterday had been amazing. Who knew Lance was so _flexible_?Well, okay. He _knew_. Keith had seen Lance do yoga before but he'd never had the pleasure of watching her finish her routine before Pidge showed up and gave him this knowing look that made him want to throttle her. It was nice to find out just _how_ flexible she was firsthand though. He didn't have to look in the mirror to know that he was smiling like an idiot though.

His cheeks were already hurting.

He wasn't used to smiling this much.

Looking down at his chest his smile turned soft when he saw Lance nestled to Keith's chest, her head just under his chin as she slept. Her left hand was thrown across his chest where she hugged him close. One leg was on top of him. Slowly, as to not wake her, he gently lifted her soft hand to inspect the ring he'd given her and kissed her knuckles.

The aquamarine crystal shaped into a snowflake seemed to sparkle in the morning light. Glancing down at his own ring he couldn't help but smile. The elegantly cut ruby in the center was beautiful. He'd have to thank Shiro when he saw him again. Apparently the black paladin had helped Lance in picking out the ring. The inscription was all Lance though. _That_ he could tell. No one else but Lance would call him mullet.

Lance murmured something under her breath before burying her face into his side with a small pout. Smiling, Keith pressed a soft kiss on her brown mussed hair. It was sticking up every which way from where Keith had grabbed, pulled, and just run his hands through. Apparently Lance had a kink about hair pulling. His eyes glanced down to her neck and he couldn't hold back the smug grin at the sight of his teeth marks on that soft skin. For some reason he felt downright pleased at the sight of it.

Lance was his mate. _His mate_.

He didn't know what came over him, maybe it was his Galra side, but something had told him to bite her. And when his fangs sank down to Lance's sweet tasting skin, the move had felt right. And the jolt that followed after as soon as Lance sank her own teeth to his own flesh…there were no words to describe what he had felt at that time.

All he knew was that their bond was back and it was stronger than ever. Emotions that were definitely not his own had flowed inside his own mind, covering everything with a warm comforting blanket of blue-tinted silk. Keith had automatically known that these were Lance's thoughts. It'd been so long since he and Lance had shared thoughts. When Lance had crushed her mood bracelet to make sure Haggar couldn't find them, that precious bond between them had disappeared. And for months Keith had felt like another part of him was missing but now it was back. Her thoughts felt like home. Every thought Lance had thought, everything she felt, everything she wanted _done_ to her, Keith had automatically known as the thoughts passed inside Lance's head.

Who was he to deny what she wanted?

So he had complied and by the end Lance was all but hoarse from screaming in pleasure.

The Amazon could take what he gave her and still have the energy to beg for more. Keith's Galra side had come out, something Lance had definitely been pleased about as she bit Keith's sensitive ears until _he_ was begging for mercy. What had he done to deserve someone so amazing like Lance?

Slowly, as to not disturb his mate, Keith shifted under the covers and looped his leg around Lance's. What time was it anyway? Definitely morning, the sun was up, but it wasn't as high as it would get when it was the afternoon. The fire in the fireplace had gone off. The food that Hunk had made for them was all gone. They'd eaten in between breaks and when Lance had found cake in the fridge she'd actually squealed before she grabbed a chunk of it and smothered it on his chest.

To say Keith was offended was an understatement. That is, until Lance pushed him to the floor and licked it all off. He didn't mind it so much then. He could do without the stickiness though.

Regardless of what time it was, either way, Keith was too comfortable to move. Everything was perfect, maybe he could go back to sleep for just a little longer. Of course, that's when his transparent bracelet decided to start beeping alerting him that he had messages.

Startled, he immediately turned it off but it was too late. Lance was already stirring. Keith turned to his side to watch. The Amazon rubbed at her eyes and slowly blinked in confusion. "Keith?"

"Hey," Keith whispered, pushing back the strands that had fallen over her face.

"Hey," Lance whispered back, her grip tightening to pull him closer. Their space became a shared one, and together, they leaned in until their foreheads gently bumped together. Keith couldn't help but snapshot this moment from every angle, preserving it in his mind. The blue of Lance's eyes. The little shy smile she was giving him. The red tint to her cheeks as they made eye contact.

"So yesterday," Lance began, her finger tracing circles on his chest.

Keith licked his lips, internally grinning as Lance's eyes darted down at the movement. "Yeah?"

"Was amazing." Lance breathed.

Her words left Keith winded and he couldn't tear his eyes away from Lance's mouth, the bow of her lips, her mussed hair, and the satisfied smile on her face against his skin…

No longer able to hold himself back he reached up, cupped Lance's cheek, and pressed their mouths together. The bond between them flared to life. The smell of Lance's skin filled his head and body, dizzying and sweet as Lance opened her mouth against his and kissed back just as urgently.

Her lips were soft and smooth and for once, her body didn't feel cold. Lance shifted, straddling his hips, and licked and sucked at the spot where she'd bitten him. He felt himself purr in satisfaction. Lance chuckled above him as she ran her hands through his hair.

Keith could get used to this.

His hands sliding to her waist, he jerked her against him and bit her own Mate mark hard. The faint whimper Lance let out had his body warming, his ears that were once again out flicked forward in full alert, and a jolt of blue electricity wrapped around them, cocooning them in a warm blanket.

Lance found his lips again and nudged the walls in his mind, asking for entrance. Keith let her in immediately; the feel of invisible hands raking down gently in his head overwhelmed him. He could feel the lean smooth skin, every shudder that ran through Lance's body until the two were breathing hard.

"Someone's excited this morning."

Lance chuckled, stopping her ministrations to sit up and gaze at him with a toothy grin. The blue necklace dangled over her chest. "Do you want me to stop?"

Hell no.

Instead of answering her, Keith simply pulled her down before reversing their positions. Lance glanced up at him with a grin. "No," he breathed. He lifted her leg over his shoulder. "Just remember that you started this."

"Oh?" Lance jerked her hips upward and bit her lip. Keith let out a hiss. "You gonna make me scream again?"

Keith's smile was downright devilish as he snatched another condom from the desk to his left. "Screaming?" he ripped the wrapping with his teeth. Lance swallowed. "I'll have you sobbing by the time I'm done."

Lance's heart was racing. She was excited. Her body began to tremble under him in anticipation. "Is that a threat?"

His own heart racing, Keith bent down until they were nose to nose. "Now darling," Lance let out a strangled sound at the pet name. "That is a promise."

* * *

By the time they finally left Lance's hideout it was almost three in the afternoon. They could only take so much insistent beeping from both of their bracelets before getting irritated. Due to Lance's insistence, they had jumped in the ocean and taken a quick bath to get rid of the stickiness of the cake still clinging to their bodies.

It was supposed to be quick. It wasn't.

They mostly made out and had sex two more times but in the end they came out looking a lot cleaner than when they'd gone in. As soon as they were dressed, Keith gave Lance a piggyback ride. Her back hurt and her legs kept shaking. She didn't tell him but somehow he could _feel_ it.

The fact that Lance couldn't walk properly had him grinning in victory. His mate made sure to punch him when she saw that smug grin.

Either way, Lance didn't complain as she looped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist as he began to go back to Lance's house where the others were probably waiting. They'd opted to wear simple clothes like jeans and a T-shirt. On the way there, every woman they passed averted their eyes. Some blanched and ran from them with a panicked squeak. Others had apologized, cried, and fled the scene.

To say that Keith was confused was no surprise. That is, until Lance shared a memory about the camera in the room and the very real likelihood that everyone in the island had not only seen their proposals to each other but also part of their make-out session before Lance had cut off the connection.

Keith swore.

He'd forgotten about the camera that his friends had put in.

"Don't worry," Lance murmured into his hair. "I have an idea on how to get them back."

"Oh?" Keith felt himself smile as Lance poured her thoughts to him. By the time Lance had finished telling him her plan, Keith was having trouble holding back his dark laugh. A chuckle escaped regardless and the poor passing Amazon that had heard grew pale when Lance joined him with a villainous laugh of her own.

"They know!" The Amazon woman wailed before running down the cobblestone streets screaming her head off. "They _know_!"

A few other women joined her in screaming their guts out once they caught sight of Lance and Keith passing by. It only had the two of them laughing even harder. Most of the streets were empty with only a few women walking by with gift boxes on their hands. The decorations were still up, so was the stage, but it was surprisingly empty for three in the afternoon. A few minutes more and they were stepping inside Lance's giant mansion of a house. They found their friends at the long dining table having dinner. Lance's family wasn't there. Neither were Lotor or his generals.

At the sight of them, most of them choked and averted their eyes. Keith kept his face blank lest he start laughing maniacally at the plan Lance had laid out to him. Lance on the other hand, took a seat at the corner of the table and gave their friends a sweet smile.

Shiro released a whimper.

The spoon halfway to Matt's mouth trembled, spilling its contents on his lap.

Pidge refused to look up from her smashed potatoes though she swallowed nervously.

Keith took the seat next to Lance, which was also next to his mother. His mother who looked up in surprise between he and Lance before smiling in wonder. "You mated."

Keith felt himself blush. "Oh." He cleared his throat uncomfortably at the looks his friends gave him. "Yeah."

Krolia smiled, her violet eyes glistening before she squeezed his shoulder. "Congratulations."

For some reason he felt embarrassed but he nodded regardless. "Uh, thanks."

Unable to control herself anymore, Pidge looked up and blurted out. "So did you guys fuck?"

Shiro choked on his piece of steak and Allura immediately rushed to his side and patted his back until he got better. "P-pidge!"

The green paladin threw her hands up. "You're all thinking it!"

"Still!" Hunk shouted in dismay.

"Well," Lance sniffed as she looped her ankle around Keith's under the table. Keith froze for a second and stared down at his empty plate, enjoying the sensation before putting pressure on Lance's foot with his own, feeling dizzier every time Lance responded. "If you must know we did."

His friends choked.

They looked like they wanted to say something more but Lance's uncanny attention to them had them shutting their mouths. Awkwardly, they returned to eating their food in uncomfortable silence, all of them fidgeting in their seats.

Lance waited a few more minutes before finally speaking. "How are you guys enjoying your mashed potatoes?"

Everyone froze mid-bite.

Keith's lips twitched.

"Are they good?" Lance continued with a warm smile that had everyone breaking into a nervous sweat. Krolia quietly pushed her food away and nibbled on a granola bar that she'd stashed in her black jacket.

"What did you do?" Matt finally squeaked. His brown eyes were wide in fear and his hands were shaking.

Coran was already spitting out his food.

Allura grabbed a napkin and did the same.

Shiro seemed to be hyperventilating.

Lance tilted her head in confusion. So furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

Pidge slammed her fist on the table and growled. "Cut the shit!" Lance merely blinked. "We know that you know!"

"Know what?"

"You know that we were watching!" Pidge confessed to everyone's horror. "Is this your punishment? Did you poison our food?"

Keith's mate actually looked offended. "You think I'd poison your food?"

"Yes." Everyone admitted. Lance scowled.

"So you didn't?" Hunk hopefully asked. "Our food is safe?"

"Of course it is."

"Prove it!" Pidge demanded. She scooped a spoonful of smashed potatoes and shoved her hand across the table towards the table. "Eat it."

Lance rolled her eyes but didn't take the spoon. "You're all ridiculous."

"Lance," Shiro spoke for the first time. His obsidian eyes were narrowed. "Eat the damned potatoes."

Keith let out a warning growl and his brother looked at him in surprise. Keith didn't like the tone his brother used on his mate whatsoever. "It's okay Keith." Lance put pressure on his ankle and Keith visibly calmed down. Lance took the spoon from the green paladin's hand. "I'll eat it."

With another roll of her eyes, Lance brought the spoon to her mouth and swallowed the food. Their friends leaned in to get a closer look and waited a good three minutes before sighing in relief.

"Okay, so she didn't poison our food." Allura declared with a relieved smile. The Altean princess was sporting black yoga pants and a simple pink loose shirt. Perhaps she'd been working out. She narrowed her blue-violet eyes at the Amazon princess. "But you did _something_." Lance didn't say anything. "What is it?"

Lance didn't answer, instead choosing to fill her plate with the sweet delicacies laid out on the table until her plate looked like it was sporting a mini mountain. Keith exchanged a look with her. "Starving?"

Lance shrugged. "You ate most of the food yesterday. I figured I should be prepared in case you want to take anymore from me."

Keith felt himself blush. Lance had eaten most of the cake off him but everything else? Keith had splattered it on Lance and devoured it all by licking it off her. "Well, you didn't complain." He muttered.

Lance impishly grinned.

"So _are_ you going to punish us?" Matt fearfully asked.

Lance took a bite off her food before she began pilling more on Keith's own plate. He was starving. "What are you talking about?" The Amazon flashed him a smile. Matt squeaked. "I've already started."

"What?" Pidge shouted.

Matt shot to his feet so fast that he knocked his chair backwards. "Oh my god."

Hunk fell down to his knees and covered his face. "It was all Pidge's fault!"

"You _ass_!" Pidge glowered at him.

Shiro activated his weapon and looked around in a panic. "What is it?" the black paladin was breathing hard, his eyes looked wild. "What did you do? Is something going to jump out at us?"

"Lance," Allura swallowed nervously. She tried to look calm but the hands clasped in front of her shook. "Whatever it is that you started, just remember that you can always stop." She paused and her eyes grew misty. Her tone turned pleading. "Please stop."

"It was a good life." Coran quietly murmured in acceptance. "I lived well."

Krolia pursed her lips but she looked like she'd accepted her fate. Keith was finding it increasingly difficult not to laugh. He scooped another mouthful of food and watched the proceedings with a smug grin.

"Keith," Shiro turned to him with pleading eyes. "Whatever it is she's doing make her stop!"

The red paladin shrugged his shoulders. "Can't."

His brother looked betrayed.

"What is it?" Pidge demanded with clenched fists. Today she was sporting baggy brown pants and a green T-shirt. "What's our punishment?"

Before Lance could answer, the sound of dozens of women screaming in a panic out in the street was heard. Their eyes wide, everyone bolted to the front door and sprinted out into the street only to stare in horror. Every Amazon and Valkyrie in the street had a layer of ice covering their feet all the way to their knees keeping them planted in place. As soon as they saw Lance the women started sobbing.

"Your highness we're sorry!"

"We'll never do it again!"

"Please, let me go, I have a soap opera to watch!"

Screams of panic were heard further down the street.

Lance glanced down at her nails and smiled. "Nah."

And then she went back inside the house and closed the door behind her. Keith really loved his mate.

Pidge sprinted after her in a huff. "So what is it?" Lance turned. "What are you going to do to us? Are you going to freeze our feet to the ground too? Will you electrocute us? Lock us in a room full of clown? Speak woman!"

"These are all really good ideas," Keith murmured as he turned to Lance. "Should we do those instead?"

Lance seemed to consider it.

Matt shook his sister's shoulders. "Why are you giving them more ideas?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Lance finally answered. Pidge scowled. " _That_ is your punishment." Their friends looked confused. "I _will_ punish you," Lance clarified. "But you won't know _when_." Everyone gaped. Shiro looked like he was going to cry. "I might do it today. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe in a few hours." Lance shrugged. "Your punishment is that you won't know when I'll strike, you'll question everything. Before you take a shower you'll take the time to think, 'did Lance mess with the showerhead and water from the sewer will pop out? When you eat you'll wonder, 'did Lance poison it? Did she put laxatives in my food?"

"You bitch…"Pidge breathed. "I'm actually kind of proud…" her eyes narrowed. "If it wasn't happening to me!"

"You'll all get punished," Keith finally decided to speak up. "You just won't know when. But you will, don't worry."

"Keith," Shiro cried. "How could you?"

"Maybe next time you'll think twice about broadcasting our actions to a whole island full of gossiping women." Keith smoothly replied. Lance beamed and laid her head on his shoulder. Te Galra in him purred in delight at the action.

"Everyone except Hunk," Lance added with a thoughtful frown. The yellow paladin's eyes grew wide with hope. "He made us a _really_ nice dinner."

"The cake was pretty good." Keith chimed in with a nod.

Hunk rushed forward and enveloped his best friend in a giant hug. Keith frowned and stepped closer. "Oh, I knew you'd never hurt me!"

"That's not fair!" Pidge argued with a stomp of her foot. "He saw too!"

Keith exchanged a glance with his mate.

Hunk cupped Lance's cheeks and stared into her eyes. Keith didn't like that either. Unaware of it, Krolia was watching him closely. "Remember the cake Lance! Remember how good it was? I can make you another one!"

"Hmm."

"There you guys are!" The sudden arrival of Queen Lexi and Mr. McLane made everyone jump. Matt actually released a girlish shriek. Looking confused, the woman paused before smiling pleasantly again. "It's time for presents!"

Lance clapped her hands. "Oh, I got you all something!" Everyone paled. "Trust me you'll love them!"

Matt started sobbing.

* * *

The walk to the castle of lions was certainly an interesting one. Every woman they passed was punching the shit out of the ice covering their lower bodies with a desperation Shiro had never seen before. And when they saw Lance they actually whimpered. Queen Lexi and Mr. McLane didn't even bat an eye as they passed by.

To say Shiro was jumpy was an understatement. Lance was a woman full of many talents. Many… _deadly_ talents. The black paladin had every right to be scared. The girl was absolutely devious. She might be worse than _Pidge_.

Fearfully, he chanced a glance behind him where Keith and Lance were walking all the way at the back with soft smiles on their faces as they walked. His brother looked deliriously happy, and while Shiro would always be happy about that, right now he couldn't help feeling betrayed.

Keith was actually _encouraging_ his fiancée into punishing them. The _betrayal_. Didn't Keith know that family always stuck together? Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind! But what was his brother doing? Leaving Shiro to his devil of a fiancée.

Lance and Keith glanced over at him and laughed. Matt edged away from them with a fearful look.

Shiro narrowed his eyes. Suspicious.

The black paladin wasn't an idiot. He knew his brother and Lance had finally done the _deed_. There was no changing that. He just hoped they'd used protection. Not that a mini Lance or a mini Keith would be a _bad_ thing but not yet. Maybe in a few years. Like ten. Preferably twenty. But Lance and his brother seemed unusually chummy today.

Yes, they'd had sex. But they felt _closer_.

Keith was being overly protective of her. Wherever Lance went, Keith went. If Lance shifted in her chair, Keith scooted closer. If someone so much as took an angry tone with her Keith would growl in warning.

It was strange.

Next to him Allura was holding onto to his hand with a death grip. Coran was beside her, jumping at every little sound with a girlish squeak. Hunk and Pidge were walking further ahead, the yellow paladin looked the most relaxed out of everyone which honestly? Wasn't fair.

How good was that cake that Lance decided _not_ to punish her best friend? The green paladin had her Bayard out and was looking at everything with narrowed eyes. Surprisingly, nothing happened to them on the way to the castle and for that Shiro was eternally grateful.

"So what is this surprise?" Hunk suddenly spoke up for all of them. The day was a little cloudy but the sun was out, melting most of the snow that was pushed out of the streets so people could still walk. The yellow paladin had chosen to wear kaki shorts and a simple yellow shirt.

"It's something we've been working on since you've all arrived," Queen Lexi admitted as she scooped her blue shimmering dress lest it get dirty. Her black long hair was loose and curling at the edges. Mr. McLane was sporting a simple gray shirt and tight black fitting pants with some black combat boots. Perhaps the man had been working out. He'd looked a little sweaty when they arrived back at the house. "Trust me," the Queen continued with an impish smile over her shoulder. "You'll love it."

Stepping off the elevator, they stopped at a room just a few doors away from the bridge and stepped inside. Shiro wasn't the only one who gasped at the sight before him. Standing in the middle of the room was a circular machine that was at least over twenty feet high and wide. Wires as big as Shiro's biceps were attached to the sides were they all converged to a small glass pedestal that contained five dark grey crystals.

At the sight of it Matt and Pidge squealed in delight.

"What is it?" Allura asked when no one said anything.

Pidge rounded on her so fast; her glasses almost fell off her face. "It's a transporter!"

The two Alteans frowned. "A what?"

"Your friends are correct," Queen Lexi confirmed with a beaming smile. "A transporter is a teleportation device."

"It converts a person or object into an energy pattern –" Matt started.

–"And then it beams it or them to whatever location you want!" Pidge finished with an excited shout.

Shiro's brows went up.

"Exactly," Mr. McLane continued with a nod. His Spanish accent leaked out. "We've already tested it out with the Blades and it worked."

"Did you send someone?" Pidge was bouncing on the tip of her toes. "Who'd you send?"

"Your friend Slav." The Queen replied. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a crumpled note that she handed over to a startled Shiro. "He said to give this to you." Shiro took the paper and ripped it in pieces. The Queen lifted a brow but didn't say anything about it. So Slav was gone. Shiro felt the sudden urge to start dancing. "Anyway, we've tested it out with objects and your friend and even with the Olkari and we've had no problems whatsoever."

"This is our Christmas present to you all," Mr. McLane smiled; his baby blue eyes were twinkling. "Whenever you want to visit or are in need of our help you can always use the transporter to come directly to us."

"See?" Lance grinned with her hands at her hips. Her eyes turned soft when she glanced at the red paladin who stood so still Shiro feared he wasn't breathing. "Told you I'd visit."

Keith looked like he would combust as he pulled her in for an unexpected kiss that had Pidge gagging and Hunk crying out in happiness as he enveloped the two of them in a hug. "I get to visit my best friend!"

"We've also replaced your shields in your armors with a new shield created by my daughter," Queen Lexi continued with an impish grin. "I'm sure they'll be able to take on a whole lot of damage without breaking."

"Your highness," Shiro breathed in awe. "Mr. McLane, this is…thank you. So much."

Lance's parents smiled. "Don't worry about it. You've all made my daughter very happy in the time she was with you." The Queen looked at them all and bowed her head. "Thank you very much."

And with that last note, the two of them left the room.

"Time for the rest of the presents!" Lance suddenly declared. "Now, I've already given Shiro his present so that just leaves everyone else."

"Wait," Pidge interrupted her. "What'd you give Shiro?"

"A new arm." At their friends confused glances Shiro clarified and explained the whole process of creating him a new flesh and blood arm. By the end of his explanation his friends were looking excited.

"Shiro," Allura's eyes looked misty as she cupped his cheek with her warm hand. "That's great."

"Can that really be done?" Hunk asked his best friend. Lance nodded eagerly beside Keith.

"Where are our presents?" Pidge demanded with a whine. "And things better not jump out at us or I swear to _god_ Lance –"

The Amazon princess rolled her eyes and pointed her bracelet to the ground. Moments later boxes and bags, all brightly wrapped and adorned, filled the floor. Shiro and his friends did the same and soon enough dozens of more boxes joined Lance's own gifts.

Pidge all but skipped for the nearest pile of presents. "I'll go first!"

"Of course she will," Matt muttered, earning a grin from him and Allura.

Pidge ignored him before bending down to pick up a large rectangular box wrapped in little reindeer with a huge smile on her face. Her smiled dimmed when she read the label.

"Go on," Lance encouraged with a sweet smile. Her voice was practically a purr. "Open it."

The green paladin swallowed nervously, but clenched her jaw and began to rip into it. As soon as she opened it she squealed, and turned to Lance with a huge smile. "No way! Where did you get it?"

Before Shiro could ask her what she meant Pidge got to her feet, a triangle like bot in tucked into her chest. Two blue lines zig-sagged on each side, and in the center was a blue glowing light shaped into a circle. "It looks just like Rover!" Pidge hugged the machine close to her chest and smiled. "How did you know?"

"I talked to Hunk," Lance shrugged her shoulders. "He told me you repurposed a Galra drone into working for you before it sacrificed itself to save your life. I figured you'd like it."

Pidge sprinted over to her and hugged the Amazon close. "You're the best!"

Lance laughed and patted the green paladin's back. "I know."

"I'll name him Rover 2.0!"

And with that everyone surged forward and ripped into their own presents. Allura squealed when she opened Shiro's gift to her. A pair of exquisite blue earrings that Lance had helped him choose. Lance had gotten Allura the matching necklace to go with it. Coran had gotten her a sparkling bracelet with her initials on it.

Coran had received new tools for his mustache. A cookbook from Hunk and pants from everyone else. Pants that, hopefully, he would wear.

Hunk had received an unlimited supply at whatever he wanted from the grocery stores in Cloyetera from Lance. A teddy bear from the Holt siblings and a whole set of new tools from Shiro and Keith.

Shiro had received sixty boxes of Mac & Cheese from both Allura and Keith to his chagrin. Hunk's gift was to teach him _how_ to make them without setting the kitchen on fire. Volumes one though five of the _Holy Bible_ series from Lance, Pidge, and Coran to his embarrassment. It's a really good series okay! So sue him.

Matt had gotten his very own karaoke machine from Lance. Something he still hadn't finished gushing about to everyone's amusement. Pidge had illegally downloaded about a hundred new songs to add to his transparent bracelet. Shiro had gotten his best friend a new chest plate to replace his old one.

Besides the new drone that Lance had given her, Pidge received a new laptop from her brother and Hunk. A few dozen bags of junk food from Shiro and Keith. And a pretty jade bracelet from Allura and Coran who had chipped in to buy it.

Krolia had been given weapons from everyone and a new jacket from Keith.

Lance had been given new facemasks from Hunk and Allura. Krolia had given her small knives to stab people with. Everyone took a step back when the Amazon maniacally grinned. Shiro and Pidge had gotten her a new pair of headphones. Hunk gave her a coupon book for a one-hour foot massage. Coran had given her a new sheath for her sword. A sword she hardly ever used, Shiro had never even seen it, but apparently Coran had. Either way, Lance seemed to love it and promised to send him pictures when she tried it on later. And Matt had given her a thick book titled ' _Have A Little Pun'_ to which Lance swept him off his feet with a hug.

And Keith…

"Oh… a bedazzled knife." Keith murmured when he opened his first gift. Allura held her breath. "That's really thoughtful of you. Thanks Allura."

Allura sighed in relief. "Oh, I'm so glad you liked it!"

"Open mine next buddy!" Hunk shoved a small yellow bow to the red paladin.

Keith took it with a smile and opened it to reveal…a kitchen knife. "Oh. Thanks Hunk."

Lance pursed her lips. Shiro winced.

Pidge, Coran, and Krolia shoved their own boxes to him. His face perfectly blank, Keith opened the boxes to reveal…more knives. Matt bit his lip and handed his own gift to him. His eye twitching, Keith opened the box and went very still.

Inside…was a black tinted knife.

His tone ragged, Keith turned to Shiro with wide eyes. "This better not be another knife."

Shiro's face went perfectly blank. "It's not."

His face uncertain, Keith took the small envelope to reveal a gift card. Keith smiled in relief. Until he read what the gift card was for. " _KnivesRUs_? Seriously?"

"You don't like it?" Shiro pouted, he thought he'd chosen wisely.

His face looking on the verge of tears, Keith turned to Lance looking the most vulnerable Shiro had ever seen him. "Please, tell me you didn't get me another knife."

Lance scoffed and looked away. "Of course I didn't."

Pidge raised a brow at her. "What's that behind your back Lance?"

Lance tucked the item inside her bracelet. "My new knife that I got for myself." She turned on her heel and ignoring the amused chuckles from them she urged them to follow her. "Keith's gift is in another room."

Lance led them to the room above the hangar bay where Pidge and Hunk would spend their time making new gadgets. Inside the room there were tools of various sizes on the shelves. Chairs and stools. And in the middle was a bunch of parts and…an engine?

"This is your gift." Lance announced with a smile.

"You got me junk?" Keith pursed his lips in confusion. "Thanks?"

"What? No!" Lance stomped her foot and wildly gestured to the engine on the floor. "It's an engine for a hover bike!"

Keith blinked.

Looking unsure, Lance avoided his gaze. "You once told me that you and your dad would build bikes and hover bikes from scratch so I thought…that maybe…only if you _want_ …that you and I could build one together?" By the end of her sentence Lance trailed off awkwardly.

Keith went very still.

Lance flailed her arms. She was starting to look panicked. "Or you could do it yourself! It's up to you!" Lance took a step back, her blue eyes looked wild. "I talked to the engineering department and they gave me everything you would need so like I said…you could make it yourself if you want and –"

Whatever else Lance was about to say was caught off as Keith leaped forward and kissed her hard on the mouth. Lance released a startled squeak but didn't complain. Shiro had to clear his throat at least three times before they finally parted. "Lance," Keith breathed. His tone sounded ragged but he was widely smiling. "I love it!"

Lance blinked, looking up at him in uncertainty. "Really?"

"Yeah," he placed his forehead on hers and smiled. "And I want you to help me."

"Are you sure?" Lance looked unsure. "I don't know anything about tools so I might not be much help."

"I'll teach you."

"Well, okay then." Lance sniffed. "But don't get mad when I don't automatically get what you're talking about."

Keith only grinned.

The rest of the day was a blur of laughter and drinking. Pidge, Hunk and Matt were gushing over the transporter and testing it out with some help from three Amazons from the engineering department. Lance's brothers had found them an hour later and had come bearing gifts and a whole lot of food. Lotor and his generals arrived later looking disgruntled and wet.

Apparently they'd been caught in Lance's ice along with the rest of the women from the island. Lance hadn't apologized for it, in fact, she looked smug.

Matt had plugged in his new karaoke machine in the living room and everyone had joined in to sing a few tunes. The kitchen was still in repairs so no one was allowed in. Most of their rooms were still being repaired as well so they couldn't go in there either.

As Lance and Matt sang duet after duet, everyone else took a seat on the somewhat charred sofa and watched and drank. Keith was quietly talking to his mother though his eyes kept going back to Lance every few seconds. Lance did the same to him.

After a while, Aiden took out a deck of cards and he and Lance took a seat on the floor and started playing Uno. Half an hour later Coran brought out a Monopoly game that had Shiro groaning and the Holt sibling's eyes glinting dangerously.

Intrigued, Lotor and his generals joined in. Then the rest of Lance's brothers joined in until in the end everyone, even Lance and Aiden, had joined them on the floor in order to play.

Just as Shiro predicted, everything went to shit as the game progressed. Shiro and Lotor were locked inside a cage made of electricity courtesy of Lance as Pidge spread her arms wide and laughed as Lance and Matt poured fake money on her. Keith was having a yelling match with Mikey and the triplets about a piece of land. It was only a matter of time before they started throwing punches. Allura looked confused. Coran was cackling with Ezor as they continued the game. Krolia was having an arm wrestling match with Zethrid as Narti and Axca cheered her on.

Shiro could only scowl as he sat next to a pouting Lotor. The Galra prince turned to him. "I don't think I like this game."

"You and me both."

At least Lance and Keith had forgotten about punishing them. If they were lucky, the two of them will completely forget about it and leave them alone.

He should have known better.

* * *

A few days later, Lance and Keith got their revenge.

It started when Pidge and her brother summoned Shiro to the castle of lions. He didn't have to look very hard for them. The sound of shouting told him exactly where his friends were.

The black paladin resisted the urge to sigh. What the hell were his friends arguing about now?

"What is wrong with you?" Pidge was screeching when Shiro arrived at the bridge. At the sight of him, Pidge turned to him. "Shiro! Talk to your brother!"

Confused, Shiro arched a brow.

"About?"

"Having sex all over the castle!" Matt shouted in embarrassment.

Shiro blinked and turned to Keith who looked bored. "Did you have intercourse in the castle?"

Keith didn't even blink.

Hunk and Pidge furiously nodded their heads.

Shiro made a face. "Are you serious?" He shook his head and scoffed. "Where?"

Keith just stared at him.

Dread pooling in his stomach, Shiro made his voice stern. "Where?"

Keith didn't answer. Just continued to stare at him.

His voice breaking, Shiro opened his mouth one last time. "Where Keith?"

Keith stared at him for about three seconds in silence before finally answering. His voice was low. "Seems like you already know where."

His eyes wide, Shiro raised a trembling hand to his mouth and shuddered. Moments later he was running out of the room in a hurry.

It couldn't be true!

Shiro refused to believe –

The black paladin turned the corner and let out a groan as he bumped into someone walking the same direction. "Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't see –" Shiro's voice cut off at the sight of Lance standing before him. But what really got his attention were the black blankets in her hands. _His_ blankets.

His eyes wide and body completely still he spoke. "What are you doing with my blankets?"

Shiro was really proud of the fact that his voice had come out steady.

"Oh." Lance glanced down at the pile in her arms and blushed. Shiro started hyperventilating. "Keith and I got them a little dirty." Shiro took a step back. "So I was just going to wash –"

"Burn them."

"What?"

"Just burn them!"

And with that he started running away from her. He'd only taken a few steps before Lance called out to him. "Okay, but what about the extra blankets in your closet?"

Shiro started screaming.

* * *

"Oh man," Pidge said between laughing. "I can't believe you guys actually did that!"

Keith didn't say anything, only glanced at Lance when she stepped into the room with Shiro's blankets in her arms. They had a plan and they weren't done yet.

"Yeah," Matt added with a grin. He wiped at the tears at the corner of his eyes. "Oh man, I can't believe you –" Matt's voice cut off with a strangled choke as Lance took out a brown teddy bear.

"Here you go Matt." Lance smiled and handed the stuffed bear to a too still Matt. "He got a little dirty so I washed him."

Matt's brown eyes got wide and he looked between Lance and Keith with growing horror. Keith looked him in the eye. And grinned.

Matt let out a sob and ran out of the room with tears running down his eyes. "You guys are monsters!"

And then there were two.

Hunk and Pidge nervously chuckled.

"You guys didn't do anything in our rooms." Pidge swallowed. "Right?"

"They wouldn't," Hunk chimed in with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Right?"

Lance didn't answer. With a fake apologetic frown, Keith reached into his red jacket and pulled out a fluffy green stuffed frog. Pidge's eyes got real wide. "He was under the covers." Pidge looked like she wasn't breathing. It took all of Keith's self control not to burst out laughing. "Thought you might want it back."

"Your blankets are almost dry," Lance added with a wince.

With a shriek that would have surely broken windows, the green paladin snatched her stuffed toy from Keith and fled the room with a last yell. "You guys are assholes!"

Her screams soon joined Shiro's and Matt's own frantic ones.

Keith slid his eyes to Hunk.

The yellow paladin trembled.

And then there was one.

Letting out a nervous chuckle, the yellow paladin licked his lips and slid his obsidian eyes to his best friend. "Lance? Buddy?" Hunk took a step forward, his hands outstretched. "Tell me you didn't do anything in my room." Lance looked away. Hunk choked and took another step forward. "Lance? Speak to me!"

Lance closed her eyes and covered her mouth. She refused to look him in the eye.

Keith reached into his jacket.

Hunk took a step back.

"Hunk," Keith started.

Hunk took another step back and shook his head. "Don't say it."

Keith handed him a wrench. "It poked Lance in the back when she laid down on it."

Hunk looked at the item in his hands in horror. "Lance?"

Lance didn't answer. Her shoulders were shaking.

"Oh my god." Hunk took another step back. "Oh my god."

"We did wash your sheets," Keith apologetically said. "Your pillows though…"

With a strangled cry, Hunk snatched the wrench from Keith's hands and left the room sobbing. "I thought we were friends!"

As soon as he was gone, Keith turned to Lance and gave her a fist bump.

"Did you get the item?" Lance asked him with a wide grin.

"Did you?" he countered.

Lance took out the comb from Allura's room. Keith reached into his jacket and pulled out Coran's orange pillow.

"Let's go find those Alteans."

Ten minutes later the sound of Allura and Coran screaming soon joined their friends own shrieks as they rushed out of their rooms with their blankets and pillows hugged to their chests as they headed straight for the room with the giant furnace. The others were already there pushing each other to get inside.

"That'll teach them." Lance piped in where she leaned her head on Keith's shoulder as they watched their friends running around in a panic from the giant screens in the bridge. She passed him some popcorn that he took with a smile. "You think we should tell them the white stuff is actually condensed milk?"

"Maybe later."

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Keith kissed her temple and leaned back to enjoy the show.

Revenge was sweet.

* * *

The next day Lance found herself in front of the Hangar Bay doors. It had just barely occurred to her that she had not seen the Blue Lion since she'd last piloted her all those months ago during their fight with Zarkon. A part of her had been putting it off on purpose. What if the Blue Lion didn't want to see her now that Allura was her new pilot? Would Blue even let Lance near her? Would she let Lance come on board?

Lance didn't know.

But what if her worst fears came true? What if Lance showed up and the Blue Lion would refuse to let her go near her?

 _She missed you_.

Lance startled at the sound of Keith's voice in her head. _How are you so sure?_

 _Red said so. She's usually right._

 _Stop trying to psyche yourself out of this._ Keith continued _. Go see her._

 _Nosy._

 _Like you're not._ She didn't need to be there to know that Keith was rolling his eyes at her. _Just go Lance._

… _Okay._

 _Good luck._ There was a pause. _I'm here if you need me._ The bond went silent.

With another sigh, Lance squared her shoulders and placed her palm on the scanner to the Hangar Bay doors and stepped inside.

There, protected by a blue particle barrier and looking regal, was the Blue Lion. _Her_ Lion.

Allura was the Blue Lion's new pilot now but it didn't matter. The Blue Lion was always going to be hers. This beautiful creature had chosen Lance first. It'd defended her while she was hurt. Had comforted her thoughts when she was in distress. The Blue Lion had been her friend, had been there and fought by her side whenever they needed to fight.

Blue was her friend and now, standing here before her, Lance couldn't help but get emotional. She'd missed her lion. She'd missed her _so_ much. She took a step forward, and slowly, ever so slowly; Lance placed her shaking palm on the barrier as if afraid she'd get rejected. The barrier rippled before completely vanishing in a flash of light. The Blue Lion's eyes lit up in a soft yellow before lowering its massive head down to Lance's level.

The blue lion purred in her mind. _I've missed you._

Lance closed her eyes and held her chest tightly.

It took all of her willpower not to break into tears as the Blue Lion opened its massive mouth, lowered the boarding ramp, and beckoned her to step inside.

Her heart pounding in her ears, Lance stepped on the ramp and walked inside the Blue Lion. Her first glimpse of the cockpit almost had her in tears. Blue urged her to keep going. The lights and screens turned on the moment Lance sat on the pilots seat.

Leaning forward, she gripped the two controllers in her hands and just stayed like that until her breathing got under control. A tear slid down her cheek and a calming gentle presence flooded her mind.

 _My pilot._

Her hands shaking once more, Lance bowed her head and began to sob. The Blue Lion purred and offered her reassurances as Lance wept.

"I missed you too Blue," Lance whispered out loud. "I missed you so much."

Lance wept for not being her pilot anymore. She wept at the fact that they'd be parting ways soon. She wept that she would not be able to fly among the stars with Blue anymore. The Blue Lion didn't judge her. It seemed Lance wasn't the only one who was crestfallen about parting ways.

After a few more minutes, Lance sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, no more tears." She smiled at the ceiling. "Tell me everything I've missed and I'll tell you what I've done since I last you."

The Blue Lion purred in her mind and moments later images began to zoom in her head. Bringing her knees to her chest, Lance got as comfortable as she could and closed her eyes as the Blue Lion showed her images of the past few months that Lane had spent sleeping in a steel coffin.

For a long while they stayed like that, Lance laughing at some of Allura's embarrassing moments inside the Blue Lion and when Lance had told her own story, the Blue Lion was quite irate about a lot of it, Lance opened the hangar bay doors and together she and Blue flew over Cloyetera.

The rush of power from her lion struck Lance like an avalanche blast. But it didn't hurt. In fact, it exhilarated her. She felt strong and powerful and proud. She may not be Blue's main pilot anymore but the Blue Lion still wanted her. They belonged to each other. Allura always said that the Blue Lion was one of the most trusting and accepting of all the lions combined so it was definitely possible for it to have more than one pilot.

"Be honest Blue," Lance teased as she flew them over the volcano in the Relaxation Island. "I'm your favorite right?" The Blue Lion purred in her mind. She sounded almost amused. "I won't tell Allura. Promise."

The Blue Lion's answering roar felt like a drug rushing through her veins. Lance laughed. "I knew it. We make a great team eh beautiful?"

The Blue Lion purred in agreement.

The two of them were still smiling and flying when Keith joined them in the Red Lion a few minutes later. Then Pidge and the Green Lion showed up. And then Hunk inside the Yellow Lion. And finally Shiro and Allura showed up inside the Black Lion.

Coran and Matt's voice chimed in from their speakers where the two of them were watching from the bridge.

Lance's smile got wider as Shiro made them do drills that the Amazon could never forget. Shiro had practically drilled it into their heads. The five lions flew around the whole planet and eventually; they flew high in the sky as one and became Voltron.

Lance could feel the other lions at the edge of her senses. The wild, untamed elements of fire and water from her and Keith, the Earth and forest from Pidge and Hunk and the mighty wind from Shiro inside the Black Lion. Together they were Voltron. Together they were one.

God, Lance had missed this.

The Amazons and Valkyries down below let out cheers so loud Lance could hear them all the way in the sky. It was exhilarating; to feel all her friends and herself come together to form something so amazing like Voltron.

A pulse went down the bond and Keith's gentle voice came back in her head. _See?_ _Told you she missed you._

 _Shut it mullet_ , Lance answered back teasingly. _Can't you see I'm spending time with my favorite girl?_

The Blue Lion let out a loud sound that sounded a lot like laughter and Keith's voice left with a huff _._

" _Lance," Shiro's voice came through the speakers. "Pay attention."_

" _Yeah!" Pidge piped in. "We can't be the only one getting scolded!"_

 _Shiro spluttered. "I'm not scolding anyone!"_

" _Dude," Hunk chimed in. "Your Space Dad voice is out."_

" _It's not!" Shiro defended._

" _Shiro, it definitely is." Allura solemnly said._

"Take a chill pill Space Dad." Lance teased.

" _I –"_

" _Calm yourself Space Dad," Keith teased. "You're tone is out of control!"_

" _Keep it up and I'll ground you all," Shiro threatened._

" _There he is!" Pidge crowned. "Space Dad!"_

" _You all suck," Shiro grumbled under his breath._

Lance smiled. She was definitely going to miss this.

* * *

Today was New Years Day. Which meant that tomorrow, they'd be leaving Cloyetera.

The reminder had him sticking closer to Lance than what was strictly necessary. He wasn't the only one who had the same idea though. Pidge was there too. So was Hunk. Shiro and Allura, Coran and even Matt had gotten the same idea.

The repairs in the castle had finally been finished. Everything was back in proper order. Boxes of food and new clothes as well as new weapons were brought inside the castle thanks to the Amazons. Everyone was taught how to use the new transporter in case of emergencies. Lance had packed most of her stuff from her old room. A room that now belonged to Keith. Lance had left her blankets, her pillows, and the glowing stars on the ceiling at his insistence though.

She'd bought him new shampoo and moisturizers that she made him swear to use because apparently he had dry skin. She'd taken him shopping and gotten him clothes that _weren't_ black. And she'd gotten him a matching IPod with all the songs that Keith loved the most. She did manage to sneak in a few of her own though. The hover bike had finally been completed as well.

They'd stayed up for a couple of nights but they did it. Lance was good for all the heavy lifting. And a hot make-out session to refuel Keith's energy. Honest. With a little help from the Holt siblings and Hunk, they managed to add a shield in case Keith ever got shot at. The shield was made of the same material as Lance's own shield which was good because Keith didn't want to lose an eye when he pissed someone off, which he probably would, and have them shoot at him.

Lance insisted they call it Maddog. Keith immediately vetoed that idea with a scowl. Pidge suggested they name it The Rage Machine. He vetoed that as well.

In the end Keith went with the name Ares. After the God of War.

Lance and Pidge said it was lame but he didn't give a shit.

Since everyone wanted to spend time with Lance before they parted ways tomorrow Keith made a deal with them. He and Lance would spend the first few hours by themselves and then they could all spend the last few hours until New Years time together. His friends hadn't seemed happy about it but they agreed. After a few minutes of arguing that is. Something along the lines of:

"You've been inseparable for days!" Pidge had argued, her arms wrapped around an amused Lance. The green paladin puffed up her cheeks and scowled darkly at the red paladin. "Share her, you hog!"

"Just give us a few hours with her," Allura pleaded. "Pidge is right, you've been hogging her Keith."

Keith wasn't fazed by the puppy look she was giving him.

"Just let us cook together one last time." Hunk pleaded.

"Keith," Shiro had tried next. He tried to look stern but Keith was pretty immune to it by now. "We should all hang out as a team for our last day."

"Yeah!" Matt piped in. "I want to challenge her to a dance off!"

Lance and Coran actually looked intrigued about that.

"Not happening." In one smooth motion he easily broke Pidge's hold on Lance, picked up his mate, and threw her over his shoulder. Lance had let out a shriek at being manhandled but hadn't complained. "You can have her later after our date."

"Keith!"

* * *

"So where are we headed?" Lance asked as she joined him outside the castle of lions a few minutes later after showering. Today she was sporting blue skinny jeans, a simple red V-neck shirt and her converse sneakers. She looked excited as she tied off her long brown hair in a tight ponytail.

Keith didn't know where to look. At her blue dark eyes, the exposed skin that was revealed every time Lance lifted her hands, or those endless, slender legs that he'd had wrapped around him just a few hours ago when they woke up in bed.

"Out." He finally replied as he stared at a spot in the air between Lance's shoulder and ear. That seemed safe enough.

"Okay," Lance nodded. "Who's driving?"

"Me."

Lance pouted. "You said you'd let _me_ drive."

"I will." Lance opened her mouth. "I'll let you drive _later_. For now I just want you to watch."

Lance seemed to be appeased by that because her smile brightened. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" She took a seat on the hover bike and scooted back to make room for him at the front. "Now let's go!"

Once Lance seemed secure enough behind him, Keith flicked the setting on the dashboard, revved the engine, and paused.

"Ready?" Keith shouted over his shoulder.

"Yes, yes! Let's just go!" Lance whined behind him.

With a feral grin, the hover bike kicked off from the ground, the familiar swoop-and-tug of defying gravity gripping Keith's belly. Even though this wasn't the first time he'd ridden a hover bike it never ceased to amaze him just how incredible the smoothness of the controls is, the absolute response that the bike gave to Keith's every move.

Keith took them high in the sky, hot air whooshing around their bodies, and Lance clutched him harder, her chin on his shoulder. From this high up Keith could see the blue clear ocean, the bright green and pink lights from the Myr city underwater, the Valkyries and Amazons who flew up in their gryphons, the giant tree still glowing brightly in different shades of color.

It was beautiful.

"I'm going to faster now!" Keith shouted over his shoulder.

"Rev that engine mullet!"

He squeezed the gas. And Ares surged forward, like an arrow arching across the sky. Delight bursts inside Keith's stomach as he picked up speed and over the roar of the engine he could just hear Lance's high-pitch scream of joy as Nyx suddenly appeared beside them, her long golden wings flapping as her blue eyes gleamed in challenge.

Oh, it was _so_ on.

As Nyx tucked her wings close to her body and went straight down, Keith plummeted down with her and followed closely after her with an excited shout of his own. And when Nyx turned to her side to dip her right wing in the ocean, Keith did the same and flipped the hover bike to the side as Lance dipped her hand in the ocean to spray him in the face.

They continued like that for another half hour, Aldara and a few other firebirds joined them as well, until Keith found a patch of land and brought them to a smooth stop before turning to Lance.

"You ready?"

Lance's eyes were wide, her hair had come loose from its ponytail, but her smile was wide. "Yes!" She started pushing him. "Come on move!"

Keith got off and sat behind her as Lance squealed and took hold of the handlebars with a too wide smile. The red paladin was starting to have doubts about this. "Don't try to do any fancy moves, you're not experienced enough to do them yet."

"Yeah, yeah I got it."

"Seriously Lance. I'd like to live to see tomorrow."

"I got it Keith."

Keith pursed his lips and leaned forward so he could show her what each button on the dashboard did and what order they had to be pushed in. Aiden and Matt had helped install the dashboard while Lance had decided what colors she wanted the buttons to be.

Lance revved the engine.

"Take it slow," Keith instructed over the noise. "Get used to it."

Lance obeyed, slowly lifting the hover bike, and then they were off. Keith released the breath he'd been holding as Lance drove them over the coast as she got used to the rest of the controls. So far so good.

Was she ready to go faster?

Time to find out. Keith took a deep breath. "If you want, you can go fas –"

Lance pushed the pedal _hard_ , jolting them forward so fast Keith almost bit off his tongue. "LANCE!"

"Don't worry, kitten!" Lance yelled over the noise. "We'll be fine."

Lance took them high in the sky, did a few twists and turns, and then let go of the handlebars as they plummeted into the ocean. "YOU ARE THE WORST PILOT EVER!"

Lance just laughed and threw her hands in the air.

 _I'm going to die._

 _Oh, relax you baby._

Just before they would have hit the ocean, the Amazon took the handlebars and glided them above the ocean. Lance let out a loud whistling noise and suddenly eight red tentacles shot up from the ocean and tried to make them fall. His mate avoided them all beautifully that by the end Keith's screams turned into wild laughter.

And even like this, with Lance's unpredictable, clumsy, and definitely dangerous driving, Keith couldn't help but feel a thrill go down his spine. Leaning forward, Keith curled his fingers into Lance's shirt and kissed her temple.

Lance made no reaction to it but the bond between them fluttered and Keith decided that perhaps allowing lance to drive hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

* * *

The minute they got back, they were swept up in a flurry of sound and movement. Finding their friends didn't take very long. The loud sounds from the kitchen alerted them to their presence. Hunk was standing in front of the stove, apron on as he watched over several other pots. Shiro was standing nearby, a look of concentration on his face as he watched everything Hunk was doing with an uncanny eye.

Lance immediately headed in their direction to go and help. At the sight of his best friend Hunk widely smiled and began to direct her on what he wanted.

"Finally!" Pidge exclaimed as she popped her head in the kitchen. "We're having a movie night."

Matt popped his head above hers and sheepishly grinned. "We never got the chance to do it because Haggar possessed Shiro."

"Shame on you Shiro!" Pidge teased. "Getting possessed during such an important event. Movie nights are _sacred_."

The black paladin scowled and crossed his arms over his gray muscle shirt. "I'll keep that in mind next time someone tries to take over my body."

Coran strolled in with a few bags of popcorn and laid a hand on the black paladin's shoulder. "That's all we ask."

"Okay," Lotor said as he strolled in wearing a loose black shirt and gray sweatpants. "I think I got the screen working. What movie are we putting on?"

"Nothing scary!" Lance, Hunk and Matt piped in.

Pidge and Keith scoffed. "Pussies."

"Perhaps an Altean documentary?" Allura suggested in pink fuzzy pants and a purple shirt with flower designs on it.

"Oh!" Coran clapped his hands in delight. He was already in his pajamas, a loose-buttoned orange shirt and loose matching pants. "I've got a lot of those. Which one should we watch?"

"No Altean documentaries," Shiro pleaded. "We'd like to keep it PG-13 please."

"Yeah," Pidge agreed with an easy smile. "There are children here."

"Shiro's too young for any of that hand holding that goes on." Matt chimed in with a grin.

Shiro glared as Corn rubbed his chin. "That _is_ true."

"You guys suck." Shiro grumbled under his breath.

"Let's watch something gory!" Zethrid shouted from the living room. "The bloodier the better!"

"I agree." Axca piped in.

Ezor groaned.

Intrigued, Keith and Pidge disappeared into the living room to look through the selections. Matt went after them with a groan to stop them. "If we're having movie night then there's something we definitely have to do."

Lotor raised a brow. "And that is?"

Lance just grinned.

* * *

"I can't move my face," Pidge whined half an hour later, her features scrunching up making the green drying mask on her face crack with the movement.

"Me neither," Matt replied where he sat next to his sister on the floor. "It feels…tingly though. Is that normal?"

"That means it's working." Lance, Shiro and Lotor chimed in where they were seated on the couch with their heads tilted back and eyes closed. They looked the most relaxed out of everyone in the group. They hadn't even touched their plate of tacos yet.

"Is it supposed to burn?" Zethrid wondered out loud. Her big bat like ears twitched.

"Yes." Ezor nodded her head where she sat next to her on the other long blue couch. She took a bite of her nachos before dipping it in chili. "It's killing all the bacteria."

"It feels like my face will melt off." Mikey whined.

"Good." Lance and Aiden said at the same time. "You must really need this."

The triplets burst into laughter.

Mikey flipped them off.

"We're going to be so pretty." Allura gushed as she reached for the bowl of popcorn in Coran's lap.

"We'll have all the ladies turning heads." Coran chimed in with a chuckle. The two Alteans high-fived each other.

In the end they had decided to watch _Jumanji_ due to Matt and Lance's whining. Something about it being a classic and what not. The lights in the living room had been dimmed. Everyone had gotten a plate of nachos or tacos. Lance's brothers had brought in cotton candy, something the aliens in the room immediately took a liking to. And after a bit of prodding everyone had changed into their pjs. to set the mood.

The facemask thing was Lance's last request of them, she claimed it'd relax them, make their faces pretty, and that they totally owed her for letting them stay in her house.

"I thought you said we were already pretty." Keith teased next to her.

Lance's mouth twitched.

"Yeah," Pidge joined in with a grin of her own. "Did you lie to us?"

Lotor looked away.

"Lotor said the same thing to us," Allura and Coran gasped. "Did you two lie to us?"

"What?"

"Us?"

"The audacity."

"As if."

"Us royals don't lie."

"What she said."

"Shh," Shiro shushed them, eyes closed and body relaxed. "No arguments. Just relax."

"Well," Lotor added with a sniff. "Lance told me _I_ was beautiful, imagine what I'll look like after I wipe this off?"

"Radiant." Axca chimed in.

"Stunning." Ezor added.

"Gorgeous." Zethrid deadpanned as Narti sent him a thumps-up.

"You and I will look better than all these losers," Lance finished and waited for Lotor to give her a fist pump. He did so with a smirk.

That comment had everyone booing and throwing popcorn at them.

"Don't waste the food guys!" Hunk cried in dismay.

"Don't hate us because we're beautiful!" Lance shouted as she covered her face. Mikey got up and spread his arms wide, taking all the shots.

"Jealousy is unbecoming of you all!" Lotor added as he raised a pillow to protect his face.

The sounds of the Amazons and Valkyries partying outside could just barely be heard from the inside. They'd opted to spend their last day together before the paladins left tomorrow morning.

Keith was seated next to Lance, his blue-gray eyes on the screen as he idly scratched the green goo on his face. The Amazon had handed everyone a hair band to pull their hair back from their face and as the movie progressed, their voice grew in volume as people began to ask questions.

"Why did he turn into a hairy boy?" Coran had wondered.

"Is it puberty?" Lotor had chimed in.

"It must be." Ezor added, her baby blue eyes wide. "Earth males are so fascinating."

"What?" Shiro had cried, face clean and smooth after washing the facemask off. "Are you guys even paying attention?"

"What is that animal?" Allura had wondered, her finger pointed at a rhino.

"It looks delicious." Zethrid had purred.

"You don't eat them." Aiden said incredulously.

Mikey shrugged. "I'd be willing to."

"Nice." Zethrid sent him a grin that he returned with one of his own.

"Guys," Pidge had whined. "Just pay attention to the movie!"

"Earth looks so fascinating," Coran had murmured. "Remind not to play Earth games if we ever visit." He shuddered. "They seem dangerous!"

The rest of the aliens in the room had vigorously nodded their heads.

Lance and Keith had burst into laughter at that.

* * *

A few minutes before midnight, Lance made them all get up and go to the roof. There were quite a few groans and whines but after a bit more nagging they finally complied. They'd watched two movies already and they were halfway through the third one before Lance had seen the time. Cloyetera had a tradition they did every year as soon as the clock striked midnight. No way were her friends going to miss that.

With just a few minutes to spare, Lance passed down the lanterns she'd had Reyna leave for them on the roof. The lanterns were made out of wood and paper, if you were to put them on the floor they'd reach all the way to your knee, but they weren't heavy. They were light.

"In Cloyetera, once the clock strikes midnight, you make a wish and light up your lantern before releasing it into the sky." Lance explained once she'd handed everyone a lantern. "You guys will love it, trust me."

Her friends already looked excited.

Lighters were handed down to everyone and as a lighter was finally placed on Lance's palm, an explosion was heard from the city. Everyone jumped and as one they all raised to the edge just in time to see thousands of little lights being released into the sky from every island. They looked like fireflies, slowly crawling their way up into the sky before exploding into a colorful spray of fire, setting of a chain reaction that took one, then three more with it.

Sparks rained down and down below, cheers erupted from every Amazon and Valkyrie. The night was a little chilly and the wind carried the lanterns further up, spreading them out, as they continued their ascend towards the starry sky.

For a moment they just watched in rapt silence before one by one, her friends lit up their own lanterns, closed their eyes to make a wish, and released their own lanterns into the sky. Keith stood next to her and gave her a wistful smile before releasing his own lantern. His eyes never left hers though.

Her face burning, Lance turned to her own lantern to make a wish.

She didn't have just one. But she'd been good this year so perhaps the universe would grant her wishes for her anyway.

 _She wished for her friends to stay safe._

 _She wished to master her powers._

 _She wished to put an end to this war._

 _But most importantly, she wished to spend her, hopefully, long life married to Keith Kogane._

Lance opened her eyes, took hold of Keith's hand, and released her lantern into the sky. As if it was waiting, Lance's lantern easily caught up to Keith's own lantern, and as one the two lantern's light grew smaller and smaller, circling each other as they drifted on the wind before bursting into sparks of red and blue.

Keith pulled her closer, placing a soft kiss against the top of her head and smiled. Lance leaned into him and as her friends came to stand with them, Lance closed her eyes and prayed like she never had before.

She hoped her wishes came true.

She really _really_ hoped so.

* * *

The day had finally arrived.

Keith would be lying if he said he wasn't going to miss this planet. Or more importantly, the woman he was leaving behind.

The glittering sunrays spread various hues of shiny silvers and golds throughout the city. The wind was just right, not to strong and not too cold.

"Well, this is it." Shiro said as he placed a hand on Lance's shoulder. She'd changed into a similar toga like the rest of her people were wearing. This one was blue, reaching all the way to her knees, and long sleeved. Her hair was flowing down her back. The ring and Mate mark he'd given her on full display for everyone to see.

It felt like practically everyone in the planet had come to see them off. Reyna and the rest of Lance's guards were here. Queen Lexi and Mr. McLane. Shadow. Nyx. Kaltenecker and Nagini and Nagg. Even the Valkyries were there. They'd already said their good-byes to them. "If this is what you feel is right, then we won't stop you." Shiro continued. He then smiled, his eyes crinkled at the corner and his face looked young. "But just know that we're here for you whenever you need us."

Lance smiled, her blue eyes going misty. "I know you are." She glanced at the others. Then to Keith before returning to Shiro. "And I can't tell you how much that means to me. Thank you for letting me be part of your team. This family." Her voice cracked. "And thanks for being my Space Dad."

With another gentle smile, Shiro pulled Lance close and hugged her tightly.

Hunk was already crying. "I can't be left out of this!"

And with that everyone surged forward and pulled Lance into a giant group hug.

"We're really going to miss you!" Pidge cried into Lance's shoulder. "Who's going to cause trouble with me now?"

"You're always going to be my favorite cooking partner and best friend!" Hunk wailed as he lifted them all in the air. "I'll visit and you do the same! Be prepared for me calling you everyday!"

"I know you'll make us proud," Allura murmured with a soft smile. "It doesn't matter that you're no longer a paladin," she continued. "You'll always be the Amazon of Voltron."

"I'll call you everyday!" Coran sniffled, snot coming out of his nose already. "I still have so many stories to tell you young lady!"

"Don't forget about our dance off!" Matt gushed, tears running down his cheeks. "You're the only one who gets my jokes so don't be surprised when I call you to test them out."

Mr. Holt patted her back. "Take care of yourself young lady."

"Stay safe." Krolia murmured.

Lance hugged them just as tightly. "You're all going to be okay. Kick butt out there."

Once everyone let go, they took a step back to give him and Lance some privacy. She clasped his hand.

"Hey," Lance whispered.

"Hey," Keith replied just as softly.

Lance's grip tightened, pulling him toward her. Together they leaned in until their foreheads gently bumped together. Keith stared at her, cataloguing this moment from every angle, preserving it in his mind. Lance's dark blue eyes, their palms and foreheads touching, her ice cold skin a contrast to his own overheated one.

"I'll miss you." Lance murmured, soft and genuine, her eyes already going misty once again.

"I'll miss you too."

"Don't do anything too crazy out there, okay?"

"I'll try," Keith grinned. "Emphasis on the try."

Lance laughed as she cupped his cheek. "That's all I ask."

"Good luck on your training," Keith added as they stepped back, their hands still intertwined. "I know you can do it."

"Thanks. I'll do my best."

Keith paused. "I'll see you soon." He turned to Lotor and his generals and then to Mikey and his brothers and finally to Reyna and the rest of Lance's guards. He narrowed his eyes at them all. "Take care of her."

Lotor and his generals put a fisted palm on their chests and nodded. The Galra Prince smiled, his eyes were determined. "With our life."

Reyna and the rest of Lance's guards bowed their heads. "Of course."

"We won't leave her side." Mikey promised as he lifted his hand for a fist pump. "She's in good hands."

Keith's smile softened. "I know."

Lance turned to Shiro. "Take care of him. He tends to jump into things before thinking about them."

"Hey!" Keith snapped.

"She's not wrong." Pidge shrugged.

Shiro chuckled and nodded. "You got it." He paused and grinned. "Princess Leah."

Lance waved a threatening finger at him. Her tone came out teasing though. "Watch it Space Dad."

With a deep sigh, Keith reluctantly let her go. Letting her go had been hard. And walking away seemed to be even harder but he managed it, one step at a time. He managed to step all the way to the ramp and inside the castle and as the doors began to close, and the Amazons and Valkyries shouted good-bye to them, Lance called out to him one last time.

"Hey, Keith?"

All the breath seemed to escape him at the sound of her voice but he steeled himself and managed to turn around as his friends stood with him waving good-bye.

Lance put a fist to her chest and sent him a beaming smile. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle and though she looked a little sad, her eyes were determined. "Make me proud. And may we meet again."

Keith mimicked her, putting a fist over his chest, and nodded as he took in every inch of her. He'll see her again. He knows he will. "May we meet again."

And even though she won't be there in person, she'll still be with him. Their new and improved bond was stronger than ever. Emotions that were definitely not his own suddenly flowed inside his own mind, covering everything with a warm comforting blanket of blue and Keith felt like he could breathe better.

Finally, the doors closed in front of him and moments later the ship began to lift off. And as it did, Keith and his friends went to the windows and said their final good-byes to Cloyetera.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! Tell me what you guys thought!_

 _Did you guys catch that reference from The Office?_

 _Songs used in this chapter are:_

 _\- Silent Night by Lindsey Sterling_

 _\- Angels We Have heard On High by Lindsey Sterling_

 _-What Child is This by Lindsey Sterling_

 _\- You'll Never Know by Renee Flemming_

 _\- Feel So Good by Jussie Smollet ft Rummer Willis (Lance & Aiden singing)_

 _\- Despacito by Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee_

 _\- Wait by M83_


	40. Chapter 40

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"  
― **Abraham Lincoln**

Chapter 40

Every morning her personal assistant and guard, Rhea, presented her with a report summarizing what her schedule for the day was. It usually consisted on what meetings she had, what problems had arisen in Cloyetera, and the latest news of what the Galra had done in some other planet and if the inhabitants of said planet had made a personal request asking the Amazons for help.

Today, however, there was another report sitting at the top of the rest.

Queen Lexi blinked, and flipped through the folder to find the report on what one of Kolivan's spies had found. She'd been waiting for this report for over a month now, it'd been so long that she'd been starting to lose hope that what she had asked to be found was not going to be found after all.

Her brown eyes skimmed the report as quickly as she could and suppressed the urge to groan when she finally finished. When her daughter had returned home over a month ago, Lexi had not been entirely surprised to find out that her daughter had manifested new powers. Leah was by far one of the strongest women that Lexi had ever met. When she was born her powers had caused a black out in the hospital where Lexi had given birth to her.

Not even a full day born and already her powers had made an appearance. Lexi herself had not shown a hint of her powers until she was about five. Not her sweet Leah though. Her daughter was special. It's why she'd given her daughter that thick book listing all the powers that all the past queens themselves had had.

What _had_ surprised her was that they had emerged through a gray crystal that disappeared into her daughter's body. To say that Lexi was worried was an understatement. Had that thing been clean? Had it been washed after being torn out of that other poor girl before it was absorbed in her daughter's body?

She was pretty sure it hadn't. But with the paladins of Voltron visiting, she couldn't make such a big fuss. Leah hadn't wanted to worry them, or more specifically, she hadn't wanted to worry Keith. Despite his tough exterior, if it had to do with Leah, the red paladin would turn into an overprotective mate. It was kind of adorable.

So they'd been discreet.

And with Keith ignoring her daughter for those four days, Leah had refused to leave the house. So be it. If Leah didn't want to leave the house to get checked out, then Lexi would bring the healers to her. The Queen had not been expecting the yellow paladin to be there though.

No matter.

He was a heavy sleeper.

Olwen had done a few tests and had come up with nothing. The science division hadn't found anything either. Olwen had just shrugged and said that if Leah was fine then perhaps they shouldn't worry about it. Studies of the crystals that Reyna and Adina had collected per her daughter's request were certainly interesting though.

They had this sort of energy to them. The science division had made various tests. They'd brought in woman with and without powers to see if the crystal would disappear into their bodies to no avail. But put it near the transporter they'd been working on for years? And the thing lit up like a Christmas tree.

And after testing it out with the Blades, it had been a success. In exchange for the transporter, Lexi had asked Kolivan for a favor. To keep an eye out for any rumors about other aliens with powers. Specifically, someone with _ice_ powers.

Lexi was good at a lot of things. She was good at using lightning. She was good with moving things with her mind. Of going inside someone's head and finding everything about them within seconds. Good at rearranging someone's thoughts, of making them forget certain things, the way they _felt_ about them, of making herself disappear by making someone think that she's not actually there in front of them when she actually _is_. And she was very good at teaching her daughter all of these things with the patience of a saint.

What she was not good at was helping her daughter with her new ice powers. No one but the very first Queen of Cloyetera had ever manifested ice powers. Unfortunately, the first queen had not written her notes detailing the kind of training she did which seriously sucked.

But now, after a whole month, one of Kolivan's spies had finally found something. According to the report, there were rumors about a woman in the planet Zenith who had ice powers of her own. Unfortunately, the planet was teeming with Galra who were in search of something.

What it was, Kolivan's spies didn't know. They'd had to leave before they aroused suspicion.

"Your highness?"

Lexi glanced up from the report in her hands to look into Rhea's green curious eyes. "Yes?"

Her braided golden hair spilling into the white fur lining her cloak, Rhea spoke. "Shall I pick out a few women and send them to look into these rumors?"

Lexi sat back into her armchair and considered it. Should she? If these rumors were true then this woman could greatly help out her daughter in mastering her new powers. Lexi was tired of waking up to a house covered in ice. She had yet to forgive her daughter for covering her favorite high heels in ice. Yes, the ice had melted. Yes, her daughter had apologized. But her shoes were still ruined. Rhea could hand pick a few strong women and have them check it out but…that's not what she wanted.

"Your highness?"

Lexi's mouth curved into a wicked smile as a thought came to her. It was a stupid idea really. They might just kill each other. In fact, there was a ninety nine percent chance that they _would_. But then again, it was time those two learned to get along with each other. Enough is enough. Decision made, Lexi turned her brown chocolate eyes and gave Rhea a sweet smile that had the woman's breaths coming in quick successions.

"Rhea," the woman straightened. "Send an email to my daughter and Princess Zooey alerting them that they are to depart within the hour for a mission."

Rhea nearly choked before responding. "Ma'am?" She cleared her throat. "Umm, did you say Leah and Zooey?" Her already pale face had admittedly gone paler.

"Yes, I did. After you are done with that please move my next appointment to a later time and schedule a quiet lunch with Queen Afya." Lexi paused, drumming her black-gloved fingers on her mahogany desk before adding another name. "And alert my husband that he is to attend as well."

"O-okay…umm, your highness?" Rhea swallowed. She and Lexi had been friends since they were little girls and Lexi never did anything without knowing exactly what she was doing, but with this…did she really "know" what she was doing?

Lexi raised a delicate black eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I don't understand why you're thinking of sending your daughter and Princess Zooey. No offence, but they can't be in the same room without trying to kill each other and you want to send them on a mission together…alone?"

Lexi leaned back in her chair, twirling around to look out the window at her home. It was snowing again, the sky looked a little cloudy today, rain was sure to follow soon, but despite that, the streets were littered with women walking around with smiles on their face. Some were training. Others were riding their gryphons and racing against the Valkyries. If Lexi squinted, she could just barely see a hint of blue lightning arch into the sky from one of the training grounds that she knew her daughter and Lotor were currently using as the Galra Prince trained her daughter in hand-to-hand combat. "Yes. I'm sure. It's time those two learned to get along. Afya and I will not always be here. If something were to happen to us, the goddess forbid it, then leadership would fall to our daughters. If they can't get along with each other then how do they expect their people to follow them?"

Rhea nodded silently behind her friend. Lexi twirled around again to face her, the midnight dress she was wearing covering the small knives attached to her thighs. "Plus, Zooey is…" Lexi put her elbows on her desk, folding her hands and resting her chin upon them. "There was a time when Zooey was more expressive. After what she went through I can understand why she is the way she is but Leah brings out all kinds of expressions from her by just being in the same room as her. This will be good for them."

Rhea nodded. Lexi loved her family. And the Valkyries were no exception.

"Plus, as an added bonus Leah will have a horrible time so that's always nice."

Rhea's lips curved into a small smile. "You're still upset about the shoes aren't you?"

Lexi banged her fist on her desk and sent Rhea a pout that threatened to make her laugh. "Those were limited edition Rhea! They went with _everything_!" her friend's voice had turned into a whine as she sniffled. "They were my favorite shoes."

Resisting the urge to laugh, Rhea cleared her throat. "Yes, I understand." She raised a brow at her friend. "But you might just lose your daughter in this mission if she goes alone with Zooey." Lexi pouted and looked away. Her bottom lip was trembling. "Are you sure you want to send them by themselves? It'll take about a week just to get to planet Zenith." Lexi didn't say anything but Rhea knew she was already thinking about what might happen in that week, as her friend's face suddenly grew paler. "They might be dead before they reach the planet."

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Lexi frowned before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine. Send an email to Lotor as well. He'll be able to keep them in check." She paused and chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Probably." Rhea nodded, already beginning to type out the message on her transparent bracelet. "And please tell them to be discreet. We don't need Mikey barging in and ruining things."

Rhea bowed her head and grinned. "Of course."

Lexi balled a piece of paper before throwing it at her friend's head. She dodged it of course. "You ruin all my fun."

Her mouth curved into a wide smile, Rhea laughed. "Someone has to keep you in line."

The Queen of Cloyetera simply stuck her tongue out at her and huffed.

Rhea shook her head. She seriously loved her Queen.

* * *

To: Zooey Kaliee. Leah McLane. Prince Lotor.

Subject: New Mission "yay."

Hello darlings,

Within an hour you are all to report to the engineering department to choose a ship before departing for your new mission. Gather whatever belongings you think you will need and please, for all that is _good_ ; don't tell Mikey where you are going. I love him. I do. But he's out of control. So please keep your mouths shut. In fact, just don't tell anyone where you're going. Much easier.

The mission that I have chosen for you all has to do with finding Leah a new teacher to teach her about using her ice powers. According to Kolivan's spies, there is a woman who supposedly has the same power as Leah. Unfortunately, the planet is teeming with Galra so please be careful. If you want to know more details, please look at the rest of the file that I've attached to this message. (See attached file)

Lotor, since you are the oldest, you will be the leader of this little party. Please don't let the girls kill each other. They'll try, trust me. Perhaps try doing some team exercises. Get them to talk about their feelings. I don't know, it's up to you. Just know that it'll take a week to get to your destination so if you want to spend your time wisely…hint hint.

But anyway, that's up to you.

Just thought I'd throw in a suggestion.

And before any of you attempt to reply to this email, or worse, come to me in person and tell me about your "issues," know that I have a busy schedule and have no room to talk.

Darn this busy schedule of mine. (Insert evil laugh here)

Anyway, be careful, don't kill each other, and have a great time.

Make me proud darlings.

All my love,

Queen Lexi McLane of the planet Cloyetera: D

* * *

Lance and Lotor paused their training session as their transparent bracelets let out a little ding alerting them that they had a new message. The two put down their weapons and clicked on the message from the Queen of Cloyetera with a frown. As their eyes skimmed through the text, their eyes got wider and wider.

* * *

Zooey was taking a sip of her Earl Gray as her eyes skimmed through the book she was currently reading when her bracelet suddenly let out a little ding. Resisting the urge to sigh, the Valkyrie Princess placed a bookmark on the page she was reading lest she lose her place, and clicked on the blinking message before quickly reading. Her mouth wide, her trembling fingers dropped the cup of tea in her grasp and the thing shattered into a million little pieces.

* * *

Lance let out a choke.

* * *

Lotor wheezed.

* * *

Her green eyes wide, Zooey cursed. "Motherfucker…"

* * *

Queen Lexi allowed a smile to grace her features as she returned Afya's grin with one of her own. "Oh, girl, you _bad_."

"Darling…" Javier's mouth twitched into a smirk. His baby blue eyes twinkling, he raised his cup of tea in the air for a toast. "For our daughters."

Lexi raised her own glass with a grin. "For poor Lotor."

Snickering, Afya raised her own cup, her green eyes bright. "Let's hope they're alive and well when they return."

The three of them clinked their cups together and took a long sip.

God, it was good to be Queen.

* * *

To: The person who calls herself my mother

From: Your horrified daughter

Subject: How dare you…

Dear "mother" if I can even call you that,

This is about the shoes, isn't it? I knew you didn't accept my apology! They weren't even that cute! They were old and they smelled bad! I did you a _favor_ by turning them into ice! Is this my punishment? Why can't you just take all the things I love and give me a time out like any other normal mother? You know I might just die right? Or at the very least, commit murder. Lotor is my friend. He'll help me…probably. If you think sending me to a far away planet with some ho and a planet teeming Galra who need some serious color in their wardrobe (there are other colors besides black and purple) then fine. I can take it.

I will see you in a few weeks woman who I'm seriously starting to have doubts is my mother.

Unless I'm dead which is a very high possibility.

From Your cute daughter who deserves better,

Leah Amalia McLane (currently burning in hell)

P.S. When I come back, you can kiss those beautiful blue heels good-bye.

They have been chosen and they shall meet their end.

* * *

To: The Queen of Cloyetera

From: Prince Lotor

Subject: I'm so confused

Dear Queen Lexi,

Did I offend you in some way? Is that it? Is this your way of getting rid of me with no witnesses? If I have hurt you in anyway, then I deeply apologize. I don't know what I did, or if my guards did something, but please don't make me go.

I honestly think I'll die.

No, seriously. I can't tell you're rolling your eyes as you read this. But it's true. Have you met your daughter? Or Zooey? It's no secret that they hate each other. They resort to blows whenever they so much as see each other and anyone that stands in the way gets a beat down as well. It's frightening.

I'm too young to die.

I haven't found love yet.

I just got into this Twilight series and I really want to know who Bella will choose. Jacob or Edward? Personally, I'm team Jacob all the way. Edward seems like a prude.

I've yet to finish this Game of Thrones series that Lance has shown me. I don't want to die before the last season comes out. That would be really unfair don't you think?

And if that wasn't bad enough, you've put _me_ in charge? Seriously, _why_? You and I both know that these women don't like listening to authority. And suggesting I make them do some trust exercises? I'll have a better chance winning the lottery!

If I don't come back, which is most likely to happen, this will forever hang over your head and excuse me for saying so but I will come back as a ghost and 'haunt your ass' (Lance's words not mine, though they seem appropriate) so just remember that I tried to warn you.

From a scared and confused man,

Prince Lotor.

P.S. I can stop Lance from destroying the rest of your beautiful collection of shoes or I can join her. Choose wisely.

* * *

To: My Nemesis's Mother

From: A barely keeping it together Zooey Kaliee

Subject: Why?

Dear Beautiful Queen Lexi,

Why are you doing this? No, seriously. Are you and my mom getting a kick out of this? Because it's not funny. Are you aware that you're daughter is a beotch? Because she is. Trust me, I know. As soon as I see her I know I'll want to throw a punch at her stupid pretty face. Imagine what a week with her will lead to. I can tell you.

MURDER.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, you put a _male_ in charge?

And not just any male, but the Galra Prince himself!

I can't even! Just, ugh! This sucks! I don't get why _I_ have to go on this mission. I won't gain anything by going. Though if we somehow make it to the planet, highly doubtful, then at least I can take my anger out on the Galra there.

Regardless, you are the Queen and your word is law…though I really hate that you chose me for this…But fine. I'll go on this mission. I'll do my best not to murder your daughter. Can't make any promises though.

From your best friend's daughter,

Zooey Kaliee

P.S. I know this place where they sell the best shoes ever created. Get me out of this and I might tell you where it is. Choose well your highness.

P.P.S. Tell my mother to stop laughing. I know she is. Rude ass woman.

* * *

Queen Lexi all but skipped into her office about an hour later. Anyone who saw her too wide smile immediately cringed and backed away. Upon entering, Rhea quickly made her a batch of caramel coffee before handing it over to her with a smirk.

Lexi looked up with arched brow before her friend and guard suggested she check her messages. The insistent ding coming from her bracelet was getting a tad annoying.

Rolling her eyes, and getting as comfortable as she could, Lexi crossed her leg over the other and began to read the three messages, one from her daughter, one from Zooey, and one from Lotor.

Her heart racing in excitement, she opened each message and promptly spat her drink all over her desk as she doubled over with what others might call sinister laughter coming from her mouth. Rhea flinched.

She needed to forward this to her husband and friend immediately.

These teenagers were hilarious.

* * *

Lance's unbalanced temper was present in the blue lightning bolts and thunder that crackled and sparked outside the leaded windows of the hangar bay in the engineering island. There were very few things in life that frightened Lotor. The extremely powerful and grumpy woman at his side was one of them. Not even Lance's pets would come out to be with their owner in this mood. Unlike Lotor, they had wisely stayed away.

Unfortunately for them, Queen Lexi had not responded to either of their messages and despite their efforts in trying to locate said woman, they had not found a trace of her. It was as if she'd completely disappeared from the planet.

Lance had looked less than pleased by this. Grumbling under her breath, Lance tucked a brown lock of hair behind her ear and counted to ten. His friend had donned a royal blue turtleneck, the sleeves reaching her elbow, black tights, and simple brown boots. His friend didn't get cold anymore but after all the times women kept asking if she was cold, Lance had decided to put on more long sleeved clothes to appease them.

It seemed to have worked.

"This is going to seriously suck." Lance grumbled under her breath.

His lips quirking into a smile, Lotor wiggled his fingers in her direction. Lance quirked a brow at him. "I just sent you good vibes. They're coming. There's nothing you can do to stop them."

Lance's face softened as she sent him a crooked smile. "This is the most threatening way I've ever been cheered up."

Lotor shoved his hands into the pockets of his black pants. "Did it work?"

Lance nudged his shoulder with her own. "Maybe."

It'd been a month since the paladins of Voltron had left Cloyetera. Not that they didn't talk. They did. Lance and Keith talked practically everyday. After marking each other, the bond between them had resurfaced and now, no matter how far away they were from each other, they were still able to talk to each other in their heads.

Lotor was genuinely happy for his friends. The two were good for each other. It's too bad they hadn't seen each other in over a month. Something else that Lance was not happy about. Their schedules just didn't make room for them to visit the other. Every time Keith wanted to visit, Lance was already knocked out from another hard day of training. Sometimes she would sleep for days. And every time Lance wanted to visit, the paladins were off on another mission. Lotor had been providing them with locations to hit. Places that the Galra frequented. Places that were doing illegal things.

It kept the paladins quite busy.

And Lance royally pissed off.

His friend had been getting stronger over the past month though. Her hand-to-hand combat still needed some work but she was getting better. Any day now Lance would be the one throwing _him_ across the wall when she finally got out of his hold. Her training with her mother had been going really well. There were things she could do with her mind that was just astonishing. Every time Lance and her mother trained, Lotor made sure to have a front row seat. Watching was always fun.

Lance's training with Olwen was going pretty good as well. Though the amount of blood that covered his friend every time she came home after training with the head healer worried him. She'd yet to tell him exactly what kind of training the head healer had her doing but Lance said that she was doing well in her training.

At least, that's what Olwen kept telling her.

"Maybe it won't be that bad." Lotor shrugged his shoulders.

Lance rubbed at her temples and sighed. "I have this terrible headache that just comes and goes."

At that moment, Zooey Kaliee stepped into the room. Her red wine hair was loose and for once she was wearing pants and a simple red blouse. Her black beautiful wings pressed closer to her body. Upon noticing them, the Valkyrie princess's face scrunched up in disgust before stopping a good distance away from them with her arms crossed over her chest.

Lance glanced at her and rubbed at her temples. "Oh, look. My headache is back."

Lotor resisted the urge to laugh.

"Oh, good you're all here." Lotor glanced up to see an Amazon wearing a white lab coat. It was neatly pressed, and it was contrasted by a pixie haircut dyed a bright baby blue color. The woman looked from Lance to Zooey with a nervous look before clearing her throat. "Now then, since you'll all be going into a planet teeming with Galra, the queen has instructed us to give you these."

The Galra Prince looked at the three rectangular little devices and frowned. When neither of his companions spoke, he opened his mouth instead. "What are they?"

The woman smiled; relieved that at least someone was talking to her. "They're devices that will change your appearance. The Galra very well knows our princess and you yourself so this should work as a good disguise. And anyone with wings is sure to get attention so her majesty insists that you use this as well Ms. Kaliee." Zooey merely grunted. "You can change to whatever appearance you want, just make the adjustments on the device and it should work."

Intrigued, Lance picked up the small device before rolling it between her index and thumb. "So if I want to change into a man I can do that too?"

The Amazon nodded with a smile.

Zooey scoffed as she stepped closer to take her own device. "Finally going to change your appearance to match your big man hands?" she flipped her red hair over her shoulder. "Congratulations you hag."

Lance bristled beside him. More lightning shot across the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. It gave an eerie glow to Lance's body. Thunder clapped ominously as it shook the whole building where Lotor and the others stood. Rain followed after it. Great. Just great.

The Amazon woman swallowed nervously and wisely took a few steps back. Lotor wanted to do the same. Zooey's green eyes gleamed in challenge as she gave Lance an insufferable grin. Before the two could resort to blows, Lotor's mind scrambled for anything to say to diffuse the situation. "So what ship are we taking? A small one? Does it have cloaking? A kitchen?"

The woman jumped, her attention turning to him with a relieved smile. She cleared her throat. "Ah, yes. Follow me."

Keeping himself firmly planted in the middle of the two scowling women at his sides, Lotor and his two companions followed after the woman. His eyes scanned the massive warehouse. It stretched out the full length of the city block, filled with dozens of spaceships, large and small, new and old. Cargo ships, podships, personal fliers, race ships, ferries, cruisers, you name it.

"Ah, there she is."

Lotor followed the woman's gaze. The ship was larger than he'd expected –much larger. He'd been in a similar cargo ship before but this one was definitely bigger. The woman handed them each a blueprint and Lotor's eyes widened at everything it had. It had an engine room and a fully stocked dock with three extra podships; the main level housed the cargo bay, cockpit, kitchen, eight crew quarters, one training deck, and a shared washroom.

The whole ship was painted a royal blue, the insignia of the Amazons painted on the sign. "Holy –"

"– Crap." Lance finished for him. "Is the kitchen fully stocked?"

"Yes, your highness." The woman glanced down at her tablet and nodded. "Everything you need is already inside. The ship also had a cloaking mechanism and is able to change its outer appearance incase you need to flee an area."

"Nice."

Zooey sighed and started climbing the ramp. The tips of her massive feathered wings dragged on the floor as she disappeared inside the ship. "Whatever. Let's just go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we finish this mission and I get to say to say good-bye to your ugly mugs."

Lance followed after her in a huff. Her hands clenched into fists. "I'm going to go zap her butt."

Lotor pinched his nose. "Lance, no."

"Lance, yes."

Lance disappeared inside the ship with a maniacal grin on her face and moments later, Zooey's high-pitch shriek was heard followed by Lance's mad cackling as she ran to the opposite side of the ship with an angry Valkyrie Princess hot on her heels. "Come back here you bitch!"

The sound of things crashing followed the statement.

Lotor resisted the urge to whimper.

Her hazel eyes sympathetic, the Amazon put a hand on his shoulder and offered him a smile. "Good luck your highness." More crashing sounds were heard inside the ship. Curses followed right after. Lotor and the Amazon winced. "You're going to need it."

His feet all but dragging, Lotor began to climb up the ramp. "Tell me about it."

With one last wave at the woman watching him go, Lotor left behind the nice calming warehouse and stepped into hell.

* * *

 **LadyLancelot has added Lo-turd, PidgeThePimp, HunktheHunk, IMustacheYouAQuestion, KnivesRCool, Allurable, NeedAHand, and MemeMachine to the group chat.**

 **LadyLancelot has changed the Group Chat name from Pidge's Bitches to EMERGENCY**

 **LadyLancelot: So…I might die today.**

 **KnivesRCool: WTF**

 **NeedAHand: Are you okay?!**

 **Allurable: What's wrong?**

 **HunktheHunk: Who's hurting you?!**

 **MemeMachine: We'll kill them with the best puns!**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Have you fallen and can't get up? I've had the same thing happen to me, don't worry, just catch your breath and eventually you'll start to get feeling back in your legs! They have this great invention called Life Alert!**

 **PidgeThePimp: …Coran are** _ **you**_ **okay?**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Yes?**

 **HunktheHunk: dude, you totally don't sound okay…**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Bah, I'm still young! There's no need to worry!**

 **Allurable: I'm worried…I'm taking you to the healing pod right after this**

 **Lo-turd: Just want to point out that I too, might die today.**

 **MemeMachine: D:**

 **KnivesRCool: Lance, who do I need to cut?!**

 **NeedAHand: Keith…please don't stab anyone…**

 **PidgeThePimp: Yeah Keith, we're running out of excuses to keep you out of jail**

 **NeedAHand: I'm sorry what?!**

 **MemeMachine: Shh, you didn't read anything**

 **NeedAHand: D:**

 **Allurable: Start from the beginning Lance, what's wrong?**

 **LadyLancelot: It's just! And then! I can't even! Just ahhh! *starts flipping tables*** _ **(LadyLancelot has been disconnected)**_

 **PidgeThePimp: well that clarifies everything…** _ **not**_

 **KnivesRCool: Seriously, who do I need to cut?**

 **NeedAHand: Stop it :(**

 **Lo-turd: Okay, while Lance is flipping tables –**

 **MemeMachine: Wait, she seriously is?**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: This must be** _ **serious**_

 **HunktheHunk: Give her some Oreo cookies, that usually calms her down**

 **Lo-turd: O.O Seriously?**

 **Allurable: True Story**

 **KnivesRCool: Yep**

 **PidgeThePimp: Seriously .-.**

 **Lo-turd: Excuse me for a second** _ **(Lo-turd has been disconnected)**_

 **Allurable: I wonder what's wrong**

 **HunktheHunk: Last time she started flipping tables was because she'd ordered something at the space mall and they didn't have it when they said they did. It took at least eight guards tackling her to get her to stop.**

 **PidgeThePimp: She still punched the storeowner though. It was totally AWESOME**

 **KnivesRCool: Oh yeah, Lance sent me a picture posing over a bleeding alien under her…so** _ **that's**_ **what happened…I've always wondered**

 **NeedAHand: I seriously need to go with you guys when you go to the space mall…the stories I've heard…**

 **PidgeThePimp: BOO, we don't need parental guidance**

 **Allurable: Keith, can't you tell what's wrong with Lance? You two have that connection again…shouldn't you already know?**

 **KnivesRCool: …Omg…you're right…give me a minute**

 **PidgeThePimp: smh**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: What does that even mean?**

 **HunktheHunk: Shaking my head**

 **Allurable: Ohhh**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Why didn't you just say that?**

 **KnivesRCool: Ohhh, now I know why she's mad…can't blame her**

 **PidgeThePimp: SPILL**

 _ **LadyLancelot and Lo-turd have rejoined the group chat**_

 **HunktheHunk: Feeling better dude?**

 **LadyLancelot: Yeah…I guess .**

 **Lo-turd: I need to buy more of those cookies…**

 **PidgeThePimp: ENOUGH ALREADY! SPILL!**

 **LadyLancelot: Okay, so basically, mom sent Lotor, the she-devil, and me on a mission. ALONE.**

 **PidgeThePimp: …**

 **NeedAHand: …**

 **Allurable: …**

 **HunktheHunk: OMG**

 **MemeMachine: Yeah…you might die today…**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Oh dear**

 **KnivesRCool: Just shank the bitch**

 **NeedAHand: Keith no**

 **KnivesRCool: Lance, let me shank her**

 **LadyLancelot: You'd shank someone for me? :')**

 **KnivesRCool: Just point them out to me. I'll take care of the rest :)**

 **NeedAHand: STOP ENCOURAGING HIM LANCE**

 **HunktheHunk: Aww, that's kind of cute**

 **MemeMachine: In a psychotic kind of way but sure…**

 **Lo-turd: And if that wasn't bad enough, Queen Lexi put me in charge of them both**

 **MemeMachine: Say good-bye to Lotor and his fabulous hair everyone**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: You will be missed my boy**

 **KnivesRCool: Hey Fabio, shank the she-devil for me and I promise to break you out of prison**

 **NeedAHand: KEITH**

 **Allurable: Well, maybe this will be good for you both. Perhaps you'll be able to become friends.**

 **PidgeThePimp: HA**

 **MemeMachine: HA HA**

 **KnivesRCool: I didn't know you could make jokes Allura**

 **Allurable: I'm serious**

 **NeedAHand: Honey…no**

 **Allurable: Shiro, you better change that tone and agree with me otherwise you'll be sleeping in your old room tonight**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: I'm sorry; he's been sleeping** _ **where**_ **all this time?**

 **HunktheHunk: Space Dad's in trouble…**

 **NeedAHand: D:**

 **PidgeThePimp: How long has** _ **this**_ **been going on?**

 **MemeMachine: It's okay Takashi, I understand if you switch sides**

 **LadyLancelot: Wait, what? You two have been shacking up? Why didn't anyone tell me?!**

 **NeedAHand: You know what? I think my beautiful girlfriend is right**

 **Allurable: :')**

 **PidgeThePimp: …Whipped**

 **NeedAHand: This will be a good opportunity for the two of you to get along. Just give her a chance Lance. You'll have to have each other's back anyway. People always bond when their lives are in danger**

 **LadyLancelot: But dad!**

 **NeedAHand: Stop it**

 **Allurable: you'll be fine**

 **LadyLancelot: But mom!**

 **NeedAHand: Lance, just try**

 **LadyLancelot: Fine . But if you don't hear from me or Lotor in the next few days then that means we're dead and it'll all be your fault**

 **NeedAHand: Why will it be my fault?**

 **Lo-turd: I'd like to go back to your previous statement. What do you mean if they don't hear from you or me? Are you implying that I'll be dead too?**

 **LadyLancelot: Well yeah, I'm not dying alone; I'll take you with me**

 **Lo-turd: …this is all your fault black paladin**

 **NeedAHand: You guys are exaggerating**

 **KnivesRCool: Just let me know if you want me to shank her through our bond, I'll come running**

 **NeedAHand: KEITH**

 **PidgeThePimp: I'm in**

 **MemeMachine: Same**

 **HunktheHunk: Usually I'm against violence but if that** _ **girl**_ **hurts my friend then I'll join too!**

 **NeedAHand: STOP**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Meh, I'll join too. I'll avenge you both.**

 **Lo-turd: :')**

 **NeedAHand: CORAN**

 **Allurable: TEAM BONDING!**

 **NeedAHand: ALLURA**

 **LadyLancelot: XD**

 **KnivesRCool: :D**

 **PidgeThePimp: :)**

 **MemeMachine: ;)**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: :)**

 **HunktheHunk: \\(^O^)/**

 **Lo-turd: o**

 **Allurable: ^_^**

 **NeedAHand: Ah, fuck it. I'll join too**

 **LadyLancelot: LANGUAGE**

 **NeedAHand: *flips table***

* * *

Lotor's knuckles whitened on the controls as he maneuvered the ship away from the cluster of rocks in their way. He needed to be very careful not to jam the sides of the ship on any of those rocks lest they damage their vessel. Normally he'd have no problem doing that but the screaming women throwing things at each other behind him made it just a tad bit difficult to concentrate. Had it only been two hours since they left? It felt like weeks.

"I bet your boobs are fake!" Zooey screeched.

Lance let out an offended gasp. "You take that back you cow!"

Don't lose your concentration Lotor. Just ignore them. You got this.

"Your hair looks as fake as the hair on the male piloting this ship!" Zooey shouted.

Lance gasped.

And there went his patience.

His jaw clenched, Lotor turned his head and glared darkly at the Valkyrie princess. "You take that back!"

Zooey's green eyes narrowed in challenge. "Make me."

Lotor glared at her.

Zooey glared right back.

Lance looked between the two nervously.

Lotor spoke slowly. "Take. It. Back."

Zooey lifted her chin and looked down her nose at him. "Or what?"

Making sure to keep eye contact, Lotor let go of the controls, turned his back on the monitor, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Or I'll let us crash right here."

Lance's blue eyes widened as she turned her gaze to the view outside. She paled. "Zooey," She swallowed. "Take it back."

Zooey broke their staring match to gaze at the view outside. Her already pale skin grew paler. After a moment's hesitation she clenched her jaw. "I refuse."

The Galra Prince narrowed his yellow-blue eyes at the red haired Valkyrie. "I'm tired of both of your constant fighting. You two are acting like children, tossing things at each other, calling each other names. What are you five? Well enough." Lance and Zooey stared at him wide-eyed. It was probably the first time anyone besides their mothers had scolded them for their constant arguing. "You're both apologizing," Lance gaped. "And when you're done, you're both going to clean up the mess you made and sit in opposite corners in silence until I say so."

Lance looked a mix between proud and mortified.

The Valkyrie Princess stared at him in disbelief for another few seconds before clenching her jaw. "You're not the boss of me."

Lotor shrugged. "Guess we're all dying."

Lance bit her nails. " _Zooey_."

"No."

The following silence was punctuated by the ship's alarms as they began to blare. A shower of asteroid rocks sounded as they hit the ship. Lance covered her ears at the sharp sounds. Lotor's gaze never left Zooey's.

His friend turned to him, her blue eyes wide and honest. "Lotor, I'm sorry. I'll do whatever you say just please take control of the ship again. I really don't want to die."

Lotor raised a brow at Zooey. "I will when she apologizes too."

Zooey's nostrils flared.

"We're totally dying," Lance muttered under her breath. "At least it'll be in a blaze of glory."

Zooey looked at her like she was crazy.

Was he scared that they might die? Yes. Did he care? A little. But Lotor was done keeping silent as the two women in the room with him continued their constant arguing and their nonstop throwing of projectiles. The cockpit was a mess. Food, magazines, and lamps were scattered all over the floor. The metal walls looked wet with milk. Enough was enough. Lotor was putting his foot down.

These girls had to learn that they couldn't always have their way without facing the consequences. The ship vibrated as a particularly big asteroid hit the side of the ship. Lance held on to one of the unopened crates before she could fall. Zooey leaned her back against the walls when she almost toppled over. The lights turned red and the alarms increased in tempo. Her eyes wide, Lance turned to Zooey in anger. "Apologize already!"

The Valkyrie Princess gnawed on her lower lip. "He's bluffing!" She turned those green eyes on him. "He wouldn't just let us crash! He'd die too!"

"Are you sure?" Lotor crossed one leg over the other and got comfortable. "You really want to try me?"

For the first time since they left, Zooey looked almost scared. A volley of asteroid rocks pinged against the hull. The ship began to tilt down.

"Zooey!"

"I'm waiting."

Growling under her breath, Zooey snapped. "Fine! I'm sorry okay! I'm sorry I was such a bitch and I'm sorry for offending you now take control of the ship again!"

Lotor's mouth curved into a satisfied smile. "Now was that so hard?"

"Lotor!" Lance snapped at him. "Boast later! Save us now!"

Letting out another smirk at the mortified Valkyrie, the Galra Prince scrambled for the emergency lights that framed the cockpit, shoving aside the crates that had slid under it. His knee smacked something hard and he swallowed the curse threatening to leave his lips as he looked down at the dashboard. It lit up with controls and screens.

Gazing up at the view outside, he grew pale at the particularly large asteroid they were heading toward. Another crash echoed from outside the hatch. He punched a few switches, and a second later; a metal sheet began to cover the ship, darkening all the windows except for the main one in front of him. With that done, he let out a grunt and eased the ship away from the large asteroid. He almost had them out of range when a few more large rocks suddenly blocked his view.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, he shouted for his friend. "Lance!"

The Amazon Princess was at his side an instant later, her hand stretched toward the window to move the rocks away from his view. It worked and moments before they would have surely crashed, Lotor pulled hard at the controls and flew them higher and higher as fast as he could.

"We're going to die." Zooey gasped.

"Well maybe next time you should apologize sooner!" Lotor snapped back.

"This is no time to be arguing!" Lance shouted at them both.

Lance held on to the back of the pilot's seat for dear life as the ship tilted. Zooey was breathing hard somewhere behind them. Lotor's pulse raced as he tried to level the ship. The engines spluttered. Lance grit her teeth, put her hand to the floor, and sent a jolt of electricity running all along the ship. With the sudden surge of power, the ship lurched forward and they were finally home free.

Lotor's fingers stayed clamped like iron shackles around the controls until the ship leveled out and finally left the asteroid field behind them. Light-headed, he set the ship on autopilot before prying his hands away from the controllers.

Lance slumped to the floor, shaking, and smiled in relief. "We're alive."

It took him a few seconds to respond, his heart was still raising wildly, before he smirked down at his friend. "Did you ever doubt me?"

Lance shrugged, her breaths evening out as she rolled her blue sleeves further up her arms. "Good work, Prince Charming."

Grinning, Lotor put up a fist and Lance lightly punched it with one of her own. "You weren't so bad yourself Sleeping Beauty."

Lance laughed and shook her head.

"You're both crazy." Lotor and Lance glanced at the wide-eyed Valkyrie slumped on the floor. Her pale hands were trembling as she leveled a glare at them both. Her black wings somewhat obscured her from view as they wrapped around her. "We could have died."

Lotor leveled his gaze on her. "But we didn't."

Zooey's expression was sour as she peered up at him – there was still anger there, but there was also a hint of respect that wasn't there before. They stared at each other for a long time, as the engine hummed across the hallway and the ship sailed smoothly down the darkness of space.

"Well," Lance finally grumbled. "I suppose we better get started on cleaning up the mess we made."

"Yes," Lotor drawled as he got to his feet. "I want this place spotless when I come back."

Zooey scowled up at him. "And where are _you_ going?"

Lotor didn't turn as he made his way out of the cockpit and into the lit hallway. "I'm going to take a shower and change my clothes." He paused. "I think I soiled myself."

Lance barked out a laugh.

Zooey blinked once. Twice. And snorted. She shook her head as she got to her feet. "Men."

"Women." Lotor smoothly countered.

Lance and Zooey grinned.

Perhaps they could survive this mission after all. He took a few steps forward when he heard –

"Eat shit and die." Zooey whispered to his friend.

"Yeah, fuck you too." Lance replied with a scoff.

Okay, maybe there was a _fifty_ percent chance that they'd survive.

Better than nothing.

* * *

Despite not wanting to admit it, Queen Lexi had given him some good advice. They were going to be in a ship, together, for a whole week before reaching their destination and as much as Lotor didn't want to believe it, Lance and Zooey really might kill each other. And probably him too as collateral damage.

So…time for some trust exercises.

One way or another, these two princesses' were going to get along or so help him he'd let their ship actually crash next time. Which is why Lotor found himself in the training room with two angry women glaring at each other an hour later after his shower. True to their word, the cockpit had been cleaned and it looked spotless. After making sure that there was nothing else that might need his attention, Lotor checked the ship's autopilot to make sure they were still on course and demanded the two women meet him at the training deck.

When he got there he was a bit surprised to see them so silent but the glares they were giving each other spoke volumes.

Lance stood with her hands on her hips leaning forward. Zooey had her arms over her chest as she mirrored Lance's stance. Per his request, the two had changed to comfortable clothing. Lance with a blue tank top and some black yoga pants and Zooey with a white loose shirt and some black fitting shorts.

The mark that Keith had given his friend was still very much visible on her skin. As it would be forever. That was a Mate mark and those never fade. It didn't look as red anymore, it was a little pink, but still very much apparent. She'd taken off her ring and placed it on the one of the benches. With the new change of outfit, the Valkyrie Princess's tattoo's that curled around her pale arms were also visible. The swirls of leaves and tiny flowers decorated both arms.

Lotor resisted the urge to sigh. He too had changed into some loose clothing in case he needed to step in, and judging by those glares, he just might have to. "We're going to start some trust exercises."

Zooey and Lance tensed.

With some effort, the Valkyrie Princess tore her gaze from Lance and looked over to him. Her face was one of disgust. "Why the hell would we do that?"

"Because when we land on that planet, we'll have to have each other's backs. We don't know what we'll be facing when we get there and if you two aren't willing to work together then I'm pretty sure this mission will fail and we'll all die a horribly and probably embarrassing death." Lance's mouth twitched. "So we're doing trust exercises." He leveled a glare at them. "Is that understood?"

Lance begrudgingly nodded.

Zooey twisted her mouth, scoffed, but shrugged her shoulders. "Fine."

Lotor nodded. "Good. We'll be starting with trust falls."

The two women in front of him groaned.

"Quit your whining, what are you children?" Lance and Zooey zipped their lips. "Zooey, you're first. Lance, make sure you catch her."

Neither of them moved, instead they exchanged a weary look. Sighing, Lotor had to forcibly move them into position before stepping back. It took him far too long but he managed to do it.

Zooey peeked over her shoulder and scowled. "Don't you dare drop me bitch."

Lance rolled her eyes, her hands already extended. "Is the name calling really necessary?"

"I don't remember your name."

"Bull."

"Anytime Zooey." Lotor drawled.

"You can't force trust!" Zooey snapped, her voice a little higher than necessary.

Lance arched a brow but didn't comment on it. She schooled her features into something serious. "Just go," his friend's voice sounded softer, gentle. "I won't let you fall. Trust me."

Zooey took a shaky breath, squared her shoulders, and crossed her arms around herself in an X before finally letting herself fall. Lotor was glad that she'd finally done it. Unfortunately, instead of falling backwards, Zooey, for some odd reason, fell _forward_ , and toppled to the floor with a yelp with no one to catch her.

Lance's jaw dropped and she looked over at Lotor with a look of pure disbelief. "That was _not_ my fault."

No, it really wasn't.

Zooey didn't seem to care though as she shot to her feet and tackled Lance to the floor, her fists flying towards Lance's face as she shrieked. Not one to allow herself to get punched without facing the consequences, Lance striked back and in seconds the two were rolling on the floor throwing obscenities at each other.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

 **LadyLancelot has entered the group chat Pidge's Bitches**

 **LadyLancelot: What did the ocean say to the other ocean?**

 **PidgeThePimp: Oh no**

 **KnivesRCool: Here we go…**

 **Allurable: Maybe it won't be so bad…**

 **NeedAHand: It probably will. You know it. I know it. And they know it. They just don't care.**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Oh, I love Lady Lance's jokes!**

 **MemeMachine: What?**

 **HunktheHunk: Tell us**

 **LadyLancelot: Nothing. They just** _ **waved**_

 **PidgeThePimp: Oh god**

 **KnivesRCool: I don't get it**

 **Allurable: …You were right Shiro**

 **NeedAHand: I usually am**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: I love it!**

 **MemeMachine: Ah, I** _ **sea**_ **what you did there!**

 **PidgeThePimp: Stop**

 **LadyLancelot: !**

 **HunktheHunk: :D good one buddy!**

 **Allurable: Please stop**

 **NeedAHand: They won't Allura…they won't D:**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: Keep them coming!**

 **LadyLancelot: I'm** _ **shore**_ **you did!**

 **MemeMachine: ;)**

 **PidgeThePimp: How are we friends?**

 **HunktheHunk: Oh come on Pidge, don't be such a** _ **beach**_

 **LadyLancelot: LMAO**

 **MemeMachine: OH!**

 **LadyLancelot: HUNK! MY MAN!**

 **PidgeThePimp: This is the person you're marrying Keith…**

 **KnivesRCool: I know…**

 **Lo-turd has joined the Group Chat Pidge's Bitches**

 **Lo-turd: Lance, what are you doing in the chat, you're suppose to be grounded**

 _ **(LadyLancelot has left the group chat)**_

 _ **(Lo-turd has left the group chat)**_

 **KnivesRCool: …**

 **Allurable: …**

 **NeedAHand: …**

 **IMustacheYouAQuestion: …O.O**

 **MemeMachine: o.o**

 **HunktheHunk: :o**

 **PidgeThePimp: …What just happened?**

* * *

To: My Soon to Be Disowned Mother

From: Your Soon to be Former Daughter

Subject: I'M ALIVE BUT I'M BARELY BREATHING

Dear Mrs. Lexi McLane,

I am writing this email to let you know that your lovely daughter aka Leah McLane will be writing the paperwork to be disowned from your bony butt for allowing her to partake in suck a dangerous mission with a woman who wants nothing but her imminent death.

What kind of mother just lets her daughter step onto a ship with a WOMAN CAPABLE OF MURDER and not stop them? You must know that poor, innocent, and sweet Leah McLane has suffered greatly in the presence of one Zooey Kaliee since she was a child. A CHILD.

You were also informed by a recent email that your daughter DID NOT wish to partake in said mission BEFORE they were to depart but was blatantly ignored.

Since boarding this ship Ms. Leah McLane has been harassed, called names, and was recently given a black eye, lost a great deal of hair, received bite marks on her face and is just NOT having a good time in general. Ms. Leah McLane is NOT happy.

You'll be hearing from her lawyers very soon.

From your recovering daughter,

Leah McLane

P.S. I'm telling daddy on you!

* * *

To: The Best Daddy in the World

From: Your Favorite Child

Subject: Remember when you said you'd never let anything hurt me? Well…

Dear daddy,

Please…please save me. Mom is out of control! I thought I could do this! With Lotor with me I thought, 'hey, I can survive this' but I was _wrong_. Daddy, the black winged lady hurt me :'(

I didn't even do anything!

…this time.

Okay, the first few hours? Yeah, all me. Totally deserved it, I can admit that. The other hour? TOTALLY NOT MY FAULT. Honest.

Ask Lotor.

He saw.

He saw _everything_.

I'm sleeping with a knife under my pillow daddy. That's how much I fear for my life. You swore you'd never let anything hurt me. Well guess what? I'm hurt! Call the cops! Call the SWAT team! Hell, just call Mikey! I don't care! Just get me out of here.

All my love,

Your daughter who doesn't have much time to live

P.S. If I don't get out of here in the next few days I'm calling Mikey. Are you ready for that? Is _Cloyetera_ ready for that?

P.P.S. Remember those combat boots you love so much? You know, the ones that are a little old but still look good? I'm sure you've noticed that they're missing. They're in the trash.

The culprit?

Mom.

Its time to ask yourself: Is this really the woman I want to be married to? Not only has she put your daughter's life in danger but she has also thrown away a pair of priceless boots? :o

Think about it.

* * *

To: The Woman Who Knows I'm Being Abused and Has done NOTHING

From: Your soon to become SERIAL KILLER daughter

Subject: Thinking about murder

Dear woman who gave birth to me,

I currently have about a dozen set of weapons laid out on my bed. They have been sharpened and they have been cleaned. What are the weapons for? Gonna commit murder. This _male_ that has been put in charge sent me to my room. MY ROOM. I'm apparently grounded for the day. Can you believe that? Me. GROUNDED.

The audacity.

I'm taking him down first. Then I'm going for that ho. And when we come back and they ask me why I did it, I'm going to point at you.

I'll tell them you were the cause.

I am a good actress mother.

I can pull it off.

Can't wait to see you in jail.

Still thinking about murder,

Zooey the beautiful Kaliee

* * *

To: My Best Friend's Mother

From: A Losing His Shit Prince

Subject: Considering a Lawsuit

Dear Queen of Darkness,

Today I gave in and took your suggestion to make the girls do some bonding exercises. How did it go? Hmm, I don't know. WHY DON'T YOU ASK MY NEW BALD SPOT? (See attached file)

I thought we were doing well. I thought we had a _moment_. I was _wrong_.

The two of them started throwing punches at the other and like an IDIOT, I stepped in to try and stop them.

What did I get for my troubles?

A kick to my private area.

Two slaps to the face.

And HAD MY HAIR RIPPED OUT.

NO ONE MESSES WITH MY HAIR.

After finally knocking them both out, which took way too long since they both have POWERS, I tossed them in their own rooms and have grounded them for the day. I did _not_ sign up to be a babysitter. So yeah, you're getting sued lady.

I deserve compensation for all that I've endured. The hits to my person, the pulling of my hair, and the emotional trauma. The things these girls say are just plain hurtful.

Currently trying to regrow my hair and _not_ cry,

Prince Lotor

P.S. I deserve better

* * *

 _Day 2_

After finding his old military uniform –a black body suit that counted as his armor, accented with deep blue across the chest, neckline, and hips, the gauntlets were red-orange lining all the way to his elbows, and the Amazons insignia with a woman about to throw an arrow replaced his father's mark, Lotor finally left his room and stepped into the corridor. The thin corridor revealed an open doorway to the galley on his left, and the cargo bay to his right.

There was no sign of either princess. It was eerily silent. Only the faint running lights along the floor were on. He seriously hoped the two women hadn't killed each other while he was taking a shower. With a sigh, he made his way to the cockpit, made sure they were still all right, before going to the kitchen.

Please don't be dead.

Upon entering the kitchen, Lotor was surprised to find the Valkyrie Princess already seated at the white island counter eating what he could only assume was cereal when she noticed him. Another plate of cereal was across from hers. The material was already soggy. It must belong to Lance then.

She liked her cereal soggy for some reason.

"Where's Lance?" Zooey didn't answer. "Did you kill her? Should I be getting revenge?"

The Valkyrie Princess looked faintly amused as she continued eating. "Told her she had a pimple on her cheek. She freaked, called me a liar, and then went to wash her face."

Ah. Yeah, that would definitely freak his friend. Zooey looked up when he didn't add any more to the conversation.

Her green eyes narrowed as they inspected his hair. If possible, her face scrunched up even more as she huffed. "I see that shampoo that hag gave you grew back your hair." She rolled her eyes. "That's a bit boring."

"That 'hag' as you keep calling her is my friend and her name is Leah though she prefers to be called Lance." He smoothly replied as he walked to the stove. "Stop calling her names."

Zooey snorted, loosely playing with a red strand of her hair. "Whatever male."

"I have a name too, you know."

"What was it again?"

"Lotor."

"Latte?"

" _Lotor_."

"Lotoad?"

"Stop talking before I burn your eggs."

Her brow knitting together in confusion, she looked up at him in disbelief. "You're making food…for me?"

"I'm making food for _all_ of us." Lotor corrected as he cracked three eggs and dropped them into the frying pan. "Just having cereal isn't a proper meal."

Zooey hesitated, she eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not poisoning me?"

"I thought about it." Zooey stiffened. "But poison isn't really my thing." The Valkyrie Princess's shoulders slightly relaxed. "Besides," he smirked behind his shoulder at her. "If we kill you we'd have to spend another few days with your rotting corpse and no one wants _that_."

Zooey glared at him. "Whatever."

"You're a liar!" A familiar voice shouted. Lotor didn't have to turn to see that it was his friend. Still wearing her pajamas, blue loose shirt and white pants, Lance stomped her way into the kitchen, pushed back her chair, sat down in front of her cereal and glared at the Valkyrie Princess. "My face looks flawless!"

Zooey rolled her green eyes. "Not where I'm standing."

"Ladies," Lotor drawled, he set two plates of eggs in front of them. "It's too early to start fighting."

Zooey glanced down at her eggs and glared. "My eggs are all dried up!"

"Oh look," Lance grumbled. "The gene pool is saved."

Zooey flipped her off.

"She started it," Lance continued as she picked up her spoon to finish her cereal. Her spoon was halfway to her mouth when she noticed Zooey staring at her. Her eyes narrowed, Lance lowered her spoon and stared at her cereal in growing horror. "Did you spit in my cereal?"

Lotor resisted the urge to groan.

Zooey just smirked. "I thought about it," She sniffed. "But even _I'm_ not that evil."

Her nostrils flaring, Lance put the food in her mouth when Zooey barely glanced up at her from the tablet she just took out. "Though I did put something _else_ in it though."

The Amazon Princess spat out her food before launching herself across the table at the smirking Valkyrie with a battle cry. The two went down on the floor pulling at each other's hair.

Lotor sipped at his coffee at the head of the table.

Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Perhaps the reason you two don't get along is because you don't know each other so well," Lotor surmised as he walked around the two scowling women sitting crisscross on the training room floor. "Today we will play twenty questions."

The two women groaned.

"Now then," he turned to Lance who was playing with her ring. "You start."

Lance grinned.

The Galra Prince narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Take this seriously or I won't watch movies with you later."

A pout on her face, Lance sighed in resignation. "Fine." A hand on her chin, she turned to Zooey. "What's your favorite color? Mine is blue."

"The blood of my enemies." Zooey smoothly replied.

Her eye twitching, Lance turned to him with an 'you see what she does' look. Lotor moved his hand in a go on gesture. Lance huffed but turned back around. "What are your hobbies? Mine are painting and playing the piano. Oh, and doing my beauty routines."

Zooey looked down at her black painted nails. "My favorite hobbies include dancing on the graves of my enemies –"

Lance made a face.

"Planning murder."

Lance turned to him with tight face.

"Going through my mom's things, stealing it, then telling her she never had that item and she's just going crazy."

Lance's mouth twitched.

"And reading."

"Okay," Lotor nodded. "Not the usual things someone would say but yeah okay."

"Okay, I have another question." Lance said. "What is the craziest thing you've ever done?"

Zooey shrugged. "That's easy, sitting here and talking to you ranks up pretty high."

Lance turned to him with a pout. "Lotor, she's being mean!"

Lotor sighed through his nose. "Just keep going."

His friend didn't look happy but she turned back to the Valkyrie Princess. As she thought about her question, she took out a pretty red hair tie with a bow on it and was about to put her hair up in a ponytail when Zooey's green eyes zeroed in on the item.

"Is that my hair tie?" Her voice could have cut steel.

Lance frowned at her. "What? This is mine."

"No, it's not." Zooey glared. "That's _mine_."

"No," Lance narrowed her eyes. "Its mine. I bought it."

"Oh yeah?" Zooey began to get up from her crouch. "What store? When?"

"The pink one in the mall at Cloyetera at," Lance hesitated. "Well, I don't remember when, but I assure you it's mine."

"Guys," Lotor tried to reason. This was starting to get ugly. "Let's all calm down."

"There were only about five of those made and I took them _all_ ," Zooey replied, ignoring Lotor. "That's _my_ hair tie."

"And I keep telling you that's it's _mine_ ," Lance snapped as she shot to her feet. "I asked Jaxca if she could make another three just for me. This is my hair tie."

"You damn liar!" Zooey accused. "Why don't you just admit that you took it from my room?"

"Because I didn't!" Lance snapped back. "I wouldn't want to catch any _diseases_ by stepping inside your room anyway!

"Why you little shit!" Zooey screamed standing up to her full height.

This time it was Zooey who threw herself at Lance with a battle cry.

* * *

It turns out that Lance _hadn't_ stolen Zooey's hair tie after all.

Did Zooey apologize?

Nope.

* * *

Day 3

Getting desperate, Lotor handcuffed both women to each other for the day.

Thinking back, Lotor couldn't, for the life of him, think of why he'd thought that was a good idea in the first place. For one thing, Lance immediately started freaking out because like an _idiot_ , Lotor had forgotten that Lance had been forced to wear shackles on her wrists for three months. Shackles that kept her powers locked away.

And though the handcuffs Lotor had used on both women were just normal handcuffs, Lance didn't seem to care. She started hyperventilating. Zooey, for once, had looked concerned but made no move to help. Lotor tried helping his friend by talking to and it seemed to work. For a few minutes.

The girls lasted all of ten minutes before everything went to shit when Lance wanted to use the restroom and Zooey refused to go with her.

Lance, somehow, through sheer will probably, dragged Zooey all the way to the restroom before everything went wrong. The sound of crashing and things breaking had Lotor sprinting to the restroom just in time to see Lance dunking Zooey's head inside the toilet.

Upon seeing him, Lance had shouted at him to help her finish the job.

He almost did it.

It was just so _tempting_.

Until Zooey grabbed onto Lance's hair and set it on fire with her powers. Lance had screamed bloody murder and run to the kitchen, they'd broken the sink apparently, and dragged a cursing wet Valkyrie all along the floor before Lotor dumped a bucket of water on his friend to put out the fire.

To say that Lance had been pissed was an understatement.

She broke the handcuffs, made sure to zap the Valkyrie a good two minutes, leaving the woman convulsing on the floor, before stomping to her room with instructions to be left alone lest she murder them both.

Lotor was left to deal with a screaming Valkyrie went she made her way to Lance's room with a handful of weapons on her person.

"Let me kill her!" Zooey had screamed.

"Yeah!" Lance had screamed from inside. "Just let her through Lotor, I'm ready for her bony ass!"

"You bitch!"

Lotor got another handful of hair ripped from his head before he threw the Valkyrie Princess over his shoulder and threw her in her room.

This was getting ridiculous.

* * *

To: The Woman Who Better Get Me Out of Jail

From: Your Soon to be Committing MURDER Daughter

Subject: Enough

Dear mother,

I warned you. You should have listened. I'm calling in the cavalry.

Good luck dealing with Mikey.

Already laughing at your demise,

Leah Amalia McLane

* * *

To: My Big Brother

From: You Baby Sister

Subject: I Need My Big Brother

Dear Best big brother in the world,

Hey.

I trust you know what this means.

All my love,

Your baby sister

* * *

Lexi McLane was looking through her schedule for the day when she heard the sound of crashing and screaming coming outside of her office.

Was it an enemy?

Surely they would have told her if it was though.

–"Sir, you can't go in there!" Alizka, another one of her guards, was shouting. "Her highness is very busy!"

"I don't give a shit!" Lexi paled at that familiar voice. It seemed Leah had proven true in her warning. "I'm talking to her now!"

The metal door slid open to reveal a very angry Mikey with four women trying to pull him back. Her son didn't budge whatsoever. Behind them were the rest of her children and her husband as well.

Aiden sent her an apologetic look before shrugging and made his way to the other side of her desk.

Oh, boy.

Here we go.

"It's all right ladies," Lexi said to her guards. "Let him through."

They hesitated but let go before leaving the room reluctantly.

Mikey stomped his way to her front desk and shoved his transparent bracelet in her face. "My sister needs me. She sent me a detailed text saying I'm her last hope." His nostrils flared. " _Where. Is. She?_ "

Lexi leaned back in her seat to read the message floating in the air from the transparent bracelet. After reading it she simply arched a brow at her son. "All it says here is 'hey'."

Aiden threw his hands up. "That's what I said too!"

Mikey turned those dark blue eyes of his to his younger brother and scowled. "Yeah, hey as in 'please help me', hey as in 'I'm being harassed, hey as in 'someone's going to kill me,' hey as in 'please come take me home big brother'." Everyone stared at him incredulously. "I know my sister. We only need few words to convey so much."

"But all it says is 'hey'," Kyrian weakly repeated.

"He's not wrong," Javier piped in. Lexi narrowed her eyes at her husband. "She said as much in her message to me."

"See?" Mikey rounded on her. "Talk _mother_. Where did you send my sister and with who?" His dark blue eyes glinted dangerously. "Who do I need to kill?"

"Wait," Alan's brows knitted together. "She's seriously in danger?"

Lexi didn't answer.

"That changes everything then," Colt replied. Aiden nodded, his eyes narrowing.

Lexi sighed through her nose. "Your sister is exaggerating." Mikey looked ready to fight. "I just sent her on a mission with Lotor and Zooey –"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

"Zooey as in the she-devil?" Mikey hissed.

"The bully?" Kyrian added.

"The hoe?" Colt piped in.

"Girl our sister hates Zooey?" Alan asked.

"The girl who can totally kill our sister Zooey?" Aiden dangerously said.

"That's the one," Javier nodded. Lexi sent her husband a scowl. He blew her a kiss. The Queen of Cloyetera was sad to admit that her heart skipped a beat at the action.

Damn that man.

Mikey slapped his hands on her desk so hard the thing shook. "Tell me where is. I asked her but she didn't reply. Only reason that would be is if you gave her instructions _not_ to tell me."

Her eldest was a smart man.

"I won't tell you," Mikey's nostrils flared. A muscle twitched at his temple. "Lotor is with her as well. They'll be fine."

"This is about the shoes, isn't it?" Aiden rolled his eyes.

Lexi's face flushed.

Her family groaned.

"Seriously?"

"They weren't that pretty!"

"They smelled!"

"Oh, shut it!" Lexi snapped at the triplets. "Those were my favorite pair!" She huffed and settled down. "Your sister will be fine."

"Lex," her husband gazed at her in worry. "Our baby girl doesn't sound all right. Perhaps it's time to bring her home. Let her go with people she trusts instead."

Was her husband seriously giving her the puppy eyes? She averted her eyes from that handsome face. She couldn't have her will crumbling now. It'd been four days; one more and they'd be reaching their destination. Besides, those two _had_ to learn how to get along eventually.

"See?" Mikey was saying. "Even dad agrees." His dark blue eyes turned pleading. "Just tell me where she is."

The Queen of Cloyetera swallowed. "No."

Protests rose up from each member of her family. "I said no." her tone left no room for argument. "Your sister and Zooey need to learn to get along eventually. Afya and I will not always be here. When they become queens and take over, they'll need to work together on a daily basis." Her family looked displeased. "Leah is still alive. She and Lotor keep sending me reports." She hesitated. "There have been…a few injures yes, but –" She quickly went on as Mikey let out a curse. "They're nothing too serious. I have the engineering department tracking the ships vitals as well as its passengers. If anything truly bad happens, then we will know."

"I don't like this." Mikey's voice sounded subdued. His thoughts were raging though. "Why do you always have to be so hard on her?"

"Because she's going to be queen one day." Lexi snapped. "We can't baby her too much. She's going to be fine. If anything happens, which I highly doubt, you will be the first person I tell. And if that happens, only then will I tell you where she is."

Mikey stared down his nose at her for a long time. Lexi stared right back. Behind them, the rest of their family looked on nervously. "Fine," Mikey finally spoke. "But if anything happens to her you won't like what I'll do."

" _Mikey_." Javier warned.

"Whatever," Mikey turned on his heel. "Everyone better stay away from me lest they want to get punched in the face though." He turned back to them and pointed a menacing finger. "But I'm going to set a few things on fire. Maybe your shoes will be first." Lexi scowled. "Good luck dealing with _that_."

And with that he was gone.

Lexi released the breath she'd been holding.

She loved her son, she really did, but when it came to his sister, he tended to act super protective. And anyone that gets in his way gets hurt.

Her four other sons exchanged a look with each other before nodding. "What he said," Aiden spoke up for them. "We'll want to know if any trouble comes up and so help me mom, if something happens to Leah, I won't forgive you."

With one last glare, her sons disappeared.

Lexi put her hands on her desk and sighed. "Do you really think sending them on a mission was a bad idea?"

Javier placed a hand on her lowered head. "Honestly? Yes."

Lexi groaned.

"But I also agree that our daughter and Zooey need to get along." Lexi looked up at him. "Though forcing them on a mission together without having them done other small activities together wasn't a good move either."

Lexi furrowed her brows. "So you think I should have had them run into each other a little more and given them small tasks before sending them on a big mission?"

"Exactly."

The Queen of Cloyetera scrunched up her face. "Our daughter can take it. And Lotor is there as well. Sure, he's received a…handful of injuries when he intervened but it wasn't too bad."

Her husband snorted as he took a seat in front of her desk. "Poor boy. I like him."

"So do I," she murmured. Sighing, she picked up her coffee and took a long sip.

"By the way Lex," Javier made himself comfortable in his seat. "What happened to my favorite boots?"

Lexi spat out her drink and looked at him in horror.

"You see," Javier went on as he calmly wiped the coffee from his cheek with a Kleenex. "Our daughter wrote me the most interesting thing the other day."

Lexi paled.

Leah wouldn't…right?

"Something about you disposing my favorite boots," Javier went on. His baby blue eyes looked her straight in the eye. "And I thought, 'there's no way right?' but here we are." Lexi resisted the urge to flee. "So tell me my love, is it true?"

"I –"

"You know what?" Javier gave her a winning smile that had her paling. "Why don't you clear your schedule? Let's have a long talk."

That day, Lexi learned that her husband was not someone you ever wanted to anger. He didn't yell. Never even raised his voice. But you almost wish he _did_ because the low tone he used had her trembling in place.

When Leah came back, she was _so_ grounded for telling on her.

* * *

Day 4

"Keith," Shiro called to him. "If you're so worried, why not call her?"

Keith threw another blow to the punching bag before wiping the sweat from his brow. He'd taken his ring off and placed it inside the necklace where it dangled next to the blue crystal Lance had given him."I don't know, talking is kind of weird when we can just talk to each other in our heads."

"Then why not do that?" Shiro suggested as he took a long sip from his water bottle.

"Because she seems pretty pissed," Keith sighed as he sat down on the bench and watched Hunk and Pidge spar on the other side of the training room as Allura gave them pointers where she watched. Matt was currently trying to lift a weight as Coran watched from behind him. Keith didn't think that was a good idea honestly. "Something about her hair."

"Her hair?"

"Yeah," he frowned. "I think it was on fire yesterday."

Shiro spat his drink. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Well, at least that's how it felt." Keith explained. He'd just been coming out of his shower when the waves of anger radiating from Lance echoed around his head. He'd tried looking through her eyes and talking to her but Lance was too busy cursing in Spanish. That's when he felt the top of his hair go particularly warm before Lance started screaming in his head. When she'd finally calmed down, Lance was too busy trying to make her hair grow back to pay attention to him. Keith didn't mind, they'd had a mission anyway, and besides, Lance would probably tell him later anyway.

That's what she'd been doing practically everyday since Keith and the others left Cloyetera behind. And what a long month it has been. It's like Zarkon and his goons were on vacation because while Keith and the others had been in Cloyetera, they'd had no reports of anything bad going on in the universe. Queen Lexi would have informed them.

As soon as the New Year started though…every asshole had come out of hiding and gone to terrorize all the other planets that weren't allied with the Galra Empire. It kept him and the rest of the paladins quite busy.

Keith hadn't been able to visit Lance in Cloyetera yet. Something that really pissed him off if he was honest. Those first few days had been hard. His mother had told him that it was normal for mated males to be agitated when they weren't near their mates.

She said it would pass but he'd be in a mood for a few weeks. That had been proven true. It's a good thing he could take out his anger on the enemies they had to face whenever they went on a mission. It certainly helped him cool down. And having Lance constantly talk him down in his head had certainly helped as well.

Speaking of his mom, she had left with Kolivan and his blades two weeks ago. The leader of the blades had asked for her help and after talking to Keith, his mother had agreed and she'd left. Keith could visit her though; the Blades had a transporter as well. In fact, Keith had seen his mom just a few days ago as she briefed him on what kind of missions she'd been on.

And then there was Mr. Holt. The man had left a few weeks as well. He'd returned to Earth to tell his wife that he and their children were still alive. He'd accepted that his children were resolved to stay and continue their fight against the Galra. And so with his blessing, the three of them had said their last good-byes before Mr. Holt left with a message for both Shiro and Hunk's families. He wanted Earth to be prepared in case the Galra ever made their way to their home planet. In order to do that, Allura had given him a little cube created by Altean technology detailing everything about the Galra, Voltron, the Amazons and the rest of their allies, and everything else that they'd found out about Zarkon. And so, after a tearful good-bye, Mr. Holt returned to Earth.

"What do you mean Lance's hair was on fire?" Hunk screeched as he suddenly appeared in front of them. Keith and Shiro jumped. How the hell had they not noticed _Hunk_ of all people making his way over to them?

"Wait," Pidge let out a snort as she and Allura walked over to them. "It was seriously on fire?"

"Is she all right?" Allura asked, her face etched in worry.

"We must call her at once!" Coran announced as he and Matt walked over to them.

Keith blinked. "Do you guys really want to talk her that badly?"

"Yes!" Everyone shouted.

Keith bit his lip.

Pidge looked at him with a diabolical grin. "I bet he doesn't want to talk to her in person because he wants to say something pervy."

Keith's face flushed. "W-what?" Shiro looked at him in horror. "I wouldn't!"

Hunk blushed and looked away.

His cheeks blazing, Keith looked away. "Shut up."

Pidge just smirked at him. Rude.

"Then let's call her from the bridge." Allura suggested with a smile. "Bigger screens."

"And Keith?" The red paladin looked at his brother who was refusing to look him in the eye. "Please remember that it's not just you two speaking." Keith's eyes twitched. "We're here too."

"In other words," Pidge smirked. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself."

Keith flipped her off.

"Keith!" Shiro cried.

And it was with that last note that Keith and his friends found themselves in the bridge. All eyes turned to him. With a sigh, Keith typed in Lance's code numbers on the keyboard and waited with baited breath for Lance to pick up.

His heartbeat felt like it would burst right out of his chest. When was the last time he'd seen Lance in video chat? Three weeks ago? The sight of her always had him instantly smiling. Pidge and Matt were already making kissy faces at him though, so like hell he'd do that now.

His face schooled into neutral, Keith waited for Lance to pick up.

The thing rang once.

Twice.

And then went to voicemail.

"You think she's dead?" Pidge wondered out loud.

Matt's eyes went wide.

Keith glared daggers at her until she raised her hands. If Lance were truly in danger, he'd know. And if she were, he'd be on his way over to her in a heartbeat.

Allura tapped her chin. "Why not try Lotor?"

Keith typed in the Galra Prince's codes next.

Lotor answered on the first ring.

The Galra Prince looked like death. His silver hair looked tangled. Like someone had repeatedly pulled at it. Was that a bald spot? He had bite marks on his cheek. A bruise on his jaw. His clothes looked singed and ripped at certain spots. And he looked it was taking all his energy just to stand.

" _What do you want?_ " Lotor sounded tired, like he'd just fought the mental battle of all time. Hell, for all Keith knew, he probably had. One hand rising, Lotor lifted a purple cup to his lips and greedily drank the contents inside before sighing blissfully.

It took a moment for anyone on Keith's end to answer. For all the time that they had known Lotor, they knew for a fact that the Galra Prince always liked looking presentable. He usually never answered any calls or met with anyone unless he looked his absolute best.

So for him to answer looking like _this_ …either he didn't care or he'd just lost all hope.

Shiro was the first to speak. He cleared his throat and tried to sound calm though his eyes looked worried as fuck. "We just wanted to check up on you and Lance." Lotor didn't blink. He just stared. "We hadn't heard from either of you for a few days so we thought we'd check in."

"… _You want to know how Lance and I are doing?_ " Keith and his friends nodded. Lotor gazed at them for a long moment before releasing an explosive sigh that put all other sighs in the world to shame. He pinched the bridge of his nose. " _Well, let's see. I'm babysitting a bunch of women who act like they're five, who are prone to attack each other by just looking the other one in the eye, got parts of my hair ripped out for trying to stupidly pull them apart, and I haven't slept in days because I have to keep watch lest either of them attack the other during the night!_ " Lotor was breathing hard, his eyes looked wild, and he looked ready to start crying right then and there. _"And you're asking me how I've been?"_

Shiro winced.

"Yes?" Coran dragged out the word uncertainly.

Lotor closed his eyes and took a long long breath. He shrugged. His eyes looked dead. " _I'm just waiting for us all to die horribly before we reach our destination."_ Keith and his friends gaped. " _It's only a matter of time really_."

For a moment no one spoke. Most of them were too stunned to say anything really. Allura cleared her throat. "Ah, well I see." She swallowed. "And umm, how is Lance by the way?"

Lotor almost scowled. His eyes glinted. _"See for yourself_."

The camera was turned down to reveal Zooey facedown on the floor screaming obscenities as Lance repeatedly bashed her head on the floor screaming incoherently as she sat on her back howling in victory.

What the fuck Lance?

Pidge whistled. "Damn."

"Is it okay to laugh?" Matt questioned, his lips already twitching upwards.

Coran was already laughing.

Shiro strode forward. Now he looked super worried. "Aren't you going to stop them?"

Lotor looked at him like he was crazy. " _My hair is just growing back. Of course I won't."_

"But they look like they're going to kill each other!" Hunk cried.

" _It's okay_ ," Lotor turned his head from side to side until they heard a crack. He lifted up a remote. " _I just_ _discovered this new toy_." His smile would have had children screaming for their mothers. " _Now watch this."_

Lotor clicked a button.

And suddenly a giant holographic spider materialized into the room with the two princesses. Lance and Zooey screamed like banshees and tried to run by tripping the other one to get away.

Coran stifled a laugh.

" _You asshole!"_ Zooey screeched as she crouched and knocked a screaming Lance to the floor. " _Turn it off!"_

Lance grabbed onto Zooey's ankle and pulled her down with a sickening thud. The Valkyrie Princess howled. Lance took the opportunity to crawl over her prone body as the holographic spider started walking towards them. Lance paled. The thing looked so frickin real. " _Lotor_!" Blue eyes zeroed in where the Galra Prince was watching. " _Turn it off now!_ "

Was that a note of hysteria in her voice?

" _Promise to get along!"_ Lotor screamed back.

" _Is that a threat?"_ Zooey accused.

" _I'm going to go with 'fuck yes',_ " Lance stated as she and Zooey crawled with all their might to the corner of the room.

"Uh, Lotor?" Matt swallowed nervously as he bit his nails. "I really think you should stop. You don't know what a bunch of cornered animals will do."

Matt's dismembered voice went unnoticed as the tension in the room where Lotor was standing continued to rise. The camera went back to Lotor. " _It's okay, I'm protected by a bulletproof glass. I'm in the safest place I can b –"_

That was the last thing Lotor said before there was a deafening crash and something hit the Galra Prince hard on the back of his head. Lotor and the camera went down with a girlish shriek.

Keith and his friends stared at the screen as words turned to loud thuds, sharp objects, pained grunts, and heated shouts.

Lotor started screaming, his boots the only thing visible in the camera. _"Which one of you threw their fucking shoe at me!"_

Zooey cackled in the background.

" _That's it!"_ Lotor bellowed. " _It's on!"_

" _Lotor!" Lance screamed in the background._ " _The spider's leaving the room!"_

" _What_?" Zooey and Lotor simultaneously shouted.

" _Another one appeared!"_ Lance hysterically screamed.

Zooey cursed. " _They're climbing the walls!"_

Lotor and Lance screamed. Sobs were mixed in the background.

More crashing sounds were heard, followed by an unnatural hissing, before all three occupants in the room screamed bloody murder and then –

The screen went dark.

For a moment no one said anything as they stared at the dark screen in front of them.

What the hell had they just watched?

"I don't know about you guys," Hunk finally spoke. "But that just made me _super_ worried."

Ain't that the truth.

* * *

Day 5

The occupants in the room were dead silent. Not one of them uttered a word. Lotor looked up from his dry eggs and gazed at the two other residents sitting at the white island counter with him. Lance looked dead on her feet. She kept blinking her eyes, her head titling down every few seconds before she jerked upright and looked around the room with wide blue eyes.

Her brown hair looked tangled. She had dark circles under her eyes and her clothes looked mismatched. She was wearing a blue slipper on one foot while the other one was wearing a sneaker. Lotor's eyes went to Zooey who was sitting several chairs down from either of them.

She didn't look any better. Her green eyes looked haunted. Her long red hair looked dull and flat. Her pale skin looked paler, the dark circles under her eyes looked strikingly dark compared to everything else. She had carpet marking on her left cheek. Not that Lotor blamed her. All three of them had slept on the floor yesterday.

Dealing with all those holographic spiders had taken the whole day. Apparently the training room had a Nightmare mode. And when Zooey had thrown her shoe at his head, Lotor had accidentally turned it on. Only way to get rid of them was to work together though that took a long time for them to even try.

Nowhere on the ship had been safe. The holographic spiders had been _everywhere_. Lance had been a sobbing mess in the corner. Zooey looked scared out of her mind though she at least tried to fight them and Lotor was too busy protecting a crying Lance because she wouldn't budge.

When Zooey had finally called Lance something not so nice, his friend had finally gotten to her feet and helped the two of them in dealing with the rest of the spiders. Mostly she closed her eyes and threw objects at them but hey, whatever worked.

When they'd finally dealt with all of them and the computer seemed satisfied and finally put an end to the training sequence, the three of them were so tired they'd just collapsed on the floor and knocked out.

They'd be arriving at planet Zenith by tonight. They had surprisingly survived a whole week in the ship together but they were by no means ready to face whatever awaited them in planet Zenith. What they all needed was a good long rest and some bonding time.

There was no way the three of them could work together at their current state. Lotor still didn't trust Zooey to have he or Lance's back in a fight. The Valkyrie Princess didn't seem to trust either of them either and while he and Lance could definitely work well together, the two of them were too tired.

Lotor had to do something.

He couldn't just let things stay this way.

The tension was so deep one could cut it with a butter knife.

But he'd run out of ideas. What should he do to fix this?

"Okay," Lance slammed her palms on the white counter so hard the plates in front of them shook. Lotor was instantly wide-awake. What was his friend up to now? His friend turned narrowed blue eyes to the Valkyrie Princess who had jumped at the loud noise. "What is your problem?"

Zooey slowly blinked. "What?"

"What is your problem with me?" Lance repeated. "What did I do to make you hate me so much? Because I can't for the life of me remember what I did to make you hate me." Zooey's lips tightened. Lance barreled on. "You've hated me since we were children and I don't understand the reason why. All I ever wanted to do was be friends with you but you never wanted that." Zooey's brows furrowed. "Instead, you stole the batch of cookies I made and gave me a half eaten muffin before eating my cookies somewhere else!" Zooey looked flabbergasted. "So spill! Why did you steal my cookies when all I wanted was to be friends with you!"

Zooey shot to her feet. She sounded incredulous. " _I_ stole your cookies?" Lance vehemently nodded. "No I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!" Lance repeated. "I made those cookies for everyone and you just took them from me!"

"W-what?" Zooey rapidly blinked. "Are you an _idiot_?" Lance bristled. Lotor put a hand on her shoulder lest she try and attack the red haired princess. He wanted to hear this too. What had caused these two strong women to hate each other so much that even after all these years, their anger was still so strong?

"Calm down," Lotor urged his friend. "Let's hear her out."

Zooey's shoulders shook and she looked both angry and embarrassed. "I didn't steal your cookies," Zooey repeated. Lance scowled. "It was my first day in Cloyetera and I was excited to meet another princess. But I didn't know how to talk to you." Zooey sighed and rubbed at her temples. "I'd seen you around the classroom, carrying that box of cookies for everyone and though a lot of people took some, the box was still full." She hesitated. "I thought it must have been heavy…so I decided to carry it for you so your arms could rest…" Lance and Lotor gaped. Zooey scowled and looked away. "I couldn't carry my muffin and the box of cookies all at once though, so I gave it to you before pointing at the tree outside the classroom." Zooey gnawed on her lower lip and sighed. "You were supposed to come with me so we could share the cookies but you never came! I was there for _hours_ and you didn't come! You and your friends just glared at me the whole time!"

Lotor snapped his gaze over to Lance who was shaking her head in bewilderment. "Is that true?"

Lance blinked a few more times, her brows furrowed together deep in thought before answering. "You mean you took the cookies from me because you thought I looked tired?" Zooey minutely nodded. Lance's jaw dropped before she blinked and shook her head and slammed a fist on the table. "Well, why the _hell_ didn't you say so? And why did you eat them?" Zooey's cheeks turned red. "You mean to tell me that this whole time, we've hated each other over a _misunderstanding_?"

"It was your fault!" Zooey snapped. She looked angry. "I was waiting under that tree for hours, and the more I waited, the hungrier I got! So I took one, and then another, and before I knew it they were gone! I went to apologize but you ignored me! You gave me the cold shoulder! Your friends glared at me and every time I tried to approach you, they'd block me!"

"So you started pulling pranks on me?" Lance stared at her, aghast. Her blue eyes were blazing.

"It was the only way you'd talk to me!" Zooey snapped back. "You would leave as soon as I approached you! Your friends didn't let me anywhere near you so I had to resort to pulling your hair, tripping you in the hallways, and calling you names!"

"And why the hell didn't you just apologize?" Lance shouted. The glare his friend was giving the Valkyrie Princess made Lotor weary. "Why didn't you tell me you were helping me carry the cookies at the very beginning?"

"Because I was shy!" Zooey screamed. Lance took a step back. "This was the first time there were other people around my age and I didn't know how to speak to them!" Zooey clenched her jaw. "Mom said that you could read minds, so I figured if I just thought out my explanation really hard, you'd know what I wanted from you but again, you didn't come after me!"

Lance let out a frustrated scream. "I couldn't read minds back then! I was still new to my powers!" She scratched her ear in embarrassment. "I thought you just hated me on sight and the more pranks you pulled, the more fights we got in, every name you called me, the more I began to hate you."

"Well, the same goes for me," Zooey admitted. "But then –"

Lotor turned to her, his voice gentle. "But then?"

Zooey let out a frustrated scream of her own and clawed at her red hair. "But then the more I saw you, the more I really did start to hate you. And not just because of the silent treatment but because you were better than me at _everything_ and it pissed me off."

Lance glanced up at her, surprise evident on her face. "What do you mean I was better? What was I better at?"

"Everything!" Zooey finally snapped. "You and I both are princesses so why are you so much better than me?" She demanded. Her green eyes looked misty. "Why do your people love you when mine don't? One glance at you and they're all smiles. But me? No. Whenever I walk by them, they lower their heads. Why do you have so many friends when I don't even have _one_? Why do you have a mate who looks at you like you're his entire universe when I don't? Why?" She seemed utterly confused by this. Those green eyes of hers turned to him. "And why the hell are you inviting males to Cloyetera? Why are you _friends_ with them?" Her breathing sounding ragged, Zooey whispered. "Why is your life so much better than mine? We're both princesses. We're both going to be queens one day. We're both strong women who have powers…so why?" This time, Zooey's voice cracked. "Why are you so much better than me? It's not fair..."

For a moment there was only silence as he and Lance took her words in. Lotor…had not been expecting her to explode on them like that. This was good though. It was progress.

"Are you serious?" Lance finally snapped. Her jaw was clenched, her eyes were narrowed and her fisted palms shook. She looked ready to punch someone in the face. Or in this case the Valkyrie Princess standing in front of her.

Lotor narrowed his eyes at his friend. He opened his mouth. Despite looking vulnerable, Zooey unwrapped her hands from herself and narrowed her eyes at the Amazon Princess.

Lance held up her hand for silence. Lotor zipped his mouth. His friend turned to the Valkyrie Princess with a scoff. "Okay, you want to know why people "love" me so much as you keep insinuating?" Zooey numbly nodded her head. "Okay, then let me ask you something first. What are the names of your guards?"

Zooey reeled back, her eyes rapidly blinking. "W-what?"

"The names of your four guards." Lance repeated. "What are they?"

"I –" Zooey closed her mouth. When she spoke, she sounded ashamed. "I don't know."

" _I_ do." Lance crossed her arms over her chest and looked down her nose at the red haired princess as she towered over her. "Aurelia, Cassia, Decima, and Balbina." Lance took a step closer. "You want to know how I know their names?" Zooey didn't say anything. "Because I _asked_ them." The Amazon Princess pointed a finger at a silent Zooey. "They've been your guards since you were five and you still don't know their names?" Lance shook her head in disgust. "You want to know why my people love me so much? Because I _talked_ to them. Whenever there was a big fight, instead of going to my room, I went to the barracks and the healing chamber to help them with their injuries. I shared _meals_ with them. I know the name of every single Amazon in my planet. Even the ones who passed away and those who left. It took me _years_ , but I was determined to do it. And when the Valkyries arrived, I learned their names too. But you don't know their names do you?" Zooey squirmed. "You don't know because you never _asked_. You never even _tried_."

Zooey looked uncomfortable. Lance on the other hand, seemed to be on a roll. "You want to know why your people always lower their heads when you pass by? Because you look as if someone so much as looks at you, you'll punch them. You always walk with your spine stiff, and your nose in the air. It makes everyone want to stay away from you. You have a pretty face, I can admit that, but that scowl you put on twenty four seven ruins it." Zooey stiffened and scowled. Lance pointed a finger right at her face. "See? It's that look right there. If I see that face directed at me, I'd turn around." At the wounded look Zooey suddenly showed, Lance pinched her nose and took deep calming breaths. "You keep saying that my life is so much better than yours, well news flash!" Lance flailed her arms. "It isn't! Do you have any idea of what I've been through?" Zooey opened her mouth. "Don't answer that, I'll tell you." The Valkyrie closed her mouth.

Lance began to pace. She threw her slipper and sneaker off her feet and tossed them in random locations around the room until she was barefoot. "So let's see, I guess it started with that ten thousand year old witch who wants my body. Gross right? _I_ thought so. So what do I do to avoid that? Put myself into a deep sleep where no harm would come to me, but hey, guess what? That witch managed to send a small ripple of her magic into my mind and took the opportunity to torture me in my head for three months. Awesome. And then, when I finally wake up, I find out that my powers are blocked because the shackles on my wrists are keeping my powers locked away." Lance gave a hysterical laugh. "No time to cry though. Why? Because the ship we were on crashed into a planet teeming with Galra and druids. And then after facing some seriously weird shit, I've somehow been reunited with Keith and the rest of my friends only to almost lose my life because a druid controlled a poor girl to stab me with a javelin. And if that wasn't bad enough, the girl decided to stab Keith too!"

Lance was ranting up a storm and no matter how much Lotor tried to get her attention, Lance could not be stopped. Small ice crystals were forming around Lance's fingers, crackling against the sleeves of her pajamas. The cabinets behind Lotor began to rattle and every once in a while, blue sparks of lightning appeared on her hair. She didn't seem to be aware of any of it. Zooey's eyes got wider and wider the more Lance talked. Apparently she had _not_ known about any of this.

And still, Lance kept talking. She told them about the exorcism of Shiro. She told them about her fight with Keith and then she told them how hard it had been to say good-bye to her new family after she'd just been reunited with them until she finally came to a stop. Her chest was heaving and her eyes looked a little wild when she turned back to the Valkyrie Princess who actually flinched. "So no," Lance panted. "My life is by no means _perfect_. But it's my life. And I've worked hard for _everything_. So don't you dare start your babbling with your whole 'why is your life better than mine' shit." Lance squared her shoulders and strode forward until her forehead touched a too still Zooey's. "You want your people to love you? Talk to them. Learn their names. Acknowledge them. You want friends? Make some. Be _nice_. Maybe you'll fall in love with someone who loves you as much as Keith loves me. If someone catches your eye, take a chance. Talk to them. You want to be better than me?" Lance smirked. "Then honey, you better start training because I'm only going to get stronger."

The silence that Lance's last words provoked was broken by Lotor's chuckle. Wow. Just wow. He grinned up at his friend and clapped.

Lance stepped back from a gaping Zooey and flashed him a grin. "Impressed?"

Lotor tried to stifle his laughter but he just couldn't. He was impressed. Very impressed. His smile a little wry, Lotor spoke. "I'm so glad you're my friend."

"How?" Zooey croaked. Lance and Lotor turned to her. She was gazing them, her expression almost baffled at the easy way they got along. "Why are you able to talk to a male like it's normal? I… don't understand…"

Lance sighed. Her eyes seemed a little sad. "Because not all men are like the men you knew. Everyone is different. You can't just decide that because a handful of men did something bad that all men are horrible." Lance placed a hand on Zooey's pale shoulder. "I understand that after what you went through you don't see men the same. But Lotor is _good_. My brothers are good. My dad is good. Keith, Shiro, Hunk, Matt and Coran. Even Mr. Holt. They're all good men." Her blue eyes pierced into Zooey's own green. "And you know that. Don't think I didn't notice the Valkyrie's watching their every move. I'm sure they reported back to you."

Zooey gnawed on her lower lip but didn't deny it.

Lotor raised his hand. "What do you mean after what she went through?" Lance and Zooey tightened their lips. They looked grim. "What happened?"

Lance turned to Zooey.

The Valkyrie Princess scowled.

Lotor crossed his arms over his chest. "Talk. _Now_."

Zooey's scowl deepened but after a twenty second stare down, her shoulders drooped and she sighed. "There used to be men in our planet." Lotor raised a brow. "They're gone now."

"How?"

Zooey tightened her lips. Lance put a hand over her shoulder and continued. "The planet Zooey is from, planet Tsifira, used to have both men and women. It was a planet full of trees, a planet full of all types of rare plants that we had never before seen. Among those plants, was the Iphrina flower, a flower that could be used for anything."

Lotor raised his brows as he leaned against the counter. "What do you mean everything?"

"Everything," Lance repeated. "It could be used for medicine, it could be used as shampoo, you could eat it, cooked or raw, it didn't matter. One could make perfume out of it, you could convert it to tea, and even soap."

"So it was very popular."

"Yes," Zooey whispered. Her eyes looked distant. "It was very popular. And with everyone using it, it took us a while to notice that it wasn't good for _everyone_."

"And by everyone," Lance continue as she crossed her arms over her chest. "She means the males." Lotor's brows furred. Locking a stock of silver hair behind his hair and gestured for her to continue. She did after another glance at a too still Zooey. "It wasn't too obvious at first. It took a few months before they started to exhibit changes."

"What kind of changes?" asked Lotor, his blood curling.

"They started getting defensive. Every little thing seemed to set them off. Then they started to become paranoid. They kept insisting that their wives and children were plotting against them. Or they could feel someone watching them."

"We thought they were just tired," Zooey took over, her voice low. "So our healers just told them to get some rest. Perhaps try some Iphrina tea to calm their minds. Our healers didn't find anything wrong with them. We thought they'd get better."

"But they didn't." Lotor surmised.

"No," Zooey agreed. "They didn't." Cheek twitching, Zooey glared at the floor. "They got worse. Their skin began to turn gray. Their eyes became bloodshot. And then they started to become violent. That's when my mother gave the issue to lock every male in a cell, to be kept away from others, with only the healers being able to enter." Zooey paused. "My father was one of those men." Lotor startled. "Being in a cage only seemed to make them angrier. It was only thanks to a passing healer munching on an Iphrina flower in front of the cells that we finally figured out what the cause of their distress was."

"So you took the plant away from them." Lotor concluded.

Zooey nodded. "Any medication that had an Iphrina ingredient on it was immediately removed. Any visitor who had Iphrina perfume was told to wash the smell away. Any trace of Iphrina was off-limits in the quarantine zone. " Zooey rubbed her temples, she looked like she was preparing herself. Lotor and Lance patiently waited, though his friend just looked sad. She already knew how this ended. "It only made things worse. It was like a drug to them, and with us taking it away from them, it only made them angrier, frantic." Zooey took a deep breath before speaking. "One day, my father seemed to have a seizure and collapsed inside his cell. The minute the healers rushed in…my father killed them." Lotor's eyes got wide. "He opened all the cells. Every male in the planet went on a killing spree. The city was on fire; women and children were trying to quell their husbands, their brothers, their _sons_. But they were too far-gone to be reasoned. Men began to rape women, they began to drag them out of the house to be killed like a bunch of animals, but no matter how much they pleaded, the men didn't listen."

"Terrified, my mother called Queen Lexi for help." Zooey continued. "Within an hour, the Amazons had arrived and the screaming increased in volume. My mother and I were escorted to our home for our safety. Somehow, my father made it past the guards and the security in the house and came after us." The Valkyrie Princess hugged her arms. "My mother told me to hide, so I did." Her voice cracking, she wiped the corners of her eyes. "My mother tried to reason with him, but my father wasn't listening. He kept striking her. Kept cursing at her. And all I could do was watch from the crack in the door of the closet I was hiding in. That's when Queen Lexi and her guards barged in and after a tense fight my father was dead."

Zooey fell silent, and any tears that threatened to fall were quickly wiped away. Lance squeezed her shoulder and for once the Valkyrie Princess didn't push her away. She actually stepped _closer_ to her. As if she needed the comfort. After a while, Zooey continued. "After that, Queen Lexi invited the remaining Valkyries to Cloyetera while a few women stayed behind to burn all the Iphrina flowers. After what we went through, to come to a planet with _just_ women…we were relieved. And when I heard that there was a princess around my age here, I was excited. And so a week later, I met the Princess of Cloyetera." She turned a rueful smile at Lance. "You already know how _that_ turned out."

Lance winced.

"Unfortunately, no matter how much we burned the Iphrina plant, it always grew back. And so my mother banned any male from our planet. It's just been women, and I honestly think it's better." She shuddered. "Men are dangerous."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Lotor started. "But not all males are the same. The men in your planet weren't like that either. Not until they'd consumed too much of that flower. You said so yourself. The plant changed them."

"I _know_ that!" Zooey snapped. "My spies said there was nothing suspicious about the males that had stayed in Cloyetera. My spies seemed…amused more than anything. They… _liked_ them." She sounded incredulous. Like the thought had never occurred to her. Zooey sighed and moved a lock of red hair behind her ear. "I know not all males are the same…but I'm still not comfortable with them."

"Then get to know them." Zooey made a face. "Get to know _me_." Lance beamed at him. "We're going to be on this planet for I don't know how long, and when we got back to Cloyetera we'll still see each other." Lotor shrugged. "Let me change your mind about males." Zooey hesitated. "Let me be your friend."

"Whoa there!" Lance interrupted as she stepped between them. Lotor shot her a dirty look. "I wanted to be her friend since I was _five_. _I_ get to be her first friend," Lance gave him a smirk. "You get to be her _second_ friend."

"Really Lance?" Lotor drawled. "Really?"

"Yup," Lance beamed at him. "I get first dibs. Those are the rules."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"You're the worst."

"You love me."

"I _tolerate_ you."

"Such lies you speak."

"W-wait!" Zooey interrupted them.

Blinking, he and Lance turned to the red head with a frown. "What?"

Zooey looked between them both, her green eyes wide in disbelief. "Y-you _both_ want to me my friend?"

"Uh, duh." Lance rolled her eyes. "Were you not listening or something?"

"B-but why?" Zooey tensed.

Lotor raised a brow. "Because we want to?"

"B-but I've been nothing but a bully to you!"

Lance waved a hand through the air, her expression amused. "I know."

Zooey turned to Lotor, her eyes still wide. "And I keep forgetting your name on purpose!"

His cheek twitching, Lotor rolled his eyes. "I know."

Her arms flailing, tattoos all but a blur, Zooey continued, her voice growing higher and higher the more she talked. "A-and I've never worked in a team before! I might get you guys killed!"

Lance and Lotor smiled. "We know."

"You know?" Zooey rapidly blinked. "And you still want to be my friend?" At his and Lance's nod, Zooey looked at them like they were crazy. She threw her hands up. "Why?"

Lotor shared a glance with Lance. Grinning, the two of them said, "Because we want to."

Zooey stumbled back, green eyes wide in disbelief. Her brow had knit together so tightly that it was surely hurting her. Something flickered across Zooey's face, something bordering on panic.

"You can't say no," Lance interrupted Zooey's internal panic when the silence took too long. The Amazon Princess had her hands on her hips, she had her no nonsense face on, and Lotor had seen that look on his friend enough times to know that when she was like _this,_ there was no changing her mind about anything. "Lotor and I are your friends now. Deal with it."

"But –"

"No buts," Lotor interrupted with an encouraging smile. "We're all friends now."

"And the first thing we have to do as friends is get our revenge on our moms," Lance announced.

Zooey blinked. Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Go on."

"Despite the good outcome, I will not tolerate being messed with," Lance continued. "So we three have to come up with something that'll make them both cry so much they'll never want to mess with us."

"Normally I'd say no," Lotor mused and held up a purple hand when Lance looked ready to argue. "But yes, I too don't like being messed with." Lance beamed. "Count me in."

They turned to Zooey who rubbed her chin in thought. "You know…my mom is afraid of rats."

The answering smile Lance gave her comment looked homicidal. "Go on."

As Lance and Zooey began to name out their mother's darkest secrets Lotor couldn't help but smile. After the hard week they'd had when they were trying to kill each other, all three of them becoming friends hadn't been in his calculations.

At least, not this soon.

"We'll call each other The Best Friend Squad!" Lance announced.

Zooey grimaced. "Yeah, no."

Lotor nodded. "I don't like it either."

"The three Musketeers?"

Zooey made a face. "What in the name is a Musketeer?"

Lotor cocked his head. "If I don't know what it is, then I don't want to be called that."

"The Snap, Crackle, and Pop?"

"Pass."

"Gross."

"You know what?" Lance shrugged. "We'll work on it."

And for the first time, Zooey actually smiled.

Perhaps this mission would go well after all.

* * *

Dear Queen Lexi and Queen Afya,

From: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Lance, Zooey and Lotor

Subject: We're Gonna Get Ya

Dear Wrinkle Dee and Wrinkle Doo,

Before you get your oversized panties in a twist for what we called you, we just thought to let you know that the three of us have become friends. Shocking right? Go ahead, pinch yourselves. Hug each other for a job well done. Bring out the red champagne. Frickin HALLELUJAH am I right?

But yes. It's true. We're friends.

After the many painful, and somewhat hilarious trials, we overcame our differences, we talked, and lo and behold: We're friends.

Praise the Goddess.

Praise Jesus.

Frickin celebrate.

Get it all out of your system because once we come back…it is _so_ on. You old ladies are going _down_. We know your darkest secrets. We know what you love. Bet you regret talking our ears off now huh?

You can't stop us.

You can't bribe us.

And you can't guilt trip us either.

We're coming.

And we're gonna get ya.

All our negative energy,

The Triple Threats

Lance, Zooey, and Lotor

P.S. Don't try to flee the planet. We'll find you.

P.P.S. That secret bunker you had built in your office "mother"…it's been locked tight. I had a feeling I'd need it. I, the beautiful Lance, have taken it. I can't wait to make you beg and cry.

P.P.P.S. Mikey is on our side. Buahahaha :D

Can't wait to come home. Kisses!

* * *

Extra

"Lance?" The Galra Prince followed his friend with his eyes as she turned on the speakers along each wall manually. "What are you doing?"

Lance didn't answer, just continued smiling as she finally took a seat on a leather chair to the left of the pilot's seat he was currently sitting on. Apparently the ship could summon more chairs? Kind of cool actually.

"It's probably something dumb." Zooey mused as she sat on the right leather chair behind him.

"Oh, hush." Lance waved a hand at her before sitting down on her chair and buckling herself in. "What we need is Road Trip songs!"

Lotor and Zooey groaned.

"Oh, shut it!" Lance snapped at them. "I'll pick something good!"

"No Spice Girls." Zooey warned.

Lance faltered. "Umm."

"No Beyoncé."

Lance gnawed on her lower lip.

"And no Despacito," Zooey glared at her. Lance gaped at her. "I heard it enough times in your room. I don't need to hear anymore."

"Fine." Lance sighed and peered down at her IPod. "I'll put it on shuffle."

Lance hit the button and as soon as the lyrics started Lotor stifled a laugh. Zooey snorted.

Lotor turned to his friend who was already shaking her head to the beat of the song. "I'll Make A Man Out of You? Really Lance?"

Zooey started tapping her foot.

Lotor arched a brow in her direction, Lance was already singing in the background. Zooey flushed. "It's a good song okay?"

"Somehow I'll make a man out of you!" Lance sang. She turned to Zooey and Lotor. "Now Sing!"

The beat picked up and with a barely restrained grin, Lotor and a reluctant Zooey joined in.

Lotor began to frame his face. "To be a man!"

Zooey piped in. "We must be swift as the coursing river!"

"To be man!" Lance continued, sliding out of her seat and thrusting her hands in the air.

Lotor flailed his arms. "With all the course of a great typhoon!"

"With all the strength of a raging fire! Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!" Zooey shouted the next words, sliding to the floor with a great flourish, her black wings extended dramatically as the song came to an end.

Lance cheered.

"Now that was awesome." Lotor panted.

"Agreed." Zooey breathed, getting to her feet.

"We never speak of this to anyone." Lance said after ten seconds of silence.

Lotor snorted. "Of course."

Zooey flipped her red hair over her shoulder. "Speak of what?"

"Exactly."

And as the silence overtook them once again, all three of them smiled as another song started to play. With matching grins, they opened their mouths, and began to sing.

Road Trip Songs were the best.

Especially if they were Disney songs.

Or so Lance claimed.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! And thanks again to Shiranai Atsune for always leaving a comment! I enjoy reading them and they always bring a smile to my face!_


	41. Chapter 41

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."

\- Margaret Thatcher

Chapter 41

The city of Ubbin Falls was buzzing with activity. Making his way to Zooey's coordinates, Lotor passed android after android delivering boxed lunches, men in stiff business suits smoking in a corner, a crew of men lifting cargo onto a floating ship as their captain barked orders at them.

Lotor dodged them all, and with his new disguise, red reptilian skin, face still devilishly handsome, long blond hair and golden eyes, no one paid him any attention. The Galra Prince and his companions had arrived five days ago and had set to work immediately. After docking their ship, now a golden color and no Amazon insignia, the three of them had split up to ask around for this mysterious woman who had ice powers.

There were certainly Galra around, but in a city as big as this, it wasn't hard to keep their interactions to a minimal. The city of Ubbin Falls was a city floating in the sky. Every time he looked up, there were floating ships all around. But not any normal ships like the one he and his companions were currently using. These looked like fishing boats. Some looked like an exact replica of the Titanic ship he'd seen on that movie Lance had showed him a few weeks ago. Others were long and big. Their sails beautiful shades of orange, like the sunset, were also among the rest of the ships.

Whale like creatures, the top half a deep navy blue and their bellies a deep gray, flew high above all of them. They flew in packs, and despite their massive size, not once had they attacked the people below them. The floating gardens were renowned across the city for their beauty and exotic flowers. The little islands rose and fell over the cityscape like the cycles of the moon and anyone who didn't have noble blood wasn't allowed to visit.

The buildings were tall. And if you were to look down you'd see nothing but clouds. There were boats that took people to the towns below them. Though they didn't seem all too happy about it.

A cooling breeze pushed past, bringing with it the spices from the shops and vendors lining the nearby street. Every alien in this city was dressed in fancy clothing. They looked almost ethereal in their glittery dresses and jeweled coats. The women wore dresses with ruffled skirts, the fans in their hands mirroring the color of their dress to match, their hair styled into some of the most unusual hairstyles that the Galra Prince had ever seen.

Apparently having your hair styled into two long horns was a good thing? He saw quite a lot of those around. Lotor thought they just looked silly. The men wore suits that had to be tailored to perfection. They looked spotless. The buttons on their jackets gleaming so brightly that it would surely blind someone if they looked too long.

And when you spoke to them? These people weren't kind. Their eyes were always assessing you, their faces etched into scowls as they looked down their noses at you. It was like being home all over again. Lotor hated it.

It's no wonder Lance had volunteered to investigate the towns on the ground. The towns where only the poor and criminals liked to hang out. The towns where the snobs in this floating city threw their trash without batting an eye. Lotor had been a little reluctant to let his friend go but after the sixth person had looked down their nose at her, Lotor feared his friend might just punch someone.

So he'd let her go.

She seemed to be having more fun than Zooey or Lotor that was for sure.

It'd been days and they had yet to find anything about this mysterious woman. There was another floating city just a few days away from here. Should they go and investigate that area instead?

"There you are."

Lotor swiveled his head to the black haired woman standing in front of him. She looked annoyed, her green eyes were narrowed, and the black dress she was wearing looked uncomfortably tight. That, added with the three horns her hair was shaped in, made her look devilish.

Lotor gave her a teasing, droopy-eyed smile that always seemed to annoy her. "Three horns?" He gestured at her hair. Her cheeks turned red. "Two wasn't enough?"

"Shut up," Zooey snapped. She pulled at her dress and fanned herself. Her wings were gone. Apparently Valkyries could make them disappear. Who knew? She scrutinized his vintage coat, his broad shoulders, and the blond long hair that he'd smoothed back. "You look ridiculous."

Lotor raised a golden brow and looked at the horns on her head. "Really?" he drawled. " _I_ look ridiculous?"

Zooey looked away. From here, hidden in the alleyways, most people avoided them. The Valkyrie princess sighed. Her voice turned low. "Did you get blue eye's message?"

Lotor raised his brows. No. He hadn't been aware that Lance had sent a message at all. He shook his head. "No, I put it on silent mode just in case."

Zooey snorted. "Figures." She glanced at the trio of guards walking pass them, their coats a dark navy blue, their boots a dark brown, their red eyes moving from area to area before moving on. As soon as they left, Zooey spoke. "She says she found a lead."

"Finally." Lotor sighed. "I've had just enough of this place."

Zooey nodded. "These people suck." Lotor's lips quirked into a smile. "It was a struggle to keep smiling when they pretended to be nice."

Lotor offered her his hand. "Then let's get the heck out of here."

Zooey hesitated. After an internal struggle, she hesitantly looped her arm around his, though her whole body went stiff.

The Galra Prince didn't comment on it as he began to lead them to the docks. "Now let's find someone to get us off this damn city."

Zooey snorted in amusement. "Ditto."

* * *

It took them an increasingly long time to find a crew to take them down to the towns below. Everyone they asked had looked at them in horror. Questions like 'why in _heavens_ would you want to go _there_?' were asked quite a lot. Zooey looked irritated. After the third person they'd asked told them no, she insisted she just fly them down herself.

Lotor immediately vetoed that idea. They couldn't attract any attention. And seeing a woman with wings as she carried a male down below would certainly cause a commotion. It took a little longer but they finally found someone to take them down. It wasn't cheap though.

The captain of the ship refused to dock his ship all the way down though, instead he had his crew throw two ladders down, and after reigning in a screaming Zooey who looked ready to throttle them all, the two of them had climbed down the rest of the way and made it down below.

The town was certainly different from the floating city. The market street looked dull and gray, it was full of braying animals, merchants waving their fares, people asleep in the middle of the street where no one paid them any attention.

At the sight of them, people immediately turned to them. Their faces flushing, he and Zooey ducked into an alleyway that smelled of urine before changing their clothes. Lotor put on an oversized trench coat, ruffled his blond hair and made his face a little grimy with some mud on the floor.

Zooey looked at him in disgust. He paid her no mind. The Valkyrie Princess had donned some black tight pants, a white ruffled long sleeve shirt so white that you could see the tattoos on both arms as clear as day. Her black hair was smoothed down to a simple braid before deeming she was ready.

Just to spite her, Lotor smudge her right cheek with a bit of mud before sprinting away from her when she let out an angry screech. They had to find Lance.

Most of the buildings they passed looked run down, their windows were broken, and some were boarded up, though Lotor could still see movement from inside each one. Whores and gamblers were at every corner, the air was dry and humid, rats with three eyes and too long bodies crawled from the sewers and onto the path.

Zooey looked downright uncomfortable.

Lance wasn't picking up.

Tapping at his wrist, he watched as signs appeared all along his forearm. Just before they'd arrived, the science division had sent them new bracelets to replace their old ones. These weren't transparent, they could change their appearance to whatever design you wanted. They came in different colors. But the real change? They disappeared into your skin.

Cool right?

Lotor thought so.

In essence, you become the bracelet. All its functions appeared on your forearm. Whatever you spoke could be typed into a text message. You could do a mind link with more than ten people so no one but the group could hear. Their emotions came through as well though that option could be turned off.

Finding the GPS button a few inches before reaching his elbow, he mumbled Lance's name, and a moment later there was a ping inside his head before a blue line that only he could see appeared in front of him. Zooey and Lotor started heading that way.

The further they went, the more dangerous it seemed to get. The streets were narrower. Only allowing two people to walk side by side. People were on the floor, their clothes ripped and their body odor unpleasant.

Men glanced at them from the back alleys. Something shiny glinting from their waists as their eyes followed their every move.

Fights broke out in the middle of the street. Sometimes inside the run down bars.

Why had Lance come here? This place seemed dangerous.

Next to him, Zooey looked stiff. Her hands went to her belt where her weapons lay. Lotor did the same.

They'd been walking for more than an hour before they heard the cheers. The sun had long since set. Lance's signal was further ahead. After a few more narrow alleys they found themselves standing at what looked to be a bar.

The Devil's Nest is what the glowing red sign said. Its windows were boarded up. Chained spikes were around the swinging doors. A few people lay on the street next to it yelling at who knows who.

The cheers were coming from inside.

Zooey scrunched up her face. "Gee, I always wanted to get hepatitis."

"You think they have hobo stab insurance?" Lotor eyed two of them homeless men fighting over what looked to be a sock.

Zooey's lips twitched. "Are you sure she's in there?"

The blue line was pointing directly at the Devil's Nest. "Looks that way."

"Fine." Zooey began to make her way inside. "But if someone touches me I'm going to punch them and then I'll punch you and that hag too."

Lotor's brows furrowed. "Why do I have to get punched too?"

"It's only fair."

Grumbling something under his breath, the two entered the dark and rolling music of The Devil's Nest and immediately spotted their friend where she sat across an older man with dark spiky green hair, orange eyes, well only one eye. There was a scratch running down his right eye where he kept it shut. His skin looked tan, like he spent a lot of time in the sun, his ears short but pointy. A well-kept beard ran along his jaw.

Lance wasn't wearing her disguise. She looked like herself. Lotor felt his eye twitch. They were supposed to keep a low profile. _Especially_ Lance.

His friend was wearing a white ruffled shirt, its sleeves reaching all the way to her elbows, her shoulders bear for everyone. A gray corset was on top. Dark brown pants, a gleaming belt, and high black boots that reached all the way to her knees donned her feet. What looked to be an open skirt was tied around her waist making it look like she was wearing a dress.

The red crystal necklace was gleaming around her neck. Her ring and her Mate mark were on full display as well.

Though the chant of the crowd roared around them, Lance and this older man had their eyes closed in concentration as their throats moved up and down, down and up, chugging their giant mugs of ale.

Lotor felt the urge to laugh.

Her face already flushed, Lance slammed her mug on the table so hard, the thing shook. The table looked stained and scarred. Half-consumed glasses lined the table. With a devilish grin, she wiped her wet mouth with the back of her hand as the gathered crowd cheered. Like every place they had passed on the way here, the bar was suffocating hot, and the odor of ale and unwashed bodies poured from every crevice and stone.

The place was packed to capacity.

Lance and Zooey looked to be the only women inside. How his friend looked totally at ease with this kind of company was beyond him. Then again, Lance had always been weird.

In a good way.

As Lotor's eyes scanned the place, his face etched into a frown. There was something about these men that made him keep his hand on his weapons.

"These guys are pirates," Zooey whispered to him.

Ah. Of course Lance had found pirates. Of course she did.

"Two out of three!" The man Lance had beat in the drinking game slurred. "Only then will I admit defeat!"

Lance clicked her tongue. "Now Captain, you said that about an hour ago." Her blue eyes gleamed. "The board is mine." She threw her hands up. "Isn't that right gentleman?"

The crowd banged their fists on the tables and stomped their feet as they cheered. With a grumble, the man reached into his gray rumpled trench coat and pulled out something shiny and blue. He tossed it in the air. Lance snatched it and placed it on her wrist. Was that a bracelet? As Lance let out another laugh, her blue eyes finally noticed them and she waved.

Lotor made his way over there in a huff, Zooey sticking close to his side as the men in the other tables tracked their every move.

"What are you doing?" Lotor hissed in his friend's ear.

Lance frowned at him.

The men stopped their cheering. Even the men from the other tables stopped talking. The loud blaring music that sounded more like people screaming was cut off mid-shout. All eyes focused on him.

Zooey stiffened, her hand going to her weapons.

"This guy giving you trouble sweetheart?" One of the pirates wearing an eye patch and a red cybernetic eye in the other growled. The bartender placed his four yellow tentacle hands on the bar in front of him, its six gray eyes narrowed.

Every other male reached for his weapons.

"It's okay Val," Lance waved a dismissive hand in the air. "The two of them are my friends."

Val narrowed his eye at them, the thing glowing a bright red, before he huffed and turned away.

Lance scooted her chair back and got to her feet. She swayed to the right and three of the men shot to their feet to steady her. Lance shooed them away. "Well, this has been fun gentleman but I must be going." A collective whine came from every man in the tavern. Lance impishly grinned. "I'll make sure to visit, we'll be here for a few more days probably."

That seemed to appease some of the men though they still grumbled.

"Hey!" a man with a frog like face shouted at Lance. He pointed one of his three green fingers at the Amazon Princess. "You owe me like a dollar!"

Lance pointed a menacing finger right back at him. "You'll have to kill me for it!"

Zooey groaned.

Lotor almost face palmed.

For a moment Lance and the frog like man stared each other down. The rest of the men looked on in amusement. Then the man's green polka dotted face broke into a roguish grin. "You're lucky you're cute McLain."

They knew her name too?

God damn it Lance.

Lance flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Just admit you're too scared to face me Maggs."

Maggs stuck his too long purple tongue at her before turning back to his card game.

The man Lance had been drinking with got up and spread his bulky arms. He easily towered over her. With a tearful smile, Lance ran over to him and hugged him tight. Tattooed hands patted her back and squeezed just as tightly.

Zooey shifted uncomfortably in her feet.

With another squeeze, the man pulled back and warmly smiled down at the Amazon Princess. A sparkling yellow tooth gleamed in the man's mouth. "Now remember Lass, you run into any trouble, and you give me a call. Me and ma crew will come runnin'." He looked up at the gathered men. "Ain't that right lads?"

"Aye Captain!" the men chorused.

Others banged their feet.

Lance smiled warmly at them all. "Thanks Captain."

With a last ruffle to her hair, the man stepped away and Lance waved good-bye at the rest of the men who did the same before reaching their side. "Ready to go?"

"We were waiting for you." Zooey rolled her eyes.

Lotor looked down at his friend. "Why aren't you wearing your disguise?"

Lance sniffed. "Because they saw right through it and if I wanted to get information from them, they needed to see who I really was."

Lotor frowned, his disapproval obvious in his tone. "And why did you tell them your name too?"

"Because we're friends Lotor!" Lance snapped with a flail of her arms.

Zooey rolled her eyes. "Did you at least find anything?"

Lance nodded as she turned to her. "After spending time with them for the last few days, they finally gave me a bit of useful information."

Zooey's green eyes gleamed. "Did you find out who this woman is?"

Lance impishly grinned. "I did better than that." She headed toward the doors. Her open skirt billowed with the movement. "I found out where she lives."

* * *

It was almost three in the morning when the incessant beeping coming from his transparent bracelet on his desk roused him from his deep sleep.

With a groan, Keith blearily opened one eye and lifted a hand towards the desk next to his bed in search of the goddamn device. The second he felt something cool, he wrapped his palm around it and brought it to his face to see who was calling him at this ungodly hour.

The second his eyes read the name of the person who was calling him, Keith immediately pulled back the blue covers covering him and got to a sitting position. He hastily fixed his rumpled black hair, took a breath, and clicked the accept button.

Moments later, the beautiful blue eyes of his mate were staring back at him. Lance's lips quirked into a teasing grin and Keith felt his heart do a somersault. Her voice was like a shot of espresso for Keith, waking him up instantly. _"Were you sleeping?_ " She teased.

"No." He lied. Keith stifled a yawn, ignoring Lance's snicker. "I've been up for hours."

" _Sure you have._ " Lance chuckled. She was sitting cross-legged on her bunk bed, in the dark; the only source of light was a nightlight shaped into a flower giving the metal walls surrounding her a greenish glow. After spending three months of darkness in a steel coffin Keith didn't blame her for not wanting to be in complete darkness ever again. Lance leaned forward, her mouth set in a wide smile. " _Guess what?"_

"What?" Keith asked, releasing another yawn. He settled down in his bed, the holographic imagine of Lance floating in the air above him. He felt a rush of excitement that he knew belonged to his mate.

" _I think I found the lady who's going to teach me about using my ice powers!"_ The Amazon looked bright-eyed, her cheeks flushed, her hair as rumpled as her clothing. " _And I met some pirates!_ "

Keith blinked. A second later he was going through Lance's memories just to see if she was telling the truth. His mate had a tendency to exaggerate. But after watching through her memories Keith was pleasantly surprised to find that Lance _was_ telling the truth.

He could see the day Lance just waltzed inside the bar without a care in the world. He could see the way the men looked at her like she'd grown a second head as she ordered their strongest drink, greedily drank it with no side effects, before challenging them to a card game like they were old friends.

The men had quickly gotten used to her. Though their captain insisted she remove her disguise. Keith could feel the surprise Lance had felt when the man had told her this. She had been even more surprised when the men had quickly recognized her as someone the Galra Empire desperately wanted but made no move to turn her in.

They weren't fans of Zarkon either.

After that, Lance had become friends with every single man in the tavern. A jolt of jealousy surged from him at the sight of all those men hanging around his mate while Keith wasn't there to claim her as his. They made no move towards her though. Not when they glanced at the Mate mark on her skin.

Keith really needed to go visit Lance again and make that mark darker. It looked a little pink right now but just seeing it on display made him proud as fuck.

Lance's eyes darkened as the thought passed from him to her. " _Yes_ ," she all but purred. A rush of excitement went down his body at the suggestive tone. Another part of him was starting to wake up. _"I definitely agree."_

Clearing his throat, he scrambled for a change of topic. Not that talking dirty with Lance was a _bad_ thing; it's just that Lance could be very loud when she wanted. Last time she'd called him, Pidge had come banging on his door and told them to shut the fuck up and did they know the walls were thin?

He didn't need Pidge knocking at his door at three in the morning and wake everyone up. Or worse. Get Shiro to come investigate and then give them an awkward talk about keeping it quiet because there were other people in the castle. "So did you figure out what you're going to say to her when you see her?" he finally blurted.

Lance blinked and looked away. Keith narrowed his eyes. " _Not really?"_ She shrugged her shoulders and scratched her right cheek. _"I was just going to wing it honestly._ "

"You should probably come up with a speech at least."

" _Yeah_ ," Lance mumbled. She gnawed on her lower lip. Nervousness trickled down the bond. A little bit of uncertainty followed after it.

Keith sat up. "What's wrong?"

Lance sighed. " _It's just –_ " She hesitated before glancing up at him. Her brow was creased in worry. Her blue eyes looked a little dim. When she spoke her voice was so low that he almost missed her next words. " _What if she says no?"_

Keith raised his brows.

" _What if –_ " Lance continued quietly. She looked down at her hands. " _What if she takes one look at me and says I'm not worth teaching? What if she turns me away?"_

Keith's face softened. "Lance."

" _What if she says yes and I can't understand what she's teaching me?_ " Lance rushed on. Her voice cracked and the surge of panic that followed through the bond came as no surprise. _"It takes me a while to learn things! What if she loses patience and leaves?"_

"Lance."

" _I –"_

"Lance!"

Wide blue eyes stared back at him in a daze. Lance's chest was heaving, and if Keith concentrated, he could feel the thundering of her heart as if it was his own doing the action. "Calm down." Lance closed her mouth slowly before breathing through her nose. Her heartbeat slowed down just a fraction. When she was calm enough, Keith spoke. "If she says no, then she's a fool." Lance startled. Keith went on. "Besides, even if she says no, which I doubt, will you really give up that easily?"

Lance pursed her lips. " _No_."

"You've never been one to take no for answer." He smiled. "And when you want something, you keep working at it until you get it. This will be no different. I'm sure you'll nag this lady into loving you in no time."

" _I don't nag!"_ Lance interrupted.

"Everyone you meet always ends up loving you. Pidge and Hunk love you to death. Shiro and Allura. Coran. Matt. Even Lotor and his generals think you're pretty cool. And let's not forget that you've become friends with the girl who used to bully you." Lance blushed. "If this woman can't see how special you are then it's her loss." Lance tentatively smiled. "You'll convince her. I'm sure of it."

A glimmer of hope passed through the bond.

Keith cracked his knuckles. "And if she _still_ says no, then _I'll_ talk to her."

Lance raised a brow looking almost amused. " _Oh_?"

Keith nodded seriously. "If she gives you any trouble, I can always use reason and persuasion." He lifted up his left fist. "Here's reason." He lifted his right fist. "And here's persuasion."

Lance stared at him in silence. She looked almost dumbfounded. Amazed even. Her mouth was partly open as she stared at Keith. Her silence made Keith nervous. Maybe he'd said the wrong thing. Maybe he should have given her a speech like Shiro would, when his brother did it, it always had Keith feeling better. But he wasn't Shiro. And Keith had never been good at comforting people. This was the best he could do.

Eventually, the silence was broken as Lance snorted and a moment later she doubled over in a fit of laughter, her hand going around her stomach as she tried to control herself. " _Did you just quote Shrek?_ "

Keith immediately felt better, knowing that he hadn't messed up after all. His mouth lifted at the corners and the longer Lance laughed, the wider Keith's smile became. He felt the sudden urge to hold her hands. To wrap her in his arms and kiss her temple.

But he couldn't.

So instead he sent a flurry of emotions down the bond. A bit of calm. A bit of bravery. And a whole lot of love.

Lance's breath stuttered and suddenly she was smiling softly at him. Her eyes looked like stars. Bright and shining.

His mate shook her head. She chuckled, the sound like music to Keith's ears. " _Where is my Keith and what have you done to him?"_

Keith shrugged, but the corners of his mouth were beginning to tug upward once again. "I just told the truth."

" _I suppose you're right,"_ Lance mused, her eyes teasing. _"I_ am _pretty awesome_."

Keith rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Don't let it get to your head Princess Leah."

" _Thank you Keith,"_ Lance said instead. Her smile was crooked. " _Really, I needed that._ "

And just like that, whatever tension Lance had been feeling drained away. His mate babbled on, her excitement coursing through the bond as she told him about planet Zenith and the pirates that she'd befriended. She told him about the board she won. Even showed him. It's a beautiful royal blue board as tall as her. There's an engine in the back. Straps to keep her legs on the board. It can be stored in a bracelet, which is actually pretty cool.

She talked about the strange food that she'd eaten. And how she made friends with a man-eating plant that she found outside an abandoned church. The thing took a bite of her hand though Lance didn't feel anything. Though a bit of her blood still spilled. She showed him the memory and Keith felt like he was looking at the plant from the Pet Shop of Horrors.

Keith made sure to tell her that if it started singing and said 'feed me' then she should definitely burn the shit out of it. The comment had Lance laughing though Keith was being perfectly serious. The Amazon Princess just waved his warning away. She said that when the mission was over she'd be taking Antichrist home.

She'd even _named_ the thing. Hopefully Lance knew what she was doing.

Lance talked about everything. The weather. The clothes she'd bought. The strange hairstyles these aliens seemed to have. What certain smells made her think of. Just random thoughts. Random reports from everyday she'd been in planet Zenith.

Keith listened to it all. Sometimes he asked questions. Sometimes he'd want to see a certain memory just to see if she was actually telling the truth. He laughed at her antics. The thoughts running through her head when a pair of ladies with their hairs styled in two sets of horns laughed at her simple braided hair. She made them do the chicken dance in the middle of the street before making a hasty escape.

Keith laughed pretty hard when she showed him that memory. And the face Lotor made when he found out was priceless. Zooey had just looked impressed and even added more ideas on what else Lance could make them do before Lotor groaned loudly at them both, causing the two Princesses to grin.

It was nice.

It almost felt like Lance was here in person.

It was almost nearing five in the morning when Keith released his fourth yawn in the past ten minutes before Lance suggested he go to bed. Keith had protested but Lance insisted. Apparently, it was only ten thirty on planet Zenith.

"I'm not tired." Keith slurred.

Amusement ran through the bond and Lance laughed. " _Sure, you're not."_ She held up a hand. " _How many fingers am I holding?"_

"Two."

" _I'm doing a fist Keith_." Lance shook her head with a laugh. " _Go to sleep._ "

Keith grumbled under his breath but before he could respond a shout from Lance's side was heard.

" _Lance!"_ Lotor called from outside Lance's room. " _Do you still want me to do your hair before bed?"_

Lance turned to the door. " _Oh, yes!"_

" _Then hurry up!"_ Lotor shouted.

" _He's doing your hair?"_ Zooey screeched from outside.

The Amazon Princess cheekily grinned. " _Jealous?_ "

"… _A little_." Zooey admitted.

Lotor let out a loud sigh. " _Fine. I'll do both of your hairs. Just get out here now!"_

" _You're not the boss of me!"_ Zooey snapped.

" _Do you want me to do your hair or not?"_ Lotor sounded irritated.

"… _Fine_." Zooey grumbled.

Keith arched a brow at his mate. "You're letting Lotor do your hair?"

He was not jealous. Not one bit.

Lance gave him a knowing smile and shrugged. " _He's really good at it_."

Before he could think about his next words, he blurted, "I could do your hair."

Lance paused, both brows raised high. " _You_?"

Keith felt a spark of irritation as he scowled. "I can do it!"

Lance scoffed. " _You don't know how."_

"I'll learn." Keith argued. "I'll learn to do that French braid you like, you'll see."

Lance giggled and Keith couldn't help but pout. Lotor yelled Lance's name again, this time it was followed by Zooey's own scream to 'hurry her ass up.' Lance turned back to him and shrugged. " _Okay_ ," She finally conceded. " _Next time I see you, I'll let you braid my hair._ "

Keith beamed.

His mate waved a threatening finger in his direction. _"I have high expectations."_

Keith scoffed and crossed his hands over his chest. He practically radiated smugness as he smirked. "And they shall be met."

Lance held his stare a little longer before smiling. " _Okay_." She turned back to the door as her companions yelled for her once again. _"I have to go. Sleep well. Love you!"_

"Love you too." Keith murmured. "And be careful." With one last kiss that Lance blew his way, the screen went dark and Keith was left alone in his bedroom.

There was no way he was going to sleep now.

He'd just been challenged.

He had to learn how to braid hair before he saw Lance the next time.

No way was he going to lose this provocation from his mate.

But whom should he ask to teach him?

Pidge?

Nah, Keith was pretty sure she'd never heard of a comb in her life.

Hunk could probably help him but he'd be getting up soon to make breakfast and he didn't like being interrupted.

Coran was out.

Matt would probably tease him.

And Shiro just sucked.

An idea sprang in his head, and without thinking of the time, he bolted out of bed and practically sprinted out of the room and straight to Allura's room.

He didn't knock. Didn't announce his presence either as he just walked in.

...He should have knocked.

Two girly screams answered him the second he stepped foot inside the dim room.

"Keith!" Shiro screeched, getting off Allura and covering them both with a large purple blanket. Beside him, Allura was blushing, the blanket reaching all the way to her chin as she stared at him with wide eyes. Keith would bet his favorite knife that the two were naked under the covers. Gross. Was this what it felt like to walk in on your parents doing it? Keith shuddered. He could have lived without having to experience this. "W-what are you doing here?"

Keith ignored his panicky brother as he took a seat at the edge of the bed next to a blushing Allura. His face serious, he leaned forward as Allura leaned back. "Teach me how to braid hair."

Allura stared at him incredulously. "I'm sorry?"

Shiro groaned and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. There was a hickey on the right side of his throat. "Keith," he sighed like an old man. "It's like five in the morning. Go to bed."

Keith ignored him and looked back at Allura who had picked up a pillow and was currently hugging it. Keith almost scoffed. As if he'd stare at her assets. No one but Lance interested him. "Teach me how to braid hair." He repeated. Allura blinked. "Lance says I can't do it." Shiro covered his face with a pillow and groaned. Exaggerate much? "So I need you to teach me so I can prove her wrong."

Allura blinked once. Twice. And sighed. She pinched her nose. "Keith –"

"See, Lance says that Lotor is the best when it comes to braiding hair," Keith said in a rush. Allura's eye twitched. "That no one else could even compare." Allura gasped. "And I was like, Lotor?" He scoffed, internally grinning as Allura began to look enraged. "Allura is better. And so I came here to learn from the master."

Shiro put a hand on his girlfriends' bare shoulder. "Allura," he warned. "Don't fall for it. He's just messing with you."

Keith scoffed at his brother. "I'm just telling the truth." He turned back to Allura who looked contemplative. "So? What do you say? Will you teach me how to braid hair and make Lance eat her words?"

Allura's face was determined when she looked up at him. It was like a fire had lit inside of her. "I shall teach you everything I know." Shiro groaned loudly. Allura and Keith threw a pillow at him. "And when I'm done, Lance will be sorry."

Keith grinned and stuck out his hand. "So you'll teach me?"

Allura's eyes gleamed as she clasped his hand with her own and gave it good shake. "You bet your butt I will." She looked at the time. "We'll begin immediately."

"Allura!" Shiro whined as threw his arms up. "We were in the middle of something!"

Allura turned to her boyfriend and gave him a smack on his shoulder. "You'll be taking lessons as well."

Shiro let out another whine.

"Don't be such a baby." Allura teased. "I'll make it up to you."

Shiro gave his girlfriend a suggestive look as Allura's eyes closed to half-mass.

Okay…awkward.

Keith coughed into his fist. "Still here guys."

"You could leave." Shiro suggested sweetly.

Keith threw a pillow at his brother. "Get your ass up old man!" Shiro spluttered. "We have some hair braiding to do!"

Shiro growled.

"Come on Shiro," Allura tried next. "Get up."

The black paladin puffed up his cheeks and looked away.

Keith groaned. "Why are you such a baby in the morning?"

"Not a baby." Shiro muttered.

"Shiro," Allura warned. "Don't make me use my man voice."

Keith stifled a laugh and his brother shot him a fierce glare.

Allura raised a brow.

Shiro sighed in defeat. "I'm totally calling Lance to give her a good talking to later," he threw the sheets to the side and stretched.

Keith immediately covered his eyes and screamed. "Jesus Christ Shiro! Cover yourself!"

Shiro spread his arms and showed off his body in a small circle. "I'm not ashamed of my body!"

Allura dissolved into giggles.

Keith screamed some more.

The sound of pounding footsteps had all of them looking at the door in horror. Shiro reached for the blankets on the bed when the door swooshed open and in came Hunk, Pidge, Coran, and Matt with weapons in their hands.

At the sight of Shiro standing in the middle of the room in all his glory Pidge let out an inhuman screech and threw her shoe at the black paladin who toppled to the floor with a girly shriek. "Oh, god!" She screamed. "I saw _everything_! My eyes!"

"It's like seeing my dad's junk!" Hunk cried as he covered his face.

"This is my _sister_!" Matt bellowed. "Put some clothes on Takashi!"

"What in blazes are you doing in my nieces room _naked_?" Coran squawked. His face was a deep shade of red and a tic had developed at his temple. "You put your clothes on this instant young man!"

"W-wait!" Shiro tried as he stepped closer, one hand outstretched in their direction. Pidge threw another shoe at him with a scream.

The black paladin toppled to the floor.

"Takashi!" Matt barked at his friend. "You put some clothes on this instant!"

As Shiro crawled to his feet, Allura tightened her lips and whispered to Keith. "We should probably get out of here before they notice us."

"Agreed."

As stealthily as he could, Keith edged to the door and made it out into the hallway. Allura followed after him covered in black blankets. The yelling in the room only seemed to increase.

The Altean Princess awkwardly cleared her throat. "Right then." She turned to him. "I shall meet you in the training room."

"See you there." Keith made a hasty retreat in the opposite direction, his lips tightened lest he start laughing as he heard Shiro trying to placate the rest of their teammates who just seemed to get louder and louder the longer Shiro remained in his baby suit.

Maybe next time Shiro will get up quicker.

* * *

Lotor peered out the cockpit window at a crop of tall leafy plants. The fields seemed to stretch out in every direction, the view of the flat horizon broken by the two story stone house about a mile away.

Trees with purple colored leaves surrounded the place. Bird like creatures flew around, their chirps like music to his ears compared to the conversation happening between his two friends behind him.

"I say you go over there," Zooey was saying, "Tell her you're a princess and demand that she teach you to use your power or else you'll chop off her head."

Munching on a blue fruit with scratch marks, Lance groaned. "That's not how you ask for favors Zooey."

"That usually works for me." Zooey defended, snatching the rest of Lance's fruit and finishing in two more bites. Lance threw a punch her way only to frown when Zooey smoothly dodged it. "How else were you expecting to get her to help you?"

"Gee," Lance rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Ask nicely perhaps?"

Zooey's pale face scrunched up. "That's weird."

"You're weird." Lance countered.

"Ladies," Lotor interrupted lest they start arguing. "It's too early for you guys to start fighting."

"Not fighting," Lance grumbled under her breath. "Just talking."

"Yeah," Zooey piped in. "We're just talking."

"Right," Lotor sent them both an unconvinced look that only had them grinning. "Anyway," he turned back to the view outside. "We don't even know if this is woman even _has_ ice powers. We should find that out first."

"And how," Zooey interrupted with a huff. "Should we find that little tid bit out? We can't exactly just go up to her and say, 'hey you, we heard a rumor that you have ice powers? Is it true or is your bitch-ass lying?"

Lance winced. "Well, maybe not exactly like _that_."

Lotor felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. He turned to Lance who was toying with the French twist Lotor had done for her. It'd come out pretty good if he said so himself. "Can't you read her mind and find out?"

The Amazon Princess bit her thumb. "Probably. But one of you will have to keep her distracted while I rummage through her memories. We can't just look at her in silence while I search her thoughts for answers."

"That's too bad," Zooey mused. "A good stare down is always fun. The way a person starts to sweat the more you stare at them. The way they stare to fidget, the way their eyes try to look away from you as dark thoughts start going through their head." Lance and Lotor raised their brows at her. "Soon enough they start to panic. 'are these guys going to kill me?' 'why the hell are they staring at me?' 'should I be calling for help?'" Zooey wistfully sighed. "Stare downs are the best."

"Okay," Lance dragged the word. "No stare downs." Zooey pouted. "I can go through her thoughts if you guys just talk to her. Otherwise she might feel me in her head."

"I can do that," Lotor interrupted before Zooey volunteered. The Valkyrie sent him a scowl. "Zooey, you keep a look out in case anything seems amiss."

"Fine." Zooey grumbled. "But can we not put our disguises on? We're like, in the middle of nowhere, I doubt anyone would see us."

"And if anyone calls the space police," Lance added. "It'll take them a while to get here. We'd be long gone by them."

Lotor considered it. His brain had been skimming over a thousand different scenarios that could await them since they'd arrived in this planet. They had no way of knowing what exactly they would have had to face when arriving in planet Zenith. So far their luck had been holding. No one had found out who they were, except for those pirates Lance had befriended, though his friend insisted they wouldn't give them away, and no one seemed suspicious of them so far. They'd changed their appearances more than once. They'd changed the way their ship had looked and only cloaked it at night so as to not overuse the cloaking device.

Lotor glanced out the window once more. The place _did_ seem to be deserted. The closest town quite a few miles away. "Alright," Lotor conceded. "No disguises." Lance and Zooey beamed. "But if we see anyone outside of the house, then we'll have to catch them and erase their memories." He turned to Lance. "Can you do that?"

Lance nodded with a grin. "Yup, mom thought me how to do it."

Zooey cracked her knuckles with a feral grin. "I can catch them no problem."

The Galra Prince nodded and looked around their surroundings one more time, his ears straining to hear anything out of the ordinary before opening the ramp at the back. "Okay, then." He turned to his companions. "Let's go."

Zooey was the first to get out, her vibrant red hair swaying with the wind as she stomped down into the field with a wince. "Great," she muttered as she bent one of her legs in the air. "My shoes are ruined."

"That's why I told you to wear boots," Lance scolded as she made her way down the ramp more gracefully than her friend. "But no, you just had to wear the pointy heels."

"A girl has to look her best!" Zooey defended. Today she was mostly all in black. Black tank top, black pants, black heels and a green open jacket. "These shoes look great with this outfit."

They really did Lotor had to admit. But walking around in this soggy field wearing high inch heels wasn't a good idea. The ground was soggy from a recent watering and mud clung to the hem of his pants as he cut through the crop with his sword, making his own route to the house.

They'd cloaked the ship again just in case.

Lance followed behind them at a snails pace, she kept mumbling something under her breath. She'd been wondering what to say to this woman when they found her all morning. Lotor paused in his walking, letting Zooey stomp ahead of them before placing a gentle purple hand on his friends shoulder. Lance jumped at the action. "You'll be fine." Lance nodded, releasing a small sigh. "Do you need a pep talk before we reach the house?"

Lance's mouth twitched upward but she shook her head. "That's okay. Keith beat you to it."

Lotor grinned as he patted her shoulder. "Did he say something inspirational or did he just threaten to talk to her himself?"

Lance chuckled as the two continued their walk. "A little of both?" Lotor snorted. "But it helped. I can do this."

"Okay then," Lotor glanced in the direction of the house. "Zooey and I are here if you need help convincing her."

His friend smiled, those blue eyes of her shining in the morning light. "Thanks Lotor."

Her stance a little more confident, Lotor followed after his friend as they quickly caught up to the grumbling Valkyrie. Lance and he had chosen a similar outfit to their red haired friend. Black shirt, black pants, black boots, though Lance's jacket was blue and Lotor's was purple. They'd wisely chosen not to wear high inch heels like someone they knew.

As Lance hummed a little tune under her breath, Lotor took in their surroundings with a small smile. The air was a little sweeter here, not as smoky as the town they'd been in yesterday and not as flowery as the city above them had been. It was quieter here. No chatter from people walking. No sound of homeless people fighting over a sock. It was nice.

The further they went, the more Lotor could see a few other buildings around the field. Something that looked like a barn, a hangar big enough to fit at least two spaceships, and what looked like a shed.

The three of them checked those places out first but found no one inside. Just a bunch of hay, some gardening tools, and bags of rice. A little ahead of them, Zooey stomped her way through the mud and pounded on the front door none too gently, every strike loud in the silent field.

They waited for the telltale signs of footsteps within, Lance wringing her hands nervously, but only the sounds of the bird like creatures and the loud wailing of the whale look-a-likes high in the sky greeted them.

"Maybe she's not home?" Lance wondered.

Zooey checked the knob and the door swung open, unlocked. The three of them tensed.

"Do you think," Lance whispered hopefully. "She's the kind of person that leaves her door unlocked on purpose?"

Stepping into the foyer, one hand wrapped around his dagger, Lotor whispered back. "Let's hope so."

"I don't like this," Zooey whispered as she and Lance stepped in after him. "Something doesn't feel right."

"Agreed," Lotor murmured back, his eyes narrowing. "Be on your guard." To their left was the living room filled with expensive looking furniture. The three windows had curtains drawn, obscuring the view from outside. To their right was a big kitchen, dirty dishes piled on the sink. Cups on their side, the liquid spilled on the table. The lights were off but Lotor and his companions could more or else see with the ball of flame Zooey had summoned in her right palm.

"Hello?" Lance called. "Anyone home?"

Stepping into the living room, Lotor sucked in a breath. Upon closer inspection, they could see broken photo frames on the floor, every step they took made a crunching sound with all that glass on the floor. Clothes littered the floor. Cabinets were thrown wide-open, boxes of food, broken cups, and a broken toaster were showed. Some drawers were on their sides, broken.

"Something's not right." Zooey whispered. "Either the lady who lives here likes a messy house or someone broke in and was looking for something."

The three of them stepped into the living room and Lance bent down to pick up a broken photo frame. She squinted her eyes. The picture displayed a woman with honey-blond hair, a few pink strands mixed in between, and pale white skin. Her skin looked so white Lotor couldn't help but think of how a corpse looked like all pale and bluish. "Something about this woman seems familiar."

"There are signs of a fight." Lotor observed. "There are multiple sets of footsteps further up."

"Hey guys?" Lance whispered. Lotor and Zooey turned to their crouching friend. The Amazon ran her index finger along the floor and grimaced. "I think this is blood."

Lotor's spine went stiff. "We need to get out of this house right now."

A floorboard squeaked from the kitchen and the three of them tensed. They weren't alone. Zooey closed her fist and the flame went out, leaving them in darkness.

"Everyone, stay alert." Lotor instructed.

His friends nodded, and Lance took a step closer. Her footsteps all but silent as she stealthily moved where the sound had come from. Lotor strained his ears but could hear nothing. No heartbeat. No breathing. Either they were all hearing things or whoever was here was trained to mask their presence.

Lance took another step forward and suddenly a blur of white sprang out, a black frying pan aimed at her face. His friend didn't see the attack, it was too fast, and with a pained grunt, Lance was thrown back into the living room where she landed behind the couch on her side, the picture frames on the wall falling with her.

Lotor cried out her name and Zooey growled beside him, stepping into the kitchen when a small blur of white tackled her to the floor. The Valkyrie Princess fell on her back, the white blur who was actually a little girl, straddling her hips as she clawed at the Valkyrie's face with a shriek.

Zooey grunted in pain, her black wings thrashing under her as she tried to push the little girl off her. She cursed, and a second later her pale fingertips were on fire, wrapping around the little girls hands. The little girl screamed but didn't get off her.

There was an angry cry from the kitchen and Lotor barely dodged the kick to his face as another woman stepped into the room, a fist aimed at his face. The Galra Prince dodged, bringing up his dagger when he saw a silver glint aimed at his ribs.

The two daggers let out a loud ping as they made contact and the woman before him growled. She leaped back and fell into a crouch, one leg sticking out before she knocked him off his feet.

"Get off me you bitch!" Zooey shrieked a few feet away. The Valkyrie and the little girl were trashing and rolling on the floor, the two of them making even more of a mess.

A foot came crashing down towards his face and Lotor rolled to the side, the grip on his dagger tightening as he made a swipe at the girls' ankle. She dodged it but Lotor was able to scratch her knee. The girl hissed and threw herself at him again.

She was fast.

It was taking all his power not to kill her. Maybe she had information about the woman living in this house. Maybe she knew where she was and could lead them to her.

There was a growl at the back and then Lance's blue eyes were blazing in the darkness. "Everybody, stop!"

And suddenly the little girl and the woman Lotor was fighting both froze before they were thrown against the wall with a grunt. Zooey threw a glare at the Amazon. "What took you so long?" she snapped.

One hand aimed at the two women at the wall, Lance shot a glare at the red haired princess. "In case you missed it, I was hit by a frying pan!"

Zooey scoffed and shot to her feet. "Whatever."

Keeping his eyes on the two women before him, Lotor found the light switch and flicked it up. Everyone blinked at the sudden brightness.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman Lotor had been fighting managed to spit out. She had long white hair, really pale skin, and beautiful sea green eyes that seemed to glow with the dark pink eye shadow she'd put on.

The little girl was panting harshly beside her. She too had white hair, and too pale skin though this one seemed to have red eyes with no irises and two curled gray horns sticking out from the side of her head. How old was this girl? Like ten?

Lance titled her head, her brows furrowed as she stepped closer. "I know you."

Zooey and Lotor snapped their gazes to her, simultaneously speaking. "You do?"

The Amazon stepped closer to the older woman who was also looking at her in slow recognition. Her sea green eyes widened and she gaped. "Your highness?"

The little girl snapped her gaze to the older woman. Perhaps they were sisters, they certainly looked very much alike. "You know her?"

The woman blinked, her limbs began to shake from the hold Lance had on them and she frowned. "If I let you go," Lance began. "Will you promise not to attack us?"

"Yes." The woman immediately answered.

Zooey scoffed. "I say we tie them up." She turned angry green eyes to the little girl who puffed up her cheeks in anger when the Valkyrie pointed at her. " _Especially_ that one."

The girl hissed. Zooey bared her teeth at her.

"Annabelle." The woman warned. " _Enough_."

The little girl frowned in confusion and with one last glare aimed at Zooey she huffed and turned her eyes to Lance and Lotor in mild interest. "We should just kill them." The Valkyrie suggested.

The two women tensed.

"Zooey," Lance pleaded. "I think they're friendly. Besides, for all we know, we could be trespassing in their house."

"Thank you!" said Annabelle. "You _are_ by the way."

"Put your weapons down Zooey." Lotor instructed as he tucked his dagger to his belt.

Zooey clenched her jaw, her grip tightening on her mace. "Let me just punch her."

"No." Lotor said.

"But –"

" _No_." Lance glared at her.

Zooey sighed loudly and threw her hands up. "Fine." She turned to the little girl. "But attack me again…" She pointing at Annabelle, and sliced a finger across her throat. Annabelle hissed like a snake.

Lotor and Lance sighed.

Very subtle Zooey.

Lance put her hand down, releasing her hold on them, and the women slumped in relief. Lotor's friend crossed her arms over her chest. "You two are Amazons, aren't you?"

The older one immediately got down to one knee and bowed her head. She tugged at Annabelle's white and gray-checkered sleeve and urged her to do the same. She followed her move with a slight frown. "Forgive our actions your highness," the older one said, her head still bowed. "If we had known it was you who had come we would not have attacked."

Her face uncomfortable, Lance rubbed at the back of her head. "There's no need to be bow. Please," she urged. "Get on your feet."

The woman frowned but did as she was told. Annabelle tilted her head at Lance and tugged at the sleeves of the women standing next to her. The little girl reached the woman's elbow. "Who is she?" she whispered though everyone clearly heard it.

The woman winced. "That's the princess of Cloyetera." She looked back at Lance. "Princess Leah."

Annabelle's red eyes grew wide and when she turned to Lance, there was a look of awe on her face. " _That's_ Princess Leah?" the woman nodded. "You mean the same Princess Leah who worked with the paladins of Voltron? The same one who went up against Haggar more than once and lived? The same one who saved planet Zaebos from the druids?" her voice seemed to get higher and higher the more she spoke. " _That_ Princess Leah?"

Lotor's friend awkwardly waved. "You've heard of me?" Zooey scoffed and turned her back on them.

Her red eyes shining, Annabelle whispered. "So _cool_."

Lance huffed out a laugh.

The older woman turned to Lotor and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're _Galra_." She practically spat.

"It's okay!" Lance stood in front of him. "He's a friend."

Lotor bowed. "My name is Prince Lotor," the two women tensed. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Princess!" the woman balled her fists. "This is Prince Lotor?"

"Isn't he like the bad guy?" Annabelle whispered fearfully.

"He's a friend," Zooey snapped from behind them. "Touch him and you'll regret it you brat."

"I'm not a brat!" Annabelle snapped. "I'm ten in a half."

"Still a child then." Zooey sniffed.

"Zooey," Lotor sent her a crooked smile. "You _do_ care."

Her cheeks blazing, Zooey snapped. "Shut the fuck up bitch."

Honestly, the Valkyrie reminded Lotor of the red paladin quite a bit. They both had quite the mouths on them.

Lance smacked the Valkyrie upside the head. " _Language_." She gestured to Annabelle who looked wide-eyed. "There are _children_ here."

Zooey growled. "Touch me again and I'll smack you."

The white haired woman chewed on her lower lip, eyeing Lotor with a mixture of distrust and mild curiosity. "If you say so your highness."

"Please," Lance interrupted. "Call me Lance."

The woman balked. "I couldn't possibly –"

Annabelle widely smiled. "Okay!" she chirped. "Lance it is then."

"Annabelle!" the woman snapped at her. She looked aghast.

"What?" Annabelle whined. "She said we could call her that sis."

Annabelle's sister groaned. "Forgive her manners your highness," she pinched Annabelle's cheek, eliciting a yelp from the little girl. "She doesn't know any better."

"It's all right," Lance smiled.

"My name is Amaya," the woman finally introduced herself. "We never officially met back in Cloyetera, but I definitely remember you. No one could forget those striking blue eyes of yours." Lance blushed. Amaya hesitated. "Forgive my rudeness, but why are you here?"

Lance glanced at Lotor who shrugged. "We're looking for a woman who has ice powers." Amaya tensed. "We were told there was such a woman living here." She wrung her hands. "Is that true?"

Annabelle and Amaya glanced at each other before Amaya spoke. "That would be our mother." Lance straightened. "I believe you met her once though you might not remember her. You were about five."

"What's her name?" Lance asked, her eyes shining.

"Acacia." Amaya replied. She glanced at the room before them with a wince. "But as you can see, she's not here."

"We thought you guys took her," Annabelle suddenly spoke up. "It's why we attacked you."

"So you don't know what happened to your mother?" Lotor asked.

Amaya shook her head sadly. "She sent us on a delivery a few days ago and we'd just arrived when we saw the house thrashed and you three poking around." She sighed. "I don't know where our mother could be but –"

"But what?" Zooey suddenly spoke from her spot at one of the windows.

"She _really_ wanted us to go on this delivery," Amaya finally answered with a tap to her chin. "Usually we'd go together but mom insisted that only Annabelle and I go. It was a delivery that would take a few days to deliver."

"She seemed really antsy." Annabelle said to Lance as she took a step closer. Her red eyes were still looking at Lance in awe and admiration but her voice sounded worried. "Like she _really_ wanted us to go."

Lotor shared a look with his companions. Zooey spoke first. "You think she knew someone was targeting her?"

"Could be." Lotor mused as he tapped his chin.

Lance slumped her shoulders. "Then how will we find her now?"

"Excuse me," Amaya interrupted them. She tugged at her white and gray-checkered shirt. "But perhaps we'd be able to help?"

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Zooey snapped. "Call her on her phone?"

"We already tried that," Annabelle replied. "But we can check her deliveries."

"Her deliveries?" Lotor frowned.

"Yes," Amaya said with a frown in his direction. She took out a small port screen and tapped the screen. "It says here she made one last delivery at a restaurant a day from here just two days ago. Maybe we can ask the owner if she said anything."

"Yeah," Annabelle chirped with a nod. "We've known the owner for years! He'll trust us."

"Let me guess," Zooey glared. "You want to go with us."

Amaya narrowed her green sea eyes. "Well, she is our mother. We have a right to know what happened to her too."

Muttering something under her breath, Zooey huffed and looked away. Lance glanced back at Lotor. "There _is_ plenty of room."

"We won't drag you down," Amaya went on. "We're good in a fight, you saw that for yourselves."

The Amazon Princess turned to him. "Lotor?"

The Galra Prince tapped his chin. It _would_ be easier to have these two question the owner and not seem suspicious. And having two more fighters on the team would be a big help as well, though having just Lance seemed more than enough. Lotor glanced back at the hopeful looks the two white haired women were giving him and he sighed.

When it came to women, Lotor always ended up giving in to them.

Decision made, Lotor opened his mouth when he heard a twig snap from outside. He'd been so focused on the conversation before him that he hadn't noticed the new set of footprints coming from outside. Lotor tried to count but lost count after eight. They were surrounded. There was another snap, and Lotor turned to Zooey who was closest to the window, a warning on the tip of his tongue when something was thrown through the three windows.

Green dark smoke began to surround the room as everyone gave a shout of surprise. "Everyone, cover your nose and mouth!" Lotor snapped as he did the same and headed for Zooey who had fallen to the ground. His hand wrapped around her right arm and he pulled her toward him.

She was already coughing.

Lotor cursed. He turned to Lance who had covered her nose and mouth. "Lance!"

"I'm on it!" She shouted back. "Everyone get behind me!"

Amaya took hold of her sister and pulled her behind Lance who had formed a blue shield, protecting them from inhaling anymore smoke. Lotor pulled Zooey toward him, the Valkyrie already sagging against him and reached Lance's side so they could be enveloped in the blue sphere.

"What's going on?" Annabelle panted with wide eyes.

"You stay close to me!" Amaya turned to her sister. "Do you understand me?"

Annabelle rapidly blinked her eyes and nodded.

"Did any of you inhale any smoke?" Lotor turned to them as Lance crouched and took hold of Zooey's face in her hands. The two white haired Amazon's shook their heads. Satisfied that they were safe, Lotor crouched next to his friends, his face grim as Lance inspected the red haired Valkyrie lying on the couch. "How is she?"

Lance lightly smacked Zooey's cheeks. "Zooey, speak to me!"

Zooey looked up at Lance with a dopey smile. "You have such wonderful eyes." She slurred.

Lance dropped her face in shock as she turned to Lotor. "She's lost her frickin mind!"

"Well, fix her!" Lotor snapped back.

"I can't!" Lance shook her head, her eyes turning back to the room with narrowed eyes. She placed a hand on Zooey's chest. Her hand lit up with a warm green glow. "I don't know what she inhaled but I don't think she's in any danger."

Annabelle stepped forward and placed her own hand Zooey's shoulder. Amaya took out a dagger and crouched next to her sister, her sea green eyes narrowed as she looked outside the shield. The Valkyrie kept smiling and fluttering her eyelashes at them all. Her own hand glowing, Annabelle turned back to Lotor. "She's right. Her organs seem to be in no danger. Her lungs are fine."

Lance blinked in surprise. "You're a healer?"

Annabelle blushed. "Yeah, though I'm not that good at it. I can only heal small scrapes."

"I'll teach you a few new tricks," Lance replied as she summoned her gun blaster from her bracelet. "But first, we have to deal with these guys." She got to her feet. "Anyone know how many we're facing?"

"I lost count after eight." Lotor replied as he got to his feet as well. "We need to get back to the ship."

"I'm going to sleep," Zooey slurred. She turned to her side and tucked her hands under her chin. Her black wings wrapped around her. "Wake me up later."

Lance hummed under her breath before her eyes lit up and she grabbed a hold of Zooey's wrist and sent a ripple of electricity trough her body. Zooey yelped and shot to a sitting position. "What the fuck!"

"Welcome back," Lance chirped.

Zooey flipped her off.

"Focus!" Lotor barked at them.

"Sorry." They muttered.

The green smoke was beginning to fade. The footsteps were getting closer. Lotor willed his hammering heart to calm down. He steadied his breathing before speaking. "As soon as this smoke fades, whoever is out there is going to come in." he turned to Lance. "Can you keep a shield around Annabelle?"

"I can fight too!" Annabelle whined.

Lance nodded her head. "No problem."

Lotor turned his blue-yellow eyes back to the smoke. "We're making our way to our ship."

"But what if these people know where my mother is?" Amaya asked.

Lotor turned to Lance. "Can you read their minds?"

Lance bit her lip. "There's too many to focus on but I'll try." His friend closed her eyes and concentrated. Lotor urged her to hurry. "They definitely took your mom."

Amaya and Annabelle gasped. "What do they want with her?"

"I –"Lance furrowed her brows. "It's not just her. Anyone with powers is being taken. And –" Lance hesitated. "They're here for you both as well."

"But I don't have any powers!" Amaya cried. "All I got was the strength and the tough skin."

"But your sister has healing powers." Lotor spoke.

Amaya's green eyes grew wide and she wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Well they're not taking her."

"We won't let them," Lotor promised.

Lance suddenly gasped. Her eyes shot open and she jumped to her feet. She looked frantic. "We have to get out of here _now_!"

"What is it?" Zooey barked.

Lance stumbled back. "They have –"

Something black was thrown through the window where it landed mere inches from then and Lance's shield shattered into a million pieces. The three Amazons made a gagging noise and stumbled back. Lotor's eyes widened as Zooey looked at them in confusion.

"What?" Zooey snapped. She fluttered her black wings to get rid of the remaining smoke "What is it?"

"It's a dampening stone." Lotor whispered. He turned to Zooey who looked confused. "We have to get them out of here!"

Just then the door was kicked off its hinges, the windows were shattered, and about a dozen Galra marched inside with weapons in their hands. At the sight of Lance and himself, the Galra gasped and stumbled back. "It's them!"

There went their cover.

Zooey picked up the couch she'd been laying on and threw it at the four Galra standing by the windows. The rest opened fire and the Valkyrie turned her back to them, her black wings spread out before they turned to steel.

Lotor gaped.

"Get them out of here!" Zooey snapped at him. A ball of flame was thrown at the men to their left and someone screamed, chair and table legs screeched across the floor. She took out her mace and then she was off with a battle cry, her arms swinging her weapon around as the Galra tried to stop her.

Wrapping an arm around Lance and Amaya, Lotor shot to his feet and began to herd them toward the windows where no one was guarding. Annabelle took hold of his sister's arm, her face was already sweating and she looked on the verge of tears. Lance and Amaya didn't look any better. They looked ready to throw up.

"I want them all captured!" someone barked from inside. The Galra Prince was already pushing himself out the window when someone grabbed hold of his hair and pulled. Lotor cursed, lifting his dagger to stab the man but before he could a shot rang out and the Galra holding on to him slumped on the floor dead. A black crystal fell from his hand.

Annabelle recoiled at the sound, but made no sound.

Panting, Lotor turned to see Lance breathing harshly, her gun blaster smoking in her raised hand. "Not totally defenseless." She gasped.

Lotor picked up the stone and hurled it as far away as he could before wrapping an arm around the Amazons to get them away from the other stone inside the house.

"What's happening?" Amaya whispered. "Why do I feel so weak?"

"Dampening stone," Lance licked her bottom lip. "Takes away our powers, zaps our strength."

"Well," Annabelle gasped. "I hate it."

"Me too." Lance replied. She turned to Lotor. "Just get us a away, it's a small crystal, it shouldn't affect us after a certain distance."

Lotor nodded and behind them a Galra was thrown out of a window, his body black and ashen. Zooey flew out the window after him, balls of flames appearing on both hands before she hurled them inside the house.

The men inside began to scream. There was a stampede for the door, the windows, anywhere that they could exit.

A few managed to make it out. A feral wind whipped Lotor's hair and he cursed at the sight of a small Galra ship in the sky just arriving.

Great.

More backup.

Ropes were thrown down from the cruiser, Galra began to shimmy down, a dozen more emerged from the shed but Lotor kept walking, every step away from the house strengthening the women in his arms.

At the sight of the cruise, Zooey took to the skies, her mace breaking the shield, her flames engulfing the rope they were using to shimmy down.

"Leah McLane, Prince Lotor, and the rest of you lot," said a Galra man. "Put your hands on top of your head or we will shoot." Weapons were pointed at them. Lotor took another step forward. A shot hit the ground in front of him in warning. "Cease all movement or we will shoot!"

Lotor took one more step forward. There was a curse fro the man who had spoken before his yellow eyes narrowed and he turned to his men. "Fire at will."

Dozens of shots rang out. Annabelle and Amaya cried out. Zooey shouted their name. Lotor closed his eyes and waited for impact but it never came. A blue shield had wrapped around them, keeping them safe.

Lotor turned to Lance. His friend let out a feral grin and slammed her palm into the floor. Seconds later a torrent of blue electricity shot out from her palm and every Galra on the floor was electrocuted. A few dropped to the floor convulsing. Others dropped dead, their eyes dim and opened in horror. His friend lifted her hand and the Galra cruiser that Zooey was still crushing was flung to the ground with a resonating crash before it exploded.

The air turned hot. Screams erupted from both sides. The fields were on fire. Lance turned to Lotor. "Get to the ship." She turned to Zooey who was grinning in the sky. "Zooey and I will take care of the rest."

Amaya protested. "But we can't leave you alone your highness!"

"I'll be fine."

"But –"

Lotor nodded and began to usher the two Amazons in the direction of their ship. A few men still stepped out from the forest, but before they could attack Lotor and his party, they were flung away from them. Those who were still alive opened fire on both Princess but Lotor didn't turn back.

They'd be okay now.

* * *

"What the heck just happened?" Zooey yelled as Lotor peeled their ship away from the burning fields and the dead Galra. Other ships had arrived, these full of androids and men in uniform. The police for this planet it seemed. He turned on the cloaking device in case anyone else followed but so far they seemed to be doing just fine.

"Sorry about your house." Lotor winced.

The silvered haired Amazons shrugged. "Mom _did_ want to move out."

Lance shook her head where she sat behind him to the right. "Lotor and I are kind of wanted in the Galra Empire." She turned to Amaya who was seated to the left with Zooey and Annabelle who was seated next to Lance. "But they definitely wanted these two as well."

"But why?" Zooey snapped. Lotor glanced at her, her shoulder was bruised but otherwise she seemed fine.

"Because we have powers?" Annabelle guessed.

"Maybe." Lotor frowned. Lance was wincing and massaging her temple. "What's wrong?"

The Amazon waved a hand. "It's Keith. Just worried." She cringed. "And angry."

Lotor winced. He and Lance were probably going to get a call from the red paladin later.

"Still," Lance went on with an encouraging smile. "Not bad for Team Dynamite's first team-up."

Zooey scowled. "I thought we agreed on the name Team Super Cool."

Lotor turned his head towards them with a scowl. "As I recall, it was Team Awesome."

"Team Alpha Wolf Squadron doesn't sound too bad." Annabelle piped in with a sheepish smile.

Amaya shot her a look.

Lance threw her head back with a groan. "Okay fine. From now on, we're all to be known as Team Alpha Super Awesome Cool Dynamite Wolf Squadron."

"What?" Zooey snapped.

"No Way." Lotor groaned.

"I swear I've heard this exact argument in a movie before," Annabelle piped in with a tap to her chin.

Lance avoided her gaze. "Maybe."

"That crystal," Amaya interrupted, bringing the seriousness of their situation back to the present. "What was that?" her pale hands were shaking. "I've never felt that way. It was like –" she swallowed. "Like something was draining my energy, my energy faded and I felt so sick."

"It's a Dampening Stone," Lotor explained. His eyes were narrowed, taking in everything, but despite passing a few ships no one else seemed to be pursuing them. "They only seem to affect Amazons" He chanced a glance at Zooey. The stone hadn't affected her. "It makes them vulnerable. As long as you keep a good distance away, you should be fine."

"It was horrible." Annabelle whispered, her arms wrapped around herself. Lance placed a cool hand on her shoulder. "Why are they doing this?"

No one had an answer to that.

After a moment of silence, Amaya spoke, her voice subdued. "We should go to the next city and find out if mom told the owner at the restaurant anything useful."

"We should just capture one of those purple furries and make them talk." Zooey grumbled under her breath.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Lance piped in. "Our identities have been exposed. I'm sure everyone is looking for us now. Both Galra _and_ the authorities in this planet. I'm sure we can capture a Galra once they find us."

Zooey smirked. "Fun." She glanced at her black colored nails. "I always wanted to be a fugitive."

"Well, just stick with us," Lance chirped with a honey sweet smile. "If you're lucky you'll get your own wanted poster."

Lance." Lotor sighed in exasperation.

"Well, it's true." Lance muttered as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Then let's go to the next city," Lotor announced. "And for the love of all that is good, someone please get me a drink."

"Whiskey?" Zooey offered.

"Or tequila?" Lance suggested.

"Surprise me."

"I really like this team." Annabelle whispered to her sister.

Amaya groaned.

* * *

"Okay," Lotor said a day later as he swiveled in the captain's seat to face his companions. They'd made it to the next floating city, The City of Winteredge, and it looked pretty much like the last one except everything was covered in snow. "A big group will attract too much attention. So only Amaya and I will go and talk to the restaurant owner."

Three collective groans answered him.

Ignoring them, Lotor went on. "You three are to stay here and not attract attention." He made sure to look at Lance when he said this. The Amazon stuck her tongue at him. Next to her, Annabelle did the same. Those two were getting along _too_ well. "If we're not back in half an hour –"

"Fly away?" Zooey suggested with a sweet smile in his direction.

Lotor glared at her. "No. Come find us."

"Are you sure we can't leave the ship?" Lance suddenly spoke. Her gaze was on the view outside. "Because I think I hear an ice cream truck and I _really_ want to go get some."

Annabelle's red eyes gleamed. "Ice cream?"

Lance clasped her hands together. "Oh, please? Can we go?"

Lotor crossed his arms over his black coat. Lance fluttered her lashes at him. "No Lance."

"We'll be careful."

"No."

" _Lotor_."

"Lance," Lotor sighed and pinched his nose. "There is literally nothing you can say that will change my mind."

"I'll bring you some."

"Make it Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor and we have a deal."

"Deal."

"Seriously?" Zooey covered her laugh with her hand. "Man, you're weak."

"Just be careful," Amaya said to her sister who vigorously nodded her head. "And stick close to her highness."

"I'll take care of her." Lance promised, her other hand wrapping around Annabelle's white gloved hand. The little girl had taking a liking to the Amazon Princess. The two had spent the rest of the day together in the training room as Lance showed her a few tricks when it came to healing and a bit more when it came to shooting an arrow.

"Meet back in half an hour." Lotor said at last. "Zooey and Amaya will keep a lookout for anything strange."

"You got it!" Lance shouted, moments later she and Annabelle were gone, their giggling disappearing down the cobblestone steps.

Zooey turned to him with an arched brow. "You know they'll get in trouble right?"

Lotor resisted the urge to sigh.

* * *

The tavern they stepped into was surprisingly full. The smell of booze and fried food made his nose itch. As Lotor tapped his purple-gloved fingers on the wooden table in familiar tune, his eyes went to the holograph screens around the room where some sports game was playing.

The Galra Prince had never been one to watch sports game but it must have been a good game if the cheering of the crowd was any indication. At least no one was paying attention to the golden haired alien with three red eyes.

It was his new disguise. He'd even made his green skin look reptilian.

His gaze went to the closed swinging doors that led to the kitchen. Amaya had disappeared inside to talk to the owner who also helped out in the cooking about ten minutes ago. Lotor had ordered a sandwich when the waitress kept asking for his order. He nibbled on it as he waited for his companion.

He made sure to order a few more for the rest of his companions. If he didn't, Zooey would get on his case about it later. An excited murmur rippled through the tavern. Lotor glanced at the crowd, their eyes locked on the screens in the room. With a frown, Lotor turned to see what had them so enraptured.

A picture of Lotor and his companions being displayed on the screens had him choking on his water. His coughing fit gone, Lotor tuned back in to hear what they were saying on the screens.

– _**WANTED. CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS. IF SEEN PLEASE REPORT TO THE GALRA EMPIRE, INFORM ANY OF THE GALRA WALKING AROUND OR CALL THE BOTTOM LINK.**_

Well, that wasn't good.

"Isn't that Prince Lotor?"

Lotor tensed in his seat, one hand creeping closer to the strapped dagger on his leg.

"Is that why there are so many Galra walking around?"

"But what about that blue-eyed girl?" someone else asked. "Wasn't she part of the Voltron crew?"

"Yeah," another alien piped in with a slow nod. "What she doing working with the Galra Prince?"

"What about the other three? Anyone know who they are?"

"I wonder what the Galra Empire wants with them."

"Nothing good." Someone muttered.

The chiming of the front door had everyone tensing. Two Galra men had entered. Among them was an android, its wheel squeaking as it rolled its way inside. There was a little badge with a strange symbol pinned on the android's metal chest.

One of the Galra clasped his hands behind them and gave everyone a sweet smile. It had everyone shuddering. "Nothing to worry about folks," he said, his voice like gravel. "We are merely performing an identity check for the safety of everyone in this city. Please show your ID for scanning."

The occupants in the tavern began to murmur uncertainty.

Others bristled, saying they'd already shown their ID to the city guards.

Lotor tapped on his wrist, his eyes never leaving the two Galra and the android as they scanned the ID's of the rest of the occupants in the tavern. His fingers tapped out a message to Zooey back at the ship.

 _ **Ready the ship for take off.**_

Zooey's response was almost instantaneous.

 _ **Blew our cover already?**_

Lotor resisted the urge to growl.

 _ **Just do it. And call Lance. We might need to make a hasty retreat.**_

The Galra Prince wiped his mouth and slowly got to his feet as the two Galra men turned their back on him. As slowly as he could, he edged toward the kitchen doors.

 _ **Fine.**_

By some miracle Lotor was able to pass through the swinging doors and to the kitchen. The air was hotter here. Different scents lingered in the air. All the cooks seemed too busy to notice him though they made vulgar gestures when he pushed his way through them.

Amaya was in one corner of the room, her red hood still covering her features, as she talked to a bald man with a thick mustache that would have made the Altean Advisor jealous. A few turns later and he was gripping Amaya's wrist.

The woman jammed her elbow at his face, Lotor dodged, when she apologized once she saw it was just him. "We need to go."

Amaya took in his spine stiff and his narrowed eyes before nodding once. "There's an exit around back." She turned to the man she'd been talking to and gripped his fat yellow hands. "Thank you for the information Mr. Garo."

Mr. Garo patted her hands and waved them towards the exit. "Be careful."

Amaya nodded and with one last squeeze she let go of his hands and began to move towards the back exit. They picked up their pace once they saw the green glowing lights that spelled ou T.

The two stumbled out into the back alley, the strong scent of sewage and urine almost making him gag. Lotor and Amaya took three steps when they spotted the two Galra standing between them and the streets ahead. Their ship was a few blocks away. If they ran they could be there in less than ten minutes.

Could they go the other way? Lotor turned and saw that it was a dead end. This was the only way back into the cobble stone streets. Could they escape through the bathroom inside the tavern?

Before he could decide, the two Galra had already spotted them.

"Should we just knock them out?" Amaya whispered to him as the Galra approached them. One was a woman who looked as big as Zethrid. The other one was a man who could probably go on a diet.

"Not yet." Lotor whispered back. Forcing a smile on his face, Lotor made his voice pleasant. "Is there a problem?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at them, as she looked them up and down in suspicion. "Any reason you two are sneaking out the back?"

"Sneaking out?" Lotor turned a frown at Amaya who looked tense. "We weren't sneaking out. We just didn't want to block anyone's view of the screens as we made our way out." He smiled. "There's a game going on."

"It seemed really important." Amaya added with a shaky smile. She had borrowed Zooey's little device to change her appearance though she still insisted on the red hood. Currently, her hairs a deep shade of brown, her eyes were the same but she'd made her face a little pudgy and a little dark.

The male Galra narrowed his yellow eyes at them both before producing a portscreen. "ID's. _Now_."

Lotor made a show of looking through his pockets in search for an ID he knew he didn't have before looking up at the two Galra with wide eyes. "You know what?" he shook his head sheepishly. "I must have forgotten both of our ID's back on our ship." He took a few steps forward, his hand wrapped around Amaya's wrist. "Let us just go get them real quick."

"Now wait just a minute –" the male Galra put a hand on Amaya's shoulder and the second the Amazon tensed, Lotor knew it was time to run. Amaya grasped the man's hand, twisted it, and knocked him down to the floor. The Galra woman let out a shout, her hand going to her weapon but Lotor was already there, knocking his knee into her face when she bent down.

The woman howled, her hands going to her face, before falling on her butt.

The Galra Prince gripped Amaya's wrist and hauled her away from the back alley and two fallen Galra. "Run!"

She didn't need to be told twice. The two of them ran like their butts were on fire. There was a crash and gunfire exploded from the back alley and the front of the restaurant as the other two Galra inside the tavern rushed out into the street, weapons drawn.

Amaya and Lotor sprinted through the crowd, the two of them gaining speed when Galra that had been walking among the crowd joined their comrades in pursuing them. There were eight Galra behind them, gaining speed.

Lotor's hands felt sweaty, nervous sweat prickled the back of his head. In ten more yards the street broke out into a crowded market square. Shop vendors cursed at them but Lotor didn't care as he tossed whatever he could find to the floor in hopes of slowing down their pursuers.

He threw boxes filled with apples, necklaces that had been strung to the floor, at one point he'd accidentally knocked a poor old man to the floor. He'd apologized but didn't stop his sprint. At his side, Amaya was doing the same.

"Lotor!" a familiar voice shouted at him. "Amaya!"

His eyes frantically searched through the crowd until they spotted a familiar blue set of eyes. Lance. And Annabelle.

The two of them were wearing their disguises but had insisted on putting on hoods as well. Both women were currently situated on top of a blue hoverboard. With Annabelle's hands wrapped around her waist, Lance threw a hand in their direction. "Take my hand!"

They were so close.

They'd reached the end of the market, nothing but an open street greeted them and Lance took the opportunity to fly closer to them.

Ten feet, five –

A shadowy figure stepped in front of them, yellow eyes gleaming and face etched into a scowl. Lotor collided with the Galra –a brick wall would've had more give –and stumbled back, a curse on his lips at the stinging pain coming from his nose.

The man raised it's face, something sharp and silver glinting in his hand. Lotor reached for his weapon, ready to fight, when suddenly there was an annoyed grunt and the man was sent flying to the wall with a cry on his lips.

Lotor jerked to the right as Amaya urged him to move. Lance was a little ahead, her blue hair wildly flying in all directions behind her. With a new burst of speed, Lotor wrapped an arm around Amaya's waist, skidded to a stop, and lifted his hand –

Lance jerked the hoverboard backwards. She outstretched her free hand.

Voices shouted at them to stop from all directions.

Fifteen yards, ten –

Lotor caught hold of Lance's cool arm, the Amazon swinging the two of them aboard her new hoverboard that tilted with the new added weight. It was a hell of a tight fit. His feet were dangerously close to the edge. "Hold on!"

Lotor, Amaya, and Annabelle tightened their arms around the waist of the person in front of them for dear life as Lance sailed the hoverboard over the top of the crowd, rising sharply, and burst between buildings, higher and higher until they couldn't see their pursuers anymore.

Unfortunately, it seemed they had called for backup because not even two minutes later three Galra ships began to fire at them. Lance dodged them flawlessly, sparks of blue lightning shooting from her free hand and keeping the enemy ships at bay.

Annabelle and Lance were whooping, their smiles wide and contagious. Three more Galra ships emerged behind them and that's when their own ship, _Lucille_ , finally made its appearance as it broke over the buildings. It came low, tilting sideways, and opened fire on the ships behind them.

At the same time, Zooey had opened the back doors and Lance wasted no time, bending her legs and taking hold of the board, making it curve to the right and straight towards the ship. Wind whistled in every direction, everyone's hair flying as Lance went from side to side to avoid the shots being fired at them.

With a last burst of speed, the hoverboard sailed inside the hangar bay before coming to a sudden stop. White metal walls greeted them. Lotor scrambled to his feet, swaying once, before rushing to the cockpit as Zooey closed the doors behind them. "We have to go! We have enemies behind us and –"

"You _think_?" Zooey interrupted, her green eyes narrowed as she continued flying and shooting at the enemies still after them. Footsteps sounded from behind him as Lance and the girls arrived in the cockpit before strapping themselves to their seats.

"We should go down." Lance spoke up from behind Lotor. The Galra Prince turned to her, his chest still heaving from the chase. "We can try to lose them among the clouds and –" she hesitated. Zooey bared her teeth at her. "I think I can make the clouds darker and strike them with lightning in all directions but I'm not sure if it'll work."

Annabelle looked at her in awe. Her red eyes twinkling.

"Let's do it." Zooey immediately replied. "You better get ready blue eyes. And don't miss."

Lance scowled, her disguise disappearing leaving her in her original form. Dark blue eyes, caramel skin, brown long locks that would need a good combing once she saw how frazzled it made her look. "I have a name you know."

"Be glad I'm not calling you hag or bitch." Zooey sniffed.

Amaya and Lance tensed. "Language."

Ignoring them, the Valkyrie turned to Lotor. "Buckle up, little lord. Don't want your saggy butt falling out."

"Not saggy." Lotor muttered, pulling himself to sit next to Amaya, quickly fishing out his seat belt and buckling himself.

A bullet pinged off the dash.

Lotor and his companions turned to the holograph screen to the right where it displayed their pursuers coming in from behind them.

Five more bullets were fired at them.

One apparently struck through the grates to the engine. Red warnings flared up across the dashboard as the engine gave a whine, sputtered –

And died two thousand feet above the city of Winteredge.

The _Lucille_ fell straight through the sky, between the traffic of the other ships flying in the sky, spiraling. A scream tore out of everyone's throat. Lance placed a hand on Annabelle's lap to keep her secure.

The ground was coming at them fast.

Too fast.

Above them, the Galra ships sailed after them, their black tints shining like black stars. Bullets rained down after them. Lotor knew he should have stayed in bed today. Coming to the city had been a bad idea. He'd forgotten that the security guards in these cities asked for ID's. That they made random searches every now and then.

He should have remembered. And now he and his companions were going to die.

"Not today!" Lance snapped as she unstrapped herself from her seat and flung her hands to the floor sending a current of lightning all along the floor. Everyone wisely lifted their feet.

Zooey pulled at the controls and tried to pull up.

No dice.

Lance sent another current to the ground.

Still nothing.

The Amazon Princess growled and gave one last spurt, a curse making it past her lips –

The engine gave a start and hummed to life again. It was like music to his ears. Zooey pressed a button and two extra wings fanned out from the ship, tried to slow their decent. They were still falling too fast but Zooey had managed to make it out of the city until they were now literally falling to the towns down, down, down.

The Valkyrie jerked the controls back and as the wind screamed up around them, as numbers and warning signs flashed across the dashboard, Lotor unbuckled himself from his seat belt and reached his arms around the Valkyrie, to grab ahold of the controls in her hands.

They'd entered the thick white clouds.

The Galra ships, now twelve of them, hot on their tails. "Hold it steady!" Lance ordered.

"What do you think we're trying to do?" Zooey snapped.

But Lance wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes had begun to glow, sparks of lightning shooting across her irises and her fingertips as she spread her arms and concentrated. Annabelle and Amaya leaped from their seats, the two of them wrapping their own shaking hands around Lotor's and Zooey's to try and slow their decent. "Everyone, pull!" Lotor shouted over the roar of the wind.

Lotor and his companions pulled back together.

The clouds began to darken, lightning flashing in random spots, as the _Lucille_ finally slowed. The ship shuddered, slowing to a stop in the thick black clouds. Despite the sudden darkness, the purple lights coming from the ships were visible to everyone.

They came in a straight line before splitting up in two directions until they'd surrounded them. Lotor turned to Lance. His fiend was grinning, and as she brought down her hands, lightning from every direction struck each Galra ship.

It was like a machine gun had gone off. It felt as if the wrath of an angry god was spewing hellfire and brimstone. The blinding light and deafening whip-crack from the lightning bolts raining down were so intense that Lotor had to close his eyes and cover his ears. The Galra ships blew up at the same time, their wings ripped off, the cockpits in flames before they began to fall one by one.

There was a ringing noise in his ears, and it took him a while to clear his vision but when he did, the Galra ships were gone and the clouds had begun to turn from midnight black to a cool gray. Lance slumped into her seat with a satisfied smirk. "Phew, not let's get out of here."

Four pairs of eyes looked at her in shock.

Lance blinked, wiping at the sweat near her temple. She frowned. "What?"

For a moment no one said anything and then Annabelle spoke, her voice dreamy and moonstruck. "You're just so cool."

Lance blushed.

* * *

 _Lucille_ was a ship of beauty. It wasn't as fast as the Castle of Lions, but it was quiet and durable. It was big but not too big that she could get lost if she wasn't careful. The Castle of Lions would always be her favorite ship, it's where her other family was, where _Keith_ was, but the _Lucille_ was becoming her second favorite ship.

It had a training deck. An infirmary. A fully stocked kitchen with all of their favorites. A dining room with beautiful glass windows. Eight crew quarters where Lance could store extra things, she liked to shop, so sue her, and a cargo bay where they had three extra podships in case of emergencies.

She could have done with another washroom though. Lance liked to take her time preparing herself every morning. Like her mother always said, beauty took effort.

And it was true.

Her mornings consisted of her shaving her legs, grooming her eyebrows, washing her face and putting on her face mask as she painted her nails. Lance liked being thorough. She liked taking her time. So having Zooey banging at the door not even five minutes before she came inside was not something Lance was okay with.

So yeah, a second washroom would have been nice but regardless of that little tid bit, the Lucille had become her second favorite ship. Lance spent a lot of time in the training room; she didn't want to get rusty. The ship constantly hummed from the solar energy core at its heart, a sweet and low song that Lance couldn't sleep without now.

But not tonight.

Something felt…off.

No matter how much Lance wanted to go sleep like the rest of her companions had, it was one in the morning after all, she couldn't. Something was telling her to stay awake. To stay alert. Keep her weapons close. And keep her ears open. Her instincts had never led her astray. And if something was telling her to stay awake, then she would.

No matter how tired she already was.

After taking out all those Galra ships, Lotor had taken over and they'd cloaked the ship from inside the clouds before departing the area. The towns below looked the same as the last one, dark and gloomy, but with a thick layer of trees on all sides. The Galra Prince had flown away from the town, not stopping until he found a spot for them to rest in.

That place happened to be surrounded by trees as tall as skyscrapers, the grass so high that it completely obscured them from view. They'd docked the ship there, turning off the cloaking so as to not burn the device from overuse.

Amaya hadn't found anything interesting. All she said was that the owner of the restaurant had seen Acacia looking fidgety. She'd told the man that she had a feeling of being watched. Of being stalked. It's why she'd sent Amaya and Annabelle away for a few days. Acacia had told the owner that she was going to confront whoever was following her and if he didn't hear from her and her girls came to look for her after looking at her logs…he was told to tell them to stay away. To not come home.

Amaya and Annabelle seemed distraught, not that Lance blamed them.

After talking it out, they'd decided to just capture the first Galra they saw and extract answers from them. Tomorrow though. Everyone was to get a goodnight's rest; they'd been through a lot today.

She'd talked to Keith. He'd seemed worried since that incident at the house. He'd been so close to getting on Red and coming to planet Zenith himself but Lance had managed to convince him to stand down. He and the rest of the paladins had been on a mission at the time.

A Galra ship had stolen a few shipments from another planet that needed the stuff. The paladins had gone in pursuit to retrieve them. She couldn't ask Keith to drop everything and come to her aid.

Lotor had gotten them away from that stone. He'd pulled all three Amazons through a battlefield as Zooey backed them up in the skies. Neither of her friends had complained and as soon as that nauseous feeling disappeared and Lance had gotten her powers back, she'd paid the Galra back ten fold.

Those Dampening Stones were just unfair.

Perhaps, when this was all over, she'd bring back a few of those crystals back with her and take them to the Olkari and the engineering department in hopes that they could find a cure or something because Lance was getting real tired of getting her powers taken.

There was a sound towards the cargo bay.

Lance stilled where she sat on her bunk bed, the sheets splayed across her lap, before she slowly got to her feet. She pressed her ear to the door and listened.

Nothing.

But then –

The engine stopped humming, the air vents stopped throwing air and all the lights went out. Even the nightlight that Lance had put on as to not be in total darkness was snuffed out. Lance's heart pounded in her ears. Memories of the last time there'd been a power out surged through her mind and Lance's breaths came out quicker.

Calm down she told herself. Haggar isn't here. This ship was big but not as big as the Castle of Lions. If Haggar were inside, Lance would be able to tell. She'd be able to sense the witch. Whatever was happening wasn't because of Haggar.

And the only way to find out what was happening was to go out there and find out. Her hands began to tremble.

 _Lance?_

Keith was calling out to her.

 _What's wrong? I feel…scared. Are you okay?_

 **I'm fine she told him. Just saw a scary movie and can't go to the restroom. Nothing to worry about. Finish your mission.**

Hesitation flared from Keith's side. _Are you sure?_

 **Positive**.

 _Okay…just remember that it's not real... it was just a movie_.

 **Right. Of course. Good luck in your mission.**

 _You too. We're almost done anyway, just going to deliver these shipments and we'll be going back home. Talk to you later._

The line went silent.

Taking a deep breath, Lance opened the door and stepped into the dark halls. A chill curved down her spine. Her hand conjuring up a spark of electricity, Lance edged her way to the cargo bay in silent feet.

It's probably an animal she thought. Probably bumped into the ship. It happened twice when they first landed. She was probably just overreacting and nothing was in the cargo bay. Sadly, the more she walked in the direction of the cargo bay, the more she began to feel a breeze. Her heart began to beet faster and as she stepped inside the cargo bay and saw the door was wide _open,_ she swallowed.

There were muddy footprints from outside but none in the direction she'd just came from. Which meant that whoever had gotten inside was still somewhere in the room. Slowly, she backed away a step, then another, when a silvery figure, too tall and too thin to be human emerged from behind one of the three podships.

A fighting drone.

Its eyes were red, a gun blaster held in its metal fingers. Lance took an involuntary step back as bile began to go up her throat.

This feeling…

Not good.

Not good at all.

For a moment neither of them moved, but then three more shapes emerged from behind the ships and the feeling of being sucked dry, of her limbs going numb, began to grow and fester and Lance couldn't resist it anymore.

She ran.

The fighting drones behind her lifted their weapons, aimed, and fired. Lance conjured up a shield to keep them from taking a step closer but she knew it wouldn't hold. As soon as those things got close enough, her shield would shatter.

They had Dampening Stones with them after all.

Lance banged on the walls, she shouted and screamed, and the shield she'd conjured up shattered. She could feel it.

But her friends were up.

She could hear Zooey cursing as she fell from her bed.

Lotor was shouting something.

So was Amaya, her voice frantic as she shouted for her sister.

Lance's eyes widened. Annabelle! Where was she? Where –

Lance let out a yelp as she crashed into another warm body running in her direction. The force knocked them both to the ground.

"Lance!" red glistening eyes stared back at her in relief. Annabelle. Even in the darkness, Lance could see the shape of her black horns sticking out from the sides of her head. "What's going on? I was getting a snack and then I heard shots and then you were screaming and –"

Lance lurched forward and gripped the little girls arm. "You stay by my side. Is that understood?"

Annabelle shakily nodded, her hand clasping Lance's chilly palm as the two got to their feet. Their friends were already out of their rooms; she could hear fights going on in the direction of the cargo bay. Lance summoned her gun blaster, prepared to at least provide backup since she couldn't get too close to those bots.

The two Amazons took three steps forward when something came crushing through the cockpit window. Lance whirled. A red-eye metal wolf snarled at her on all fours, it's hulking form blocking the view from outside.

It took a step forward and both Amazons swayed. This thing had a Dampening Stone too.

"Annabelle!" Amaya cried, her voice frantic. " _Where are you?_ "

The red-eyed wolf lurched forward to attack. Lance squeezed the trigger. One shot bit into the wolf's shoulder blade, then one to its face, but the bullets didn't stop it. Lance gritted her teeth and aimed her next shot at its chest.

The closer it got, the more her arm shook.

Annabelle was panting harshly, her knees were shaking.

The metal wolf jumped, it's teeth leaking black oil, and Lance took her shot. The thing twitched and in a blink, Lotor was there, grabbing the metal wolf by its neck, and throwing it against the wall with a battle cry.

The metal wolf landed on its side, shook his head, and launched itself at them again but a red fireball hit it on the face and the thing fell to its side so hard the floor shook. Zooey and Amaya emerged from the hall, the Valkyrie already raising her weapons to whack the creature as Amaya headed for her sister.

"Are you guys okay?" Lotor panted, his black silk pajamas torn in certain spots. Lance offered a shaky nod. "There's more coming," Lotor continued as the Valkyrie joined them, the metal wolf's head crushed where it lay. Her friend produced a tiny glowing object. Lance's eyes widened. Lotor saw her look and grimly nodded. "It's a tracker. They must have attached it when they were chasing us."

"But we scanned the ship for any trackers and we found none." Amaya gasped, her hands clenched around her sister's shoulders. "How could we have missed this?"

Zooey summoned a ball of flame in her palm and leaned closer to inspect the thing. "It doesn't look like any tracker _I've_ ever seen."

"Either way," Lotor crushed the device under his boot. "We can't stay here. They know we're here."

"Can't we just fly away?" Annabelle whispered, her pale hands clenching both Lance's and Amaya's.

Lotor shook his head, one hand gripping his dagger as he began to walk towards the cargo bay. "They took out one of our engines and the three podships we had were messed with." He gave them all a grim look. "We'll have to go by foot."

Lance and her friends grimly nodded and followed after their leader, a quick scan of their bracelets had them all changing clothes to something more appropriate. Black shirt, black pants, black everything. Within minutes they were sprinting out of the ship, no ball of flames, no sparks of electricity to light their way. Just Lotor and his night vision guiding them through the dark forest.

The blue and red moon high in the sky was beautiful. There was a small breeze rattling the leaves of the trees. It's a shame that they had to be attacked on a beautiful night like this.

Zooey wanted to fight. Lotor convinced her not to. There were too many and they had three fighters that couldn't fight back. It was too risky.

It wasn't long before half a dozen red-eyed metal wolves showed up. Their eyes were everywhere. Footprints marched along, their gate sounding off; fighting drones. Lance and Amaya opened fire when they got too close. Keith was trying to talk to her. He sounded frenzied. Lance didn't respond. Didn't let him in her thoughts. What if she got injured? She didn't want him getting hurt on her account.

That angered him.

Lance winced. She didn't want him to worry any more than he already was.

Lotor let them through thick bushes, narrow openings that had them sucking in their guts just to fit. The forest became denser. The footsteps and the howling of the bots behind them began to fade. Had they lost them? They'd been running for a while. How long had it been? Minutes? Hours?

She didn't know. But she was growing tired. A glance at her companions confirmed that they were reaching their limits as well.

Perhaps they could find a cave.

Some kind of shelter, just so they could rest their bodies.

There was a howl in the air and something jumped down from one of the threes and straight toward Amaya. The silvered haired Amazon's green eyes widened before she pushed her sister away a second before the huge body of the metal wolf landed on top of her.

Amaya's pale hands went toward its snout when the metal bot lunged for her throat. Her hands were shaking. Zooey took out her mace, Lotor brought his dagger, and Lance took Annabelle's hand, gripped her gun blaster with the other and began to shoot.

The metal wolf roared, its spiky tail whipping towards them in anger. Zooey moved to the side, her mace lifted before she let her weapon fly towards the wolve's side, sending the creature a few feet away.

Footsteps and the cocking of guns had Lance pushing Annabelle behind her, her gun blaster already shooting. Three fighting drones went down, their red eyes going dim as they twitched on the ground one, twice, and lay still.

Lotor moved to their side, but before he could another metal wolf emerged from the tall grass, its eyes on Amaya who had just gotten to her feet. Lotor tackled the girl to the floor as another fighting drone had been preparing to shoot her from behind. Zooey went to deal with the new metal wolf, the heat of her flames making Lance squirm but at least it provided them with light.

Her jaw clenching, Annabelle summoned her bow and arrow from her own bracelet and began to fire. She wasn't as good as Lance, but her shots made contact every now and then, keeping the fighting drones away.

The ground began to shake.

And then a giant red eye was looking down at them. Lance's bad feeling intensified. Her thoughts went to Captain Cedric and his crew. Most of them had given Lance their code numbers, had insisted she give them a call if she was ever in trouble.

Well, this certainly counted as one.

Her finger tapping at her bracelet, Lance scrolled down to the contacts beginning with C and without looking typed in S.O.S and hit send.

Hopefully it'd reach the Captain.

And hopefully, they would come.

The thing that emerged from the trees was a robeast only this one wasn't flying. Its form was thinner; it looked like a fighting drone except for its face. Its red eye glowing, it lifted both arms, two gun blasters in its grip, and opened fire.

Lance and her friends rolled in random directions.

Most of the metal wolves and fighting drones were hit in the process but the robeast didn't stop firing. Lance and her friends moved once again. Zooey turned her wings into steel when she wasn't fast enough; the bullets pinged off her wings and fluttered to the ground.

The robeast turned to her and Annabelle; the blue-eyed Amazon gripped her pale hand and urged her to move. They were doing fine. Whenever a new metal bot showed up, Lance and her friends took cover behind them before moving once the robeast turned in their direction.

The thing kept destroying its companions but it didn't seem to care.

Perhaps they could do this after all.

It wouldn't be long before the robeast ran out of bullets right?

They just needed to hold out a little longer and –

Annabelle tripped on the wet mud below her and fell to the floor just as Lance was mid-leap. The robeast turned its attention to her, Amaya cried out, but Lance was already moving. She slid to the ground and hurled her arms around the little girl just as Zooey and Lotor tackled the robeast to the floor.

Its shots were thrown at the sky.

No one saw the new fighting drone appearing just a few feet in front of Lance and Annabelle until Lance shot to her feet, ready to pull the little girl toward her sister, until a shot rang out and pierced the right side of Lance's hip.

A flower of blood bloomed on her black shirt. Her hand trembling, she reached for the wound, confused, before hot white pain overtook her senses and she fell to the floor with a scream.

She'd been shot before but the pain she was feeling was worse than all the other times. Why did it feel like she couldn't breathe? Why was she so hot? Her head swam, she couldn't breathe, it wasn't right, _it wasn't right –_

Annabelle screamed her name.

 _Something was wrong._

It felt like her energy was being sucked dry. She lost all sensation of electricity. The comforting feeling of her healing abilities. Her ice. All gone. Like a candle snuffed out, unable to spark and burn.

She couldn't breathe.

Someone was screaming her name inside her head.

Unwillingly, her hands circled her wrists where the manacles used to be. She knew they weren't there. She knew she wasn't thinking clearly but all of a sudden it felt like she was back to where she was all those months ago. Locked in steel box, manacles on her wrists, black stones sucking away at her energy. Keeping her prisoner. Keeping her powers captive behind a locked door.

So close.

They were so close.

But no matter how much Lance banged at that door, pleaded for entry, the door remained lock.

And with it, her powers remained away from her reach.

Her body turned blistering hot and Lance curled in on herself, her hands going for the wound but it felt like her hands would melt off as soon as she touched the scorching skin. Black veins marked the area. Was that smoke coming out of her wound? Was she burning from the inside?

 _What was going on?_

Her breaths coming in quick successions, Lance clawed at the ground and whispered one word. " _Keith_ …"

* * *

Back at the Castle of Lions, Keith screamed.

* * *

The minute that shot rang out and Lance dropped to the ground screaming, Lotor knew something was wrong. It was a terrible scream, as if she were dying. It was a scream of horror and pain and misery. Normal bullets couldn't pierce an Amazon's skin. But with all these metal bots carrying around Dampening Stones on their chests, Lance and the other two Amazon's skin had turned to putty.

They'd become _normal_.

But the way his friend was screaming, like she was _dying_ , had Lotor paling. Zooey summoned a wall of flame to keep the other bots away and the two sprinted toward their friend, Lotor kneeling at her side, his shaking fingers pulling back Lance's shirt to inspect the wound.

Lotor took a sharp breath.

No one spoke as they stared at the black veins that had appeared around the wound. Lance's skin felt like it was burning. The only one who could touch her for too long was Zooey and she already looked deathly pale.

The tension was palpable.

"You're okay. You're going to be…" Lotor trailed off. The wound felt like it was pulsing, Lance's blood was turning dark.

"Take it…out…," Lance gasped, her hands going to her wound before they recoiled as if burnt. Her eyes were round and her cheeks were wet.

"I-I can't," Lotor whispered. Amaya ripped her sleeve and tried to wrap it around the wound but her hands recoiled. Her hands were smoldering. She quickly wiped them in the dirt.

Lotor turned to Zooey. Her face unsure, she took the cloth from Amaya and wrapped it as best as she could with trembling fingers. Lance cried.

"Take it out," Lance said again, more insistently.

Lotor gulped. They couldn't do that. Not while they were being chased.

"Please," she begged. Lotor was about to give in, because watching Lance beg and cry as she writhed on the floor was too much for him but before he could, Zooey barked out a warning and Lotor could hear the sound of more footsteps, this time accompanied by Galra cruisers.

The Galra Prince clenched his teeth and scooped his friend up, Lance cried out with a whimper. His hands felt like they were on _fire_. "I'm going to get you out of here Lance," he said, her name overtaken by a sob.

God.

The blood was sticky and damp, the wound deep, could it have punctured an organ?

How long did Lance have?

His arms shaking, he secured his hold on her and began to move. "Zooey, give us cover." He turned to Amaya and Annabelle, the two looking on the verge of tears. "I want you two to go ahead of us, the farther you are from those crystals the more effective you'll be able to cover us."

The two nodded, Amaya gripped her sisters' hand and the two began to run ahead of them, gun blaster and a bow and arrow in their respective hands. Lotor's bracelet beeped.

It was Keith.

His jaw clenching, he put it on mute and ran, Zooey covering them from behind with balls of fire. They had to get away from their pursuers. If they could find a way to lose them, find some shelter, then he'd be able to calmly take out the bullet still lodged in his friends' side and then Lance could heal herself properly.

But where?

Where could they hide?

His blue-yellow eyes frantically looked at his surroundings, desperately hoping that there was a place they could hide from their enemies _and_ help Lance. Lotor had never moved so fast in his life. He suspected his companions hadn't either judging by the harsh panting they were doing.

But no one complained.

No one stopped.

Lights beamed down on them and Lotor cursed as his gaze went upward. There were at least eight battle cruisers in pursuit. Zooey was getting tired, but she kept throwing out fireballs, kept hitting metal bots with her mace when they got too close.

Amaya and Annabelle opened fire on the cruisers, at anything that jumped out at them. They weren't the best when it came to aiming but at least it caused their enemies to back away. They'd passed all the trees now and were in an open field. The grass here a little more tamed.

Amaya and Annabelle cried out at the front and the Galra Prince came to a sudden stop at the dozen of Galra standing in front of the two Amazons. All of them sporting a Dampening Stone in the chest of their armor.

They were trapped.

The Galra cruisers stopped above them, throwing out ropes for more Galra to drop down. Zooey put her back to Lotor, her breaths heavy and her green eyes narrowed.

Lance was shaking.

"Well," a woman with a purple Mohawk drawled. "If it isn't Prince Lotor?" her smile was cruel as she looked at his companions. "I see you've made new friends."

"What the hell do you want?" Zooey snapped, her hands clenching her weapon.

The Galra woman smiled, her yellow eyes twinkling. "It's not what _I_ want," the woman said. "It's what Lord Zarkon and Lady Haggar want."

"Let me guess," Lotor spat, his hands tightening on his friend. His fingers had gone numb. "My imminent death?"

"Well yours yes," the woman nodded but then her gaze went to Lance and the smile she gave Lotor's friend made him want to punch her. "But her? Well, Lady Haggar has plans for her." Her hands at her hips, the woman took a step closer, Lotor and his companions took a step back. "I see your friend has been shot." Lotor tensed. "How do you like our new bullets? They're specifically made for Amazons you know."

"What did you do to our princess?" Amaya spat, her hands clenching at her sides.

"See, the druids made these bullets themselves," the woman crooned. We turned the Dampening Stones to bullets," Lotor and his companions paled. "And you know what else they can do? Besides keep Amazons from using their powers and slowly dying if not taken out quickly?"

No one answered.

The woman clicked her tongue and produced a small rectangular object. It looked like a remote. She lifted it towards Lance with a smile. "Watch."

The woman pressed a button and Lance threw her head back with a howl of pain. Lotor lost his grip on her, and Lance would have fallen if Lotor hadn't caught her at his side. His friend clawed at her hip and Lotor turned, his eyes widening in horror as _something_ began to move from her hip to the spot near her belly button.

Was that the bullet?

Was the commander making it move?

"Stop it!" Annabelle cried, her cheeks wet. "Stop hurting her!"

The commander lifted her finger and Lance's screams were cut short. "I can make it stop if you come with us willingly. It's your choice." She shrugged. "You could either come with us and we can save your friend or you can try and fight us and let your friend die." Her smile was wicked. "It's your choice."

"What do you want with us?" Amaya whispered. "What did you want with our mother?"

"Oh, sweetie," the woman said. "Beats me. Lady Haggar just wanted us to capture any Amazon that had powers. Wants to run a certain experiment. I don't know. I don't ask. We recently found out that some Amazons had left Cloyetera when they feel in love with a man. And any Amazon by themselves is always weak with no one to watch her back." She tapped at the gun blaster at her hip. "Plus, these babies take the fight out of them real quick."

The woman turned to Zooey, her gaze mildly curious. "As for you, well I don't know what you are but you definitely have powers. I'm sure Lady Haggar will have a great time trying to pry information from you."

Zooey bared her teeth at her.

Every Galra surrounding them turned their weapons on her.

The woman turned back to Lotor. "So, what's it going to be? You coming with us or are you all dying here?"

Lotor hesitated.

On one hand, if they went willingly and the Galra took out the bullet inside Lance, they could probably find a way to break out once she was better.

Maybe.

And if they decided to fight, Lotor was sure that Lance would be the first to go with just one click of the button.

"Don't do it," Lance whispered into his ear. Her blue eyes kept fluttering, like it was taking all her power to stay awake. "Just run."

Lotor inhaled sharply. He opened his mouth to argue –

"You know what?" the woman snapped. "You're all taking too long." She lifted the remote. "Maybe this will help you decide faster."

She pressed the button.

Lance's knees buckled and a sob tore from her throat as the bullet was moved further up. Annabelle began to cry. Amaya pleaded at them to stop and Zooey looked ready to murder them all.

And the whole time Lance was screaming, crying, clawing at her chest as the bullet moved higher and higher.

"Lance –" he cried.

"Don't!" she snapped at him through her tears. "Don't you dare give in!"

"But –"

"No!"

He didn't have a choice. He couldn't lose Lance. She was his friend. His _best_ friend. And watching her in so much pain was not something he could stand.

"Just help her!" Lotor yelled.

The woman smiled. "What was that?"

Lance's screams turned into painful sobs.

His voice breaking, Lotor dropped down to his knees and offered up his hands in submission. "We'll go with you! Just stop hurting her!"

The woman just stared, her finger still on the button, until finally, _finally_ , she released her hold and tilted her head with a warm smile that made him want to throw up. "Now was that so hard?"

Lance had lost consciousness; her form slumped to his side.

"I'm going to kill you," Zooey snarled as she and the other two Amazons dropped to their knees beside him. The Valkyries eyes portrayed nothing but hatred. " _That_ , I promise you."

The woman clicked her tongue. "You? Kill me? Commander Gnaz?" she took a few steps closer and looked down her nose at the Valkyrie. "Good luck with that."

A Galra ship bigger than any of the other cruisers landed on the ground. Commander Gnaz snapped her fingers at the Galra behind her. "Take them away."

Manacles were brought out, and six men stepped forward, their smiles wicked and cruel, when a shot rang out and hit one of the battle cruisers, sending the thing crashing to the ground.

"What now?" Commander Gnaz whirled, her hand going to her weapon when a giant golden ship emerged from the forest, its sails black with a skeleton on full display.

Everyone gaped.

The ship opened fire again, the sound deafening as it brought down two more Galra cruisers.

"Take the prisoners into the ship!" Commander Gnaz snapped at her gaping soldiers. "Damn pirates!"

Ropes were brought down from the golden ship and Zooey took the chance to hurl a fireball at Commander Gnaz. The woman stumbled back, her hands going to her hair as it caught on fire.

Men with eyes patches and pirate hats dropped down from the golden ship, all of them with swords drawn and a battle cry at their lips.

"Climb aboard!" a familiar voice shouted.

Lotor turned to see the man Lance had won her hoverboard from. The man's green hair was tucked under a pirate hat as he dropped from the rails and began to shoot at any Galra that approached his ship. The golden ship landed on the ground, a ramp was lowered, and the Captain cursed at them to get their legs moving.

Lotor usually didn't trust pirates but Lance had said that she'd become friends with them. And that was good enough for Lotor.

Scooping his friend up, he clutched her to his chest so tight he could feel the faint flutter of her heartbeat even through the layers of clothes he was wearing. Or maybe he was imagining that. Maybe it was his own heartbeat, erratic and desperate that he could feel.

The two Amazons ran after him, shooting at anyone that attempted to follow. Commander Gnaz was growling and cursing behind them. Lotor stepped on the ramp and ran inside, his companions sprinting in after him.

"Zooey!" Lotor barked at the Valkyrie. The red haired woman glanced at him before she brought her hands down and conjured up a giant wall of flames, the thing so high and hot that it had the Galra scrambling backwards.

Her face etched in a snarl, Commander Gnaz lifted the remote in Lance's direction, her finger on the button when an arrow pierced her hand courtesy of Annabelle and Zooey threw a ball of flame at the device.

It was nothing but ash by the time it landed on the floor. With a last smirk, Zooey flew over to them, her black wings flapping frantically.

Making sure the rest of his crew was already inside, the green haired Captain with the one eye gave the order to move out.

"We need a healing pod!" Amaya shouted.

"We don't have nay healing pods!" The Captain barked at her, his gaze still on the enemy as his gun blaster threw out shot after shot.

"I need a doctor then!" Lotor shouted once they were in the air. The remaining Galra cruisers in pursuit.

The men stared.

" _NOW_!"

Swallowing, a man with pink skin and three eyes stepped forward, barking orders at a few other men. Lotor crouched down, holding Lance's body away so he could inspect her. His hands were covered in dark blood. The pallor of her skin was what terrified him the most, black veins had made it to her face, the way he could barely see her chest moving, until he couldn't see it moving at all.

" _What's taking so long?_ " Zooey screamed, just as two men stepped forward with a gurney. Everyone who wasn't shooting with the giant cannons at their pursuers stepped back. As gently as he could, he carried Lance to the gurney himself, setting her body as carefully as he could.

"Get her to the infirmary!" the man with the pink skin ordered. The two men carrying the gurney nodded and began to move toward a set of double doors, Lotor made as if to follow but was stopped by a hand at his chest. "I'm afraid you can't come back here."

Hot, furious tears blurred Lotor's vision.

"What's her blood type?" the man snapped at him.

Lotor blinked. "What?"

"Her blood type!" the man shouted.

"AB."

The man nodded. "Anyone who has type AB blood come forward, you're all going to donate."

Five men disappeared with him through the double set of doors.

"Captain!" a man shouted at the helm. "We can't lose them!"

The Captain turned from one of the cannons, raked his orange eyes toward his surroundings before pointing at somewhere in the distance. "There! Hide through the thick forest there and put the cloaking on!"

"Aye sir!"

The ship tilted to the right and Lotor and his companions had to hold on to the railings lest they fall. Two cannons were fired at the back and black thick smoke trailed after them. It was still nighttime and the smoke made it hard for anyone to see already.

The ship disappeared through the thick grass, the bottom of the ship scraping as it went lower and lower and into the forest before the cloaking machine was turned and two of the cannons were thrown in the air, forming a wall of black smoke that contained the illusion of the ship among the smoke.

The Galra ships flew over them in pursuit, not knowing that the real ship was actually just below them. Everyone waited with baited breath; no one ever dared to breathe hard, until the Captain gave the order to move out ten minutes later.

Lotor and his companions slumped on the floor.

How was Lance doing?

Had they gotten the bullet out? Was she able to heal herself now?

The Captain stood in front of them as the ship sailed low in the opposite direction of the Galra cruisers. "Now, then," the man looked down his nose at them all, his orange eye narrowed to slits, "Want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

* * *

Keith's heart pounded. He gripped the doorframe of the hangar bay door until his knuckles went white, his eyes furrowed. They'd just returned from their mission when Lance's fear ran through their bond.

Something was wrong.

He concentrated, closing his eyes to see through Lance's eyes. It took a little while longer than he would have liked, Lance was trying to keep him out, but she was busy. She was running, he could feel the strain on his own legs as if it was he doing the running.

Something was chasing them. Something frightening enough that it made Lance run faster. She wanted to go away. She _had_ to.

"Keith?"

The red paladin ignored the concerned voice of his brother and concentrated harder. He wanted to _see_. He had a bad feeling. His lungs felt like they were full of lead, his feet felt like they were chained to the ground.

Come on.

Almost –

There.

Metal wolves were chasing after Lance and her companions. Fighting drones were shooting at them. Galra cruisers followed them from the sky. Lance's fear spiked. She was holding someone's hands.

A little girl.

She had to protect the girl.

Had to keep her safe.

Keith called out to her but Lance didn't respond. Something else had emerged, a robeast, only different in design began to shoot at them. Lance and her companions leaped, dodging as best as they could. The Valkyrie Princess and Lotor found an opening and tackled the robeast to the floor.

Her heart pounding, Lance got to her feet and extended a hand to the little pale girl when a shot rang out and he and Lance cried out at the same time as a bullet ripped through Lance's skin. Keith's knees buckled.

The Blue Lion roared in rage.

Lance began to scream and a moment later the red paladin joined her. Something was wrong with this bullet. It wasn't right.

It wasn't –

He heard Shiro and the others calling out to him, felt hands on his shoulders. Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes, he choked back a small noise that might have been 'Lance' as his mind left hers but the pain remained.

"Keith! What's going on?" Shiro's voice reached his ears, but he couldn't bring himself to respond. Someone was moving Lance. Every movement had her crying out and Keith limbs shaking.

The red paladin punched in Lance's code numbers. She didn't answer. He tried Lotor. No response either.

"Keith, please talk to me, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong!"

Keith clenched his teeth and shot to his feet unsteadily, backing away from Shiro and towards Red. "It's Lance! She's –" his eyes swam and before he realized it the tears were running down his cheeks. "She's hurt –"

He took another step forward when the pain suddenly intensified and Keith dropped to the floor with a howl. It felt like a hot poker was playing around with his intestines. His nails scraped the floor, crawling with all his might towards Red. He had to get to Lance. He had to take Red and find Lance.

He called out to his mate but Lance's thoughts were in a frenzy. Nothing but pain greeted him. "I have to go to her!"

The pain shot from his hip to his chest as if in slow motion, leaving nothing but a burning feeling in its wake. Keith's skin felt like it was on fire.

Shiro's eyes were wide, and behind him Hunk and Matt were calling Lance from their bracelet. Keith wanted to tell them that it wouldn't matter. Lance was in no state to answer.

The black paladin's eyes were wide, and before he knew it, Keith was pressed firmly against Shiro's chest as he trembled. The tears wouldn't stop. "We'll find her Keith," Shiro whispered, one hand pressed to the back of Keith's head as another shudder rocked through his body. "We'll all go." His brother turned to his girlfriend. "Allura?"

The Altean Princess nodded, and she and Coran disappeared to the bridge. The feeling of a hot poker going through his organs faded and Keith took a lungful of breath. Lance was still in pain. He could feel her heartbeat slowing but she was alive.

Barely.

But alive.

When he felt that he could stand, Shiro looked down at him and helped him to his feet. Keith rubbed at his palms against his eyes, wiping away the tears. "I'll be fine."

Shiro gripped his shoulder. Walking was a pain in the ass but through sheer will, he managed to follow his brother and the rest of his friends to the bridge where Allura and Coran were already typing in the coordinates to planet Zenith.

"I'm afraid I'll only be able to get us a few miles away from planet Zenith," Allura warned them. "But once we wormhole there, what direction should we go? Do you know where she is?"

"What if we follow the signal from her bracelet?" Pidge piped in as she strapped herself to her seat, Matt standing behind her with clenched fists.

"There's no need," Keith managed to gasp out as Shiro helped him to his seat. There were hands on Lance. She was being carried somewhere else. A shudder ran through him. "I'll find her. As soon as we reach the planet I'll know where she is."

"Are you sure?" Hunk turned to him. The yellow paladin's eyes were narrowed, both and anger and worry for his best friend.

"I'm sure." His tone left no room for argument. He said it like it was a matter of fact. The Galra in him was sure that he could find his mate anywhere if he concentrated.

"All right then," Shiro turned to Allura and Coran who nodded. "Let's go rescue our friend."

Allura summoned a wormhole and they were off.

Keith clenched his teeth together.

 _Hold on Lance. I'm coming._

Lance didn't respond.

* * *

Council meetings were a drag most of the time. Queen Lexi knew this. Someone would suggest a new law and people would either vote yes or no. Most of the time, they came to blows when they couldn't reach a decision.

And it's during those times that Queen Lexi had to intervene. She already had to deal with her children's own tantrums, she didn't need to be stopping fights for grown women as well.

But apparently she did, because no one else was going to do it.

The only law that she herself wanted to be passed was the law that allowed men to stay in Cloyetera. 'Men aren't supposed to step foot in Cloyetera' her mother would say, 'They can't be trusted.'

Well, yes. Not _all_ of them could be trusted.

But the ones that her fellow Amazon's fell in love with would surely be a good addition. She was tired of having friends leave their home planet because they'd fallen in love with a man during a mission and did not wish to part with them.

Most women were still distrustful of men. Some didn't have good experiences with them. But that's exactly why she'd let the red paladin stay in Cloyetera under her protection a year ago. She'd seen through his memories and known that despite having a foul mouth on him, he was nothing but an awkward teenager.

Having him stay in Cloyetera for those first two weeks had been a sort of test. A test to prove that not all males were bad.

And as she predicted, the test went very well. The women, though not totally relaxed around him, had stopped pointing their weapons at him. They'd even joined him in conversation. And when the rest of his friends had arrived? The results got better.

By the time her husband and her sons had arrived, most women didn't even bat an eye. The ones she really had to convince were the Valkyries. Some were still doubtful but they would come around soon. In just a few more months they would take a vote with all the Amazons, Valkyries, and the Mer.

Such a big decision had to involve everyone.

She couldn't wait.

But for now, the current law that wanted to be passed was…kind of amusing.

Her eyes blinking slowly, Queen Lexi turned to the Amazon that had spoken and asked her to repeat herself. "What did you say?"

The woman blushed at all the stares she received before squaring her shoulders and looking Queen Lexi in the eye where she sat on her throne a floor above them. "I said, I really think the law for cursing should be lifted."

The crowd broke into murmurs.

Lexi waved at her to continue. "Because?"

The woman blushed some more, her pink hair turning blue. She twiddled her thumbs before shouting. "Because it would be really nice to say the 'F' word whenever I stub my toe instead of the usual 'fudge nuggets' and 'son of a gun!' and not get the silent treatment from everyone who heard me!"

Don't laugh Lexi. Don't you dare laugh.

"It just doesn't have the same impact you know?" the woman continued. "And getting the silent treatment for cursing is bad too!" she began to pace, the crowd parting for her as they looked at her with wide eyes. "Like, I'd rather get all my hair chopped off then get the silent treatment."

A few women nodded in agreement.

"I'd rather get all my nails pulled out then an endure a few days of no one paying attention to me or talking to me. Like, what am I supposed to do when I watch my drama and I can't discuss it with anyone because I let out a filthy word and I'm being punished for it?"

"She's right!" someone shouted.

"Tell it how it is girl!"

"Let us curse!"

Were these ladies being serious?

"So in conclusion," the woman who had first spoken continued. "I would like the law of cursing to be lifted. No more silent treatments either."

Queen Lexi licked her lips before looking over the crowd. "Is everyone in agreement with the law of cursing to be lifted? Say aye."

"Aye!" Everyone shouted.

Lexi clasped her hands on her laps. "Very well then. The law for cursing has been lifted." Cheers broke throughout the council room. She held up a hand for silence. "But remember, we're still ladies so try not to overdue it." Women nodded in agreement. "And if anyone curses too much they'll be forced to watch a list of bad movies."

The women went still.

"What kind of movies?" a petite blond bravely asked.

Queen Lexi brought out a list. "I'm so glad you asked." She cleared her throat. "Those who curse too much will be subjected to the torture of watching Dumb and Dumber –"

"The horror!"

–"Chuckie's Bride –"

"Oh, that ones not too bad."

–"The musical."

"No! Not the musical!"

"And the series of Keeping up with the Kardashians."

Women shouted in outrage.

"You've gone too far your majesty!"

"That's beyond torture!"

"Yeah, just chop off our hair!"

Queen Lexi fixed her fellow sisters in arms with a cool look. "Do you want the ban on cursing to be lifted or not?"

"…We do."

"Good." Lexi clapped her hands in delight. "The motion is passed. Cursing is once again allowed." She stood up from her seat. "Now then, this council meeting is now adjo –"

The doors were suddenly slammed open and in came two sprinting women in lab coats, their eyes frantic. "Your highness, Princess Leah's ship has stopped working!" Lexi paled. "There was damage to the ship and the occupants vitals have disappeared!"

"What?" a male voice snapped and everyone turned in the crowd to see Mikey McLane remove a blue hood where he'd been hiding among the crowd. Had he been here this whole time? "What do you mean the occupants vitals have _disappeared_?"

The woman with hot pink hair took out her portscreen with shaking fingers. "W-we lost the signal from the ship so we changed to monitor their bracelets and –" She shook her head. "It's not good. Princess Leah's vitals are rapidly going down and everyone else's heart rates are spiking through the roof!"

Mikey whirled on her, his blue eyes were blazing. "This is why I told you I should have gone with her!" he turned on his heel.

Lexi somehow found her voice though it cracked. "W-where are you going?"

"To my sister!" Mikey snapped at her. "Where else?"

Lexi shook her head. "B-but she's so far away and you'll never make it –"

"I'm going to the Castle of Lions!" Mikey snarled at her. A few women flinched. "Keith and Leah are connected, which means that he already knows something is wrong and he's probably on his way!"

That's right.

She'd forgotten about the bond between her daughter and the red paladin.

"Now I'm taking my brothers and Lotor's generals and we're going to go save my sister!"

It was the last thing he said before he slammed the door behind him, the force of it making the door tilt to the right.

For a moment no one spoke.

Lexi's thoughts were going a hundred miles a minute.

Was her daughter okay?

What had happened?

Was this her fault?

"I think now would be a good use of the 'F' word." Someone mumbled.

Lexi shot her a glare.

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome!_

 _Are you guys ready for Season 8? Because I'm not ._

 _Here's hoping our Klance ship sails but I doubt it ._

 _A girl can hope though._

 _And remember that I'm also in Archives of Our Own under the same name!_


	42. Chapter 42

"She waited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room of the tallest tower, for her true love, and true love's first kiss."

\- Shrek

Chapter 42

Lance has been in surgery for almost eight hours now. Eight painfully, long, dreadful hours. The only reason Lotor knew was because of the time being displayed above the door of the swinging doors where she was being operated on. As soon as Lance had gone into surgery, the numbers had lit up.

Those hours felt like a lifetime though. He was deathly thirsty and couldn't find any saliva to wet his parched tongue. Sure, he could ask one of the crew members for some water but that would involve him getting to his feet and leaving the hall leading to the operating room.

It would have him leaving Lance's side.

He couldn't do it.

His friend didn't like being alone, and there was no way Lotor was going to do that.

He hadn't even removed his blood stained clothes.

After Lotor and his team had told the Captain of what had happened, their mission, getting chased and later getting ambushed in their own ship which led to Lance getting shot, the Captain had let out a long suffering sigh before he nodded, said he understood, and had left them alone.

Night had long since faded but it was still dark outside. They were in some kind of cave. The ship had docked on a lake inside before the crew had set up three sets of fire where they were cooking their meals. Lotor hadn't been paying attention. All he knew was that they were safe for the time being and that was all that mattered.

A glance to his left revealed Zooey with her back to the wall and her knees to her chest. Sitting beside her was Amaya and Annabelle, the latter already asleep. They'd been given beds to sleep in but no one in his team had wanted to leave their friend alone.

Dr. Evret, the pink three-eyed alien, had informed them that they'd had to open her up because the bullet had been moved further up and in doing so it had broken into smaller pieces. Amaya had been asked to come in and help them locate the rest of the pieces when they couldn't find them themselves.

When Amaya had come out, she'd thrown up. The action had everyone paling. There was a lot of damage, the silvered haired Amazon had said once she'd gotten herself under control. But with every piece that was removed, the higher the chances Lance would have in surviving.

Lotor, who was so used to just putting people in a healing pod whenever someone was injured, couldn't help but have doubts in Dr. Evret. The Captain assured him that the man was good but Lotor would feel a lot better if Lance was placed inside a healing pod instead. There wasn't one though. This was the best they could do.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Zooey spoke in a half-whisper. Her black wings wrapped around her body. Her green eyes were staring at the numbers above the wall where Lotor was sitting next to the swinging doors.

"She's going to pull through," Lotor said firmly. "Lance has been through a lot. She's strong."

Amaya lifted her head from where she'd been resting it on her sister's sleeping head and glanced up at the numbers being displayed on the door. "She _will_ pull through." She clenched her fist. "She has to."

No one said anything after that and three of them dissolved into silence once more. After another hour, the sound of footsteps had Lotor shooting to his feet and a moment later, Dr. Evret stepped out into the hall with a long weary sigh. "There," he took off his blood covered gloves and threw them into the wastebasket. "That's all I can do for her."

Lotor wet his lips and found that they'd begun to split from dryness. If Lance had been awake, she would have scolded him before giving him one of her spare lip balms. ("You're already pretty" she'd say "don't ruin it now by forgetting to put on something simple like Chap Stick.") "And?" Lotor said out loud. "Will she…is she going to be okay?"

"We'll have to wait and see. With the bullet and all it's pieces gone, her body has started to heal itself but with all the blood she lost…it's going slower than I'd like. I'll monitor her closely for the next few hours. We want to keep her sedated. I don't want her moving in her sleep."

Lotor and Amaya sighed in relief.

Annabelle tentatively smiled.

"Can –" Zooey wet her lips. "Can we see her?"

"In a little bit," Dr. Evret answered. "We'll be moving her to the Captain's room for now, bigger space." His pink eyes narrowed on them. "Have any of you had anything to eat yet?" No one answered. "How about some water, did you at least drink something?" When Lotor and his companions remained quiet yet again, Dr. Evret sighed and ran a hand through his short white locks. "Well get something now, otherwise I won't let you see your friend."

"You can't do that!" Zooey snapped at him, black wings spread wide in anger.

Dr. Evret stared at her with a cool gaze. "She's my patient. I can do what I damn well please."

Zooey snarled at him.

Lotor held a hand up in her direction. "We'll go." He and his companions headed for the stairs that would lead them to the upper deck before turning back, Zooey grumbling under her breath the whole time. "You'll let us know when she's been moved to the new room?"

Dr. Evret nodded. "I'll let you know." He waved a three-fingered hand at them in a shooing motion. "Now go, before I sic the Captain on you."

As soon as they stepped out into the upper deck, the cold black cave surrounding them, the gathered crew stood. Two of them broke from the group to greet them. "How is she?"

It took Lotor a while to realize that the man who had spoken was the same one who had yelled at Lance that she owed him a dollar. Maggs. His frog like face was scrunched up in worry. The rest of the crew stopped to listen, some stepping closer. The Galra Prince had to clear his throat twice before speaking. "Dr. Evret has done all he can for her. The rest is up to her."

The men deflated. The second one who had an eye patch on one eye and a cybernetic one in the other frowned. "Does she need more blood? The lads and I can donate some more."

"No, you will not." A booming voice startled them. It was Captain Cedric. His one orange eye narrowed, he glowered at his crew who shrank at his glare. "You've all donated more than enough, any more and _you'll_ be the ones in a sick bed."

"But sir –" a man with green fur all over his body argued.

"No buts." The Captain refuted him. "The Lass is strong. She'll pull through." The men begrudgingly nodded. Beside Lotor, Zooey watched them all carefully. The Captain turned his attention to Lotor and his group. "Now then, you lads better get some food and water in ya lest you make the Princess worry when she wakes up and sees the state y'all are in."

A part of him wanted to argue but the water they were handed was a blessed distraction. He drank until his stomach ached with fullness.

The crew seemed nice enough, they mostly left them alone, but Lotor could feel the presence of curiosity and stares closing in around him. His companions avoided the stares, well everyone except Annabelle, and unconsciously crept closer and closer against Lotor until he felt like he couldn't breathe. He didn't say anything though, even allowed the little Amazon to sit on his lap to her older sisters' horror.

"Thank you again for saving us," Lotor said when the stares finally got to him. The men closest to them jumped in embarrassment but sheepishly nodded.

"You should thank your friend," said the Captain. At the confused expression on Lotor and his companions, the Captain elaborated. "The Lass sent an S.O.S. signal to at least five of us. We followed the signal but only found a broken ship. If it wasn't for the shooting going on further ahead in the forest, we wouldn't have found you guys."

Lotor raised his brows. He hadn't known that.

Zooey snorted beside him. "Figures she'd call pirates for help."

"Anyway," the Captain shrugged. "Don't worry about your friend. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Yeah," one of the men with doggy ears piped in. "Evret's a good doctor, he'll watch her."

Lotor nodded, and a moment later a bowl of steaming food was passed to each of them, smelling of something spicy and rich. His companions hesitated and turned to him. Pulling the bowl closer, he took a few tentative sips before turning to his companions.

"It's safe."

That was all the confirmation they needed and in seconds the three women were scooping out chunks of yellow meat and devouring it like it was their last meal. The crew around them was sprawled on the deck, some sitting around the fires they'd set up around the cave where they were enjoying their own food with relish. Conversations started up and just like that they were left alone.

Though Annabelle made conversation with some of the men around them. She was curious about a lot of things and though the little girl threw question after question at the men, no one seemed annoyed. If anything, they seemed amused.

Dr. Evret showed up while they were finishing their third bowl and at the sight of him, Lotor and his companions shot to their feet. Looking satisfied that they'd at finally eaten, the man led them back down and instead of heading to the hall down the middle, they were led to the right one before stopping at a wooden door with a glass window.

The room was bathed in a warm yellow brown. A giant desk was set in the center, a red chair behind it, and behind that was two glass windows overlooking the outside. Neat books were piled on the desk, maps and a compass lying on top.

Dr. Evret bypassed all of that before heading to another door, this one golden, and stepped inside. The first thing Lotor saw was the machines. A heart monitor, an IV drip, a rolling cabinet with little vials and needles laid on top of a blue surgical gown.

But what caught Lotor's attention immediately was the glowing woman on the too big bed. Lance's healing power was so dim. Her hair looked almost dark against the white pillows she was lying on. There was an oxygen mask covering her nose and mouth, her skin was pale, and her chest rose and fell as she "breathed" with the help of the mask on her face. Lotor was relieved to see no more black veins around her face. Thick maroon blankets covered her up to her chin, and Lance who now usually slept with only the lightest of blankets because of her new temperature actually shook.

Dr. Evret clicked his tongue and put a pink hand to her forehead before placing another blanket over her body. Lance's shaking lessened just a bit. "She has a bit of a fever but I'm sure it'll go down."

Lotor slumped down onto the closest metal chair beside Lance's bed and slipped his cool hand into his friends overheated on, hoping she'd appreciate the touch, even though he wasn't Keith. His companions took a seat on her other side except for Zooey who opted to sit on the floor facing the bed, her back against the wall, her legs drawn up. She was staring at Lance.

Perhaps he should be worried about her being so quiet.

"Would you mind if we stayed with her?" Lotor asked, his gaze never leaving his friend. He'd never known Lance to be so still. So _quiet_. He ached to see Lance up and about, a teasing smile on her lips as she said something witty to get rid of the tension in the room.

Dr. Evret sighed but nodded. "I'll bring you lads a change of clothes." He turned to the door. "If you need me just tap the button on the desk and I'll come running."

And then he was gone.

"What do we do now?" Annabelle took hold of Lance's other hand and squeezed it. Her voice sounded so small. Amaya patted her hair in a soothing manner.

"Now," Lotor said into the silence. "We wait."

* * *

"Can't the castle go any faster?" Keith snapped for what seemed like the fifth time that day.

At the front where she was driving the palace, Allura shot him a glare. "No, we _cannot_." She snapped at him. "Pidge's system isn't used to cloaking the castle for so long, if we give more power to the boosters then the cloaking will disappear and the Galra will know that we are here!"

"Yeah!" Pidge piped in with a glare in the chair across from him. Keith glared right back. "And if _that_ happens, we'll be leading the Galra straight to Lance and her group! Do you really want to do that Keith?"

Keith knew they were right but damn it. It'd been two days already.

"I know how worried you are for Lance," Shiro said as he turned to him. "But we have to be careful. Try to calm down."

Keith's nostrils flared.

The city they'd passed had been displaying wanted pictures of Lance and her team. It seemed Keith and his team weren't the only ones looking for them. And just in case they needed to jump into action, everyone had changed into their armor.

"She's in good hands Keith. I'm sure Lotor and Zooey are helping her." Hunk tried next. Matt and Coran nodded. "We'll get there."

"I'm sure Prince Lotor is keeping her safe," Axca said to him where she stood next to her friends. Ezor, Narti, and Zethrid were both sprawled on the ground, the three of them playing a game of cards with Lance's brothers who had also arrived hours ago. Well, all of them except for Mikey who was pacing back and forth along with Adina.

"Oh, I hope her injuries aren't too bad," the black haired Amazon was saying as she paced along with Mikey, a hand to her chin as her brow furrowed. "Hopefully whatever she received hasn't become infected." She stopped and her hazel eyes grew wide in panic. "Oh, what if it _has_?" she began to furiously tap at her wrist where her bracelet was. "Did I bring all the antibiotics? Oh my gosh. I _forgot_ them didn't I?"

"Adina." Reyna's stern voice had the black haired Amazon stopping in her tracks. Her gaze gentle, Reyna placed a comforting hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. "You brought everything. I'm sure. You didn't forget anything." Adina opened her mouth to argue when Reyna continued. "I was there. We had a checklist and you and Olwen both double-checked everything before she let you go. Now stop pacing, you'll need all your strength if you want to help our Princess."

Adina took a long shuddering breath before nodding once. Reyna took her hand and made her sit down next to her and Cesti who was looking at the view outside with wonder. The whale like creatures flying around were interesting to look at the first time, now he'd lost interest.

"I should have gone with her," Mikey cursed as he continued to pace. The older man was stiff, his dark blue eyes were narrowed, and a tic had formed on his jaw. "I shouldn't have listened to mom and gone ahead to look for her anyway. Now my baby sister is injured somewhere and I'm over here pacing while she's out there dying!"

"She's not dying," Keith mumbled. Lance's energy was subdued. It felt almost numb. But Keith knew she alive, barely, but alive. Wherever she was, he suspected she was heavily sedated. Lotor hadn't called him back but according to the logs that Aiden received from the engineering department where it displayed not only Lance's vitals but Lotor's and the Valkyrie Princess as well, the Galra Prince was doing fine.

If Lance were in danger, or if the Galra Prince himself was in trouble, then Lotor's pulse would have skyrocketed.

Right?

"Keith's right," Aiden added as he stole a glance to the portscreen he'd placed on the floor next to him before returning his gaze to the cards in his hand. "Leah's heart _is_ slow, but it doesn't seem to be getting any lower." He patted the floor next to him. "Now stop pacing and take a seat before you burst a blood vessel."

"Screw you Aiden!" Mikey barked at his brother.

"Come on Mikey," Kyrian pouted at him.

"Yeah," Cole said next. "Take a seat."

"Please Big Brother?" Alan looked up at his brother with pleading eyes.

Mikey hesitated. He'd always been weak when his siblings pulled out the 'big brother' card on him.

"Mikey," Aiden tried again, his tone soft. "Sit down."

His face a little more calm, the older McLane sibling took a seat next to his brothers and leaned on the wall, one knee up to his chest where he rested his hand. "You guys aren't playing fair," Mikey grumbled. "I just feel so useless." He said, his tone deep and miserable.

"We're almost there," Keith said, his gaze turning to Mikey. "I can feel it."

"He's right," Pidge added with another glance at her tablet.

Mikey nodded, but his brow was drawn.

Sighing, Keith let his gaze travel from Allura to Coran, Pidge and Hunk, Matt and Shiro, to Mikey's brother's and Lotor's generals, and finally to Reyna and the two other Amazons. All waiting anxiously, all determined that their friends were okay wherever they were.

He hoped Lotor was all right as well. The Valkyrie Princess too; granted Keith didn't know her and he wasn't sure how to feel about someone who used to bully Lance but the Amazon Princess seemed to like her.

All was silent as they followed the directions Keith and Pidge kept pointing them at, the beeping of Pidge's tablet where it showed Lance's coordinates the only sound in the ship. Keith didn't know what he and his friends were going to find once they found their friends. Visions of Lance and her companions, mangled and bloody, kept flashing in his eyes. Lance was clearly sedated and the bond between them felt numb.

With Lance's body drugged, Keith couldn't tell how bad her injuries actually _were_. And what about Lotor? The Galra Prince hadn't called him back. His heartbeat was steady so either he was sleeping or he was knocked out.

"Guys?" Hunk's awed voice snapped him out of his daze. The Yellow Paladin was looking outside at something. His hand lifting, he pointed a dark finger at something in the distance. "Am I seeing things or are those furry yellow balls floating in the sky Susuwatari?"

The Aliens, he included, looked at him with furrowed brows.

Keith's face etched in confusion. "Susu what?"

Shiro's eyes lit up in recognition. So did Pidge and Matt who nodded eagerly.

Aiden and the triplets were explaining what a Susu whatever was to a frowning Mikey.

"You know," Hunk insisted with a flail of his arms. "Those little black things from _Spirited Away?"_

At Keith and the other's _still_ confused looks Hunk sighed in disappointment. "Oh man, when we finish this mission we're all having a movie night and watching that movie."

"It's a classic," Shiro agreed with a nod of his head.

"Shiro and I used to watch it a lot when we used to be roommates," Matt added with a nostalgic sigh. "Good times, huh buddy?"

The two shared a fist pump.

"Well," Allura cleared her throat. "Whatever they are, let's hope they're friendly because we're about to pass a whole heard of them."

She was right. Keith turned his gaze to look at the view outside. Hundreds of fur balls varying in colors of pink and yellow, to green and white were just floating in the air. For a moment Keith thought they were just giant balls but then the castle passed a few more and he saw the black beady eyes blinking owlishly at their surroundings.

"Aww," Hunk cooed as his eyes roamed over them all. "Aren't they cute?"

Keith's mouth turned to the side. He supposed?

"Do you think they're dangerous?" Mikey asked, his brows drawn.

"Nah," Kyrian shrugged. "They're too cute to be dangerous." He looked at his brothers. "Right?"

They shrugged.

"I don't trust them." Axca commented, her hand resting on top of the gun blaster strapped to her right hip. She narrowed her blue-yellow eyes at the floating creatures. "We should steer clear."

Narti nodded her head under her black hood.

"But they're so cute!" Ezor chirped where she watched behind Hunk's chair. Her baby blue eyes were wide with wonder. Behind her, one hand on Ezor's back was Zethrid, her smile fond and soft.

Keith's eyes went from one woman to other in confusion. He felt like he was missing something. Lance would probably fill him in about those two later.

Cesti suddenly shot to her feet, her green eyes narrowed. "We should move."

All heads turned to her.

Reyna and Adina got to their feet. The former spoke. "Cesti?"

"Do you know what they are?" Adina asked, her heart shaped face pinched in worry.

Cesti sharply nodded. She turned to Allura who was watching. "You can't let them touch the ship."

Hunk frowned. "Are they really that dan –"

Whatever else he was about to say turned into a startled yelp as a pink furry fur ball bumped into the screen at the front, and promptly exploded.

The castle reeled to the right, Keith and his companions yelled as Allura tried to steer them upright. Another fur ball, this one green, bumped the side of the ship before there was the sound of an explosion and Keith felt like his ears were ringing.

"They explode on contact!" Cesti shouted at them where she'd toppled to the floor.

"Gee," Mikey snarled at her where he lay covering all four of his brothers with his bid massive body. "You think?"

Shiro turned to Allura with gritted teeth. "Princess!"

"I'm on it!" Allura shouted back, her hands already moving to change directions.

"Guys?" Pidge looked down at her tablet. "According to my readings, Lance is very close!"

"She's right," Keith shouted, his hands clenching the edge of his seat as Allura tried to move the castle without using too much speed. The red paladin's eyes searched the area for any sign of his mate but all he could see were more and more of those colorful fur balls floating in the air.

They were obscuring their view.

Another white ball of fur must have bumped into them because there was another explosion and the ship reeled to the left. Alarm bells sounded off.

"Can't we just shoot them?" Zethrid snarled, her arms caging Ezor to the back of Hunk's chair lest she lose her balance. Axca and Mikey looked like they agreed with that idea too.

"That'll just make all the others explode!" Cesti shouted at her. The blonde Amazon was holding onto Reyna's left arm lest she fall. "They're pretty harmless, all they do is float wherever the wind takes them but if you bump into one they explode. If you shoot one then _all_ of them will explode at the same time! Just move away from them, they won't follow!"

"These are definitely not like the ones from _Spirited Away!_ " Matt wailed. "Those didn't explode!"

"Princess!" Coran shouted over the noise, his purple eyes were wide. "I'm sensing another ship close by!"

Allura's eyes got wide, but before she could turn to the Altean Advisor, another yellow ball of fluff floated dangerously close to them and Allura had to maneuver the ship a little lower lest the castle make contact with it. There were so many of them. "Where?"

There were mountains varying in colors, some were green, some were white with snow, and others had tress surrounded them.

Before Coran could answer, dozen of shots from below began to sound off and Keith let out another curse as gun blaster after gun blaster hit the bottom of the castle.

"If we keep taking any more hits the cloaking around the castle will disappear!" Pidge growled at them. "Who's shooting at us?"

"Coran!" Allura shouted. "Put the shooters on the screen!"

The Altean Advisor nodded, pressed a few buttons on the console he was standing in front of, and a second later an image of alien men with gun blasters in their hands was suddenly displayed on the corner of the screen. They looked to be standing just outside a volcano...

"Who the heck are they?" Reyna growled.

"Can we shoot them?" Mikey snarled.

"Wait!" Shiro shouted. "What if they're the ones who have Lance and her companions?"

Mikey and Keith tensed. The men down below didn't stop their shooting. With another curse, Allura put the particle barrier around the ship and the cloaking disappeared.

Matt let out a choking sound. "Is that a bazooka?"

"Nah," Reyna answered him. "We're in space. It's _worse_ than a bazooka."

Matt shot her a dark glare. "That doesn't make me feel better!"

Reyna shrugged.

Hunk gasped in his seat. "You mean they're holding them captive?"

Keith unstrapped himself from his seat and shot to his feet. Shiro shot him a dark look.

"I don't know if they're holding our friends captive," Pidge furrowed her brows. "But Lance is definitely here." She gazed at the picture displayed. "Maybe she's _inside_ the volcano?"

"Is that _safe_?" Matt bit his nails, his brown eyes wide.

"Should we get on our lions?" Hunk asked the black paladin.

Shiro shook his head. "There's too many of those floating fur balls, we won't be able to move as well as we'd like."

"Hey!" Reyna shouted. "Where are you going?"

Mikey didn't bother turning around as he made his way to the doors. Keith was by his side. "I'm going to kill all those men and find my sister."

"What he said." Keith nodded.

"Not alone you're not," Aiden grumbled as he and the triplets caught up to them. "We're going too."

"Guys!" Shiro stressed. "What happens if they _are_ holding Lance and her companions hostage?" Keith and Mikey scowled at him. "If you guys go down there then they might hurt them!"

"So what do you want us to do?" Keith barked at his brother. Lance was so _close_. He could feel her. The bond between them was flaring.

"Wait!" Axca suddenly shouted. "The shooting stopped!"

Keith blinked and turned back to the screen. Was someone was waving at them?

"Coran," Allura instructed, her tone a little weary. "Zoom in."

The Altean Advisor did as he was told and as the image got bigger, Axca and her companions gasped. "It's Prince Lotor!"

Everyone turned back to the screen and gasped.

It was true.

The Galra Prince was in front of the men waving his hands wildly in the air. The Valkyrie Princess was next to him, her hands clutching some sort of weapon. Despite looking tired and having his long silver hair a little unkempt, he looked mostly fine.

"Oh wow," Ezor whispered to Zethrid. "He _really_ let himself go."

Axca shot her a dark look even as Zethrid and Narti nodded along.

Keith turned to the Altean Princess. "Allura!"

"I'm already on it!" Allura grinned back, setting the castle as close to the volcano as they could. Surprisingly, the floating balls of fluff didn't follow them. They continued floating away without a care in the world in the sky.

Mikey and Keith were already exiting the ship before they fully landed. Aiden and his brothers, as well as Adina and Lotor's generals were close behind.

It was finally time to see Lance.

He just hoped she was all right.

* * *

The minute Lotor heard an explosion outside, he, Zooey, and Amaya were on their feet, weapons drawn, and faces pinched in anger.

Men shouted outside, the Captain's booming voice overtaken them all as he barked orders at his men.

Had the enemy found them already?

Would they have to go into battle? Would the ship need to be moved?

Lotor glanced at his sleeping friend, the oxygen mask still on her face helping her breathe, the green glow around her body still dim despite a full day passing since she'd been out of surgery. He didn't know if she was getting better or not but Lotor had seen Lance heal before and he knew for a fact that the green glow was usually much brighter.

Dr. Evret burst into the Captain's quarters and slammed the doors shut behind him.

"What's going on?" Lotor asked the three-eyed doctor.

"Did those bastards find us already?" Zooey snarled, her hands curled around her mace.

"I don't know," Dr. Evret answered as he made his way to the bed to check up on Lance. A pink three-fingered hand was laid on her forehead. He frowned. "Whoever is outside is cloaked but hopefully the Tricho Balls will take care of them."

"The Trico what?" Amaya asked with a shake of her head.

Dr. Evret made a noise at the back of his throat. "You didn't see them when we arrived but these balls float in the sky and if they bump into something, they explode."

"Is that what that explosion was?" Lotor asked as his eyes tracked the doctor's every move as he checked over his friend.

"Will we have to move?" Annabelle quietly asked, one hand still holding onto Lance's palm.

Dr. Evret shook his head. "She can't be moved. I've already told the Captain and the men are making their way outside. Hopefully we'll be able to take care of them before they can land."

Lotor took one step forward. "Then we'll help too."

"I'm in." Zooey slammed her mace into her other hand, her green eyes narrowed.

"That's actually a good idea," Dr. Evret nodded. "I'll keep watch over your friend."

Lotor turned to Amaya and Annabelle. "You two stay here, keep an eye on Lance."

The two Amazons nodded. Lotor and Zooey opened the doors and made their way to the deck. The sound of men shouting back and forth grew louder the higher they went. Once they'd reached the deck they were surrounded by a flurry of movement.

Another explosion sounded off from outside and the men cheered.

The fires that had been lit around the cave had been snuffed out; men carrying gun blasters were sent to the cave entrance, others were carrying rope ladders. The cave entrance was at the ceiling after all. And now that Lotor was getting a good look at it, how the heck had the pirates ship manage to get in? The entrance wasn't exactly big.

Lotor and Zooey found the Captain just as he was making his way down the ramp. "Captain," the man turned to them. "How can we help?"

"Get a gun," the man grunted before continuing on, the ends of his navy trench coat dragging on the floor. Lotor and Zooey followed after him. "And start shooting."

Another explosion, this one much closer, had the whole cave rumbling. Lotor swayed on his feet and almost missed the gun blaster one of the men threw at him before scurrying on. Zooey denied the gun she was offered with a wave of her hand.

As soon as their feet touched down on the ground they were running, Zooey flying alongside them, as they reached the rope ladders and began to climb up. Shot after shot sounded off as the rest of the crew fired away at whomever was outside.

Lotor's eyes widened once he was on his feet. Everywhere he looked were balls varying in color just floating in the sky. For a second he thought they weren't alive but then he took a closer look and noticed the black beady eyes blinking slowly.

Zooey was getting ready to take to the skies when the ship the men were shooting off put a particle barrier around itself and the cloaking around it disappeared. The Galra Prince's eyes widened in recognition.

"Stop your fire!" Lotor shouted at the men.

Zooey shot him an angry look.

Lotor didn't care as he ran to the rest of the men down the line. "Stop shooting!" they looked at him like he was crazy. "They're friends!"

"You sure?" the Captain asked as he turned to him. The rest of the men continued shooting.

Lotor nodded.

The man gave him a long look before clicking his tongue. "You heard the lad," he turned to his men. "Hold your fire!"

The order was passed along down the line and within moments the shooting stopped. Ignoring the strange look Zooey was throwing his way, the Galra Prince waved his arms in the air to get the attention of the Castle of Lions.

The particle barrier was removed and the ship began to make its way down to the right. Lotor tucked in the gun blaster he was given to his belt and took off running, the Valkyrie Princess hot on his heels.

Mikey and Keith were the first to get down before the ship even landed.

Mikey McLane scowled once he caught sight of Zooey behind him. "Did you hurt my sister you bitch?"

Zooey bristled. "What did you say to me?"

"Hey!" the Captain barked as he finally caught up to them. His one orange eye was narrowed and his face was etched into a scowl as he looked at Lance's older brother. "I don't care who you are, but you don't speak to a woman like that!"

"Who the hell are you?" Mikey snapped at him.

The men around the Captain stiffened at his tone.

"Mikey!" Aiden barked at his brother once he caught up to them. "Now is not the time!"

"It is if she hurt our sister!" Mikey scowled, standing to his full height and glaring down at the Valkyrie Princess with hate in his eyes.

Lotor glared at him. "Back off Mikey."

Despite the height difference, Zooey didn't back down. If anything, she looked angrier. "I didn't do shit to her."

"Says the girl who used to bully her!" Mikey snapped.

Zooey tightened her lips. She looked almost ashamed.

"Now is not the time!" Reyna snapped at the older McLane sibling. Her yellow cat eyes turned to Lotor. "Where's our Princess?"

Lotor opened his mouth "She's –"

"Where is she?"

The Galra Prince tensed. Keith's voice was rough and desperate. Lotor dared to meet his eyes. His brow was furrowed, his eyes looked wild. " _Where is she?_ "

Lotor swallowed, wishing that he could avoid this conversation. "I'll lead you to her."

Keith nodded and after glaring at the ground for a few seconds, he spoke up once again. "How bad is it? Her injuries?"

Lotor sighed. "Keith…"

The red paladin paled, his hands shook. When he spoke, his voice cracked. "Take me to her."

Lotor nodded and turned the way he had come. Zooey stuck close to his side, her spine stiff as the rest of the castle occupants made their way out and followed after them. Since someone had to stay and watch over the castle, Coran had stayed behind. The Captain and his crew watched them all with weary eyes, some with awe in their faces.

"Aren't those the paladins of Voltron?" Someone whispered.

"I think so."

"Where are the lions though?"

Lotor and his entourage ignored the whispers as they each made their way down the rope ladders leading to the cave and revealing the golden ship docked on the ground, the ramp already lowered to allow more passengers inside. His companions were oddly silent.

An entire crowd of men was gathered on the ground and on the ship. At the sight of them, they retreated, making space, or maybe afraid of being hit by Mikey McLane who glared at everyone standing in his way. Many weapons had lowered once the Captain arrived with Lotor and his entourage but not all.

Lotor didn't look back at his companions. He quietly made his way down the cold ground, climbed the ramp leading to the ship, and passed the swinging doors before turning to the right hall. He led them past the Captain's office and stopped before a golden door.

His hand on the knob, Lotor hesitated. He turned to his companions. "Just…be prepared."

His friends swallowed thickly and nodded. Lotor turned the knob to the side and opened the door.

Amaya and Annabelle shot up, weapons drawn. Dr. Evret spread his four limbs where he stood protectively over Lance. He didn't completely hide her from view though.

Keith and his companions took a sharp breath.

Adina gasped, a hand covering her mouth.

Amaya and Annabelle lowered their weapons after he gave them the okay and after a nod from the Captain, Dr. Evret stepped aside.

Lance looked like she was sleeping, except for the oxygen mask on her face giving her air to breathe. She was still slightly shaking and Lotor knew for a fact that her body was still hot to the touch because he'd been holding her hand not too long ago. The green glow of her healing power was still dim. As the seconds dragged by, the beep beep beep of the heart monitor next to her continued sounding off.

"Is –" Hunk swallowed, his dark eyes wide. "Is she okay?"

Keith took a step forward, then another, before making his way over to Lance's side, his hand going to her forehead, his face etched in anguish. Mikey dropped to his knees on her other side, his eyes wide with unshed tears.

The Black paladin moved to his brother's side and placed a hand on his trembling shoulders. Allura clenched Shiro's other hand in support.

"We had to open her up," Dr. Evret explained. "There was a lot of damage. But she _is_ getting better."

"You opened her up?" Adina whirled on him, her face etched in anger. A few people stepped back at the display. For as long as Lotor had known Adina, he'd never seen her actually get mad before.

"We had no choice!" Dr. Evret snapped at her. His three eyes narrowed. "We had to remove the bullet and all its pieces!"

Adina frowned. "Bullet?"

Lotor nodded with a sigh. "The druids have made new bullets." All eyes turned to him. "These are specifically made for Amazons." He licked his dry lips before continuing. "They're made out of Dampening Stones." The Amazons in the room turned pale.

"And that's not all," Zooey took over quietly. "They have these remotes that can move the bullets while they're inside someone's body."

"So when Lance got shot…" Matt slowly began.

"They made the bullet move when we didn't turn ourselves immediately." Amaya answered, her hands on Annabelle's shoulders.

"Who did this?" Keith demanded, his hands clenched into fists. He was furious. Something dark loomed behind those eyes of his.

"Some bitch named Commander Gnaz." Zooey answered.

"I'm going to kill her," Keith snarled.

"Yeah?" Zooey scowled. "Well get in line." She clenched her hands on her mace. "I want a piece of her too."

Mikey gave her a strange look but said nothing.

Adina sighed and pinched her nose. "All right, I understand why you had to open her up now." She shot a glare at the doctor. "I still don't like it," She turned her gaze to her friend and her face softened. "But I understand. Thank you for helping her."

Dr. Evret nodded. "She should be fine by now." he said.

"Should be?" Hunk echoed, his face going pale.

" _Will_ be." He hastily corrected.

Pidge's eyes grew wide. "So she's that bad?"

Everyone started talking at once, their voices rising in volume as panic began to seep in.

"She will be fine!" Dr. Evret shouted with a flail of his arms. "She's been doing well since her surgery."

"Shouldn't we be taking her to a healing pod?" Pidge asked no one in particular as Adina made her way over next to Mikey to inspect their friend.

Adina shook her head, her lips tightened as she moved her glowing green hands down the length of Lance's body. "Her organs suffered a lot of damage. We can't risk moving her."

"Can you help her?" Aiden asked, his blue eyes looking dim as he sat at the corner of the bed where his sister lay. The triplets crowded around him.

"I'll do my best," Adina replied as she took a seat on the chair that Reyna pulled for her. "Reyna?" The violet haired Amazon tilted her head. "I'm going to need a blood capsule, can you get it from my bracelet?"

Reyna nodded, her big tall body already tapping at Adina's right wrist to reveal the pink bracelet attached to it. A few more taps later and Reyna was holding a red vile.

"Wait!" Dr. Evret marched over to their side, his face pinched in worry. "What are you giving to my patient?"

"It's okay," Cesti answered for him where she leaned on the wall. Reyna uncorked the top and dropped a few drops inside Lance's mouth once she removed the oxygen mask. "It's like a booster. It'll help her produce blood a lot faster." Dr. Evret blinked in surprise. "She lost a lot of blood right?"

"She did," Annabelle quietly answered. She wrung her pale hands and turned to the black haired Amazon. Her curled black horns cast a shadow over her eyes. "Can you fix her?"

Adina briefly glanced at her and offered the little girl a smile. "You bet I can."

The two silver haired Amazon's sighed in relief.

"So what happened?" Matt asked them. His hands were on Pidge's shoulders, squeezing them in support. The green paladin looked like she wasn't sure whether to cry or rage.

Zooey took one look at Lotor before she turned back to the paladins and began to explain what they'd gone through over the past few days since their arrival.

"Sir?"

Lotor startled to see Axca and the rest of his generals standing before him. Axca tilted her head, her blue-yellow eyes worried. "Are you all right?"

Lotor nodded, though his face twisted to the side. "It's not like _I'm_ the one that got shot." He muttered quietly. This was his fault. He should have done a better job protecting Lance and the rest of his team. He should have stayed awake and kept watch. Or maybe he could have done a manual search on the ship just to make sure they didn't have any trackers on them. If he had, then maybe Lance wouldn't have gotten hurt. Some team leader he turned out to be.

Axca's eyes fell down to Lance's face, and then darted back to him. "She's going to be all right sir."

"She's right," Ezor chirped, her smile small but still genuine. "You got her to safety and you found her a doctor." She placed an orange hand on his shoulder. "You did good."

Lotor shook his head. "But –"

"No buts," Zethrid rumbled, her eyes narrowed as her bat like ears twitched. "From what I'm hearing you did everything you could. You looked out for these girls and yes okay, Lance got hurt, but she's going to be okay."

" _Do not blame yourself,"_ Narti quietly spoke into his mind _. "The enemy caught you by surprise. You did not know of their new weapons."_ Narti tilted her head. _"I'm sure Lance would not blame you either."_

"They're right," Keith said as he stood before them. Lotor jumped. He hadn't even noticed him. The red paladin looked him over before looking back at him. "You were all caught by surprise. I saw it. And you were the one who carried Lance to safety. You found her a doctor and judging by the dark circles under your eyes, you probably stayed with her the last two days." Keith hesitated, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for saving her. And I'm glad you're all right." He pursed his lips, as if he didn't want to say the next words. "Lotor."

The Galra Prince snapped his head to his friends face, his eyes wide. Keith looked embarrassed. "Did you just call be my name?"

Keith looked away with a scowl. "Don't get used to it Rapunzel." He went back to Lance's side where Shiro was giving him a proud grin. Keith flipped him off. "Just get some rest, you look like shit."

Axca bristled. "What did you say to the Prince?"

Keith gave her a challenging smirk. "You heard me."

"He's not wrong," Ezor shrugged as she leaned into Lotor's personal space. "You've _really_ let yourself go your highness."

Lotor felt his eye twitch.

"Oh, that's it –" Axca pulled out her gun blaster only for it to be pulled away by a giggling Ezor who climbed on top of Zethrid to dodge Axca's punches. Narti shook her head at their antics and scratched Nova's chin.

The sight brought a few chuckles from the rest of the group.

This was good. If Lance were awake and she'd see them be all mopey around her she'd probably throw a fit. But with this, some of the tension in the room began to clear. Even Mikey managed a little quirk of his lips at the sight.

"So what are we going to do now?" Amaya asked Lotor once Zooey had finished retelling their story.

"We'd like to help in any way we can," Shiro piped in. "What do you need us to do? This is your mission after all."

Lotor tapped his chin. "We need information. We need to find out where Amaya's mom and the rest of the captured Amazons are and rescue them. But for that –"

"You're going to need a Galra soldier." Allura finished for him.

Lotor nodded at her over his folded arms. Adina was still hovering over Lance, her arms still glowing a bright green. After taking a few drops from that red vile, Lance's own healing light had turned a little brighter. "We don't know where they're holding the Amazons and we don't know how long they'll be held before they're taken from this planet. So I propose we go and capture a few Galra, maybe two."

"We can go." Axca immediately volunteered. Ezor, Zethrid, Narti nodded back.

Lotor shook his head. "Your faces are known throughout the universe as my generals." He turned to Mikey and his brothers. "I suggest you five go." Mikey narrowed his eyes at him. "Your faces aren't known, at least not well."

Mikey's voice was low and dangerous. "You're telling me to leave my sister alone while she fights for her life?"

"Oh for the love of –" Captain Cedric rolled his eye. "I'll send a few of my crew to the closest city and get them to capture us a few Galra." He shot a glare at Mikey. "And you need to cool your head, enough with the attitude." The older McLane looked ready to commit murder. Aiden and the triplets looked on nervously. "I get that you're worried about your sister, we all are, but I don't appreciate your tone. This is still my ship, and I can throw you off anytime."

"You can try." Mikey warned.

Aiden gave his brother a warning look.

Captain Cedric pointed at him. "Watch it." He turned to the door. "I suggest you give the lass healing your friend some space and get something to eat. This is going to take a while." And with that, he and Dr. Evret stepped out.

Shiro nodded as he got to his feet. "He's right, we should get some rest, we haven't taken a break since we left."

Hunk and Pidge released a small whine.

Shiro gave them a stern look. "Don't make Allura use her man voice."

Allura flushed and wacked him upside the head. "Shiro!"

"What?" Shiro shrugged good-naturedly. "You're scarier than I am."

"It's true." Hunk clarified with a shudder. "Your eyes get this wild look –"

"And your voice changes to this demonic thing –" Pidge added with a grin.

"It's downright horrifying." Matt finished with wide eyes.

Allura balked and stomped her foot. Her cheeks were blazing. "I do _not_!"

Hunk, Pidge and Matt held on to each other in fright. "See?" Matt pointed a finger at her. "You just did it right now!"

"Honey," Shiro placed his hand on her shoulder. He gave her a sympathetic look. "You totally did."

Allura seethed in place.

"Compared to you," Keith added with a twinkle in his eye. "Shiro is like a puppy."

Shiro glared at him with the wrath of a thousand Chihuahuas. "You be quiet."

Keith snickered.

"All right everyone," Cesti clapped her hands. "Give Adina some room to finish healing our princess." She pointed pale hand at the door. "Out."

After a few grumbles everyone but a few exited the room and headed up to the dock. Keith and Mikey had remained. So had his brothers, Lotor and his new team, and the Amazons. Axca had wanted to stay too but after some coaxing he managed to convince his generals to go and get something to eat.

After everyone was gone, Aiden turned to his sister and then to his older brother. "Mikey," the older McLane grunted in response, his eyes never leaving Lance's face. "Despite what the Captain said, we should be the ones to kidnap a few Galra."

Mikey turned a glare at his brother.

Any lesser man would have immediately backed away but Aiden was used to this. "We're good at being sneaky. And the faster we do this, the faster we can get information, and the faster Lance can finish this mission and go home."

"He's right," Kyrian added, his brown eyes narrowing on his older brother. "Besides, don't you want to beat up a few Galra?"

"I know _I_ do." Colt added.

"Ditto," Alan agreed, clenching his fists to his side. "We all want to."

"You're not planning on leaving your little brothers to defend _themselves_ are you?" Aiden sounded aghast. Mikey scowled at him. "Who knows what could happen if you're not there," he continued with a shrug.

"We could get killed." Alan added with wide eyes.

"Or kidnapped." Kyrian gasped.

"Or worse," Colt said with narrowed eyes. "We could get lost."

"I bet we can avoid all those things if our big brother is there with us." Aiden and the triplets gave their brother a bright grin.

Reyna and Cesti snorted.

Mikey's lips tightened. "You guys don't play fair."

"Yeah, well tough." Aiden folded his arms over his blue T-shirt. "You have all this pent up anger and you're scaring everyone who so much as looks at you." He pointed at the door. "So you're coming with us, and you're getting rid of some of that anger, and when we get back, Leah will probably be awake."

Adina nodded back. "It'll take me a few hours but she's beginning to heal much faster after we gave her the blood capsule." She offered them a warm smile. "By the time you get back, I'm sure she'll be awake."

"We shall watch over her," Amaya suddenly said, a hand on her sword. "You have my word."

Mikey hesitated, and then turned to Keith. "You watch over her too okay?"

"You know I will." Keith answered.

Mikey nodded, then got to his feet and tapped at his bracelet. Two blue stuffed animals that Lotor had seen on Lance's bed materialized before Mikey put one on each side of his sister's head. At the confused looks he got from everyone else, he scowled. "These are her favorites! Anyone who touches them will answer to me!"

Annabelle flinched and Amaya sent him a scowl.

At the little girl's reaction, Mikey's gaze softened just a fraction and he scratched his cheek. "Well, okay, _she_ can touch them." Annabelle straightened when he pointed at her. Mikey looked away. "Just a little though."

Annabelle smiled with a nod.

Amaya seemed appeased.

With a last nod in her direction, Mikey kissed his sister's forehead and stepped out of the room with one last look. Aiden clapped Keith's shoulder as the triplets followed after their brother. "Take care of our sister." Keith nodded. "We'll be back."

* * *

Lance was very popular. As the hours dragged by and Adina continued her healing, more than one person had come in to pay the Amazon Princess a visit. His friends came, so did Lotor's generals and the Prince himself, but most of the men who came in were people Keith didn't know. They came in with gifts. Flowers mostly. Stuffed animals that Keith had never seen before. And little trinkets. Keith could hardly see the floor at this point.

A part of him wanted Lance to be awake to see this, so that whatever doubts she had before would be put to rest. These men had only known Lance for a few days but the way they spoke of her was obvious. They liked her. They really did.

This didn't surprise Keith. Lance had that affect on people.

He had no doubt in his mind that when they found this woman, Acacia if he remembered correctly, she would say yes to teaching Lance how to master her ice powers.

His hand squeezing Lance's now somewhat cooler hand, Keith looked up at his mate. The oxygen mask had been removed an hour ago, Lance no longer needing it to help her breathe. She still looked a little pale. A bit of sweat lingered at her forehead but her shaking had ceased. Her hair, damp from sweating, had settled in limp clumps around her face. Despite everything, she still looked like perfection, at least to him. She always did. The constant beep monitoring Lance's heartbeat was the only sound heard in the big room.

He'd removed his armor hours ago, leaving him in nothing but a black T-shirt, gray jeans, and his red and white cropped jacket. Everyone but him had left to get something to eat. Adina had finished her healing and with some help from Reyna, she left the room to get some rest and a promise that Lance would soon wake.

Wanting to give him some privacy, the silvered haired Amazons and Cesti had left as well. And though she had looked reluctant, the Valkyrie Princess followed after them with one last longing look at her friend before following after them.

That was over twenty minutes ago. Adina said Lance would wake up soon. But how long was that? Another five minutes? A half hour? _Two_ hours?

Keith squeezed his eyes shut and laid his head on the edge of the bed. He just wanted her to wake up already. He hadn't seen her in a month. Hadn't talked to her in person in so long. And now that he was here, standing before her, all Keith wanted was for Lance to open her eyes and smile at him. To tease him. Make fun of his hair.

"You know," a familiar voice rasped. Keith's head snapped up. His gaze returned to her face, watching, waiting, for her eyelids to open. Had he been hearing things? Lance's fingers twitched. Her pulse seemed to grow louder. "This is usually the part where the prince kisses the princess awake."

Keith's vision turned blurry. Lance hadn't opened her eyes yet. He suspected she was doing it on purpose. This is what he got for showing her Sleeping Beauty _and_ Snow White. The red paladin licked his dry lips, his mouth curving into a small smile as Lance gave the hand clutching her own an urgent squeeze. Making his voice teasing, he spoke. "It's too bad I'm not a prince."

Lance hummed. "That's true." Her eyes remained closed. "Perhaps you should get Lotor then."

Keith shot to his feet. "The fuck I will."

Lance's lips twitched. "Are you sure?"

"I can do it." He huffed.

"But you're not a prince." Lance reminded him.

"No," he agreed. He leaned in close, his lips just a hair's breath away from her own. "I'm better." He leaned closer. His hands settled on each side of her head so he was caging her. Lance seemed to have stopped breathing. "I'm your mate."

And with that last note, Keith placed his lips on her own and kissed her. He had intended to be careful and gentle, but the instant his lips made contact with Lance's own, all that went out the window. He vaguely realized that he was pushing her further into the stock of pillows below her, and Lance was lovingly tracing his jawline ever so softly.

Keith felt his insides go warm. Lance let out a little gasp at the bite to her lower lip and Keith was sure that he was floating.

He wanted to touch her. Pull her against him. But he could feel the slight pain Lance felt when she lifted her head.

Only when the need for air made itself know did they part. Lance's eyes opened. Keith hovered above her anxiously.

She blinked rapidly, as if trying to shake the remnants of sleep. Her blue eyes focused on him. Though he tried to stifle it, Keith's lips quirked into a wide smile, overwhelmed with relief.

"Hey, Princess Leah." He whispered.

Lance's lips stretched into a tired smile, one hand reaching for him, and Keith scooped it up and placed it on his right cheek, right over his scar, and squeezed it.

"Hey, mullet." She whispered back. "I missed you _so_ much," she whispered, her voice choked, and those five simple words shattered the last of Keith's resolve.

Silent tears slipped down his cheeks, leaving a trail to his mouth. His eyes blinking rapidly, he gently pulled Lance into a hug, winding his arms around her shoulders and buried his nose into Lance's collarbone, breathing in deeply, trying to etch the smell of her into his brain.

Lance smelled like home.

"I've missed you too," Keith replied, and Lance's body shuddered against his, the feel of her own tears wetting his hair. But Keith didn't care. She was here. She was awake. And she was okay.

"I was so scared," Lance confessed, and Keith squeezed her tighter, causing her to cry harder. Her words became rushed. Frantic. "I thought I was going to die, and then I heard you screaming, and then the pain came and I just, I just wanted it to _stop_ –"

"I know." Keith placed a kiss at her temple, stopping her rambling before she turned hysterical. Her shaking ceased slowly. "I know." He'd felt it. He'd heard her screams, the agony in them. Keith had only felt a fraction of it and it had left him in tears. If Captain Cedric and his crew hadn't gotten there in time…"I thought I lost you." He pulled back to look at her and his voice broke when he spoke up again. "I can't lose you Lance."

Lance gave him a tired smile, reaching up to wipe the tears from his eyes. Her touch had him closing his eyes. He placed his forehead against hers. "It'll take more than a few new bullets to take me down."

Keith cupped her cheeks, wiping away her tears. "I can't lose you," he repeated. "No matter what, I _can't_."

Lance tilted her head just slightly, her brow furrowed in worry. "It's all right," she said, her hands rubbed circles on his back. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Keith opened his mouth to object. That wasn't something she could promise but was cut off by Lance pressing a finger against his lips. "I've already promised and you know I don't go back on my word." She kissed his cheek. "I'm not going anywhere mullet."

With a sigh, Keith buried his face in her neck, shaking against her and it took all his willpower not to start crying again when Lance began to hum their song to him, that familiar tune rolling over him like a warm blanket. How ironic. Lance was the one who had gotten hurt and here she was making _him_ feel better.

Typical Lance.

The door to the room swung open and Adina stepped into the room. "Hey, Mikey and the others are –" her hazel eyes widened almost comically at the sight of Lance awake and in Keith's arms before a wide relieved smile overtook her features as she briskly walked to her side. "Your highness!" Lance frowned at her. Adina's pale cheeks turned pink. She coughed. "I-I mean Lance. You're awake."

"So it seems," Lance mused as she settled back down into the pillows with a small grimace.

"R-right," Adina cleared her throat, her hands hovering above uncertainty. "May I?"

Lance shrugged. "Go ahead."

Keith swallowed, his hand latching onto Lance's fingers like a lifeline.

As Adina moved the covers away and began to unwrap the bandages around Lance's torso, the Amazon Princess took in the room full of flowers with wide eyes. "Who died?"

Keith snorted as he took his seat, his hand still holding onto Lance's fingers. "They're for you." When Lance gave him a questioning look, he smiled. "You have a lot of people waiting for you to get better." Lance's cheeks turned red. "They'll be happy to see you awake."

Lance absently nodded, her gaze turning to the right to see a blue stuffed shark. Her eyes wide, Lance clutched it to her chest and gave it a squeeze to Adina's discomfort. "Sharky!"

Keith's lips twitched. "Sharky?"

Lance sent him a pout. "Like you're any better at picking names." She gave him a mischievous smile. "What did you say you named your stuffed hippo again?"

Now it was Keith's turn to pout as he looked away with flushed cheeks. "Mr. Hippo." He muttered.

Adina coughed out a laugh. He sent her a glare and she tightened her lips and quickly looked away though her eyes were twinkling.

Women.

Lance grinned in satisfaction. "Well, I like it."

Of course she did.

Lance and he took a sharp breath when most of the bandages were off. Her breasts were mostly covered. There was a thin line down the center of her chest. It looked about six or eight inches long. Another one was around her hip, the stitches looking a little red.

And Lance _hated_ them.

She thought they looked ugly.

"Lance," he whispered, his voice hoarse. The feelings Lance was emitting at the sight made him feel like someone had punched him. "It's not that bad." He lifted her chin. "You're still pretty."

Lance glanced at him looking a little miffed. "Excuse you, I'm _beautiful_."

Keith chuckled quietly. "Pretty beautiful then."

Lance tentatively smiled, though her fingers trembled as they lightly traced her new scars. She swallowed.

"It's okay!" Adina assured her once she caught sight of her princess's anguished look. "We can make it go away!" Blue eyes stared back at her with a touch of gratitude. The black-haired Amazon pulled out an ointment jar. "The good news is, they're not infected. But just in case, I'm going to rub some ointment. You know what it does?"

Lance nodded before speaking, her voice still a little hoarse. "It'll make sure no infection spreads. Olwen told us during class."

Adina smiled, uncorking the vial before scooping a bit of green gel from inside. "That's right." She took another vial, this one a little smaller. "And afterwards, we'll apply this one to get rid of the scar."

"Ow!" Lance hissed, wincing as Adina rubbed the gel of ointment over her scar. Keith jolted with her and growled at the black-haired Amazon. Adina merely pressed her lips together and continued while Keith tried to murmur reassurances to his mate.

Adina offered him the bottle. "Go ahead." Keith jumped. "You help out too. Make yourself useful."

Keith bristled but nodded, his hand darting forward to scoop some ointment with his finger. His hands were shaking but at Lance's nod he reached forward. Lance let out another hiss of pain and flinched. Keith flinched as well.

Adina sent them both a glare. "Stop moving!" she said to Lance. She turned to Keith. "And do it more gently!"

"Sorry!" Keith shouted.

"It's okay," Lance gasped, her hand clenched around her stuffed shark. She bit her lip and nodded at them to continue. "I can take it."

His mind sending comforting thoughts to his mate, he and Adina continued their ministrations, the thumb of his finger rubbing the ointment as gently as he could down the rest of her scar. Adina said they needed a good amount for a scar this long. Lance didn't move again but that certainly didn't stop her from hissing each time he or Adina rubbed more ointment.

The wounds were still tender. They felt warm. God, Keith hated seeing the pained look on Lance's face but it had to be done.

"Almost done." He promised her, his finger still rubbing the rest of the ointment to the scar at her hip.

"Now for the other one," Adina piped in, offering him the other bottle so he could scoop some ointment on his finger.

His finger was mere inches away from applying the ointment to her chest when the door slammed open against the wall so hard it rattled and Mikey McLane marched in with a shout. "I'm back! Is my sister awake?"

Adina and Keith were so startled they pressed too hard on Lance's wound and the Amazon princess howled, her body jerking violently back into the pillows.

"Shit!" Keith cursed as Adina profusely apologized. The red paladin turned a harsh glare at the older McLane sibling who had the decency to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry!" he said, his feet carrying him to his sister so he could hold her hand. He all but flew. "I didn't mean it!"

"It's…okay." Lance wheezed, squeezing Mikey's big hand in her own. Her hands shook. "I'm okay." Mikey still looked distraught though. Blue eyes drifted over to her stuffed animals before darting back to him. "Thank you for bringing my stuffed animals." Mikey stilled. Lance smiled and tilted her head. Keith resisted the urge to laugh at her next words. "Big brother."

His cheeks flushed, Mikey cleared his throat and looked away. Keith saw the pleased smile he was sporting though. "O-of course."

Adina and Keith rolled their eyes at him.

Despite having his knuckles a little bruised the older McLane looked fine. Had the mission gone well Keith wondered.

"There," Adina stepped back with a pleased smile. "How do you feel?"

Lance beamed at her. "Great!"

Keith snorted and rolled his eyes. "She's lying," Lance sent him a glare. "Her wounds still hurt, she feels a little hot, it hurts to move, and she's hungry." Adina arched a brow in Lance's direction. She flushed. "Trust me, I know." His smile wider, he said, "Isn't that right _babe_?"

Lance let out a choke, her cheeks bright red at the pet name. "I didn't want to make her more worried," Lance mumbled when she finally got herself under control.

"Well tough," Keith sent her a glare. His mate looked away with a pout. "We're already worried, what's a little more?"

Mikey nodded, locking a strand of brown hair away from his face. "He's right. We need to know everything."

Adina frowned and reached for the cup on the desk next to her. "Right then. Unfortunately, we can't give you anything solid, at least for a week." Lance pouted. "Your organs are still tender. Fortunately, your body is strong so if you try not to overexert yourself too much, you'll be able to eat food much sooner." She offered Lance the cup of purple liquid. Lance grimaced. "This should help with your throat." She said, as an afterthought. Keith took it before Mikey could and helped her drink. "As for the pain," Adina tapped her bracelet and procured a small green pill. "Take this every five hours. You should have the same in your own bracelet. As for the ointments –"

"Apply both every three hours." Lance finished for her. She smiled. "I know." She squeezed Adina's pale hand. "Thank you Adi."

Adina's smile wobbled, her hand squeezing back. "It was my honor your majesty, but _please_ , stop almost dying on me!"

Keith and Mikey nodded.

A pout on her face, Lance muttered. "It's not like I _asked_ to be shot." She hesitated. "How are Lotor and Zooey? And Amaya and Annabelle? Are they all right? Where are we anyway?"

"They're fine," Adina replied, folding her hands on her lap as she took a seat at the edge of the bed. "A little tired, but fine."

"And we're in Captain Cedric's ship." Keith answered next.

"If you want to leave, we can leave right now." Mikey took over. "There's too many men in my opinion."

Lance snorted but shook her head. "I'd like to see them." She glanced at her hair and then grimaced at her hair. "But I'd like a shower first."

"No shower." Adina immediately vetoed. Lance groaned. Her hazel eyes narrowed, Adina sent her princess a stern look. "You _know_ taking a shower after surgery is a bad idea." Lance scrunched up her face. She _did_ know. "But I _can_ wash your hair for you." Lance perked up.

"I can do it!" Mikey immediately volunteered.

Keith felt himself bristle. "Well, I can do it too."

Mikey sent him a glare and shot to his feet. "Yeah, but I'm her brother. I know her better."

"Yeah?" Keith got to his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I'm her _mate_. Her future _husband_. Her _soulmate_." He smirked condescendingly. "I know her way better than _you_."

Mikey's nostrils flared in indignation.

Keith clenched his fists.

Their glares harsh, the two of them turned to Lance and shouted at the same time. "Tell him I'll do it!"

Lance was gone.

So was Adina.

The door to the bathroom clicked shut behind them. "Men." Came Adina's exasperated voice from inside.

Lance chuckled. "I know right?"

Mikey and he pouted. "Well, this sucks."

Keith could only nod and take a seat at the bed.

Mikey snatched Lance's stuffed shark and blew a raspberry at him.

Keith snatched the other one, this one a penguin, hugged it to his chest and did the same.

The two of them drifted into awkward silence and waited.

Mikey was right.

This _did_ suck.

* * *

The dress Adina had lent her was white and loose and ended just before reaching her knees. Her shoulders were bare. Her hair, now nice and cleaned, was still wet and making her shiver which was honestly a little weird.

She felt cold.

But at the same time she felt hot.

Her powers worked. Adina had asked her to manifest each one, and although her ice powers had taken a little longer, they _had_ appeared.

Adina had found a cloth and wet it before she patted at her skin as gently as she could. Moving too fast hurt. Moving in _general_ hurt. But holding still for too long was never her strong suit.

As Adina put on her boots for her, Lance tried not to wince where she sat on the toilet lid. The wound on her chest felt like it was throbbing. But the bullet was out. She checked her arms and face. The black veins were gone as well.

She wanted to see her team.

Lotor was probably beating himself up for this. She needed to reassure him.

She wanted to see the rest of her brothers.

And Hunk and the rest of the paladins as well.

She hadn't seen them in over a month. Sure she talked to each of them and video chatted with them but seeing them in person was always better.

How long had she been out? Were the Galra gone? Had they taken whatever Amazons they had captured already? Were they too late?

"There," Adina got to her feet and offered her a pale hand that she took with a nod of thanks. "Now let's go, the others are waiting."

Lance nodded and with a wince got up. Her hand wrapped around Adina's arm, the black haired Amazon turned the knob and helped her step out into the room she'd been in before.

 _Be prepared._ Keith warned her.

Lance frowned, about to ask him for what when she and Adina finally stepped into the room.

The room that was now crammed with a dozen or so people that Lance knew. At the sight of her, a whooping cheer swelled up in the room, so many voices calling her name.

Lance froze with wide eyes.

Hunk and the rest of the paladins minus Coran were there.

Lotor and his generals.

Zooey and the two silvered-haired Amazons along with Reyna and Cesti.

Captain Cedric and most of his crew.

Mikey and the rest of her brothers.

And Keith who looked a little annoyed at all of them.

"Umm, hi?" Lance offered, sheepishly waving at the gathered crowd. She risked a smile.

They let out another cheer. Captain Cedric whistled, his crew throwing flowers in her direction.

Keith gave her a smirk. _Told you everyone you meet loves you in the end._

Lance flushed.

Hunk reached her first, his eyes wide in relief as he gently smothered her in a hug. "I was so worried dude!" he pulled back. "Are you okay?"

Pidge and Matt stepped into the circle, followed by Shiro and Allura, the two of them clasping hands and smiling in relief.

Lotor squeezed her hand and tried to apologize but Lance just shook her head at him. It wasn't his fault after all. She was just glad he was okay. Axca and the others merely nodded at her though Ezor looked like she wanted to squeeze her tight.

Annabelle wrapped her arms around Lance's waist gently and smiled at her from below. Amaya looked to be crying in relief as she apologized for allowing her to get injured. Lance assured her that it was not her fault and that she would be fine. Aiden wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as the triplets took their turn to hug her and ruffle her hair.

Reyna and Cesti gave her their own hugs.

Captain Cedric lifted her hand and kissed her palm. Lance felt her cheeks go warm. Keith and Mikey bristled. "You had us worried Lass."

"Thank you for coming to our rescue," She turned to Dr. Evret who was standing behind the Captain. "And thank you for getting the bullet out." She bowed her head. "Thank you for everything."

Dr. Everett's cheeks turned purple. Was he blushing?

"All right," Adina chided the crowd. "Give her some space, she's still hurt."

The crowd immediately backed away.

As Adina and Keith led her to one of the empty chairs, Lance caught sight of Zooey. The Valkyrie stood apart from the crowd with clenched fists. Lance tilted her head.

"Zooey?"

The Valkyrie's green eyes met her own.

"What's wrong?" Mikey glared at the red head.

Zooey opened her mouth but closed it when all eyes landed on her. She looked uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Lance tried again. "Is there something on my face?" Zooey fidgeted. "Come on Zooey, don't make me read your mind."

Zooey glanced at everyone and glared at the ground. When she spoke her voice was low, almost embarrassed. "You…didn't give me a hug."

The gathered crowd hushed.

Lance pulled back in surprise. She hadn't been expecting _that_. This friendship with Zooey was new. The Valkyrie still refused to call her by her actual name but she _had_ stopped calling her meaner things. They'd even teased each other over the past few days. They'd had each other's back and they worked well for their first fight but Zooey wasn't much for physical contact. Lotor and Lance fist bumped a lot. Sometimes they hugged. Annabelle liked to get hugs from her; she was practically glued to her side since they teamed up. She liked to play with Lance's hair. Even Amaya who still thought she wasn't worthy of touching her had given in and even squeezed her shoulders. Clasped her hand even.

Zooey hadn't done any of that.

Touching Lotor still made Zooey uncomfortable but at least she's touched him.

To say that Lance was a little miffed and a little jealous was an understatement. She could be patient though. And it seemed her patience was finally getting rewarded. So yes, Lance was surprised but more than anything, the words made her smile. This was progress.

Zooey's cheeks looked adorably flushed and she refused to make eye contact, but Lance thought she looked adorable. Taking a few steps in her direction, Lance stopped and threw her arms open.

Mikey screeched in protest.

"Come at me princess!" Zooey's whole face turned bright red. Hesitantly, she stepped forward and wrapped her tattooed arms around Lance's shoulders and pulled her in. Lance's arms settled around Zooey's back, her fingers lightly grazing her black feathers. She could feel Zooey's thundering heart, the warmth of her, and the scent of cinnamon washed over her.

Her chin on her shoulder, Zooey spoke in a low voice. Her hands tightened. "I'm…glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay too," Lance murmured. The two of them stayed like for a little longer before Zooey pulled back. She coughed and avoided eye contact.

Mikey glared at her. Lance sent her brother a glare of her own. "Stop that."

"She used to bully you!" Mikey argued.

"And we worked it out." Lance crossed her hands over her chest. Mikey faltered. "Stop being so mean to her or else I'll give you the silent treatment."

Mikey gasped and shook his head. The way he looked one would think that she just threatened to kill him. "You wouldn't."

"She totally would." Keith muttered under his breath.

"And trust me," Pidge piped in with a grin. "If you're anything like Keith, you won't be able to handle it."

Keith flipped her off.

Shiro smacked his brother upside the head.

"Try me."

Mikey's bottom lip wobbled. He ran a hand through his brown locks. "Fine." He turned to Zooey. "I'm sorry."

He sounded like the words pained him to say. Zooey merely nodded back and returned to leaning on the wall, her black wings wrapped around her.

Lance took a grateful seat on one of the chairs. Keith placed his hands on her shoulders where he stood behind her. Mikey sent him a glare. At the narrowing of his blue eyes, Lance assumed Keith had smirked at him. Lance rolled her eyes at them both and turned back to the crowd. "Okay, I have questions."

* * *

She'd been sleeping for two days it seemed. The Galra were still thankfully here and no other ships had left the planet or so Captain Cedric claimed. Aiden and the rest of her brothers had captured two Galra and were currently being interrogated by some of the Captain's crew.

They weren't speaking so far though.

As the rest of the crowd gathered began to talk on what to do next, an idea was slowly forming in Lance's head. It might be a little dangerous and her friends weren't going to like it but…she was sure she could pull it off.

Probably.

She could feel Keith's eyes on her.

He sent her a little prod through their bond.

He wanted to know what she was thinking.

 _In a minute._

 _Fine._ It sounded more like a grumble.

Her mind made up, she turned back to the crowd. "Those two prisoners, can I talk to them?"

The crowd turned to her in surprise.

Amaya and Mikey protested.

"Your highness it's dangerous!"

"Hell no!"

The two glanced at each other in surprise.

Captain Cedric spoke next. "My lads will get them to talk don't worry."

"Yeah, but I can get them to talk faster." Captain Cedric frowned. She sighed. "Look, we don't know how long the Galra will stay here. For all we know, they could be leaving with the captured Amazons this very minute." A few people frowned. "We need answers now."

"She's not wrong," Reyna spoke up. "She'll get answers much faster." She glanced at Adina and Cesti. "We'll go in with her."

Amaya stepped forward. "Then so will I."

Cesti turned to Aiden looking a little nervous. "You guys did check them for any more Dampening Stones…right?"

Aiden gave her a nod over his folded arms. "First thing we did before we brought them here. We threw them away. The rest of their things were confiscated."

The Amazons, including herself, nodded in relief.

"I'm going too." Keith piped in.

"Yeah!" Mikey shouted. "Me too."

Her face set in a frown, she turned to them. "No."

The two immediately protested.

"Look, if you guys come in, I get the feeling you'll just beat them up if they so much as twitch." Neither male denied it. "I can get answers much faster without you two interfering."

"You're not going in without me!" Keith protested with a growl.

"What he said!" Mikey piped in.

"For the love of –" Captain Cedric pinched his tan nose. "Let's just take them out on the deck where everyone can see." Keith and Mikey glanced at each other before nodding.

"That works I suppose." Lance reluctantly nodded. She'd been hoping to go in herself. She tended to act a little cold when speaking to prisoners and had wanted to spare her friends from seeing that sight of her but it seemed this was the only way she'd be allowed to speak to them.

She just hoped her friends didn't look at her any differently once they saw her like that.

 _Never_.

Lance sent Keith a warm smile for the reassurance.

As people began to exit the room, Pidge stopped and turned back. "Hey Lance?"

"Yeah?"

Pidge rolled a ball of paper and threw it at her face. Mikey looked ready to fight. Keith stifled a laugh the jerk.

Lance gaped, her hands going to her forehead. "What was that for?"

Pidge pointed a finger at her and scowled. "That's for getting shot and worrying us!"

"It's not like I did it on purpose!"

"You still deserve it!" Pidge grunted. "Now get your butt moving, we need answers from these assholes."

"Katie!" Matt screeched at her. "Please stop cursing!"

The two Holt siblings disappeared into the hall, their bickering fading the further they walked.

Amaya brought out a sword. "Shall I punish them your highness?"

Lance gaped at her. "What? No!"

At the same time, Mikey grinned. "Yes."

Lance glared at them both. "I said no!"

Ignoring her, Mikey turned to Amaya in interest. "What was your name again?"

Her sword now sheathed, the Amazon answered. "Amaya."

"Amaya." Mikey tested out the word with a nod. "I like your attitude."

Amaya blushed. Annabelle gaped at her sister. "Oh." She cleared her throat into her fist. "Well, you're not so bad yourself, taking care of her highness like that."

Mikey blushed.

What the fudge was happening?

Aiden and the triplets saddled up to her. Their eyes wide as they watched the proceedings.

Keith's thoughts were in a frenzy. But on the outside he was speechless.

Mikey scratched his cheek. "So…you like my sister?"

Amaya's answer was instant. "Of course. I would gladly give up my life for her majesty."

Mikey's eyes sparkled. "You know, I think you and I will get along just fine."

"What is _happening_?" Aiden whispered to her.

"Oh –" Kyrian started.

"My –" Alan said next.

"God." Colt finished.

"Is he _flirting_?" Lance screeched, her eyes going back and forth between her brother and Amaya.

" _Ay Dios Mio_." The five of them whispered.

The older silvered-haired Amazon smiled, it lit up her whole face as she nodded back at Mikey. "Yes." Was that a suggestive tone or was Lance imagining things? "I think so too."

And Mikey…Mikey _smiled_.

Lance and her brothers let out a wheeze.

"What the _fuck_?" Keith whispered lowly, his tone incredulous.

"Are you two flirting?" Annabelle interrupted the two with a scowl. The two in question flushed and denied it. Annabelle turned to Mikey, her red eyes narrowed. "If you like my sister and you want to date her it better be with the intention if marriage."

"Annabelle!" Amaya screeched, her usually pale face as bright as a tomato.

Lance and her brothers choked.

His face a little red, Mikey nodded as he crouched to Annabelle's height. "I'll keep that in mind."

Amaya spluttered.

Annabelle folded her pale arms over her white dress with a satisfied nod. "As long as you understand."

" _Annabelle_!" Amaya groaned. "Please stop."

"What?" Annabelle defended herself with puffed cheeks. "He needed to know! You're not getting any younger!"

Mikey just chuckled as he ruffled Annabelle's head. "You know, you remind me of my baby sister."

Annabelle's eyes twinkled, her eyes going wide as her mouth curved into a pleased smile. "Really?"

 _Hello! Baby sister sitting right here!_

Keith chuckled in her head. _You sound like you're jealous._

Lance looked back at Amaya and Mikey who were talking with Annabelle, their eyes looking up at the other when the other one looked away.

Was she?

 _You are._

 _Oh, hush._

Keith laughed, everyone turning to him in confusion.

Out loud, Lance got up with a pretty convincing wince and said. "Oh, the pain!"

Aiden gave her a crooked grin. "Could that have sounded any more fake?" he whispered.

Lance ignored him.

Mikey was instantly at her side. "Where does it hurt? Here, let me help you."

Amaya went to her other side. "Just lean on my shoulder your majesty."

Lance glared at them both with puffed cheeks.

Keith had to cover his mouth lest he get any more weird looks. His shoulders were shaking in mirth though.

The jerk.

She was not jealous.

Keith was wrong.

* * *

The two Galra looked to have taken a beating. Purple blood dribbled from their mouths and nose and at the sight of so many different people standing before them, a defiant glint took over their features.

They weren't going to talk.

That's probably what they were currently thinking at the moment.

The thing is, they'd never met Lance. And Lotor's friend could get answers out of anyone without breaking a sweat so long as she had her powers.

The fires had been relit around the cave. Lanterns were brought out as the sun had begun to set a while ago, leaving the cave they were currently hiding in darkness. The little lake they were under seemed to glow a warm blue. The entrance they'd used looked to have shrunk.

That was apparently normal one of the crew members in passing had said. Once morning came it would open up wider. The crowd stirred as the swinging doors were pushed back and Lotor along with everyone else stood to attention as Lance and her entourage stepped out into the deck. Mikey and Amaya flanked both her sides while Keith, Annabelle and Adina walked behind her, their eyes taking in the gathered crowd before settling on the two bound Galra standing in the middle of the deck with both Aiden and Kyrian holding a gun blaster to their backs.

As Lance approached, Reyna and Cesti pulled out a silver chair and quickly placed it a few feet in front of the bound Galra. The Amazon Princess gave them a nod of thanks before settling into the chair as gracefully as she could.

One would think she hadn't just woken up from a two-day coma with the way she was acting. As Lance crossed one leg over the other, the Amazons in the room, little Annabelle included, gathered around her, weapons drawn and faces perfectly blank.

The two Galra before her gaped at her. The one with red stripes running down his cheeks spoke first, his voice hoarse and incredulous. "Y-you're alive?"

Keith bared his teeth at him.

Both men swallowed and shrank back.

Lance gave the man a tight-lipped smile. "Nice to see you too." Her hands placed on her lap, the princess spoke. "I have a few questions for you."

"We'll never talk!" the other man snapped, his golden eyes narrowed to slits. He spit on the floor and scowled. Lotor wasn't the only one who inched closer. His hand went to the sword at his hip.

Her yellow cat eyes burning, Reyna stepped forward, her voice cold as she gripped one of her daggers. "Shall I slit his throat your highness?"

Lance merely leaned back in her chair. "No, I need them." Her blue eyes cold she narrowed her eyes at the two men before her. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Do your worst," the first male snarled. "I'll never ta –"

"Where are the captured Amazons located?" Lance smoothly interrupted.

There was a choking sound from the man before he spoke, his eyes looking dazed. "We have them all at an abandoned warehouse about a day away from where we were captured." As soon as he finished talking, that glazed look in his eyes disappeared and he stared at Lance in horror.

His companion stared at him betrayal.

Shaking from head to toe, the Galra that had spoken looked up in fear. "W-what did you do?" Lance didn't answer. He grit his teeth. "You bitch!"

Colt and Alan both stepped in when Keith and Mikey took a step forward, effectively blocking their path.

In a flash, Captain Cedric was behind him, harshly pulling at the Galra's short silver locks with a scowl. "You don't talk to a woman like that." His one orange eye was narrowed. " _Ever_."

The Galra threw obscenities at the Captain.

Lotor's friend turned to the other Galra. The man shrunk into himself. "How many Amazons have you captured so far?"

The man didn't answer. Lance continued staring at him though, and the more she did, the more the man began to sweat. Lance smiled. She seemed amused. "It seems you've been trained to resist my kind of power." Lightning flashed in the corner of her eyes as she leaned forward. "Let's see how long you can last though."

The man began to pant, his breaths sounding harsh as Lance continued staring at him, no doubt probing his mind for entrance. The air seemed to turn colder; white flecks of ice began to form in the air, the railing he was leaning on turning to ice. People began to shiver. Sparks of lightning began to pop in the air, each time getting closer and closer to the open-mouthed Galra males in the center. Watching their fear ripen filled Lotor with satisfaction. A glance at the rest of the gathered crowd showed that the paladins of Voltron were looking rather shocked at how their friend was acting.

Pidge and Hunk were staring wide-eyed.

Matt looked nervous.

Shiro looked a little sad but resigned, his girlfriend gripping his hand as she stared indifferently at the proceedings. Her eyes were steeled.

It was probably their first time seeing their friend act like this. It was Lotor's first time too but he wasn't surprised. Next to him, Zooey watched the proceedings with a neutral look on her face. As royals, they were trained in many things, politics, battle tactics, etiquette, how to talk like a royal, how to speak to important figureheads and they had definitely learned how to get answers from prisoners.

Sometimes you had to be cold to get answers.

The Galra his friend was starring at released a whimper and blurted, "We've found seven so far!"

Lance's smile was slow. "Now was that so hard?" The words were practically a purr. The man didn't answer as he tried to get his breathing under control. "I trust your answers will be more willing now, yes?"

Both men zealously nodded their heads, their eyes looking frightened as the blue sparks of lightning grew closer to them. They shrank back.

Lance looked down her nose at them and smiled. "Good boys." The Amazon Princess lifted her hand and Cesti stepped forward, placing a tablet and a stylist into her hand. "Think of the layout of the warehouse, if you try to fool me I'll know."

Within moments Lance's hand was moving, the stylist in her hand all but flying as she began to draw the warehouse both men were describing to her. As she drew, she kept asking them questions. Were there other Amazons on the list of being captured? Besides the ones gathered in this very ship, no. Where exactly was each Amazon being held in? They didn't know. Commander Gnaz moved them to a different cell in the building every few hours. What should they be worried about? Galra sentries. Robeasts. Metal wolves and towers. Four to be specific. Each was stationed about a mile away from the base. They released a wavelength that made the usage of powers all but obsolete; that way, even if an Amazon escaped, as long as those towers were out there, they wouldn't get far. Could they be taken out? Yes, but manually. Each one had a particle barrier surrounding it though. One could turn the barrier off from the communications room and then turn off the towers by hacking into them. When were the Galra planning on leaving this planet? Soon. They would take the Amazons they captured and leave a dozen Galra, with Commander Gnaz herself, to capture Lance and her group.

"I see," Lance murmured once she was done. "This was all very informative." She gave both men a warm smile. The one with the red stripes down his cheeks glared at her. "Thank you very much."

"…Are you going to kill us now?" the second one asked, the single tuft of hair drooping.

Lance blinked. "Kill you?"

"Just get it over with!" the first Galra snapped, daring to take a step forward. Kyrian grabbed the bound hands held behind his back and hurled him back.

Lance sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "Now why would I kill you when you're needed for my plan to work?"

Lotor straightened up. "You have a plan?"

"Yes," Lance answered after a beat, her eyes briefly glancing at Keith before darting away. The red paladin glanced at her with narrowed eyes. "But you might not like it."

Zooey stepped forward, a broad grin on her face. "Will it be dangerous?"

"Probably."

"Will I get to fight that Commander?"

Lance tapped her chin. "If all goes well, then yes, I assume so."

Zooey smiled so wide her teeth showed. "Then I'm in."

"As the one in charge of this little group," Lotor started. "And the oldest among the three of us, then I have to come too."

"I'm coming with you," Keith stepped forward, his head held eye as he stared down at his mate. "You're not going without me and –"

"I know." Keith stopped short. Lance smiled. "I knew you'd say that. Don't worry, you're coming with me."

Satisfied with her answer, Keith nodded, his stance looking less stiff than before.

"So what is this plan?" Pidge interrupted.

"And how can we help?" Matt asked next.

Lance smiled, this one genuine. "I'm so glad you asked."

* * *

Lance's plan was reckless. At least, that's what everyone else said once she told them. Lotor was all for it, and judging by Zooey's elated face, she was too. Keith didn't seem to care as long as he was coming along with them.

The plan was this.

Lance, Lotor, and Zooey would pretend to get captured by the two Galra men she had just interrogated and Keith himself. The red paladin had not been seen in his full Galra form by anyone and so no one knew what he looked like. The Amazon was going to mess with the two Galra's heads, give them the memory of the three of them stumbling onto Lotor's team at a shady doctor's place that the Captain mentioned as Lance was getting her wound treated.

Catching them off guard, they threatened their still injured friend and with no choice, Lotor and Zooey would give themselves up. If asked about Amaya or Annabelle, they would inform their commander that the two had gotten away.

At the moment, both Galra males were out cold and would be woken once they got as close as they could to the warehouse. Once woken, they would lead Lotor, Lance, and Zooey inside where Keith would split up and go search for the rest of the Amazons and hopefully the communications room so the particle barriers could be put down.

Pidge, Aiden, and Matt, along with one of Captain Cedric's crew member, Levian, were in charge of one tower. Their jobs were to turn them off. Lotor's generals were to go with one of them to translate the Galra language and defend them at the same time.

Adina and the rest of the Amazons along with Lance's other brothers would take to the trees and keep a lookout.

Shiro, Hunk and Allura were to wait inside their lions, ready to take-off and help if the Robeasts became active. As for Captain Cedric and his crew, they would be waiting at the back entrance where there was less guards and take the captured Amazons away once they were all found.

With the drawing done, Lance had tapped the tablet a few times and suddenly a 3-D image of the warehouse materialized in the room. It was a pretty big place.

With the new bracelets that disappeared into their bodies, Lotor's team could easily keep in contact with their friends to let them know how things were going and if there were any changes in the plan.

Lotor had to admit, the plan was risky. A lot of things could go wrong, but Lance had already made up her mind and neither he or Zooey would be letting her go on her own. They were a team. They were in this together.

Everyone else seemed worried that this plan would fail. What if they encountered something they weren't prepared for? Lance wasn't exactly one hundred percent yet, what if she had to move fast? And let's not forget the towers. Could Lance handle that? Her wrists were going to be bound again as well.

His friend had swallowed nervously when Lotor had reminded her of that but it was the best plan they had. She could do it. She _would_. Because it didn't matter that these women didn't live in Cloyetera anymore, they were still and always would be her people and as their Princess, she would always look out for them.

 _Always_.

In the end, after a lot more arguing and trying to come up with other ideas, they begrudgingly agreed to Lance's reckless plan and agreed.

Lotor just hoped everything turned out all right in the end.

* * *

"Lance, could you pass me the salt and the bottle of spice?" Hunk shouted from where he was hunched over the stove, a huge stainless steel pot letting off a delicious smell in the air before him.

Her eyes on the cupboard where the Oreo cookies were stored right next to Hunk, Lance snatched the items her friend requested and sauntered slowly towards her friend. When she was about five feet away, one hand in Hunk's direction and the other one mere inches away from opening the cupboard to get her price, Pidge hopped off her chair by the island and blocked her path.

"Oh no, you don't!" the green paladin scolded. "You can just walk away right now, Adina _and_ Dr. Evret said no solid food for a few days at least!"

"Pidgey –"

"Don't you Pidgey me!"

"My favorite gremlin," Lance pleaded. "C'mon, please?"

Pidge stubbornly shook her head.

Lance groaned in frustration, not even noticing when Hunk snatched the items he'd requested from her still hand and returning back to his work.

Keith felt his mouth twitch upward. "Told you that wouldn't work."

Lance sent him a pout and rubbed her stomach with another groan. "But Kitten!" The red paladin felt himself flush. Shiro, Allura, and Coran chuckled as they watched the proceedings at the island counter. "I'm _hungry_!"

"You heard your friend," Lotor scolded her where he sat with his generals eating whatever Hunk had made for them earlier. "No solid food."

"But –"

"No." Everyone in the room interrupted.

Hunk glanced at his best friend with a sheepish smile. "Come on buddy, I'm almost done making this soup for you." He patted her shoulder. "Just hold on a little longer."

"Maybe we should just tie her up," Pidge suggested with a glint in her eye, her mouth sucking on a lollipop. Matt gave his sister a look. Zooey snorted where she sat on the floor reading. "This is the fifth time she's tried to get those cookies."

"They're her favorite." Everyone reminded her.

Pidge rolled her eyes.

Her face cool, Lance's hand shot out like a viper and snatched the green lollipop from Pidge's mouth before she gave it a good lick and shoved it back in a startled looking Pidge's mouth before all but flying from the room like her butt was on fire.

The horrified scream Pidge released could be heard for miles as the fifteen-year old girl gave chase after the Amazon Princess, her Bayard out and a curse on her lips.

"Guys!" Shiro scolded as he ran after them. "Stop running in the halls!"

Keith felt himself smile. It was like Lance had never left.

"Oh, how I've missed this place." Lotor mused in amusement. His generals nodded back, small smiles on their face as they watched the events play out.

"Shouldn't she _not_ be running?" Allura worriedly asked him. "She's still not one hundred percent yet, right?"

Keith didn't answer, his mind focusing to feel whatever Lance was feeling at the moment. Entertained was the first. Justified was the second. But no sharp pain, a little soreness but she was just floating in the air now, something Pidge was extremely dissatisfied with if the frustrated scream Keith could hear all the way from the kitchen was any indication.

They'd returned to the castle about an hour ago. Captain Cedric had invited them to stay on his ship but Lance hadn't wanted to further impose. Plus, her team would be taking the Captain's room and Lance didn't want to do that. Fortunately, the Castle of Lions had plenty of room so everyone would be accommodated.

Coran had started sobbing in relief once he saw Lance up and about and had refused to let her go for a good five minutes.

Reyna, Cesti and Adina were informing Queen Lexi and the rest of Cloyetera about Lance's condition and were still talking at the bridge. Lance had already talked to both her parents, he as well, before she'd all but skipped off to the kitchen when Hunk asked if she wanted to help him make dinner.

A bad idea really.

Especially since Lance was starving and kept trying to eat many of the ingredients. It took the Valkyrie Princess pulling her away to get her to stop. Mikey had not been happy about that and looked ready to fight but was pulled by the rest of his brothers to the shower rooms downstairs to wash off the grime of the day.

The two silvered-haired Amazons had already retired for the night after bidding them all a good night after introducing themselves and a tour of the castle by Coran.

"Get down here you bitch!" Pidge screeched as she reentered the room with Shiro hot on her heels. Lance just stuck her tongue out at her where she floated cross-legged in the air above her. Pidge threw her shoe at her.

It missed.

Pidge screamed some more.

"Can I get you something to drink, your highness?" Coran asked the Valkyrie Princess as she took a seat across the Galra Prince once Hunk placed a bowl of steaming food for her.

Placing her book next to her, the Valkyrie Princess glanced at the Altean Advisor with a casual look. "The tears of our enemies, wrenched from their bodies as their life drained away would be nice."

A few people, not him, choked on their food.

Getting up from his seat, Lotor opened the cupboards before turning to her. "They have juice."

"And jasmine tea." Lance piped in.

Allura blinked. "We have jasmine tea?"

"You do now." Lotor announced.

Zooey's eyes lit up. "Oh, jasmine tea?" she nodded her head slowly. "Yes."

At Lance and Lotor's expectant look, Zooey glared and looked away but not before mumbling. "Please."

Keith still wasn't sure what to think about the Valkyrie Princess. He didn't know her. She'd stuck to either Lance or Lotor's side the whole time since Keith and the others had arrived. On one hand, this was the woman who used to bully Lance ever since they were kids. And a part of him wanted to beat the crap out of her for every wrong deed she'd done at his mate.

But on the other hand, she and Lance had made up and were now friends. Something Lance was extremely happy about judging by how much she'd mentioned Zooey to him since they'd landed on this planet.

But as he quietly watched the Valkyrie Princess talk to Lotor about who knows what, Keith couldn't help but notice the way her lips twitched each time Lance laughed in the other room. He didn't know her. But perhaps this Zooey Kaliee wasn't so bad after all.

He'd give her a chance for now.

A bubble of warmth was directed his way and Keith looked back down at his food with a flush, knowing quite well that Lance was giving him one of those tender smiles he liked so much.

"I'm so proud of our child." Lance sniffed before floating down to take a seat next to the red-haired princess. With a screech, Pidge hurled herself at her only to freeze mid-motion. With a grin, Matt took out a marker and commenced to draw on his sister's face, Coran and himself giving him more ideas.

Pidge looked ready to murder them all.

Shiro tried to stop his best friend to no avail.

"She's come so far." Lotor sniffed, going so far as to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye.

Zooey flipped them both off, her pale cheeks red. Was she embarrassed? Axca looked ready to throttle her.

"Excuse her," Lotor shot them a wince. "She's not all that bad. Honest."

"She's shy." Lance added, catching the Valkyrie's punch in her hand before it could make contact.

"Lance," Shiro stressed. "Please let Pidge go, otherwise she'll murder you in your sleep."

He and Lance snorted, the two of them speaking at the same time. "She can try."

Regardless, Lance let Pidge go once Hunk placed a bowl of steaming soup in front of her and everyone else, the green paladin smacking her brother for the mustache he'd drawn on her face. Shiro sighed in relief as he took his seat next to Allura who patted his back in comfort.

Lance wasted no time lifting the plate to her lips and drinking the still hot soup in a few gulps. When she was done, she thrust the plate in Hunk's directions with a huge smile on her face. "Oh Hunk," Lance purred. "Was that an earthquake or did you just rock my world?"

Keith choked on his sandwich.

"Nice one." Matt praised, his hand in the air for a high-five, which Lance easily reciprocated.

Pidge groaned at them both, shooting Coran an annoyed look when he demanded a few more.

Hunk threw his head back and laughed. He took the plate from her hands. "If you wanted seconds you could have just said so buddy."

"And miss an opportunity to try out my pick up lines on you?" Lance scoffed. "Never."

Hunk chuckled good-naturedly as he placed Lance's now refilled bowl back to her. "You spoil me."

"You should have said this," Matt leaned forward and with a husky voice said, "If you were a steak you would be well done."

Pidge groaned loudly in her chair.

Her face splitting into a wide smile, Lance leaned forward and said, "Or this one! Are you cake? Cause I want a piece of that."

His face blushing, Hunk bashfully added, "Are you a banana?" Lance and Matt held their breath. "Because I find you a peeling."

Lance and Matt crooned.

"Hunk!"

"My man!"

"Make it stop!" Pidge groaned to Shiro. The black paladin sheepishly shrugged, Allura poking his cheek to feed him another spoonful of food. Keith couldn't help the disgusted look he made at the bright pink blush sporting his brother's cheeks.

"Ew." Keith made a face to Pidge who was also watching them in horror. "Right in front of us?"

Her face etched in equal disgust, Pidge edged away from the couple. "Bunch of savages."

"I'd never do that." Keith scoffed.

"Hey, Keith?"

"Yeah?" Keith turned and stiffened at the spoon full of red liquid mere inches away from his face. The spoon Lance was holding with an expectant look.

"Say ah."

Keith stared.

Pidge snickered.

Shiro shot him a teasing smirk.

"Uh…"

Good start Keith.

Lance's bottom lip wobbled and she looked ready to cry. "You don't want any?"

"Um…"

Such a way with words Keith.

"Don't do it Keith!" Pidge hissed at him. "If you do I'll lose all respect I had for you!"

Keith frowned. That was saying a lot. Pidge didn't have much respect for anything really. But if he didn't open his mouth…Keith glanced at Lance from the corner of his eye. She sniffled. He stiffened.

She was faking. He _knew_ she was. But his gut twisted painfully at the fact that she was making that face because of _him_.

"Kitten?"

Oh, no. Not that god-forsaken pet name.

Matt and Coran were already placing bets against him with Lotor and his generals who were watching the whole thing like it was a movie.

The red-haired Valkyrie seemed fascinated, her eyes going from Keith to Lance and so forth.

Hunk gave him a sympathetic look.

And Pidge just glared at him.

"Come on Keith," Shiro said, amusement all over his tone. Asshole. Next to him, Allura had a shit-eating grin plastered all over her face. "Say ah."

" _Shut up,"_ he whispered fiercely.

Her eyes wet with tears, Lance whispered. "So you don't love me?"

"Ooooo!" Hunk covered his mouth. "You made her cry!"

Everyone at the table gasped.

Keith couldn't bear it. He had to do something, _something_ , to make Lance feel better and not get humiliated himself. With a growl, he picked up his spoon, dipped it in his soup and shoved it in Lance's direction. "Only if you say it first."

Was he blushing? God, he hoped not.

"Keith!" Pidge screeched.

Shiro started laughing.

Lance made a startled noise but wrapped her lips around the spoon offered to her and he quickly did the same to the spoon hovering just in front of him, his face burning.

Lance lit up like a Christmas tree.

He suddenly felt tongue-tied.

"You guys are animals." Pidge remarked with a shake of her head.

"You guys are so cute!" Hunk gushed. Ezor vigorously nodded her head with a warm smile.

Matt and Coran fanned themselves.

Shiro reached across the table to place a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to the Whipped Club little brother. Occupation three."

His face cooling down, Keith frowned at him. "Three?"

Shiro pointed at Zethrid. "She's in the club too."

Keith whirled to the Galra woman. His voice sounded more like a squeak than anything. "What?"

Zethrid narrowed her yellow eyes at him, her big hand covering Ezor's own orange one as she stared down at him. Her stare would have had children running for their mothers. "Problem?"

Keith quickly shook his head. "Nope."

"Yeah," Zethrid rumbled. "That's what I thought."

Guess that answered his previous question. Ezor and Zethrid _were_ together.

"By the way," Zooey turned to Lance, her plate already empty. She hesitated when everyone turned to her. Her voice lowered she leaned toward her friend. "Are we still watching you know what?"

Lotor and Lance's eyes lit up. The two turned to each other and then to the Valkyrie Princess with a shrug. "I don't see why not." Lotor mused with a tap of his chin.

His face etched in a frown, Keith turned to Lance. "What are you guys talking about?"

Lance flushed in embarrassment. "Well, ever since we became friends, in order to bond a little more we do each other's hair," Allura twitched, "And watch an episode of this Novela I showed them before going to bed."

Pidge's face twisted to the side. "Those are always so dumb!"

"And they're in Spanish!" Matt added.

"I think I'll go to bed early today." Axca whispered to herself.

"They're actually not that bad," Lotor protested. "There are subtitles!"

"And death!" Zooey said with a smile. "Bunch of idiotic deaths, but deaths."

Pidge hummed thoughtfully, her hand rubbing her chin.

"But it's a soap opera," Keith reminded them. "It probably won't be good."

"Yeah," Shiro agreed with a rub of his head. "Those things have never caught my interest."

Lance, Lotor and Zooey gasped at them.

"You're both going to love it," Lance promised them. "Trust me."

Keith and Shiro frowned at her.

Yeah, right.

"We have a dangerous mission tomorrow," Shiro reminded everyone. "We should all go to bed."

"Boo!" Allura said to him.

"Such a prude." Pidge said to him.

"Just like an old man." Matt added with a teasing grin.

Shiro gaped.

Hunk shot up from his seat with a huge smile on his face. "We should have a movie night and a sleepover in the living room!"

Everyone in the table erupted into excited murmurs. Hunk and Lance were already thinking of what junk food to bring, occasionally asking Zooey for her opinion so she wouldn't feel left out. Matt and Pidge were deciding whose laptop to use while Allura and Lotor were calculating how many pillows and blankets they would need.

Ezor and Narti were busy convincing Shiro who, judging by the helpless look he was sporting, had already given in.

Keith frowned as the others talked. He'd been hoping to have some alone time with Lance. They didn't even have to do anything. Just sleeping in the same bed and cuddling would have been more than okay. He hadn't seen her in a month after all. But then again, neither had his friends. He supposed he could let it slide for today.

As everyone began to make preparations for movie night, Lance turned to him with a grin. "You and Shiro are going to love this show."

Keith folded his arms over his chest, a smirk on his face. "We won't."

"You will."

Keith scoffed. "Not in a million years."

* * *

 _3 hours later…_

"What the _fuck_ Maria?" Keith screeched at the screen. "Why would you go back to Alfonzo?"

"Enrique has only been in a coma for like two weeks!" Shiro protested with a flail of his arms. "He was going to propose during that lovely dinner before he collapsed and you were going to say yes!"

"Frickin hoe." Pidge grumbled, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Ezor shook her head in disgust. "It's because he has money, isn't it?"

The triplets nodded in agreement.

Adrian and Axca passed the popcorn around.

Narti and Nova had fallen asleep on Zethrid's shoulder.

Reyna, Adina, and Cesti had left a while ago seeing as they already watched it.

"This is so intense." Coran whispered to Allura. The Altean Princess nodded back as she bit at her nails.

A shot rang out in the show. And on the screen, Alfonzo clutched at his chest in confusion before he dropped to the floor, blood gushing out from the wound.

Everyone in the room jumped.

His eyes wide, Lotor leaned forward. "Did he just get shot?"

"Who shot him?" Hunk shouted, his head going every which way in hopes of finding the culprit. "Was it his evil twin Cesar?"

"But I thought Cesar died?" Matt's eyes got wide. He gasped. "You don't think he's still alive do you?"

"It's possible." Zethrid and Lance grumbled.

"Everyone shut up!" Mikey snapped. "I'm watching something!"

"I didn't like him anyway." Zooey grumbled, her knees to her chest where she sat on the floor, massive black wings wrapped around her.

In the screen, Maria dropped down to her knees, and with shaking fingers, reached for the man that she loved. "Alfonzo?"

Alfonzo coughed out blood, one hand reaching for her hand. "Maria…corre (run). "

"Get out of there Maria!" Hunk cried at the screen.

Maria shook her head, her brown curly hair falling into her face. A few tears trailed down her cheeks. She clutched his hand and placed a loving kiss to it. "No te voy a dejar (I won't leave you)."

"Alejate de el (get away from him)." Another voice said.

Maria stilled.

Footsteps began to approach them and as the figure stepped out of the shadows and came in to focus, everyone in the room gasped.

"Enrique?" Maria and everyone else in the room shouted.

"Holy shit." Mikey gasped.

"He woke up!" Allura sighed in relief.

"Wait," Pidge frowned. "Did _he_ shoot Alfonzo?"

Everyone shrugged helplessly.

Enrique's blue eyes were cold and as his eyes traveled downward, they zeroed in on Maria and Alfonzo's clasped hands, something in him snapped. He raised a gun in their direction.

"He's going to kill them?" Keith shouted in dismay.

"Enrique, what the hell?" Shiro accused.

"I know she's a hoe but there's no reason for murder!" Matt barked.

Maria raised her hands in a calming gesture. "Enrique…que haces con esa pistola? (what are you doing with that gun?)"

Alfonzo began to shudder where he lay on the floor, both of his hands putting pressure on his wound. His brown eyes stared at Enrique in fear.

His voice cracking, Enrique shook his head. "Me traicionaste (you betrayed me)."

Maria shook her head, green eyes wide. "Escuchame (listen to me)."

Enrique shook his head and stepped back. "No quiero escuchar tus mentiras! (I don't want to hear your lies)." He raised the gun. "Adios, Maria (goodbye Maria).

The camera went back to Enrique and as his finger pressed on the trigger, he closed his eyes, and the screen went black.

For a moment there was only silence and then –

"What the fuck just happened?" Keith roared, shooting to his feet.

"Who did he shoot?" Shiro asked next. "Maria or Alfonzo?"

"It's obviously Maria!" Pidge answered him. "She had it coming!"

"But Maria is good!" Aiden and Mikey protested.

"Yet she was cheating." Alan mused.

"Yeah," Zethrid agreed. "She was a hoe."

"Good riddance." Zooey agreed.

"Hey!" Ezor snapped. "She thought Enrique was dead! She was just moving on!"

"After two weeks though?" Axca scoffed at her.

"I thought he was good though!" Allura wailed. "Why would he shoot either of them?"

"Because she moved on pretty quickly?" Aiden guessed.

"I'd shoot someone for less." Mikey shrugged.

"When did he wake up?" Coran wondered.

"How did he even know where they were?" Matt shrieked.

"Where did he get a gun?" Hunk hollered.

"Well," Lance stretched her arms high in the air. Her hair had been braided into two pigtails courtesy of Allura and Lotor. "Guess we'll find out next time."

"Yes," Lotor agreed with a teasing smile. "It's time for bed."

"B-big mission tomorrow." Zooey piped in when her two friends gave her expectant looks. They gave her a thumbs-up.

"What?" Keith snapped, whirling to face the three of them. "You can't just expect us to go to bed now!"

"That's right!" Shiro agreed with him. "We have to know what happens next!"

"You said the series was completed right?" Pidge asked them. Lance, Lotor, and Zooey nodded. "Then we _have_ to see the rest!"

"But what about getting a good nights sleep?" Lance teased.

"Got to be ready for tomorrow." Lotor added with a smug look. His silver hair was braided down his back a little clumsily. Zooey and Lance had taken turns but that was the best they could do. When Axca had tried to fix it for him, he'd simply shook his head. (They did their best) he told her. (I'll wear it with pride).

Lance and Zooey had beamed.

"We'll be no good if we're not rested enough." Zooey further added at the prodding of her friends. Her hair looked nice as well in a French braid.

"Screw sleep!" Shiro bellowed. "We're watching the next episode and _then_ we'll go to bed!"

"Yeah!" the others agreed.

"Suck it!" Keith shouted at the three royals.

As her friends settled themselves more comfortably in their spots, Lance glanced at Lotor and Zooey and shot them a teasing smile.

"Told you you'd love it." Lance smugly announced to her friends.

They shushed her.

"We're watching a show Lance." Shiro scolded her.

"Yeah," Keith piped in, his eyes already on the screen as it came to focus. "Don't be rude."

"I love you sis, I really do," Mikey started. "But please stop talking."

Lance rolled her eyes.

Men.

* * *

Keith woke up with the feeling of cold air on his face. He knew that without glancing at his sleeping companions in the room that Lance was gone.

Slowly, as to not wake up his companions, Keith pushed back his blankets and got to his feet. He found his red lion slippers a few feet away along with everyone else's shoes and quickly put them on.

Something poked at his left foot.

Frowning, he took off his slipper and reached for whatever was in his slipper only to stare when he pulled out a wrapped condom.

The hell?

How had _that_ gotten in there?

Shrugging, he slipped it in his loose red pants and made his way to the hanger bay where he could sense Lance.

* * *

As soon as Keith's footsteps faded, Pidge opened her eyes. "You think Keith will use the condom I slipped in his slipper?"

There was a beat of silence and then –

"Pidge," Shiro grumbled. "What the fuck?"

"Language." She and Allura immediately reprimanded him.

Shiro grumbled some more.

"Why Katie?" Matt groaned as he rolled to face her. "Why are you like this? You used to be such a good girl."

"It's called puberty." Pidge deadpanned.

"So I guess we _shouldn't_ go look for them?" Hunk guessed.

"I bet ten GAC that the two start screwing." Zethrid grumbled where she lay on the floor with a sleeping Ezor wrapped in her arms.

"No bet," Pidge shrugged. "They're definitely going to."

Shiro groaned loudly.

"Keith _has_ seemed a bit stiff lately," Coran mused.

"So has Lance." Lotor hesitantly admitted after a few seconds. Zooey made a choking sound.

"Well," Allura sniffed. "At least it'll be in their room where we won't hear anything."

"…Bet you guys fifteen GAC that they do it at the bridge." Pidge suddenly said.

"I'll raise another ten and say they do it in the halls." Zethrid added.

"Guys," Hunk stressed. "Can we please stop talking about this?"

"Yes." Shiro agreed, voice still deep from sleep.

"Hey!" Pidge snapped at them both. "This is how I earn money –"

"And hacking into Galra accounts," Matt added oh so helpfully.

Pidge shot a glare in his direction. He probably didn't see in this dark room.

Shiro's head snapped up. "I'm sorry, she's been doing _what_?"

"Everyone shut up!" Aiden harshly whispered in the dark. "Do you want to wake up Mikey?"

Instant silence.

No one wanted that douche with a sister complex awake.

He'd ruin all their fun.

As everyone shifted to a better position, Pidge couldn't help but add one more comment. "Do you think I should send Rover 2.0 just to double check?"

"Don't you fucking dare." Shiro griped.

"Language!" everyone hissed.

Shiro mumbled something under his breath.

* * *

Keith found Lance sitting at the open doorway in the hanger bay. They'd stayed where they first landed, right next to the volcano. The place they needed to go to was just a few hours way anyway. Lance's legs were tucked under herself, her head resting on the metal wall beside her as she gazed out at the open sky. The Blue Lion's eyes were glowing a warm yellow, illuminating the room with a little more light.

Something the Lion had probably done for Lance's comfort.

The Amazon Princess hated the dark.

As Keith made his way over to her, he couldn't help but notice that she'd changed out of her pajamas and into the white dress Adina had lent her earlier that day. She'd even put on her brown boots. It made her look otherworldly. Sometimes it felt like she wasn't real. Like she was this creature that was just deigning them with her presence. Keith felt himself melt. Her long brown hair was swept back, revealing sun-kissed skin, and luminous blue eyes.

At the sound of his footsteps, Lance lifted her head to look up at him. Her eyes were dark, glazed, and glowing. "Hey," her voice sounded soft.

Keith took a seat next to her. "Couldn't sleep?"

Lance shifted, her body moving closer until she was leaning on him, her head resting on his shoulder as she continued watching the sky. The red paladin felt his face heat up. He tipped his head back to look at the sky. Keith always liked how things looked when the sun went down, the massive gleaming mountains in the distance, the scent of pinewood in the air, the way everything was bathed silver by the moonlight.

The giant whale like creatures were flying high above them somewhere in the distance. The sound of their wails loud even from this distance. Up in the air, hundred of those Tricho Balls were floating in the air, the wind changing their location every time it passed. "Just nervous about tomorrow." Lance finally admitted after a beat of silence.

Keith nodded in understanding, his hand wrapping around her waist to pull her closer. "We're going to be fine."

Lance sighed, her warm breath sending chills down his spine. "Is it strange that I'm scared?"

Keith shook his head, his hand clasping her left hand before tracing the ring on her finger. "It's okay to be scared Lance." She glanced up at him, her hand squeezing his own. "You're walking into enemy territory. A place that will strip your powers from you. Where you'll feel vulnerable. Being afraid of that…is perfectly normal."

Lance glanced down at her hands and bit her lip. "But it's my plan," she protested. "Out of everyone, I shouldn't even have the right to _be_ scared."

Keith frowned. "Lance –"

"What if something goes wrong?" Lance continued, speaking over him. "What if Pidge and the others are discovered before we can put down the particle barriers? What if the captured Amazons are already dead? What if anyone of us get hurt because of this?" Lance's free hand went to her hip. It trembled. "What if I get shot again?"

Keith clasped both of her hands and gave her a hard stare. "Calm down Lance!"

She stilled.

His hands rubbing her cold hands in his own, he spoke. "First of all, it doesn't matter that you came up with this plan Lance. You have every right to be scared. You were _shot_. You almost _died_. Anyone in your shoes would be terrified." He placed his head on her. Lance stared at him wide eyes. "It's okay to be scared. Just don't let it rule you." Lance startled. He gave her a smirk. "And don't forget. I'll be going in with you too. So will Lotor and Zooey. You won't be alone." Keith kissed her brow, his smirk getting wider at the way her cheeks flushed at the action. "You three are a team. And you and I are a whole other team altogether. We can do this. So don't be so hard on yourself. As for the others…they all know what they signed up for. They know this plan is risky. But don't go underestimating them. They're all pretty badass themselves."

For a moment Lance didn't say anything. Just stared at him in surprise. Her head tilted, she placed a cool hand on his forehead and hummed.

Keith blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Checking your temperature," Keith gave her a strange look. She pointed a finger at him. "You spoke so much in less than a minute. Are you all right?" she patted her lap. "Come, take a breather. You must be exhausted."

His face burning, Keith wrapped an arm around Lance's neck, pulled her head against his body, and gave her a noogy. "You're so rude!" he scolded her. Lance let out a wail of protests. "Here I am trying to make you feel better and you say that?" he added more pressure. "Repent for your crimes!"

"W-wait!" Lance protested, her shouts turning into giggles. "You'll ruin my hair!"

"It's the least you deserve!" Keith scolded her. Lance continued to laugh, her hands trying to push his own-gloved hands away from further damaging her hair.

Here's the thing about Lance. Despite how confident she always seemed on the outside, she was actually pretty insecure. A lot of the time she thought she wasn't good enough. She worried a lot. And out of everyone, she was the hardest on herself. She did her best looking out for others so much that sometimes she forgot to take care of herself.

Keith wasn't going to let her do that though. Lance never gave up on him. She was always there when he was feeling down, always there to give him ego a boost, always there when he needed someone to talk to. So if Lance needed someone to tell her how amazing she really _was_ , because she _is,_ then Keith would gladly do it. He had a list. A list so long that he could never write it all down. She was just that amazing.

Her laughter dying down, Lance leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes with a quiet sigh. "Thank you Keith." She squeezed his hand. "You always know how to make me feel better."

His thumb gently running down her cheek, Keith smiled. He placed his head on top of hers. "Anytime Princess Leah."

Lance made a face but otherwise remained silent. He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. It could have been a moment. It could have been a lifetime. He didn't know. All he knew was that Lance was at his side right where she belonged, his arm wrapped around her, and hers around him, and that everything was peaceful.

The moment was ruined when Lance's head shot up, the top of her head hitting him on his chin. With a howl Keith shot to his feet. Lance let out a startled squeak. "S-sorry!" she placed her hands on his aching chin where they began to glow. "I'll make it better."

Wincing, he held still as she healed the bruise that had surely formed on his chin. "What made you get up so quickly anyway?"

Lance bit at her lip, and she mumbled so quietly that Keith had to strain to hear her.

"I was going to suggest we go on a ride."

Keith blinked. "A ride?"

"Yeah," Lance nodded. "On my board." She glanced down at the floor, her cheeks flushed. Lance really needed to stop acting so cute. "You said you wanted a ride last we talked so I was just…hoping we could go now?"

"You're injured." He reminded her.

Lance's cheeks puffed. See? Adorable. "I won't do any fancy moves!"

Keith gave her a dubious stare.

"I won't!"

"Fine," he relented. Lance's smile could have lit up an entire city. He looked away. "But only for a little bit."

"Promise!"

In a flash Lance had her board out. It hovered around his knees. His mate climbed in with a grace he would never have and expectantly waited for him to get behind her. His face etched in a frown, he placed on foot on the board only to startle when it wobbled.

Gritting his teeth, he used Lance's shoulder to hold himself steady and climbed in behind her. Straps wrapped around his feet to hold him in place and as his hands wrapped around Lance's waist, the Amazon bent her knees, and they were off.

Keith did not scream.

It was a bird.

A very high-pitched bird but definitely not him.

Anyone who says otherwise would get a punch to the face and the only reason Lance _didn't_ was because she was still technically injured. Otherwise he would have smacked her.

The sky was full of Tricho Balls and stars. Riding on Lance's board was both utterly strange and utterly familiar to Keith. He'd flown through so many skies in Red and in Ares, and the feeling of the wind rushing to his face, the coiling of excitement in his stomach as they gained speed was mapped into his blood.

There was nowhere for him to sit. Nowhere for him to lean back on. Nothing for him to hold on to but Lance. The feel of Lance's body against his, the strength he knew resided in this soft curved body, the faint smell of the ocean mixed in with the scent of lavender and vanilla, this too was something mapped into his brain, his blood, his _soul_.

Ahead of him he could hear Lance laughing, see her as she pointed at things she found interesting as she maneuvered them around quickly and swiftly through the floating Tricho Balls still floating in the sky. They looked dull and gray. Their eyes nowhere to be found.

Were they sleeping?

Would they explode if they were to touch them now?

He was insanely curious now.

Lance must have been too because she bent her legs, he did the same, and flew them higher and higher until they were above the herd of floating balls.

"Want to touch them?" Lance eagerly asked him.

"We'll probably die." Keith deadpanned. Lance sent him a pout over her shoulder. He shrugged. "But what the hell?" His mouth curved into a devilish grin. "Let's do it."

Lance practically swooned.

The next thing Keith knew, the board had disappeared from under him and he and Lance were falling, their hands clasped in each other's own. Well, moment of truth. Were they going to die via explosion? Or would they be all right?

Keith and Lance both fell face first onto the floating Tricho Ball below them with a soft thump. The two of them tensed, waiting to see if the Tricho Ball would obliterate them for being idiots and touching it but nothing happened.

Well, okay, it lit up into a bright pink, but otherwise, nothing happened.

"We're alive!" Lance cheered with a whoop. She rolled to her back and began to make snow angels like she'd showed him back in Cloyetera.

Sitting next to her, he grabbed a handful of pink fur and stared. It was soft. Incredibly soft. Curious, he got to his feet and jumped. The action bounced him high in the air.

His smile wide he turned to Lance and saw a similar expression mirrored on her face. Her blue eyes glinting, she gave him a smirk. "Whoever jumps the lowest buys dinner the next time we go on a date?"

"You're going down McLane!"

It was on.

They were both laughing now, their voices carrying into the wind, as they jumped from one floating ball to another. Lance was twirling in the air with every bounce, Keith shooting her finger guns and a cocky smirk whenever she turned his way.

Every Tricho Ball they jumped on lit up each time they landed on them, leaving a colorful trail of Tricho Balls in their wake. They ranged from pink to yellow, to white and green, and Lance loved every minute of it.

Only when his limbs began to hurt from jumping from floating ball to floating ball did Keith sink down onto the soft green fur below him, leaning back on his hands. Regardless of the cold wind softly blowing in the breeze, the Tricho Balls were like a furnace. Lance sat down beside him trying to catch her breath. She took her boots off and let her toes sink into the soft fur below her.

Her face was flushed, her hair loose, and her face etched in a tired but pleased smile. Without even thinking about it, he reached for her, his hand taking her hand in his own before placing a gentle kiss on her palm.

Lance shuddered.

Her heart was pounding. Her thoughts were in a frenzy. Leaning forward, her mouth inches from his own, she murmured quietly. "Won't you kiss me?"

They sank into the warm green fur, their legs entwined, his hands running through her loose hair. His mouth was warm on hers, then hot, as they kissed long and sweet. Keith felt the world fall away; his eyes fluttering close at the sensation of Lance's touch on his skin.

She ran her hands up under his shirt and on his back where his skin was smooth. He gasped into her mouth. "Have I told you how much I love you?" she whispered close to his ear.

"Not today," he whispered.

Lance clicked her tongue and gave his ear a long lick. He shuddered. "I better remedy that then." She kissed his cheek. "I love you." She kissed his nose. "I love you." She kissed his forehead. "I'm simply head over heels for you Keith Kogane."

She tugged at his shirt and he pulled it off. Her eyes seemed to deepen in color; they were as blue as the deepest oceans, bluer than a jaybirds wing. As the flat of her palms ran down his bare chest, his stomach, the helm of his pants, Keith's own hands went to her dress. As Lance continued to touch him, his hands went to the zipper on her back and tugged it down until her dress fell away and she was left in only her bra and underwear.

The scar on her chest and hip still looked a little red and Lance tried to cover them. He didn't let her. His legs straddling her, he trailed kisses down her chest, his tongue running down the length of her scars softly, tenderly.

Lance watched, her breaths coming in quicker.

It made Keith smile as he lowered himself over her, kissing her mouth, her throat, on her belly and her breasts, the peaks of her hips.

Lance slid her hand under the waistband of his pants. He inhaled sharply and a hiss escaped him. Regardless, he didn't tell her to stop, his hips moving in time with the movement of her hand. His breaths sounded loud in his ears.

"Lance –" he groaned, his body shuddering. He pulled away, or at least he tried. "W-we have to stop."

"But we're having so much fun," she teased, a wicked smile on her lips.

"Y-you're still injured," he reminded her. Lance hadn't stopped moving her hand and it was getting increasingly difficult to keep still. "And if we go all the way, I know I won't be gentle."

Lance pouted.

His mouth twitched. "But don't worry," he placed a chaste kiss on her nose. "There are other things we can to make each other feel good."

Lance practically beamed up at him, her smile shy and sweet as it painted her cheeks. Her eyes softened and crinkled at the edges and Keith had to take a moment as he realized that this expression was for him and only him

Keith was so god damn lucky.

He came back into her arms, and the two held on to each other as their mouths met once again throughout the night. He touched her and she touched him. And it was good, so good that when they were close, they each sank each other's teeth into the other's mark to deepen it.

He was hers.

And she was his.

It took him a moment to realize that Lance was speaking, saying his name amidst gasps of little broken sentences. When he'd realized he was in love with her, he had never expected to hear his name coming from those lips like that, but now…now he didn't want to hear anything else for the rest of eternity.

Keith and Lance spent the night like that, making out like their lives depended on it –up until dawn began to turn the sky a warm orange color.

They wandered back down and reentered the Castle of Lions, their hands clasped together the whole way.

It was time for the mission to start.

* * *

 _Happy New Year Everyone! I'm thinking of naming each chapter, what do you guys think? Yes or No?_

 _Anyway, feel free to leave a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter!_


	43. Chapter 43

" _Your ridiculous family might be surprised to find that not everything is solved by murder," Locke calls after me._ _  
_

 _"We would be surprised to find that," I call back."_

― **Holly Black,** **The Wicked King**

Chapter 43

"So, did you guys fuck?"

"Good morning to you too Pidge," Lance deadpanned, heading straight for the cupboards in the kitchen. Keith broke off from her and took a seat next to the green paladin at the island counter, a granola bar appearing in his hands after a few placed taps on his transparent bracelet.

Before they'd returned to the ship they'd gone to check on Captain Cedric and his crew to invite them for breakfast. The Captain and his men looked happy to see them but kindly turned them down, insisting they didn't want to be a bother.

Pidge narrowed her brown eyes at them both behind her glasses and glared at them, her hands pausing in their typing. She huffed. "It's a serious question!" She slapped the counter. "I have bets to win!"

Lance and Keith groaned at her.

"I'm guessing it was _you_ who put that condom in my slipper?" Keith drawled.

Lance's eyes went wide. "She did what?"

"And no," Keith continued. "We didn't."

Pidge had the decency to look sheepish before turning to Lance, her eyes narrowed, as the Amazon Princess tried to discreetly take a bite of the Oreo cookies she'd just taken out of the cupboard. It was very hard for Keith not to start laughing at the victorious look in Lance's face.

"And you!" Lance let out a squeak at the shoe thrown in her direction, ducking to avoid getting hit in the face. "I see you! _No_ solid food!"

The tantrum Lance threw at the words would have made any child proud. Keith was ready to give her whatever she wanted but not Pidge. The green paladin leaped from her chair, took the cookies from a pleading Lance, and placed them inside her bracelet.

"Don't make me get Shiro," Pidge warned. Lance scoffed, her mouth opening to retort when a smiling Hunk came into the kitchen still in his yellow pajamas. How the yellow paladin could be so chipper this early was beyond him.

"Good morning everyone!" the yellow paladin greeted and Lance immediately latched onto him, her eyes wide and sparkly as she retold her best friend of how utterly unfair Pidge was being by taking her cookies away from her. Most of them were exaggerated lies. Hunk made his way to the stove to get started on breakfast, nodding along to Lance's story as he handed her an apron and set her to work. Lance didn't stop her tale, she did however add quite a few things that were _definitely_ not true, as they began to cook, the two working as naturally as if they'd never been apart.

–"and then she threw her shoe at me!" Lance was saying, her hands wildly flailing as she told her story. It was a miracle that the egg she tossed landed on the frying pan and _not_ on the ceiling. She moved on to the sausages. "I swear Hunk, my life flashed before my eyes!" Keith and Pidge snorted. The Amazon's bottom lip wobbled. Hunk twitched. "I'm _fine_ now, just a little wouldn't hurt right?" Hunk remained unmoved, his face a mask of patience as he avoided eye contact which was honestly a good idea because when Lance looked at you like _that,_ you'd want to give her anything.

Keith would know.

He's so damn weak to that look.

"Eighteen years Hunk." Lance was saying. "Eighteen years we've been friends, and you're breaking my heart." Lance's hand went to her forehead and feigned looking faint. "I don't think I can take it."

"We've known each other for a year and a half Lance," Hunk smoothly corrected, pulling back his yellow sleeves so as to not get oil on them. Lance made a face. The yellow paladin chuckled and ruffled her hair. "And you'll live."

"Are you sure it's only been a year and a half?" Lance arched a brow and crossed her hands over her white dress. She looked almost bashful as she glanced at him from her lashes. "Because I feel like I've known you all my life buddy."

Hunk's eyes softened. "Me too buddy." His eyes got teary. When he spoke, his voice cracked with emotion. "You're my soul friend."

Lance's breath hitched. "Hunk…"

The broader man sniffled. "Lance…"

And suddenly they were hugging, the two of them patting each other's back as they told each other how much the other meant to them. Were those tears?

Somehow, Lance managed to keep the food from burning by using her powers to flip the eggs, put the waffles on a plate, and added more sausages to the pan.

She'd gotten good at multitasking.

"The fuck is happening?" Pidge whispered to Keith. She was watching the two friends with a heavy gaze. It was the same expression Pidge got whenever she couldn't decipher something. Keith shrugged. Lance and Hunk had always been weird friends.

After another few seconds, the two pulled back and smiled at each other. Lance wiped Hunk's tears away and Hunk did the same to her. Her blue eyes wide and hopeful, Lance gave her friend a shy smile. "So you'll let me get some cookies?"

Pidge and Keith stiffened.

Was this her plan all along?

Get Hunk emotional so he'd want to give her anything?

Damn.

That would totally work on Keith.

Hell, he'd go to the store and buy her _more_ cookies just to appease her.

His eyes soft, Hunk sniffled one more time and poked Lance's nose. "Not a chance."

The frustrated scream Lance let out at the words had both Pidge and himself howling in laughter. Lance looked absolutely betrayed, pressing one hand over her heart and pointing the other one at her soul friend.

"Betrayal!" Lance hissed at him.

Hunk broke into a full grin, the light dancing in his obsidian eyes. "It's for your own good."

"I thought we were _friends_!"

Hunk picked up a plate and placed the eggs he'd made on a plate before reaching for the blender and some weird colored fruits. "I'm making you a smoothie."

Lance pursed her lips but didn't argue as she got started on the bacon.

Pidge wiped a tear from her eye, a few chuckles escaping every time she turned to look at the pout Lance was sporting as she begrudgingly continued to cook. "That's what you get for trying to outsmart Hunk."

Lance muttered something under her breath and continued cooking. "I should just put laxatives on all their food," she grumbled. "That'll teach them."

"You know we can hear you, right?" Keith arched a brow at her in amusement. Lance hissed at him. Literally hissed. It only had Hunk and Pidge laughing.

Chuckling, Hunk reached into the cupboard once more and pulled out the jar of peanut butter, scooped a large portion into a spoon, and handed it to Lance. "No solid food, but you can have this while I finish making your smoothie."

Lance's gasp sounded over exaggerated. Her knees almost buckled as she stepped forward into Hunk's chest like a child taking its first steps towards its mother. "Hunk. My soul friend. My savior. The wind beneath my wings. The moon to my stars."

"I thought _I_ was all those things," Keith grumbled, jealousy written all over his face.

Pidge sent him a smirk.

Lance ignored him, reaching for the spoon full of peanut butter like it was her child before she cradled it in her arms and placed the whole thing in her mouth.

The moan she released the instant she tasted that peanut butter had everyone in the room coughing awkwardly.

"Do you have to make sucking on a spoon of peanut butter so gross?" Pidge asked with a disgusted grimace.

Lance ignored them, her eyes looking glazed as she gave Hunk a loving stare that had Keith wanting to step in and whisk her away. Before he could, footsteps announced the arrival of their friends. Shiro and Allura stepped in first, the two of them dressed and showered, hands clasped together as they bid good morning to them. Matt walked behind them, his brown hair all over the place as he tried to stifle a yawn.

Reyna and Adina, followed by a sleepy looking Cesti with messy looking blond hair followed after them. Her yellow cat eyes twinkling, Reyna scooped some peanut butter from the jar in Lance's hands with her finger, placed it on the counter, and went back to her seat, Lance's glare following her the whole way.

Lotor and his generals, including the Valkyrie Princess walked in looking chipper. Also noticing the jar of peanut butter next to Hunk, the Valkyrie's green eyes glittered and she made a beeline in that direction. The sounds of her and Lance fighting over the jar followed soon after.

"Give me some!" The Valkyrie hissed, black wings spread. Poor Hunk was trying to, foolishly, step in and stop them to no avail.

The jar now cradled in her arms and spoon full of peanut butter still in her mouth, Lance hissed at her. "You'll have to fight me!"

"Bring it!"

Lotor got up with a sigh to pull the two of them apart, something he was apparently used to since he was avoiding the punches and kicks to his person like a master. Her eyes burning, Axca went to help him and soon enough, the four of them had disappeared down the hall, Lance clutching the jar with Zooey hot on her heels followed by Lotor and Axca.

The four of them barely avoided running over the two silver-haired Amazons who didn't look all that surprised at their antics. Little Annabelle even followed after them with a skip to her step. Pounding feet came from the living room soon after and a frantic looking Mikey barged in, almost tripping on poor Coran who'd just arrived, looking out of breath. His eyes looked wild, his hair looked disheveled, and he was missing a slipper. "Where's my baby sister?" Noticing Amaya staring at him, he shyly waved. "Oh. Good morning Amaya."

The silver haired Amazon's green eyes softened. "Good morning Mikey."

Shiro and Allura stared at them both with wide eyes.

"I think they like each other," Allura whispered to Shiro.

His brow crinkled, Shiro frowned. "That's so _weird_."

Matt nodded alongside them. "I know, right?"

Adina nodded, looking as shocked as them. "I didn't think he was capable of loving anyone else but her highness."

Hunk began to hand down plates full of food to everyone on the table. Others returned with a chair and the other long table from the living room and took a seat. Thanking him, Keith and the others began to dig in to the delicious food.

"Someone better start talking!" Mikey barked.

A tan hand came down on Mikey's head, and Aiden and the triplets stepped in behind him. "She's fine Mikey."

Mikey's dark blue eyes narrowed, his brown locks flying as he whirled to face his brothers. "She was missing when I woke up!"

"Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Kyrian suggested with a tired yawn. His black hair was all over the place.

Mikey frowned at him. "Why wouldn't she wake me up?"

His brow arched, Colt shared a look with Alan and spoke slowly. "Why would she need to?"

"Because people got shot in that show we watched!" at everyone's confused looks, Mikey growled at them. "She probably didn't sleep a wink!"

Keith coughed into his fist at the knowing looks everyone but Mikey gave him.

Well, he wasn't wrong about the not sleeping bit.

"Don't worry about a thing," Pidge sent a beaming smile at the older Mikey sibling. Matt and Shiro gave her suspicious looks. "Keith here took care of her." Keith looked at her with wide eyes. Ezor started laughing. "The two of them stayed out the whole night, I'm sure he thought of _something_ to keep her distracted."

This little gremlin…

Mikey went absolutely still.

Keith choked on his piece of waffle and Shiro quickly handed him his cup of coffee.

Matt was already laughing.

Aiden and his brothers rolled their eyes and went to take a seat. Traitors. Aiden even winked at him.

Mikey's voice could have cut steel. "You did _what_?"

At that moment every show Keith had seen on animal planet about holding still in front of an enraged animal so as to not further antagonize it came back to him. Or was it playing dead?

If Mikey stared any harder at him, Keith was sure he'd be nothing but a pile of dust.

 _If you ever encounter a dangerous animal, do_ _ **not**_ _run._ Keith remembered the narrator saying in Animal Planet.

Keith held still.

 _Avoid direct eye contact._

Keith looked down at his waffles.

Mikey bristled. "Well, got anything to say?"

 _Don't scream or yell. Speak in a soft monotone voice and wave your arms to let the animal know you are human._

Keith raised his hands and waved them in the air. His friends gave him a strange look but he ignored them. Keith was just trying to survive. In a soft monotone voice he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Mikey's nostrils flared and looked ready to charge him. He even pawed at the ground with his right leg. Where was a red cape when he needed one?

 _If you have pepper spray, use it._

Keith did _not_ have pepper spray.

 _If the animal makes contact, curl into a ball on your side, or lie flat on your stomach._

Yeah…Keith wasn't going to do that last one.

"I swear I've seen this in animal planet," Matt whispered to Pidge.

Pidge nodded, looking amused. "I know right?"

At that moment Lance and the friends chasing after her ran into the kitchen, the Amazon and little Annabelle looking victorious as Zooey trailed after them looking pissed. Lotor and Axca trudged behind them; their hair looking like it'd been repeatedly pulled.

The rest of Lance's brothers as well as Lotor's generals were cramped on the other table, playing a round of Uno as they ate. A scoreboard was in the center with little tick marks under each of their names to signify who was winning. Aiden seemed to be in the lead, something Zethrid didn't seem pleased about.

Mikey turned, a big dopey smile on his face, and all but skipped to her side to scoop her into a hug. Lance let out a grumble and tried to break free to no avail.

Keith released the breath he hadn't know he'd been holding and sighed in relief. "I have to thank those guys in Animal Planet," he muttered under his breath.

Shiro patted his back as he boasted. "Told you they'd come useful some day."

"Anyone else want more breakfast?" Hunk asked.

Everyone raised their hand.

As Hunk began to put more eggs and sausages in everyone's plates, Lance went to take a seat next to Keith only to be lightly pushed to the next chair so Mikey could take the seat instead. His blue eyes narrowed, Mikey glared down at him. "I'll be sitting here." He leaned down until he was nose to nose with Keith. His eyes promised death. "You don't mind, right?"

Lance and her brothers groaned.

Amaya giggled into her hand, passing her sister a glass of orange juice.

Keith glared right back. "Not at all."

"This is awesome." Pidge whispered under her breath. Keith pinched her knee, eliciting a yelp from the green paladin.

"You little bi –"

"Pidge!" Shiro barked at her.

Pidge grumbled under her breath and settled back down into her chair. As everyone resumed their eating, Lance watched them all with envious eyes as she sipped her smoothie. No one made eye contact with her. Well, everyone but the Valkyrie Princess. She straight out boasted, releasing an exaggerated moan for every bite she took from the food.

"It's just _so_ good!" Zooey gushed, her smile so wide her white teeth showed. Lance gritted her teeth. "Do you want some?" Before Lance could answer, Zooey brought her waffle to her own mouth instead. "Oops. Sorry." She didn't sound sorry at all. "You can't eat any solid food. I forgot."

Mikey and Amaya looked ready to fight.

Lance simply shrugged. "Fine." She looked down at her nails. "And here I was thinking of finally giving you a friendship token."

Zooey twitched. "What?"

Hunk, Reyna and Lotor dramatically gasped.

Keith arched a brow. The hell?

"You're giving her a friendship token?" Hunk gasped with wide eyes. "But that's only for _best_ friends!"

"Are you sure?" Reyna demanded. "That is a serious commitment!"

"Maybe she's not ready." Lotor mumbled, side-eyeing the Valkyrie next to him. "She's being mean."

"Friendship token?" Allura wondered. "What is that?"

Hunk whirled on her so fast he almost fell off his chair. Allura reeled back in shock and cradled her four mice before they could fall off the table. "It's a sign of friendship Allura!"

"Lance gives only her _best_ friends something they can both wear!" Reyna added.

"It is an honor!" Lotor finished with a fist to the table. His generals looked at him wide-eyed.

"For me," Reyna said, lifting her leg to reveal her ankle. "It was matching ankle bracelets."

"Lance and I have matching rhinestone hair claws." Lotor continued, reaching into his pants to show off said item.

"And me and Lance have waffle shirts, pizza bracelets, and lockets with each other's pictures." Hunk finished. The minute he was done Reyna and Lotor whirled on him.

"How come you two have more stuff than us?" Reyna demanded.

"That's not fair!" Lotor whined.

"How come I didn't get a friendship token?" Pidge demanded.

Lance threw her hands up. "You don't even _wear_ jewelry!"

Her face red, Pidge flailed her arms and snapped, "So!"

"I too, would like one as well!" Coran whined, his mustache twitching in anger.

"Yeah!" Matt shouted with a pout. "It's not fair!"

"Perhaps something sparkly." Allura commented, locking a silver hair behind her pointy ear.

Lance looked at them all with wide eyes. She turned to Shiro who was calmly eating his food. "Shiro, do something!"

Shiro arched a white brow at her and looked up from his food. "They have a point."

Lance looked aghast. "Shiro!"

Keith felt his mouth twitch. "Really, Shiro?"

Shiro shrugged. "I think we _all_ deserve a friendship token."

Coran and Pidge adamantly nodded their heads.

If Keith didn't already have a ring and a necklace from Lance he probably would have acted the same.

"Fine," Zooey sighed, making everyone turn to her. She looked almost bored as she extended a tattooed hand towards Lance. "Give me the ring."

"You sound like Gollum."

"That means nothing to me," Zooey shrugged. "I don't watch those movies." She grinned smugly. "I'm too pretty."

"Girl doesn't know what she's missing," Matt muttered under his breath. "Lord of the Rings is awesome."

Aiden nodded with a smile. "I know right?"

"If you're a nerd," Zooey said to them. Lotor threw her a look that went ignored.

Matt and Aiden bristled.

Lance crossed her arms over her chest. "What makes you think it's a ring?"

Zooey narrowed her eyes. "Just give it."

Ignoring the protests from the rest of the occupants in the table, Lance tapped her bracelet and produced two golden armlets with a red jewel shaped like a rose dangling on them. Ezor and Allura's eyes sparkled. "Here."

Zooey's lips pursed. "You got it in gold?"

"I can take it back." Lance began to pull her hand back. "You don't have to wear it."

Zooey snatched one from her hand before Lance could put them away. She clipped it on her right bicep. "Back off. It's mine. I'll wear it forever."

Lance's mouth twitched. "So you like it?"

"I never said that."

"I think she does," Annabelle whispered to Lance. Zooey turned to the little girl and hissed at her. Annabelle did the same.

"That's not fair!" Pidge whined. "How come she gets something but we don't?"

"Because I'm special." Zooey sniffed.

Lotor nudged her with his elbow. "Don't be rude."

"She's right," Allura frowned, looking like a disappointed mother as she zipped her tea. "If you're not going to give _everyone_ gifts then you shouldn't give any in the first place."

"You're all overreacting," Cesti grumbled tiredly. Her blond hair was currently being combed back by Narti's skillful hands. Keith hadn't realized those two had gotten so close. Then again, Lotor and his generals _had_ been staying in Cloyetera for a while now. It seemed they had made friends.

"Just being in her highness's presence is gift enough," Amaya wistfully gushed. Mikey vehemently nodded his head in agreement.

"Guys," Hunk pleaded. "Come on."

Lance rolled her eyes. "You guys done?"

Pidge opened her mouth to say more when Keith finally cut in. "Just shut up guys." His friends glared at him. "You'll want to hear what she wants to say."

Lance leaned forward and smiled at him. Keith averted his eyes lest he start blushing. Mikey growled where he sat between them. "Thank you mullet." She tapped her bracelet and produced eight small items. "I was going to give this to you guys after we were done with the mission but since you guys are throwing a tantrum," she arched a brow at Coran and Pidge in particular then at Shiro who flushed. "I'll give this to you guys now." She handed each member of Voltron, even Matt and himself, a golden pizza slice necklace. "Before you say anything, I chose pizza slices because we all have different personalities and still go well together. Just like pizza does."

"Lady Lance," Coran sniffled, tying the necklace around his neck. "I love it."

"I'll treasure it forever." Allura smiled, her turquoise eyes looking misty.

"T-thank you Lance," Shiro smiled sheepishly. "And sorry for putting you on the spot."

"I guess I can forgive you," Pidge grumbled. Keith gave her a smug look when he caught her smiling. Her cheeks flushing, the green paladin punched him in the arm and looked away with a huff.

"It's so shiny!" Matt crowed.

"All right guys," Shiro stated, looking up to face them all. At the serious expression on his face everyone put down their forks to give him their full attention. "We'll be making our way to the coordinates Lance got us as soon as we finish breakfast." He looked to Allura and Coran who nodded. "It should take us a few hours to get there, I suggest you use that time to get ready and make sure you have everything you need before we have to go."

Axca raised her hand. Shiro nodded to her and Lotor's general turned to Keith. He raised his brows at her. "Have you ever tried to actually go full Galra before?"

Keith frowned and thought about it before speaking. "Not really…I've managed to get the ears and the eyes before but I've never turned full Galra."

Zethrid and Ezor leaned forward, the big woman spoke. "You should try and do it now. You'll have to be in full Galra form for this mission."

Narti tilted her head at him and spoke in his head. " _There's no telling how long you will have to remain in that form. Better to start practicing now."_

Lotor nodded at him. "You haven't been taking any more suppressant pills right?"

Keith shook his head.

Lotor nodded with a smile. "Good. That'll make things easier."

"All right then," Shiro looked back at the others. "I know this mission seems dangerous. Walking into enemy territory willingly will be hard and although we ourselves will only be providing back up for Lance and her team, we have to stay vigilant."

"Remember," Lotor reminded them. "This is simply a search and rescue mission. There should be no need to fight." Zooey sighed in frustration. "If anything does go bad, you all have permission to defend yourselves, just try not to attract attention." He made sure to look at Keith and Lance when he said this and the two bristled. "Our job is to get inside and have Keith search for the missing Amazons and the control room to turn off the particle barriers around the towers."

"I still don't see why I can't go too," Mikey grumbled, big hands folded over his chest.

"Because the towers might be heavily guarded," Aiden sighed, adjusting his glasses. He'd been too lazy to put on his contacts. "We can't exactly take down the towers if we're busy avoiding punches to our face."

"And on that note," Kyrian cut in before reaching into the pockets of his jeans to produce some circular looking devices. "I talked to Mom and Dad and they had the science department gives us a few of these."

Curious, Amaya plucked one from his hand and turned it over. "What is it?"

Alan and Colt looked at their bracelets before reading the screen hovering in front of them. "It says here that if you put it on someone's neck it'll copy their voice so we can pose as the guards we take out."

Pidge snatched one from Kyrian's hands with a grin. "Give me that!" Matt and Aiden leaned forward to see. "Now that's cool!"

"So if the guys from inside try to interact with the guards outside –" Zethrid started.

"Then we can answer them with no suspicion!" Ezor finished with a wide grin.

"Another glorious invention indeed." Coran murmured.

"Matt and I will make sure everyone is linked up so we can all keep in contact with Lance and her team," Pidge piped in and stuffed the circular device into the pocket of her green hoodie. The green paladin turned to Lance. "Are you sure you and your team won't be caught with the transparent bracelets?"

Lance nodded and leaned back into her chair. "The new bracelets can disappear into your body and only the holder can make it reappear. I'll contact the science department to get Keith the new model so we should be good to go."

"Why not just use the transporter to go pick one up in Cloyetera?" Allura wondered out loud.

Zooey, Lance, and Lotor made a face.

"They're mad at mom," Aiden explained with a grin. "They'll go back only when it's time to exact revenge."

Lance put a hand to her chest and sniffled. "You know me so well Aids."

Aiden shrugged, a smile on his lips. "Of course."

Mikey rolled his eyes.

"Lance," Hunk peered at his friend worriedly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

At the question, all eyes turned to the Amazon. She pursed her lips, carding a hand through her brown locks. Keith had to bite his tongue, effectively preventing a "you're so fucking hot" from escaping him because holy _crap,_ Lance looked really good with her hair pushed back.

Lance turned to give Keith a cheeky grin that had him looking away before she turned and smiled reassuringly at her friend to squeeze his hand across the table. "Not particularly but," she glanced at Lotor and Zooey and then at Keith. "I think I'll be fine with these guys having my back."

"They better," Mikey grumbled.

Hunk squeezed her hand and tightened his lips. "Just be careful and try not to make any more best friends."

Lance barked out a laugh.

Hunk pouted at the startled laugh everyone gave at his words. He huffed. "I'm _serious_! You make friends wherever you go! I don't need more people trying to take the role of your best friend!" Reyna, Lotor and Zooey arched a brow at him. Hunk had the decency to look apologetic.

"I'll admit it'll be hard not having my powers, it always is," Lance sighed. "But hopefully this mission won't take long and we'll find the Amazons quickly."

Hunk frowned, not looking particularly pleased but nodded.

"Don't worry," Lotor promised. "We'll take care of her."

Damn straight they will.

* * *

They'd been traveling for about an hour now. After speaking to Captain Cedric and his crew to make sure they knew the plan, the two ships had finally taken off towards the coordinates Lance had gotten them. Maneuvering around the Tricho Balls had been much easier with Lance gently pushing them aside with her powers.

Shiro raked a hand through his sweaty white locks and made his way through the white sparkling metal walls to the training room to lift a couple of weights. He'd done a few sit-ups already but he was a little angsty about the upcoming mission. Truthfully, he'd feel a lot better if he were accompanying his friends into enemy territory. At least that way he could watch out for them; sadly he and the rest of his team were well known and if the Galra knew they were in this planet they'd probably report back to Zarkon, which would also alert Haggar. They didn't need to deal with those assholes as well. After breakfast everyone had gone their separate ways. Some had gone to do some training, others had gone to look at the 3D picture of the warehouse that Lance had drawn for them to memorize their positions, and the rest had gone to who knows where.

As he exited the elevator and turned to the hallway leading to the training room, Shiro spotted Allura and Pidge at the observatory deck, the two of them whispering about something with excited smiles as they pointed at something inside the training room. Curious, Shiro tapped the wall and the usually hidden door opened to let him in.

Shiro came to a dim room with gray metal walls. There were seating areas with sleek leather couches and a coffee table littered with magazines that Coran had found at the Earth store. Two television screens were propped up on the ceiling, one showing the feeds from the other cameras around in the castle and the other to get a closer look inside the training room. And there, faces all but plastered to the observatory window, were Allura and Pidge.

"What are you guys doing?"

The two of them jumped and shushed him. Shiro frowned at them. Allura beckoned him over and pointed at the bottom. "It's Lance and Keith."

Shiro looked down at his friends down below and turned back to Allura. "What about them?"

His girlfriend giggled. "I just think its so cute how Keith acts around Lance. He doesn't show this cute side of him unless Lance is involved."

"I bet you ten GAC that Keith gets annoyed with Lance not paying attention to him and goes over there to interrupt them," Pidge teased.

"You're on!" Allura grinned.

The black paladin resisted the urge to groan at his friends. What was it with this team and making bets? He cursed the day he ever took them to the casino. The horrors that would await him there…he shuddered.

Shiro squinted at the red and former blue paladin. Lance was talking to Lotor and Zooey about something while Keith stood to the side with his eyes closed in concentration. His shoulders were up to his ears, palms curled into fists, feet wide apart. From this high, Shiro could just barely see the purple coloring on his brother's neck. Was he trying to go full Galra?

"He looks constipated." Shiro hummed.

Pidge stifled a laugh.

"No, look!" Allura promised.

She and Pidge nudged him forward to get a better view as Keith opened his eyes and frowned at the three pair of friends as Lance said something that made Lotor and even Zooey crack a smile. His lips formed into a pout, Keith edged closer, and Lance took the opportunity to lean on him, her elbow propped on Keith's shoulder, fingers softly raking the back of his hair as she continued to talk to her friends. Keith's eyes softened, his shoulders and stance relaxed as a content smile appeared on his lips. He didn't even notice when two purple furry Galra ears appeared at the top of his head.

Lotor and Zooey did though. The Galra Prince nodded with a grin, nudging the Valkyrie Princess when she said something that was probably rude. Shiro's brother was practically glowing with affection and Shiro watched in astonishment as Keith casually reached out and wrapped a possessive hand around Lance's waist.

The Amazon shifted closer, leaning into the touch to drop the hand propped on his shoulder, letting it curl around Keith's waist instead, her nails shifting the black T-shirt he wore upward to reveal a patch of pale skin and even from here Shiro could see the full on shiver that Keith made when Lance's nails touched his skin.

"Well look at that," Shiro muttered.

"It's kind of gross," Pidge grumbled though her eyes were soft as she gazed at her two friends. She shrugged. "They help me make money though, so I suppose I'll let this cute side of them slide."

"How kind of you," Shiro deadpanned.

"I thought Shiro and _I_ were the cute couple," Allura frowned.

Pidge narrowed her eyes at them and looked at them in disgust. Rude. "You two are just gross. Feeding each other. Sitting on each other's lap. Throwing air kisses. Nuzzling each other's noses. Making out in front of us –"

"Okay," Shiro interrupted before she could get even more worked up and spare his feelings. "We get it, we're gross."

"She's just jealous," Allura muttered, earning a chuckle from him and an eye roll from Pidge. Walking up to him, Allura kissed him on the cheek and laid her head on his shoulder. His smile soft, he kissed the top of her head.

"Savages." Pidge scoffed, turning back to gaze out at the training deck, watching as Keith and Lotor began to spar. The red paladin had managed to turn full Galra. His eyes were still gray-blue but the outside was yellow. His skin was purple; he seemed taller, fangs poking out every time he growled at the Galra Prince when he managed to avoid getting punched.

Every time he did, a part of Keith would turn back to human. Parts of his skin would turn back to its pale color. Lotor was giving him advice, trying to help him keep the form and though Keith looked frustrated that he kept shifting back from Galra to human, he begrudgingly nodded.

On the other side of the room Lance and Zooey were doing some target practice. With another press of a button the dummies with, Shiro squinted, were those pictures of Haggar on the dummies' face? Lance lifted the gun blaster into her arms, peered down as the dummies moved further away, and fired.

Again.

And again.

And again, until those dummies were missing heads.

Shiro and Pidge whistled appreciatively.

Well damn.

After watching them for a few minutes, Pidge began to speak, her voice subdued. "Do you think they'll be okay?"

Shiro and Allura put their hands around her shoulder and squeezed her to their side. "They're going to be fine Pidge. Lance and Keith are a good team. And Lotor and Zooey have worked with Lance before and she's given no complaints."

"He's right," Allura took over with a kind smile. "And Keith has gone on a few missions with the Blades. He's used to working with different people."

"But Lance is still injured," Pidge insisted. "She's trying not to worry us but every now and then I see her wince before she quickly puts on a smile."

Yes. Shiro had noticed that as well but had not commented on it.

"You have to understand Pidge," Allura started, her voice kind and patient. "Her people were captured. It doesn't matter that they no longer live in Cloyetera. They will always be her people. If there were Alteans still around and in need of help, Coran and I would not hesitate to give a helping hand. I am their princess. It would be my duty. And I would certainly not let anything such as a slight discomfort from a bullet wound prevent me from doing so." The Altean Princess smiled softly and ruffled Pidge's hair. Her eyes looked a little wet and Shiro squeezed her shoulder, letting her know that he was there. Allura squeezed his waist before turning back to watch their friends train. Reyna and the rest of the Amazons have showed up, all of them eager to test themselves in a little target practice. "So I understand why Lance insists we let her go."

Pidge furrowed her brows and looked back down to look down at her friends. "Well, when you put it that way…I guess I understand where she's coming from."

"Don't worry," Shiro reassured her. "If anything goes wrong, we'll bust into that warehouse in our lions and give those Galra a hell of a scare."

Allura nodded, her face etched into a challenging smirk. "No one messes with our friends and gets away with it."

Pidge gave them both a rueful grin and squeezed the golden pizza necklace Lance had given them a while ago. "Yeah, okay." She turned to the stairs on the right that led down to the training room. "I'm going to go join them for a bit." She took two steps down before turning back to look at them over her shoulder. "You know, I take it back." Allura and he arched a brow. Pidge gave them a tiny smile. "You two aren't so gross after all."

And if that didn't make Shiro want to cry.

* * *

"Okay, let's go over the list one more time." Hunk said, his expression full of worry as he gazed down at the tablet in his hand where he'd written a checklist. They'd arrived at their destination just a few minutes ago and even from here, five miles away where they parked the castle, Lance could see two black towers poking up from the trees. A purple particle barrier surrounded them. A sense of unease curled around her gut at the sight of them. As soon as they got within range, her powers would be stripped from her.

Again.

"Lance?"

Blue eyes turned back to her best friend who was waving a hand in her face. Forcing a smile on her face lest she make him even more worried, Lance nodded at the tablet. "Right. You were saying?"

Hunk pursed his lips but said nothing as he began to read off the list. "Arm gauntlets?"

"Check."

"Weapons?"

"Check."

"Comfortable clothes to run in?"

"Check."

"A healthy snack?"

"I –" Lance looked at him with wide eyes. "That's not on the list."

Hunk sniffed, picking up a bowl of steaming soup on the desk behind him. "I added it because I care." Lance took the bowl with a smile. "It's tofu soup, or at least that's what I think it is." He shrugged. "It dissolves as soon as it touches your tongue though so I figured this would be okay."

Lance couldn't help but think of how lucky she was to have Hunk in her life. "Thanks buddy."

Hunk squeezed her shoulder. "Just be careful out there okay?"

"I will."

"And no more getting shot," Pidge sniffed as she and Matt came into the hangar bay just as Lance began to slurp down her soup. Pidge was already in her green paladin suit while Matt came in with his own protective armor and chest plate. The two looked ready for battle. "The rest of us geniuses will take care of those towers."

"You guys just have to find a way to take down those particle barriers surrounding them and we'll be good to go," Matt added with a grin.

"Don't worry," Keith said as he joined them in the hangar bay in his human form. He couldn't hold the Galra form for too long so he would turn once they got to their destination. Everyone else trailed after him, they too dressed and ready for battle. Lotor had let Keith borrow one of his old Galra uniforms and after a bit of altering from Ezor, the thing fit like a glove. The armor was an orange and black suit of armor over a grey bodysuit. The chest plate was decorated with two purple trapeziums. His shoulder pads were black and matched his forearm protectors. The collar on the armor was black and wide-set, forming a tight seal around his neck. "I'll find a way to put down those particle barriers so you guys can shut them off."

"Is Levian ready as well?" Aiden asked Allura who had just spoken to Captain Cedric.

The Altean Princess looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, he and Narti have already departed to the tower on their side. I also sent Kyrian and Cesti to provide back-up in case they run into any trouble."

Aiden nodded and turned to Ezor. "Guess you're coming with me."

Ezor nodded with a smile, she looked excited. Leaning up on her tiptoes, she kissed Zethrid on the cheek before returning to Adrian's side. Zethrid gave her brother a hard stare. "If anything happens to her I'll rip your arms off."

Adrian arched a brow at the threat but nodded. He'd put on his contacts and like the rest of her brothers, he'd donned a black and gray set of army clothes to better blend into their surroundings. "I'll keep an eye out for her." Amaya, Colt, and Annabelle went to stand by him.

"I'll be going with the runt," Zethrid rumbled and made her way to a bristling Pidge. Alan, Reyna and Adina went to their side. "She looks like she'll need the extra protection."

"So that leaves me with the beautiful Axca," Matt grinned at the blue colored Galra woman who rolled her eyes but went to stand by him anyway. Mikey didn't look particularly happy to be separated from her but after a few more seconds he sighed and went to stand with Matt and Axca.

"The Captain said he would be sending a few of his men to your four locations to provide further back-up so you all should be fine in case you come to any trouble." Coran added with a smile.

"Allura and Hunk, as well as myself will be waiting in our lions in case those Robeasts start acting up, we'll have Coran stay in the Castle for back-up," Shiro added. He too had changed into his paladin armor. His eyes hard he looked from Lance to Keith and then to Lotor and Zooey. "I want you four to be careful. Find those Amazons and let us know the minute you have them. If you can avoid a fight it'd be better but if it comes down to it and you find yourself in danger or about to be exposed," he turned to Keith when he said this. "Make sure you get rid of your enemy as quickly and as quietly as you can."

Keith nodded, tapping his bracelet to put away his Blade of Marmora dagger and his Bayard lest they give his identity away. He pulled out two other daggers and a sword Lotor had lent him and strapped it to his belt. "I can be sneaky, don't worry."

With a few more taps to her bracelet, Lance changed her outfit to a golden bronze dress and armored boots. She made sure that Reyna and the rest of the Amazons that had come with her had worn the same thing. It's an armor that all Amazons wore during training. There were different variations to it, some were just a metal sports bra, and others like the one Lance chose was a dress that reached up to her knees and a collar that reached all the way to her neck. It even covered her mate mark. Something Keith hadn't been pleased about. The material was soft to the touch, it could easily be mistaken as just a simple dress but it could take some serious damage and still keep its wearer perfectly safe.

The outfit would also help in identifying that she was an Amazon, which was the main reason she'd chosen this particular outfit. Amazon armor had changed over the years but the one constant that was the same were the training outfits. Those were still the same no matter how much time had passed.

Perhaps it'll make the captured Amazons trust them quicker.

"Now comes the part I was dreading the most," Lance sighed as her friends turned to her. "We have to look like we put up a fight."

Realization dawned on them and Zooey and Lotor arched a brow before stepping forward. The Valkyrie Princess suddenly looked excited. She too was wearing a similar outfit to Lance only hers was black. Every weapon, plus the arm gauntlets, they each had were hidden safely inside their bracelets and the only thing of value on Zooey was the golden armlet that Lance had gotten them both. Lance was wearing hers too though she took off her ring lest she lose it. "You want me to punch you?"

Lance frowned. "Well, it doesn't _have_ to be you."

"No, I can do it."

"Bitch just wants to punch my sister." Mikey grumbled.

Lance turned to Zooey and lifted her chin. "Okay, I'm ready when –"

The punch hit Lance square in the cheek, knocking her back into Hunk. Everyone gasped. Keith flinched, touching his own cheek as Lance pressed a hand against her face.

"Sorry," said Zooey, looking pleased with herself. Annabelle rolled her eyes at her. "It's better when you don't see it coming."

"I somehow doubt that," Lance muttered, her words sounding slurred.

Adina had to be held back when she felt the urge to heal the injury for her. Annabelle and Amaya looked troubled at her slurring.

Pidge whistled. "Damn, that's quite the shiner."

"Looks good," Zethrid praised.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Shiro pushed his way to face her.

Lance squinted adjusted his hold on her. "Three?"

Shiro sighed in relief. "Okay, not too bad then."

Mikey and Keith who had already gone to check on her looked ready to throttle her friend. His blue eyes blazing, Mikey growled at the red haired Valkyrie. "You're lucky you're needed for this mission otherwise I'd make you disappear."

Ignoring him, Zooey stepped forward hesitantly, her green eyes looking a little worried as Lance slumped against Hunk to keep herself upright. "Did I really hit you that hard? I didn't mean –"

Zooey reeled back as Lance shot to her feet and landed a solid punch on her pale left cheek. The Valkyrie let out a yelp as she was knocked into Lotor's arms, her black wings slumping. Lance gave her a smug smile, ignoring the throbbing of her cheek. "Now we're even."

"You bitch…" Zooey slurred.

"Sorry." Lance apologized.

Zooey gave her head a shake but didn't complain as the two of them turned to Lotor who had gone considerably pale at the matching grins the two of them wore. He took a step back. "W-wait, you're _both_ going to punch me?" She and Zooey followed after him. He backed away some more. "Just one of you should be fine, right?" Zooey cracked her knuckles. Lance grinned and did the same. Lotor looked around for help but everyone looked away. "Guys?"

The two punches to his face had Lotor falling to the floor and seeing stars. As Axca went to check on him with a wail on her lips, Lance could already see the flaming red marks that were beginning to swell on both sides of his cheeks.

"Okay," Lance turned to the exit. "Let's do this thing."

* * *

Despite the reassurances that she'd given her friends about not being nervous, the truth of the matter was that she really _was_ nervous. In fact, if Lance were being honest with herself, she'd go so far as to say that she was terrified.

Willingly going into enemy territory? Willingly going, knowing that her powers would be striped soon? That she'd be vulnerable? That anything in there, be it Galra, Robeast, or even a black bullet could easily put an end to her life?

Her stomach twisted.

Oh, yeah.

She was terrified.

But it was too late to back out now.

This was her plan after all, it's only right that she be there to execute it.

Leaning down, she placed a hand on the two unconscious male Galra propped on a tree and began to add new memories into their heads. Behind her, Keith stood double checking his weapons and starting the process of changing his features to Galra form. The armor he was wearing adjusted itself for his sudden growth spurt. His eyes were clenched shut, brow crinkling in concentration. She kept her emotions to herself lest she distract him and continued adding new memories to the unconscious men before her.

This was delicate work. One wrong move and Lance could make them brain dead. It took a lot of patience to shift through the memories, to add new ones, without messing up the rest of their memories.

"Are you almost done?" Zooey grumbled, stepping beside Lance where she was still crouched in front of the two immobile males. The Amazon ignored her, a beat of sweat running down here cheek. They'd emerged into a deeper, darker part of the forest. Here, the ancient trees grew close together, intertwining branches nearly shutting out the sun. Thin streams of light weakly cut through the leaves, dotting the forest floor, and the air felt particularly humid. The whale like creatures were still flying in the sky even as the sun began to go down, their cries the only sound in the still forest.

"Everything's going to be fine, you know," Keith suddenly spoke up, placing a hand on her shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze. Lance appreciated the gesture and she made sure to send thoughts of gratitude his way before she finally got to her feet.

"Okay," she breathed. "It's done."

"Now what?" Zooey asked, hands folded over her chest. The left side of her cheek had turned into an ugly purple. Lotor's face looked swollen, like he'd just had both wisdom teeth taken out, and Lance…well, she hadn't checked in the mirror but she was sure she looked no better.

"We should put the handcuffs on," Lotor suggested. Lance pursed her lips. When Aiden and her brothers brought back the items the two Galra males had in their person before they were taken Lance was both annoyed and relieved when handcuffs had been among said items. Relieved because it would make the memories she gave them about them capturing Lance's group more believable but it also made her annoyed. The minute she stepped closer to inspect the handcuffs she'd recoiled.

Of course they were made out of Dampening Stones.

She shouldn't have been surprised, they had been searching for her, but it still annoyed her that they had come so prepared.

Keith lifted the black handcuffs in one hand. "You guys ready?"

Lotor and Zooey stepped in first, the little click the handcuffs made as they closed over their hands making Lance cringe. When Keith took a step toward her, Lance took a step back.

Keith frowned. "Lance."

"I know!" she huffed. She eyed the handcuffs in his hands and swallowed. "J-just give me a minute."

Zooey tilted her head in confusion. "Are you scared?"

Lance felt her hackles rise. "N-no!"

Keith's eyes softened in understanding. He took a step forward, his mouth opened, and Lance readied herself for a reassurance when Zooey elbowed him out of the way none too gently to stand in front of her. "Raise your hands in the air."

"What?"

Zooey sighed in annoyance. "Your hands! Raise them up!"

Lotor frowned. "Zooey –"

"Shut up!" she snapped at him. The Valkyrie turned her green eyes to her. "Raise your hands _now_."

Confused, Lance did as she was told and raised her hands in the air. "Like this? I don't know what –"

Lance's words turned into a pained yelp as Zooey brought her own hands down and slapped Lance's palms so hard she felt her knees buckle. Lotor and Keith cringed. Hands now red and throbbing, she leveled blazing blue eyes to her friend. "What the heck was that for?"

Zooey gave her a cool glance. "Did that hurt?"

"Of course it did!"

"Did it make you angry?"

"You just slapped my hands!" Lance screeched. "Of course I'm angry!"

Zooey smugly grinned. "Good."

Her words made her stumble. "W-what?"

"You're not scared anymore, right?"

"I –" It took Lance a second to realize that she wasn't. At least, not as much as she was before. She couldn't quite hide the shock of her next words. "Is this your way of trying to make me feel better?"

Zooey's face scrunched up like she'd eaten a lemon. She looked away, handcuffed hands in front of her, voice quiet so only the two of them could hear. "It's something my father used to do whenever I was scared." Lance raised both brows in surprise. Zooey didn't talk much of her father, it was a touchy subject. "It used to make me angry but –" she hesitated and huffed. "Well, it works okay!"

Lance felt a smile appear on her lips. "Zooey…"

"Look," Zooey turned to her and raised her chin. "Everything's going to be fine. We've gone over the plan and everyone knows what their roles are. All we have to do is get inside their hideout, have your boy toy find the Amazons," Keith made a face at her. "And then get the hell out of there." She stood a little straighter. "And remember, you're not alone in this. Latte and I will be there."

"It's Lotor," the Galra Prince interrupted.

Zooey ignored him.

"And Keef will be there too." Zooey continued.

"It's Keith," the red paladin all but growled.

"Not to mention that I, the Great Zooey Kailee, have also chosen to partake in this mission with you. You should be grateful I've decided to let you all bask in my presence." Lotor and Keith made a face at her. "Honestly, you only need me to make this mission work but hey," she shrugged with a grin. "These men have to make themselves useful right?"

Said men bristled.

"The fuck did she say?" Keith cracked his knuckles.

Lotor sighed a sigh that sounded a lot like Shiro's when he was just done with everyone's crap. "Just leave it. You get used it."

"So?" Zooey arched a brow at her, either not hearing the conversation behind her or ignoring it, and waited. "Can you do this?" Her next words sounded snotty. "Or are you going to chicken out?"

For some reason, her haughty tone made Lance smile. Grinning back, she turned to Keith who was still grumbling behind with Lotor. She lifted her hands. "I'm ready."

The minute the handcuffs were on and locked around her hands, everything fell silent. It felt like she was missing a limb. And despite knowing that it wouldn't work, she still tried to manifest her lightning but nothing came out.

"Are you okay?" It took her a moment to realize that Keith and Lotor were talking to her. They looked worried.

Zooey huffed and rolled her eyes at them both. "She's fine." She leveled challenging green eyes at her. "Aren't you blue eyes?"

Lance simply snorted. "Of course I am." She pouted at her. "And I have a name you know. Use it."

"It's either blue eyes or man hands. Choose one."

"You know what? Blue eyes is wonderful."

Zooey grinned back, all but radiating smugness. "I thought so too."

"See?" Lotor whispered to Keith. "Told you she's not that bad."

Was it just her or had Zooey blushed at his words? When Lance turned her way Zooey glared at her.

The Amazon's brows went up.

 _Oh_.

How interesting.

The two Galra began to groan. They were waking up.

"Show time." Lotor whispered. "Try not to cause too much trouble."

Zooey scoffed. "No promises."

Lance bit back a smile.

"W-what happened?" the Galra with two red stripes running down his cheeks groaned with a shake of his head.

"I think we crashed," the other one with short silver locks guessed. One purple furred hand went to his head with a wince.

Keith stepped forward and put on a concerned face. "Are you two all right? We're close to the base."

The Galra who had woken up first gazed at him in confusion. "W-who are you again?"

Keith frowned at him. "My name is Yorak. I helped you bring in the three prisoners, remember?"

"Prisoners?" the one frowned. His golden eyes looked behind Keith and landed on Lance and her two friends who were sitting, handcuffed, on the floor. His eyes wide he shot to his feet. "Holy crap! I remember now! We captured those three that got away!"

His companion stumbled a bit, as if drunk, and grinned in their direction. "The ex Galra Prince and the Amazon that Lady Haggar wants." He stalked toward them. "Can you imagine the reward we're going to get for their capture?"

"Not to mention the other one with wings," the other Galra male ran a fat tongue along his sharp teeth. "Commander Gnaz will give us a good reward for her too."

"Maybe we should have some fun with them first?"

Lance stiffened.

"You touch either of us," Zooey growled. "And I'll rip your balls out."

Lotor gave her a warning look.

"What did you say?" the red-stripped Galra growled. He took out a dagger and lifted it. "You've got some nerve –"

Keith's hand closed around the man's wrist hard enough that he cried out. His voice ice cold, Keith spoke. "Commander Gnaz won't like it if anything happens to them. They're already injured, if you inflict more damage we'll have to carry them all the way to the base."

The man snatched his hand away and cradled it to his chest. He looked like he was debating whether to use the dagger on Keith himself.

Looking nervous, the other male hesitantly spoke. "H-he's right Jube, Commander Gnaz might punish us if they're injured even more."

"Fine!" he roared at his partner. He turned to Lance and her companions. "On your feet! And if you try any funny stuff I won't hesitate to hurt you!"

Rough hands hauled Lance to her feet none too gently. Zooey let out a curse when one of her wings was pulled.

"Hey, watch it!" Lotor snapped at them. "Her wings are delicate!"

Jube clicked his tongue. "Whatever, let's just go."

* * *

The walk to the Galra base was awkwardly silent. Not wanting to take any chances, the two Galra plus Keith included kept a dagger to their back in case they tried anything. The other Galra, whose name was Toru, had found a game trail, and they'd followed the directions he gave them through the dim forest, over a thick carpet of green moss that covered stones, roots and fallen logs.

The first black tower was close.

She could see it jutting out from the trees, purple particle barrier surrounding it. Were her friends already in position? Were they hiding in the trees, ready to ambush the guards posted around that tower? Would they see them on the way to the base?

Keith trailed behind her, dagger loosely pointed at her back, making no sound at all and prompting her to glance at him over her shoulder every so often, just to make sure he was still there. His golden eyes were alert, Galra ears twitching at every little sound that came from the forest.

She could hear voices further ahead. The sounds of engines. And a little bit of growling.

"You're going to like this part," Jube suddenly spoke, his eyes trained on her.

Lance frowned as all eyes landed on him. "What are you talking about?"

The man deviously grinned and ushered them to keep walking. They did. No one wanted to get stabbed. "Oh, you'll know in just a few more steps."

Lotor frowned at him, his eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Before the man could answer Lance let out a gasp as soon as she took her next step. Her knees buckled and she dropped to her knees, handcuffed hands going to her throat as she tried to breathe. Her head was pounding. Her lungs felt like they were burning.

Her friends dropped to her side, their questions urgent and worried.

"What's happening?" Zooey snapped at their captors. "What did you do to her?"

"Lance!" Lotor cried, his face pitched in worry. "Can you hear me?"

Keith tightened his lips, his palms closed in a tight fist to keep himself from going to her side.

His chaotic thoughts blared from angry, to terrified, and guilt for not helping her. Sometimes, Lance really wished they could turn off their bond so she wouldn't have to deal with his emotions in addition to her own.

While he was panicking, she was trying to reassure him to no avail.

The two Galra behind her laughed in amusement. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jube sighed, irritation flickering behind his eyes as he rolled them at the glares aimed at him by her two companions. "It's just the tower. She's in its range now." His hands at his hips, he smirked down at her. "Which means she's completely defenseless."

"How does it feel?" The man named Toru curled his lip. "I bet you can't breathe, right? Legs feel weak? Energy feels like it's being sucked away?" Lance managed to raise her head and glare at them both. "Lady Haggar and the druids have been very busy; you have no idea what other weapons they'd made with those black crystals."

"Now then," Jube snapped his fingers. "On your feet." When Lance didn't immediately reply he narrowed his eyes. His next word was more of a bark. " _Now_."

"Hurry her up Yorak," Toru snapped at her mate.

Though Keith's features were of one being annoyed by this menial task, his hands on her shoulders as he helped her to her feet were gentle. Her legs wouldn't stop trembling. _You okay?_

… _I'll be fine._

Keith pursed his lips but didn't say anymore. He was clearly not convinced.

Lotor and Zooey placed themselves on either side of her and nudged her forward when Jube snapped at them to get moving. Every step that she took had Lance's limbs shaking. The pounding in her head grew worse the further they went.

By the time the trees opened up to reveal a field teeming with Galra, Robeasts, metal wolves, and a giant building that looked a lot like a warehouse, Lance was panting. Her vision was blurring and whirling, mind struggling to take in her surroundings. She rapidly blinked, desperately trying to fight off the gray spots at the edges of her vision.

"Is that the traitor Prince Lotor?"

"And look, that one! She has wings!"

"Isn't the other one that Amazon that Commander Gnaz was looking for?"

As they continued walking more and more Galra stopped what they were doing to see what all the fuss was about. Whispers broke out. Smirks that made Lance want to punch each and everyone of them covered most of their faces.

As the rest of the Galra finally figured out exactly _who_ their members had captured, the clapping started. Congratulations were passed around. Galra began to cheer.

It was the last thing Lance heard before darkness overtook her and she collapsed.

* * *

Keith was trying very hard not slit anyone's throat. The minute Lance had fallen unconscious, the many Galra surrounding them let out an amused chuckle, some laughed, others began to cheer.

Assholes.

The lot of them.

When this was over, Keith was going to slaughter each and every one of them.

Zooey and Lotor were already kneeling, trying to wake Lance up to no avail. It wasn't going to work. It was a miracle she'd actually made it this far with that tower looming above them. Even though Lance was unconscious, Keith could still feel the dark and draining feeling her body was currently being affected by being in this place. It felt like something was sliding across his skin like invisible sludge, making his lungs thick, making his body shiver. From here he could see the other three towers even from this far away.

"Great," Jube clicked his tongue, annoyance written all over his face. "Now we have to carry the brat."

A big male Galra licked his lips and stepped forward, his eyes looking excited. "I'll do it."

His eyes narrowed, Keith reached down and, in one smooth motion, grabbed Lance, hauled her as gently as he could, and draped her over his shoulder. He would have carried her bridal style but feared the action would make him look like he cared. "I'll do it."

His eyes and tone were cold enough that no one fought him on it. The crowd slowly parted and Keith made his way to the huge metal walls surrounding the warehouse. They were already opened and waiting for entry. Jube and Toru stuck to his side, waving at the small crowd with pleasant smiles while directing him on where to go and pushing Lotor and Zooey to continue walking. A few of the Galra body checked them for any weapons before pushing them forward until they stumbled.

The warehouse itself looked ancient and run-down, windows were broken, a piece of cardboard taped to each one to keep the cold out. More metal wolves were patrolling the area, the thuds of their footsteps fading as they searched for anything amiss. Robeasts, four that he could see, were at the top of the wall, standing motionless.

The inside was another story.

Everything looked brand new. Black metal walls that were so polished, Keith could see his own reflection on it. Purple ears, purple skin, golden eyes, a fang sticking out at the corner of his mouth. Surveillance cameras were around every corner. Galra in black uniform were milling around, some carrying boxes, others sparing, while others were out having lunch. There were a few battle cruisers inside, some being worked on by a few sentries while others looked ready to depart at any moment.

"So," a slim Galra woman from the crowd broke off and turned to Jube, her golden eyes narrowed as she beckoned her head at Keith. "Who's this guy?" she rubbed her purple chin, tail curling in a lazy motion behind her. "Never seen him before."

Keith tried not to tense. Lotor and Zooey didn't utter a word. Jube's brow was drawn, and Keith could see him straining to remember the details of how they met. "A newbie." He finally murmured, his face etched in a brow. "Toru and I caught wind that the Amazon chick and her companions had fled to a doctor and were in the process of bursting in to capture them when we saw Yorak passing by."

"Yeah!" Toru said, a bounce to his step. "Said he'd just gotten to the city a few days ago to help with the search and so Jube and I asked him to help us capture these three."

"And the rest," Jube shrugged his shoulders. "Is history." He looked back at Lance's form draped over Keith's shoulder and scoffed. "Wasn't much of a fight with this one still injured from Commander Gnaz's shot a few days ago."

The woman nodded but cast Keith another suspicious look before breaking off from the crowd to go talk to some Galra standing by a battle cruiser. The red paladin tried not to look too relieved. It looked like the memories that Lance had implanted in the two Galra males was holding on. Speaking of Lance, the further inside they went, the more the feeling of being suffocated was fading.

There were still black crystals around, he could see small ones embedded on the walls every now and then but it wasn't as bad as when they were outside with that tower looming over them. Lance would probably wake up soon. Keith hadn't seen anything that looked like a control room yet though. His eyes went up to the stairs. Were they up there? How many floors did this place have anyway?

He was directed to the left. Then down a long black corridor with red dim lights. Sometimes the halls split up and rejoined another, other times they led to dead ends. It was strange and disorienting and Keith was getting dizzy with the constant change that the hallways did. He suspected this was done on purpose, to confuse anyone who might try to escape.

Finally, after what felt like forever and Keith's shoulder was going numb from carrying Lance for so long, they stepped through a door with six cells inside. Three on each side. Bars marred each one. Each cell had small black crystals inside and a bucket. Two of the cells had two women inside. They were curled on their side in the middle of their cell so as to not touch any of the walls.

Keith couldn't see their face from here and besides, the only light inside their cells was a small purple orb on the ceiling that kept dimming every few seconds. At least they'd found _two_ of the seven captured Amazons so far. Two young Galra who looked to be about Keith's age were standing as stiff as boards in front of the two cells.

"Just throw the lot of them in a separate cell," Jube drawled, looking bored. "They won't get away. And if they do, they won't get far."

"We should report to Commander Gnaz." Toru suggested. He rubbed his hands together with a grin. "I can't wait for the reward we're going to get for their capture."

"Sir?" one of the Galra standing guard said. At the annoyed looks from both Toru and Jube, the boy swallowed. "Commander Gnaz and her team are away in another city still looking for the vessel that Lady Haggar wants and her companion."

Jube narrowed his golden eyes, the two red stripes running down his cheeks looked darker. "Then call her back."

"Y-yes," the one other stammered. "But it'll still take a few hours for her to get back and –"

Jube kicked at a wall in frustration. "Fine!" he turned to Keith. "Well? Just dump her body in a cell and let's go!"

Both guards snapped to attention and they quickly took out a set of keys before prying open three doors for Lance and her team. Lotor and Zooey went in quietly, though the glare the Valkyrie Princess was giving each Galra in the room made the hairs on Keith's neck rise. When she was about he was sure she was going to give every Galra in here a hell of a fight. Walking in, he crouched and lowered Lance to the floor in the center of the cell. She was already uncomfortable; she didn't need to wake up to the feeling of her skin being on fire by touching those crystals.

Her breathing was a little better than it was before, and though there was sweat running down her cheek, Keith was sure that she would wake up soon. A strand of brown hair was covering her eye and as much as Keith wanted to lock it behind her ear, he refrained.

"And you two!" Toru snapped at Lotor and Zooey. "Better not try anything funny or your friend there will pay for your actions."

Zooey looked like she desperately wanted to say something but at the reproachful look she got from the Galra Prince, she refrained.

Jube turned to the two young guards. "You brats better make sure they don't get out or else you won't like what we'll do to you."

"Yeah," Toru piped in. "It's about time you new recruits make yourselves useful."

The two young Galra swallowed once and nodded.

"If you do a good job," Jube continued. "We might let you into the _seniors_ cafeteria."

The two young Galra's eyes lit up in excitement.

Keith got to his feet and closed the cell behind him before he began to follow the two older Galra out. He eyed Lotor and the Valkyrie Princess who nodded back as discreetly as they could. He didn't want to leave Lance's side but the two young Galra in the room with them didn't seem as much of a threat. If anything were to happen he was sure that the Valkyrie Princess could melt those handcuffs off her hands and take the two Galra out quickly. It's with that reassurance that Keith followed after the two men. The rest of the Galra in the base were going to celebrate and since Keith had helped in "capturing" Lance and her friends, he was invited.

Booze and snacks were passed around in the floor below. Soft music in a language Keith didn't know blared from the speakers as the Galra soldiers began to celebrate. Even some of the ones outside had come. He noticed after a while that not one young Galra had been invited. All these soldiers looked older, like they had experience.

How interesting.

Thankfully, no Robeast or Metal Wolf had trailed in after them so that was a plus. Keith waited a good half hour pretending to drink and mingle as people pestered him to tell him of how he and his companions had captured Lance's team until they were satisfied. Only when most of the Galra were distracted with some game or were drunk enough did Keith discreetly leave so he could begin his search for the rest of the Amazons and the control room.

Most of the Galra were scattered or milling about in small groups.

Once he was far enough away that the chatter faded, Keith made sure no one was around one more time before tapping the spot behind his ear to turn on the group chat. There was a bit of static before Keith spoke.

"We're in."

There was a beat of silence before Shiro's relieved voice answered back. " _Good. Proceed with the plan."_

"Understood."

* * *

The audio feed on Keith's side disconnected with a soft click, leaving Pidge and her team in silence. Sitting atop of two trees, the green paladin glanced around at her companions, taking in Reyna's tense shoulders as she stared into the distance where the tower they were in charge of was, the way Adina gripped Reyna's fingers so tight they would surely leave a bruise, to Alan tapping his fingers against his elbows, and to Zethrid who had an arm wrapped around Pidge's shoulders lest she lose her balance and fall from the damn tree.

Climbing it had been a bitch.

"They did it," Adina mumbled.

"Of course they did," Alan sniffed, his chocolate brown eyes narrowed as he stared off at the tower. "My sister's plans usually work."

"I hope Lance is all right," Reyna mumbled, yellow cat eyes filled with a touch of worry. "Even from here I can feel that dark energy from that tower. Once we get close to it…"

"You'll lose your powers," Zethrid finished for her. Her bat like ears twitched as she turned to Adina and Reyna. "That's why you two will be staying a few trees away once it's time to take down those towers."

Pidge arched a brow at the two Amazons. "You two _are_ good shots right?"

Reyna scoffed, violet hair swaying as she turned to face her. Her yellow cat eyes seemed to glow; the sun had set about ten minutes ago and what sounded suspiciously like cicadas could be heard all around them. "Who do you think we are?"

"Two bad ass women?"

Reyna seemed pleased by her answer. Alan and Zethrid snorted in amusement.

Adina's lips twisted into an amused smile. "You're not wrong."

"They can shoot," Alan answered, stretching his arms high in the air as he tried to get as comfortable as he could in the branch he was sitting on. "I've seen them."

"This plan will work," said Zethrid forcefully. She'd contacted Ezor more than three times already just to make sure she was all right. Adrian's team was fine, so were Matt's and Levian's, and were just waiting for the signal from Shiro to strike.

Speaking of…when would they attack?

Tapping the comm link in her helmet, she turned on the group chat to speak to everyone.

"By the way Shiro, when do you want us to strike?"

" _Yeah,"_ came Matt's voice, sounding more like a whine. " _Sitting on this tree is giving me blisters._ "

There were a few chuckles from everyone before Shiro's voice came on. _"I want you all to wait a few more minutes. The sun has set, so it must almost be time for them to change shifts. Once they do, wait a few more minutes to make sure the previous guards are far away before striking."_

" _Remember,"_ Allura spoke up next. " _We want to do this as quickly and as quietly as we can."_

" _If anyone finds out that the pilots of Voltron are here as well," Axca continued. "Then we'll have to deal with Zarkon himself."_

" _Yup," Ezor chirped. "That old man wouldn't let a chance like this pass him by."_

" _So no pressure, right?"_ Hunk nervously added.

Pidge scoffed and glanced at her team. "We got this."

" _Make sure to hide the bodies,"_ a new voice spoke up. It sounded kind of old. Must be Levian from Captain Cedric's crew. " _We don't want anyone stumbling into them."_

" _I can't wait to get my hands on them,"_ Mikey grumbled, the sound of him cracking his knuckles loud in Pidge's ears. _"No one messes with my sister."_

" _Step one is already complete,"_ Shiro spoke up again _. "Lance and her team are already inside. Step two has already started with Keith looking for the rest of the Amazons and the control room. Step three is to get rid of the guars guarding the towers once they change shifts and step four –"_

" _Is to get the hell out of here."_ Pidge finished for him.

" _Language," about a dozen voices immediately said._

Pidge rolled her eyes and tapped her helmet to turn off the feed. Her gloved hand went to the pizza necklace that Lance had gotten them just a few hours again and gripped it tightly in her hand. She wasn't much for jewelry. It wasn't really her thing but knowing that Lance had taken the time to pick them up for her and the rest of the team had her feeling special.

Everything was going to be okay.

Keith was going to find those Amazons, turn off those particles barriers, and Pidge and the rest would take down those towers to make sure Lance and the rest of the captured Amazons inside could get out with their own strength. Hopefully Shiro and the others wouldn't have to use the lions.

They could do this.

She had faith in her friends.

* * *

The first thing she became aware of was the warm stone beneath her. It was like fire seeping through her clothes and making her instantly uncomfortable. The second thing she noticed was the smell of wet stone and piss. She'd been inside or been a prisoner plenty of times to know that she was in a cell. The third thing she became aware of was the black crystals embedded on the walls surrounding her. They were glowing. Well, Lance huffed, at least that explained why she felt uncomfortable. Still, it was better than how she was previously feeling when she had lost consciousness. Her stomach was in knots and warm sweat clung to the back of her neck. A part of her wanted to lie down for another few minutes, but she didn't want to appear any weaker than she already _was_.

Keith's relief through their bond had her lips curling. He'd been worried.

Step one was complete. They were in.

She opened her eyes the rest of the way and gave them a moment to adjust to the dim room. Err, cell she was in. Walls of stone surrounded her, black crystals embedded on each one. A low hanging ceiling. Bits of dirt on the floor and a bucket in the right corner that had probably already been used judging by the stench coming from it.

She wasn't alone. As she sat up with a grimace, she noticed three other cells in front of her. Two women who were looking at her with wide eyes occupied two.

Amazons.

She could tell. An Amazon always knew when they were in the presence of another Amazon. They felt the same.

One had blue hair; the other one was a brunette. They looked middle-aged.

"Princess…Leah?" the one with blue hair whispered in surprise.

"Hey!" one of the Galra standing to the side of the blue haired Amazon shouted. "No talking!"

"Lance?" came Lotor's voice to the right of her. "Are you all right?"

"What did I just say?" the same Galra snapped.

"Finally awake?" Zooey drawled to the left of Lance's cell. The Amazon sat a little straighter, staring at the two walls on each side of her like she might be able to see her friends through it. "Took you long enough blue eyes."

"Don't make me hurt you!" the other Galra warned them, raising what looked like a bat in his gloved hand.

"Your highness," the brunette breathed, wide eyes staring at her in disbelief. Lance wasn't sure what color her eyes were because of the dim purple orb hanging over her ceiling. "What are you doing here?"

Lance didn't answer, instead she eyed the two Galra in the room with calculating eyes. They seemed pretty young. One had his silver hair done in a ponytail. The other one looked a little buff with big biceps but the childlike face made him look like a baby on steroids. Was that a rash on the side of his neck? He should get that treated.

An idea was forming in her head. These two looked like they hadn't been trained. They looked nervous, their hands going to their gun blaster strapped to their belts. The other one kept wincing and rubbing the spot where humans would have their wisdom teeth growing.

Licking her dry lips, Lance smiled and winked at the Galra with the baby face. "Hey there handsome, come here often?"

She could hear Keith's groan inside her head. She ignored him.

Zooey and Lotor groaned too.

Rude.

The Galra guard ignored her, though she noticed with satisfaction that he had slightly tensed.

Oh yeah, now they were getting somewhere.

She turned to the one with the ponytail and tried not to smile when he stiffened. "I noticed you keep rubbing at that spot. Are you in pain? Would you like me to make it all better?"

The words were said in a flirty tone.

Keith's irritation flared through the bond once more. She ignored him again.

His eyes wide, Mr. Ponytail stammered, "S-shut up you blue-eyed temptress!"

Lance's brows went high. "Blue-eyed temptress," she tested the word out a few times before smiling. She turned to the left where Zooey's cell was. "Did you hear that Zooey? Maybe you should call me that instead."

"Maybe if I ever get high," Zooey grumbled.

Lance tried not to smile as she turned back to the two Galra who were looking ready to run for the hills. Had no one ever flirted with them or what?

Getting to her feet, Lance walked to the front to grip the bars in her cell, each step she took had the men eyeing her wearily. Baby face was staring to sweat. At least she had their full attention now. "Did you know that my friends and I are part of the Union?"

The two Galra exchanged looks. "The Union?" Mr. Ponytail asked.

"We represent all underlings in all industries. Be it evil or benign."

"O-oh!" Baby face suddenly looked very interested. "I think I've heard of that!"

Bullshit.

 _Lance_ hadn't even heard of that herself.

"The fuck is happening?" Zooey whispered.

Lotor and the two Amazons shushed her. Lance ignored her. Keith seemed amused by all this.

"Tell me," Lance looked down at her nails. "Are you feeling at all degraded or repressed?"

The two Galra exchanged looks before nervously glancing at the door. Baby face's voice was more whisper when he spoke. "Umm, a little."

"We don't even get dental." Ponytail added with a grimace.

Lance scrunched up her face. "You hear that guys? They don't even have dental!"

"The horror." Zooey deadpanned.

"That's just not right," Lotor grumbled, playing along. She could already imagine him shaking his head. "You should at _least_ get dental."

"You know," Lance continued. "Everyone whose part of the Voltron alliance gets some _really_ good benefits."

The two Galra straightened. Ponytail looked almost hopeful as he tightened his hand over the other. "Do they get dental?"

Lance's smile was so wide it was starting to hurt. "They get dental _and_ a physical."

The Two Galra gasped. Exchanging looks once again, the two walked a little farther away and starting talking amongst themselves in whispers. Lance left them to it. She'd made some good arguments and she had a few more in case they weren't totally convinced yet, it was only a matter of time before –

Lance took a sharp breath.

 _Keith?_

 _Yeah._ Came Keith's voice _. I can feel it too._

Lance felt the hairs on her arms stand up as a shiver went through her body. Despite not being there in person, she could still feel something dark and sinister coming from Keith's end.

There was a druid in this base.

* * *

 _A few minutes before Lance woke up…_

This place was like a maze. Most of the rooms he'd passed didn't look to be in use. Others had boxes with labels on them on the side. Keith didn't speak Galra so he didn't know what was in there. Hopefully, it wasn't anything dangerous. Just as Keith was about to exit one of the rooms, footsteps sounded around the corner and he stuck to the wall, head close to the little window at the door to see who was coming.

It was a Galra, patrolling the halls.

The red paladin held still, holding his breath, as he listened to the footsteps shuffle past, and breathed slowly to control himself. These halls were mostly empty; most Galra downstairs celebrating the capture of Lance and her friends. If he were to be caught, he could probably say he was looking for the bathroom but those were in the first floor last he checked on the layout of the base.

The Galra walked on. Keith watched from the little window as he circled around the hall and vanished from view. Then, stalking silently out of the room, he pointed his bracelet at the camera down the hall, tapped his wrist and watched as a small item that looked like a mole attached itself to the side of the camera before blinking red once.

Another one of Pidge's inventions. That camera would be playing nothing but a quiet hallway. His job done, he crept toward the end of the hallway, away from the area the previous Galra had just passed. Voices echoed beyond the hall, making him tense. His pulse jumped. Pressing himself against the wall as two Galra walked toward, Keith took out his dagger and waited.

"This is insane," one was saying, "We lost a lot of men and for what? A few women who have powers? Just because we have those towers and the Dampening Stones embedded on the walls doesn't mean that we're safe! Haven't you heard the saying? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Those women can kill us easily if we didn't have any of those stones protecting us! Hell, I'm more terrified of them than that _thing_ upstairs." His voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "Didn't you hear what that Amazon Princess did in planet Zaebos? She made bolts of lightning rain down on the whole planet, she changed the fucking weather! And let's not forget what she did to that druid in charge! She's dangerous and –"

"Shut your mouth you idiot," hissed the other. "Nothing is going to happen. We captured everyone on the list and as soon as Commander Gnaz gets back we'll be leaving this planet and those Amazons will be handed over to the druids. Imagine the reward we'll get! Stop acting like a scared little shit and keep that tongue of yours behind your teeth before it gets you into real trouble. If anyone else or Commander Gnaz heard you they'd skin you alive."

"Say what you want," the first one continued, sounding defensive. "But those women are dangerous. Lady Haggar was already told more than once by Lord Zarkon to leave that Amazon Princess alone. The witch has become obsessed! We shouldn't even be doing this in the first place! We're all going to get in trouble! What if the paladins of Voltron come too? The Amazon Princess used to be the former blue paladin! What if she called them for back-up?" he sighed. "I can't wait for us to leave this planet. The sooner we leave the better."

The voices faded as they entered another room and the hall was silent once more. Keith waited a few more seconds before creeping forward. What _thing_ had that Galra been talking about? Should he look into that? No, he decided. He'd keep looking around in this floor before heading to the next floor.

The bond between he and Lance stirred and Keith felt himself smile in relief.

Lance was awake.

 _Okay?_

Lance's thoughts were a little murky. Remnants of sleep still lingered. _Could be better._

 _Still looking._

He passed a few more cameras were tampered with thanks to Pidge's inventions before he made it to a set of stairs. He was trying very hard to stay focused in his search and not on Lance's shameless flirting going on where he'd left her. His mood only worsened when she continued to ignore him to continue said flirting. That it, until she started talking about the union.

Seriously Lance?

His mood a little better now that Lance had stopped her flirting, Keith crept up the stairs, senses alert for voices or approaching footsteps, but except for the two Galra he had passed downstairs, this floor looked deserted.

Something felt wrong.

A few more steps further had his jaw tensing. Lance seemed to sense his discomfort. The two of them had encountered this kind of aura before. It was an aura of fear and death. And if that wasn't clue enough, the stench coming down the hall should have given it away.

There was a druid here.

 _Keith?_ There was a warning in Lance's tone.

 _I know._ He tightened his hand on his dagger and continued down the wooden halls that seemed ready to collapse under him. _I'll be careful._ The feeling of wrongness only intensified when he stopped at two metal doors on the opposite wall. At least now he knew why the Galra had stayed away from this floor.

No one liked being in the presence of a druid.

His hand on one of the doors, Keith paused, feeling a dark power writhing from within, before he pushed the doors open and stepped into the room. It was dark, and normally that would bother him, but with his Galra eyes it was no problem at all. The place was a square room with white plastic sheets that hung from the ceiling and stopped a few inches before touching the floor. A few splashes of blood were on the sheets. Small rolling tables with medical equipment lay next to three medical beds, and there, hands and feet bound to the table were three women.

Keith hurried to their side, his ears alert for any sign of that druid.

He pulled back the curtain and gazed down at the three women before him. They looked exhausted, drops of sweat running down their cheeks and temple. One had a long cut down her arm and there, inside the wound, was a black glowing crystal. Black veins marked her whole arm and the woman shook. She had to be in a lot of pain but she remained tight-lipped.

At the sight of him, they glared.

The one with the crystal inside her arm all but hissed at him. "It doesn't matter what else you do to us," she shuddered. "W-we won't t-talk."

"I'm not here to hurt you," Keith started. The three women didn't look convinced. "My name is Keith. I'm a paladin of Voltron. I came here with Princess Leah to get you out."

At the mention of Lance's title, the three of them narrowed their eyes even more. The one in the middle with short black hair and a cut on her cheek all but growled at him as she tried to sit up, pulling at her restraints. Her wrists looked red and swollen. A bruise on her cheek had turned slightly yellow. "I swear, if you've done anything to the Princess you'll regret it!"

Keith tried not to sigh in annoyance. His eyes went to the third woman. She looked…familiar. Honey-blond hair, pink strands mixed in between, pale white skin. She had dry blood along her temple, part of her blond hair coated in it. But it was her eyes that he immediately recognized. He'd seen those sea-green eyes on another silver-haired Amazon recently.

"Are you Acacia?"

The woman stiffened. Keith glanced around the room before turning back to her. "Look, I know your daughters. Amaya and Annabelle?" the woman seemed to have stopped breathing. "They teamed up with Princess Leah's team and they'd been searching for you."

Her eyes still weary, the woman spoke in a hoarse voice. "Are my daughters here?"

"They're not inside but they're close," Keith said, taking out his dagger. "Look, we really need to get you out of here. Commander Gnaz will be returning to the vase soon and we don't want to be here when she comes back."

There was beat of silence before the one with the crystal in her arm spoke. "Are you really a paladin of Voltron or is this another trick?"

Keith took out his Bayard and transformed it onto a sword. The three women gasped. "Are you convinced yet?"

"F-fine," the woman glanced down at her arm before looking away. "But take this t-thing out f-first." Keith hesitated, he wasn't experienced in this. The woman rolled her pale gray eyes. "Just pick up those tweezers and pull it out!"

Huffing, Keith snatched the tweezers from one of the tables before marching back to her side. His anger immediately left him at the sight of her arm. "This might hurt."

"Can't be w-worse than t-this," the woman shuddered.

Taking a breath, Keith stepped closer and brought the tweezers close to the wound. There was a squelching noise as he plunged the tweezers inside and the woman let out a long hiss. Keith tried to ignore it as his other hand pulled at the wound to open it a little more. Blood poured out of the wound. It took a few tries before he finally took hold of the crystal and began to take it out.

The woman didn't utter a word and only when the crystal was out and placed on the table did she take a shuddering breath. The black veins began to fade. "T-thanks."

He'd undone one of the straps on her arm when Keith felt a chill in the air and he and the three Amazons in the room stiffened.

A low chuckle drifted out of the darkness, old and hoarse, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The druid was here. "A paladin of Voltron," crooned the druid, echoing all around them, though he couldn't see any sign of it yet. "Such a lucky day. Tell me; are the rest of the paladins here as well? What about the lions?"

Keith didn't answer, just silently slipped a dagger into the Amazon's hand before slowly making his way to the center of the room, away from the three women.

"I bet the lions are here as well," the druid continued in a haunting whisper, as Keith gripped the hilt of his sword, his body ready to move. "Lord Zarkon and Lady Haggar will be pleased. Both of their targets in the same planet. I can't wait to let them know."

The last words echoed overhead, just as Lance shouted a warning in his mind. Keith threw himself forward on her command, not bothering to look up, and felt something singe past his knee. A purple lightning bolt hit the floor before scattering into small ripples all along the floor before disappearing.

"Good instincts." There was a ripple of wind and the druid finally materialized. Black robes and the signature beak like mask on its head. Long nails that could scratch someone's face off and a stench that brought tears to Keith's eyes. The druid tilted its head. "You've fought against my kind before haven't y –"

Keith didn't let him finish. The bad guys had a tendency of talking too much anyway. He lunged forward, the sword in his hand aiming for its face when the druid released a sound of surprise and recoiled, but not before Keith delivered a sharp cut down its mask.

The druid hissed, robes billowing with hatred and fury as its mask dropped to the floor in two pieces. Keith felt the urge to hurl at the sight of its face. Sharp pointy teeth were on a mouth that would not close. Its left eye was permanently sealed shut; the scar tissue on the side of its blue skinned face was formed of ridges and grooves. A few silver chunks of hair hung loose from its mostly baldhead.

The druid lunged, balls of energy shooting from its gnarled hands, shockingly quick, and Keith's senses spiked. He lashed out with his Bayard, cutting through a corner of its black robes and slashing at its side. Purple blood poured out of the wound before the druid disappeared. Keith's listened intently, eyes raking around the whole room before he felt something at his back.

He whirled and struck his sword just as the druid reappeared behind him. He nicked him on its arm before the thing disappeared again. There was a startled yelp from one of the women before Keith was sprinting to their side. The druid whirled on the last woman strapped on the table and slashed down the white plastic sheet and toward the Amazon only to screech in anger when the two now freed Amazons pulled the table their friend was strapped to their side.

Acacia kicked at one of the rolling tables toward the druid when it reappeared once again. The thing stumbled and Keith was on it immediately. He brought his sword up just as the druid brought up its hands to block the hit.

Three long fingernails that looked more like claws dropped to the floor with a clatter. The howl the druid released would have broken every window in the room if there were any.

 _Keith?_

The druid placed bloody palms to the floor and sent a torrent of purple lightning all across the room. The Amazons leaped to the tables they've been strapped on while Keith ran toward the druid.

 _Try not to panic._

He didn't know whether being bonded to Lance made him immune or if he'd been shocked enough times that it wasn't as effective as before but the lightning the druid was still releasing onto the floor didn't affect him whatsoever.

 _But the two Galra have just blindfolded me and are taking me somewhere else._

Keith stumbled, almost falling face first on the dirty floor before catching himself. The druid looked terrified once it realized its attack wasn't affecting Keith.

 _What?!_

 _I just said not to panic!_

Keith bit back a curse, dropping to his knee to avoid getting his face scratched off.

 _I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Just focus on your fight._

 _Wait! Lance!_

But Lance had already cut off the connection with him. Even pushing him away when he tried to invade her thoughts.

Damn it.

He was so focused on trying to gain access to Lance's mind that he didn't see when the druid hurled some kind of liquid in his direction until it hit his eyes. A second later his eyes started to burn. Blinking rapidly, he staggered back, keeping his sword raised as he scrubbed at his face with his other hand.

"Duck!" Acacia screamed at him.

Keith didn't question it. He ducked.

"To the right!" the other Amazon barked at him.

Keith slashed to the right, a blur of black and dark blue filling his vision just as his sword bit into something hard. There was an inhuman growl before something struck him like a hammer, smashing him aside. Keith rolled to his feet, sword still in his grasp, when footsteps sounded off and there were three battle cries from the Amazons before something crashed to the floor.

Hopefully no one else had heard that.

They were far away from the first floor.

They'd be fine.

Probably.

Grunts and yelps came from ahead of him. One more swipe at his eyes had him making out shapes on the floor. He rushed forward, raised his sword high, and slashed down. There was a guttural sound and then nothing.

The three Amazons sighed in relief.

"Finally," one of the Amazons grunted, getting off the druids dead corpse, to stand. "I hate druids."

"We have to get out of here," Acacia was wrapping a bandage around the one with the shallow cut on her arm. "You weren't exactly quiet." She patted the woman's knee. "All set Agda."

"Thanks," Agda replied, swaying to her feet. Acacia and the other woman rushed to her side to help her stay up.

Acacia turned to the other Amazon. "Do you need me to take a look at that wound on your cheek Alena?"

Alena shook her head, adjusting her hold on Agda before turning hazel eyes to him. "You have a way out of here?" Despite being in an area that suppressed both their powers and their strength, the three of them were standing. Battered and bruised. Blood and sweat dried and crusted on their faces and their arms and skin. They were still standing and ready to fight their way out of here if it came down to it.

They were Amazons.

Keith pursed his lips and thought about it. He'd passed a few trash shoots on the way. Some of those ended outside, others ended up in other rooms, he just didn't know what area he was in. "Give me a second."

Tapping the spot behind his ear, Keith opened up the audio link to get in contact with the others. "Guys? I found three of the Amazons." Relieved sighs came from the feed before Keith spoke up again. "I need an escape route but I don't know what area I'm in."

" _Hold on,"_ came Pidge's voice. " _I'm pinpointing your location. I just need a few seconds_."

" _Keith_ ," Shiro spoke up next. " _You sound winded. Did you fight?"_

"Yeah," Keith rolled his shoulders, his mind still trying to get in contact with Lance. "There was a druid and –"

" _What do you mean there was a druid?"_ Allura screeched.

" _Oh, man,"_ Hunk whined. _"I hate those guys."_

" _Nasty creatures,"_ Coran murmured.

" _Are you all right?"_ Shiro sounded worried. _"Do you need back-up?"_

"What I _need_ ," Keith stated, his voice coming out sharp. "Is for Pidge to give me an escape route so I can get the hell out of here, drop off the Amazons, and go look for Lance."

There was a moment of silence before a myriad of voices began to shout one after another.

" _What do you mean you're going to look for Lance?_ " Pidge barked.

" _Yeah_!" Matt piped in. " _I thought she was safe inside a cell!_ "

" _Where is she?"_ Reyna demanded.

" _Is her highness hurt?_ " Amaya's worried voice came up next. The sound of her sister demanding answers could be heard from behind her.

" _Where is our sister Keith?_ " Aiden demanded.

" _That's it!_ " Mikey barked. _"I'm coming in!_ "

" _Mikey_!" the triplets shouted, making him wince. " _Cool your jets!"_

" _ENOUGH!"_ Shiro barked, startling them all into silence. Keith could hear his brother taking deep breaths before he spoke, his voice sounding composed though Keith could hear a tinge of worry in there. _"Where is Lance? Is she hurt?"_

"She's –" Whatever Keith had wanted to say was interrupted as a shrill alarm began to sound of. He was sure the whole place actually shook, that's how loud it was. They all froze, bodies stiffening and Keith's ears lay flat to escape the sound. They exchanged bewildered looks. "What –"

Keith whirled to the spot where the druid had currently been in only to find it empty. Only a pool of purple blood remained. His eyes searching wildly, he spotted the druid hunched on the opposite wall, one hand still clutching a level coming from the wall.

It must have used the last of its strength to sound the alarm

What an asshole.

"Shit." Keith turned to the Amazons and headed for the door. "We have to go!" the three didn't argue and simply followed as he pushed the doors open and started running. The alarm was still blaringly loud; the halls were bathed in red light. "Pidge!"

" _I got it!"_ Pidge shouted back. " _Go back the way you came, before you reach the end of the hall that reaches downstairs, there will be a trash shoot that leads outside. Send them that way!"_

"Got it!"

" _Captain Cedric,"_ Pidge continued. " _You guys are closest to the west area, can you start heading that way to pick them up?"_

" _We'll be there in two minutes,"_ Captain Cedric answered after a beat. " _Try not to get caught before then."_

" _By the way,"_ Pidge continued, the sound of fighting coming from her side. _"I've pinpointed Lance's location too. She's somewhere on the east side. Some cafeteria I think?"_

Good to know. Now he knew what direction he needed to go.

" _We've got two other Amazons with us,_ " Lotor suddenly spoke up for the first time through the feed. He must have finally turned it on with all the commotion going on. " _Any idea where we can drop them off?"_

" _I_ –" Pidge let out a curse. Grunts followed the statement. " _Matt_?"

" _I'm on it!"_ the older Holt replied.

Keith could hear the sound of footsteps running further down, voices shouted back and forth, and then Keith cursed as the windows along the hall were covered with a metal sheet. Metal doors began to descend further again. He cursed, picking up his pace.

The women behind him weren't as fast as he liked them to be. They passed the first door no problem but it was the second one that they really needed to pass. The trash shoot was on that side. Diving forward, Keith dropped to one knee and raised both hands to keep the metal door from closing.

"Hurry!" he grunted, his Galra side gave him an extra bit of strength but he wasn't sure how long he could keep this door open. The three of them picked up their pace when footsteps coming up the stairs had all four of them pausing.

" _The particle barrier in our area is down_!" Levian's surprised voice shouted through the feed.

Wait, what?

Who had turned off the particle barrier?

" _Take that tower down now!"_ Shiro barked.

" _On it!"_ Levian replied.

" _Take the next turn_ ," Matt instructed Lotor and Zooey. " _There's a shower room ahead. Go to the end of the stall and break the wall down!"_

" _Wait, what?"_ Lotor asked.

" _I can take it down!"_ Zooey reassured him. " _A few good smacks are all I need!_ "

" _You guys are also on the west side so you can probably meet up with Captain Cedric's crew once you get outside!"_

" _I'll send a few of the guys with us to their location," Captain Cedric answered next._

" _Thanks Captain."_

Keith's hands began to shake; he wouldn't be able to keep this door from going down for much longer. "Hurry!" Agda was the first to crawl under, her pace slow, as to not further injure her arm. Once she was through she dropped to her knees and despite being injured, raised both arms to help him keep the door from going down. Her limbs shook like crazy.

Alena went next, half of her body already through when three Galra appeared down the hall, weapons raised in their direction. "Shit!"

Shots were aimed their way. Keith didn't know if the gun blasters couldn't aim that far or if the three Galra just plain sucked at aiming, but either way he was grateful. The shots missed them entirely and instead hit the door and the walls.

"Hey!" one of the Galra snapped. "Freeze!"

"Fuck you!" Keith shouted back.

"W-what did you say?"

Alena was through; all that was left was Acacia. Taking one hand off the door, he tapped at his bracelet and summoned two gun blasters. The weapons dropped to the floor, Alena and Agda snatching them up with one hand before turning them to the Galra coming their way.

"Stop!" Another Galra shouted.

"And I'll repeat the same thing," Keith barked. "Fuck off!"

"You ass!"

The three Galra dived to the right, bringing up a purple shield in front of them. The door was getting increasingly heavy. When Acacia tried to crawl under, shots were aimed her way making her crawl back.

When one of the Galra poked his head to shoot at them, Alena was ready. She pulled the trigger and the Galra was thrown back, the shield disappearing with him as he dropped dead, a smoking hole in his forehead. The two remaining Galra cursed, their shield now gone, and started running their way.

One of the men reached for Alena who had stepped forward, one arm raised to push her. Alena dropped to the floor, knocking his feet under him before wrapping her arms around his neck, using her body free arm and body weight to hold down the flailing limbs. Agda went to intercept the other Galra once Acacia was halfway through the door. The injured woman released a battle cry as she wrestled with the Galra on the floor, finally managing to get her legs around the Galra's neck, ignoring the nails that scraped and clawed at her thighs as she continued squeezing.

Acacia was through. Keith dropped the door just as the Galra in Agda's hold went limp. She waited a moment longer before releasing his body. Within moments, they resumed their running when out of nowhere a howl sounded off and a metal wolf appeared, blocking the trash chute with its massive body.

The thing pawed at the ground leaving three scratch marks along the floor. Keith and his party froze. The metal wolf's red eyes seemed to glow as it hunched down, jaw leaking black oil when it opened its mouth. No one moved. Keith took a breath, hand going to his dagger when the metal wolf suddenly sprang and leaped at them, jaw open and hands extended.

Keith cursed, Alena and Agda opened fire only to let out their own curse when the shots did no damage. And suddenly, something cold and sharp whizzed past his shoulder and hit the metal wolf on its chest. The thing let out a howl as a spear of ice jutted out of the area. Keith turned wide eyes to Acacia who had an arm extended in the wolf's direction.

When the metal wolf took another step forward, Acacia placed both palms on the ground and a torrent of ice extended all along the floor before enveloping the metal wolf. Within moments it was covered from head to toe in ice.

"Guess my powers are back," Acacia murmured. So she could use ice powers. Lance was going to be very happy once she heard the news.

Next to him, Alena and Agda gazed at their arms, small bursts of lightning appearing at their fingertips. They smiled.

" _Our tower is down!"_ Levian said through the feed. He let out a curse. " _And now we have a Robeast headed our way…a little help would be nice."_

" _I'm sending Hunk your way", Shiro announced. "Allura and I will go to the other towers to help. Coran, go to the tower Adrian is in charge of."_

" _I'm on it!" Coran's chipper voice said._

" _I'm coming guys!" Hunk informed them, the sound of his lion roaring echoing around the fees._

The tower he was in charge of must have been the west one then. Only three more remained. Keith got to his feet and ran to the trash chute. He opened it and gazed down. There was a bit of light at the end. He turned to the Amazons. "Time for you to go."

The women hesitated. Acacia stepped forward. "We'd like to stay."

Keith shook his head. "No. That's out of the question."

Alena bristled, her palms clenching in anger. "We can help now! Our powers are back!"

"Besides," Agda continued. "You said her highness is here as well. We can't just leave her here by herself."

"She's not alone," Keith interrupted. "I'll find her. She's on the east side." The women looked ready to argue. He spoke up before they could make up more arguments. "The towers on that area are still active. You'll lose your powers long before we reach that area. You'll only get in the way." The three of them bristled. If they had feathers, they'd be all puffed up. "I'll find her," he repeated. "She's my mate," the three of them gaped at him. He tried not to smirk. "I'll bring her back. Go with my team, get a little rest and once the rest of the towers are done, you can go ahead and come back."

A surge of panic went through the bond.

Lance.

Something was wrong on her side.

Narrowing his eyes, he turned back to the three Amazons. He didn't have time for this. "Look, I need to go and help her. Leave!"

The three of them didn't look particularly happy but Alena reluctantly stepped forward, one leg already inside the chute before she turned to him with narrowed eyes. "Anything happens to her highness and you'll pay. I don't care if you _are_ her mate."

She disappeared through the chute, the sound of her body sliding down until there was a thump.

" _We got the first Amazon,"_ Captain Cedric announced. Shots sounded off from his side. " _Bring the next two down!"_

Agda stepped up next. She clapped him on the shoulder. "You weren't so bad," she shrugged. "For a male."

Before Keith could say respond, probably with something mean, she climbed into the chute and disappeared. Acacia stepped forward with furrowed brows. "Are my daughters somewhere out there?"

"They're all right," Keith reassured her, eyes scanning the halls for any enemies. "They're fine. Just ask the Captain to let you talk to them."

Acacia nodded and brought her hands together. Ice cold wind came out of her palms and Keith watched, fascinated as she created an ice statue of what looked like a praying mantis on steroids. She created two. The things reached up to Keith's knees as they stood to their full height, their six claw like limbs looked deadly. "They'll help you out. If I wasn't so tired I could have made them bigger but they're still pretty deadly. They will, however disappear once they're within distance of another tower or another black crystal."

The things moved to his side and gazed at him unblinkingly. Well duh Keith, they're ice statues. Still, this was pretty cool. He didn't know how they were moving or what they were capable of but the thought of having more help was definitely reassuring. Acacia placed a pale hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Find the princess. Keep her safe. Once those towers are down we'll be back to help." Keith nodded and stepped back as she began to climb into the chute. Sea-green eyes smiled warmly at him. "Thank you again."

And with that she was gone.

" _We've got all three Amazons!_ " Captain Cedric announced.

" _We've made contact with the two that the Galra Prince had with him_ ," another new voice added. " _Both royals are giving us cover fire. We'll reach you in another few seconds Captain!"_

" _Understood Mr. Smith."_

Glancing down at the ice statues that looked a lot like praying mantis, Keith sidestepped the bodies on the floor and began to head toward the stairs leading downstairs.

"Come on, let's go."

* * *

 _A few minutes before Keith "killed" the druid…_

"Is what you said about everyone on the Voltron Alliance having good benefits a lie or what?" A Galra a little older than her skeptically asked her. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at her distrustfully. The six Galra behind him looked at her with narrowed eyes. "That dental thing. Is it true or was it just bullshit?"

When Lance had been dragged out of her cell by the two Galra guards, blindfolded, and marched out of the room and into a bunch of hallways that she swore moved, she was ready for anything.

She was ready to get her butt kicked.

She was ready to be interrogated.

Heck, she was even ready to be bullied like most villains liked to do to their prisoners.

What she was not ready for was to have the blindfold taken off her eyes only to come face to face to six Galra, eight including the two Galra standing behind her, all holed up in a dirty room that had seen better days only to be asked if the people from the Voltron Alliance really got dental.

How badly were their teeth that they asked her so seriously?

The walls in the room were dirty with graffiti; the stench of rotting milk filled the room, something questionable and brown on the plates on the wooden table and two chairs. There was a fridge in the far corner, a small stove, and a sink that had plastic bags wrapped around the knobs to keep the water from gushing out.

"I'm sorry?"

The Galra in front of her glared at her with puffed purple cheeks. "You told those two," he pointed at the Galra behind her, "that everyone on the Voltron Alliance gets dental, a good pay, physical exams whenever we want, and a good working environment." He stared her down. "Is that true?"

The six Galra behind him were wringing their hands and staring at her with wide eyes.

Lance straightened up. "Of course it is. It doesn't matter if you're a leader or an underling. Everyone gets the same treatment. Its only fair."

"But the dental thing is a definite thing?" The Galra before her pressed.

How many times were they going to ask about the dental thing? "Like I already said. _Yes_." Smiles broke out from the group before they started whispering to themselves.

"See?" Ponytail taunted behind her. "Told you she was telling the truth!"

Lance arched a brow, her handcuffed hands twitching as Keith was hit by something hard from wherever he was fighting that druid. It was taking a lot of effort in her part not to start shuffling her feet and not burst out of the room in search of him. He'd be okay she kept repeating to herself. Keith was strong. She couldn't distract him while he was fighting. "How badly are your teeth anyway?" she dared ask. The Galra in the room froze. "I mean, you keep asking about it. Do you need to get your teeth checked out that badly?"

The eight of them exchanged looks before a petite Galra woman with silver braided hair spoke up. "Look at it this way, a few weeks ago, one of our friends died because the food they were serving us caused an infection in his gums." Lance gaped at her. "He started out with tooth aches, then everything he ate or drank hurt his teeth further, the swelling started afterwards until eventually he couldn't close his mouth."

"He couldn't sleep because of the pain," added another Galra. "He begged the seniors to let him go to the doctor but we only have druids that do the check-ups and trust me, no one wants their teeth checked by a druid."

"It's not like we could afford it either," Ponytail added behind her. "If you're not a Commander you're charged way too much."

"Baz passed away soon after and now most of are getting the same symptoms as him," added baby face. "We don't want to die because of a teeth infection."

"I see," said Lance slowly. "So you want to join the Voltron Alliance?"

The girl spoke up again. "It's not like we're treated all that well here anyway." She pointed at the plates filled with brown muck. "Have you seen what they feed us?"

"Look at my teeth!" one of the Galra stepped forward to reveal bloody gums and a yellow tooth. "I really need to see a dentist! Preferably _not_ a druid!"

Lance reeled back in disgust. "Jesus, you really need do!"

"See?"

Lance narrowed her eyes. "How do I know you won't betray us once you join? If you want to join the Voltron Alliance then you have to prove yourselves."

The six of them stepped up. The first one that had spoken up clenched his fists. "What do you need us to do?"

Lance thought about it. There were a lot of things she could ask them of. But the more pressing one at the moment was the towers. Five of the seven Amazons had been found. And right now Keith could use some help with that druid. "The towers." The Galra before her startled. "Take down the particle barriers."

His pointy ears twitching, the Galra that seemed to be the leader of this little group spoke. "Even if we take them down they wont shut down. Someone has to manual shut them down."

Lance shrugged her shoulders. "Leave that to my team. I just need them off."

The Galra broke into whispers and Lance tried not to tap her feet as she waited. After what felt like forever, they stepped back and the leader came up to Lance.

"Okay," he said. "We'll he –"

That's when the alarm sounded. Loud and piercing, and then the shouting began. Everyone froze.

Cursing under his breath, Ponytail reached into the pouch of his belt and took out a rectangular device. He put it close to his mouth. "What's going on?"

There was a bit of astatic before a voice spoke on the other end. " _We've got intruders on the upper levels!"_

" _They're after the Amazons!"_ another one barked _. "Send guards to those locations, they'll be coming for them!"_

The voice cut off and another voice spoke, this one female. She grunted. " _The Galra Prince and that woman with wings are out of their cells! Who the hell was in charge of watching them?"_

" _Those two idiots,_ " Jube snapped, his breaths coming out in pants. " _They better be frickin dead otherwise there's no excuse for those two prisoners being out!"_

Ponytail chose that time to wisely turn off the device. His face was grim. "Well, that's not good." He turned to the leader of their group. "What do we do Rhys?"

Rhys ran a hand through his furry head. He turned to Lance. "We'll take down those towers but when this is done, we're coming with you. Is that understood?"

"Take down those towers and you've got a deal." Lance smoothly replied.

"Okay," Rhys turned to his comrades. "Everyone pair off with someone else and take a tower. Use channel seven to interact with each other." They grimly nodded. "And don't die."

Fists placed over their hearts, they clicked their boots together before nodding. "Sir!"

Within moments they were exiting the room. When Lance made to follow, Ponytail pushed her back. "You stay here." Lance immediately protested. "They usually don't come here."

"W-wait!"

But he had already closed the door. There was a click from outside and when Lance tried the door she cursed. It was locked.

Great. Just great.

Lance scanned the room before her for any signs of an exit when her eyes landed on grate above the stove. It looked a little small but hopefully not eating any solid food for a few days had made her lose a bit of weight.

Ahead she could hear footsteps, they sounded fast and urgent some passed by the room without stopping once.

She glanced at her handcuffs before heading to the stove and turning it on. This was going to suck. Placing her hands above the fire, Lance waited for the handcuffs to heat up. It took a little longer than she'd been hoping for, and she was sure she would have marks on her wrists but once the metal was red enough, Lance pulled back and stretched her palms in opposite directions until they snapped.

Success.

Shaking her hands to get rid of some of the discomfort she glanced up.

Not for the grate.

Turning off the stove, Lance climbed on top of, ignoring the warmness coming from the stove, and began to pull. No dice. Looking around the room, Lance picked up a saltshaker and began to pound the thing on the grate. When it was slightly bent, Lance gripped the small metal arms and pulled, almost falling to the floor when the grate come after her third tug.

With another grunt, she pulled herself into the small opening and began to crawl.

" _The particle barrier in our area is down_!" Levian's surprised voice shouted through the feed. Lance felt her lips curl into a smirk. Looks like those guys had were keeping their end of the deal.

" _Take that tower down now!"_ Shiro barked.

" _On it!"_ Levian replied.

Pidge's voice came after. Apparently, Lance was somewhere in the east area. Okay, so the last two Amazons had to be around this area. The Amazon continued to crawl, peering down whenever she passed a square of checkered light to peer down. Metal wolves were among the Galra running amok. Lotor and Zooey had taken the two Amazons with them when they'd broken out of their cells.

Sweat was beading down her neck, her arms strained with the effort to keep crawling. She'd passed a few rooms but had found them empty, some had boxes stored inside, others had Galra putting on their armor to join the search. It's after four more turns that Lance found them.

Two Amazons were inside iron cells. Handcuffs around their wrists. They weren't alone though. Two Galra soldiers were in the room with them, gun blasters raised and pointed at the door. The grate was loose. She gnawed on her lower lip. Could she take them down quickly if she caught them by surprise? Tapping her bracelet, she summoned her arm gauntlets for a little more protection, gripped her crystal necklace for luck, and placed the small dagger on her mouth.

The removal of the grate was done quickly and quietly.

Her body tensed, shoulders hunching, preparing to strike. One of the Amazons noticed her, her obsidian eyes going wide as Lance leaped down and landed on the Galra under the grate. The two of them went down, the Galra opening his mouth to shout, when Lance gripped the dagger into her hand and buried it on the left side of his neck. The man gurgled, hands flying to stop the bleeding but it was too late. The other Galra opened fire on her, the Amazons shouted something, and Lance rolled off the body, bringing up her arm to block the bullets aimed her way.

They ricocheted off her arm gauntlets. The man cursed, backing away to reload his gun, and Lance took the opportunity to snatch the gun blaster from the dead Galra before her just as the other Galra began to shoot her way once again.

A bullet singed her bruised cheek, the feeling of someone burning her skin strong, and for a moment she panicked, before she brought up her hand and shot twice. One bullet hit the man's knee and he dropped to the floor, the other one hit his shoulder. Lance didn't let him recover and pulled the trigger one more time, her mark hitting true as the man dropped to the floor, a hole in the middle of his forehead.

Pounding footsteps headed their way. Lance aimed her gun blaster at the handprint scanner so it'd take them a while to open the door. Just to be safe, she hauled both dead Galra and placed them on the door. If she's lucky it'll make them trip over themselves.

Quickly searching their pockets, she found a set of keys and dove for the cells.

"Your highness?" one of the Amazons whispered in awe. Lance scrutinized her face. A bob of curly dark hair framed a heart shaped face. Red eyes that changed to orange when she turned her head. Beatrix if Lance remembered correctly. She had left Cloyetera when Lance was around twelve but she remembered seeing her in the training fields. Her pale hands went to Lance's cheek. Her red eyes turned dark. "They will pay for this."

The other one moved forward and pulled Lance against her chest. "Oh, your highness. Last we heard, you had been found and were back home." Her arms tightened around Lance's body. "I'm so glad you're all right."

Lance pulled back. "We have to go." She chanced a smile. "It's good to see you. Beatrix. Berna."

The two of them beamed, Berna's dark cheeks turning into a bright red. Fists started pounding on the door. The three of them tensed. Lance stood under the grate and laced her fingers together. "Climb up."

"But –"

" _Now_."

That got them moving pretty quickly. By the time the Galra soldiers had pried open the doors; Lance and the two Amazons were long gone. They dodged a few more guards, crawling as quietly and as quickly as they could as Lance led the way. From up here, she could see that the halls _were_ moving. There were hidden panels on the walls, Galra soldiers simply had to place their hands on it and the halls would move. Just like train tracks. It felt like they were going in circles.

Lotor and Zooey had gotten the Amazons with them to safety. So had Keith. Lance just needed to get Beatrix and Berna outside and then they could leave this awful place. Focus Lance. Focus.

They were still on the east side but if she remembered correctly, Zooey had broken the wall on the west side where some of the showers were located. They were almost to that area. Her powers should come back the second they made it over there. Lance paused, the two Amazons letting out confused sounds behind her. Lance closed her eyes trying to remember the layout of the base. She tried not to flinch when Keith was struck on his jaw wherever he was fighting from.

She crawled forward, turned to the left and passed three more grates before looking down. The hall looked deserted. Pulling back with all her might, Lance pried the grate off only to wince when the thing slipped from her hands and falling to the floor with a loud thud.

Crap.

They didn't have much of a choice though. There were stairs down this hall. Stairs that would lead to the second floor and would lead them to the shower room where Zooey had broken the wall that would lead outside.

She dropped to the floor and landed in a crouch. She could hear footsteps approaching, slow and cautious.

"I'm telling you I heard something in this direction," came a voice.

"It was probably one of those metal wolves," said the other.

Beatrix jumped out next, followed by Berna who let out a wince. The three of them dove for the walls, placing their backs on it. Lance on one side and Beatrix and Berna in the other. Lance clasped the dagger in her arm so tight her knuckles turned white.

"Hey –" one of the guards shouted, but the sound was choked off into a painful gurgle as Beatrix drove her elbow into the man's throat. The Galra pushed back just as Berna dove for the Galra woman behind the man. The two went to the ground, pulling at each other's hair. Just as Lance was about to dive in to help another Galra appeared from behind the two, gun blaster aimed their way.

Lance threw her dagger only to curse when it embedded itself on the man's shoulder instead of his throat. Leaping over the wrestling bodies on the floor, Lance brought up her hands to block the bullets aimed her way, her breaths sounding heavy to her own ears. Her limbs wouldn't stop trembling. She kicked out a leg and the Galra went down and Lance jammed her elbow down his throat hard enough to make him pause. In one swift motion, she gathered up all her strength and snapped the man's neck.

One look at her comrades showed that they two were done with their own fights.

"Let's go."

The minute Lance and her comrades made it down the stairs; it was like a breath of fresh air. Glancing at her fingertips she was glad to see sparks of lightning appear. Beatrix and Berna glanced at their own hands and released wobbly smiles. Berna was a healer apparently.

The next sets of enemies to come their way were defeated much more fluently. A simple swipe of her wrist had Galra thrown hard against the walls. Metal wolves coming their way were crushed with the tightening of her fists.

Lance tapped at the spot behind her ear. "I've got the last two Amazons with me," she announced.

Keith was the first to respond. " _Lance! Where are you?"_

"West side," she panted, sending a bolt of electricity at a Galra that jumped down from the stairs to catch them in surprise. Maybe if he hadn't done a battle cry he would have succeeded. "Heading towards the shower room where Zooey made an opening."

Her friends cursed.

Lance frowned.

" _Lance_ ," Keith sounded exasperated. _"I'm on the east side!"_

"Oh." She winced. "Sorry?"

He sighed. " _I'm heading your way."_

" _So are we_ ," Lotor informed them. " _We were making our way to the second floor when a Robeast intercepted us back at the north side."_

" _Don't die blue eyes,"_ Zooey teased.

Lance scoffed. "Right back at you."

" _Captain_?" Shiro asked through the comms. " _Can you pick them up?"_

" _It'll take us a while,"_ Captain Cedric panted, voice strained. Lance could hear shouting and the sound of dozens of gunfire. _"We've got a few metal wolves on our side."_

" _I'll go!"_ Mikey barked.

" _The hell you will,"_ Matt snapped at him. _"Do you not see the three metal wolves in front of us? The particle barrier is down on the north side, I need you and Axca to keep those things away from me so I can shut it down!"_

Mikey cursed.

" _I'm working on the south tower,"_ Pidge briefed them. " _Hey_!" she snapped. " _Someone take down that douche bag on the tree! Asshole keeps shooting at me!"_

"He's mine," Zethrid purred.

" _We're closer_ ," Cesti answered next. _"I have Narti, Kyrian and Levian with me. We were heading for the Captain's ships when a few Galra ambushed us. We'll be there soon."_

" _My team and I will be headed to the west side as well," Adrian informed them. "We've shut down our tower too!"_

"Okay," Lance answered back. "Thanks."

"Hands in the air!" someone snapped.

Beatrix sent a bolt of orange lightning his way. Lance didn't wait to see his body drop to the floor in spasms. The sound of running water was heard further ahead. Skidding to a halt, the three of them paused at the sight of a bent door on the floor before diving in.

One of the showerheads was on, wetting the floor. Lance and her entourage headed for the last stall where Lance could feel a breeze, their feet making wet sounds the further they walked. There at the last stall was a decent sized hole.

"We made it." Lance turned to the two Amazons whose shoulders had slumped in relief. "Okay, Beatrix you're up first."

The woman nodded, sticking one leg out then the other until she was safely outside.

"Your highness!" Cesti's voice came from outside. They were close. "Over here!"

Lance turned to Berna. "Go ahead."

She hugged her one more time before she began to pull herself out slowly, one hand at her side where it was glowing. She'd been injured on the way and she was still trying to heal the cut on her side. Thankfully, the bullet had only grazed her.

It was when she had safely made it out and Lance was in the process of following after her that thundering footsteps sounded of in the restroom. She whirled, her eyes wide, as one of the bathroom sinks was hurled her way.

Lance dove to the right and the sink crashed into the wall where the hole had been, making the wall crumbled even more and blocking the exit.

Cesti's voice could be heard from the other side only to be followed by a howl.

She cursed.

"So close," Commander Gnaz grinned at her. "Imagine my surprise when my team and I got here only to see the paladins of Voltron and my base on lockdown." Her purple Mohawk looked singed and short. "Only reason the paladins of Voltron would still be here is if they still had comrades inside." Lance placed both palms on the floor and sent ripples of blue lightning toward her.

One could imagine her surprise when nothing happened to her. Commander Gnaz's face curved into a cruel smile. She pointed at her black boots. "Lightning proof."

Commander Gnaz snapped her black-gloved fingers and a moment later a vicious blast of wind tossed her hair and caused her to stumble forward. The wind ripped through the curtains in the other stalls, causing dust from the once broken wall to blow in every direction. As she straightened, Lance's eyes went wide at the sight of a tall figure standing next to Commander Gnaz.

It was another Varg.

Just like Shadow only this one was pink with a spiked metal collar around its massive neck. "So," Commander Gnaz said, after a moment of brittle silence. Her voice could have frozen the water around them. "Like my pet?"

The Varg/Wolf as Lance liked to call them was as big as a horse, easily towering over both her and Commander Gnaz. Its purple eyes glared at Lance as it bared its fangs and snarled in her direction. Small black crystals were embedded on the collar so Lance wouldn't be able to use her powers to pry them off.

"Want to see what else she can do?" Commander Gnaz clicked the button on a device that looked a lot like a car alarm remote.

The pink wolf snarled, baring sharp white teeth, and hunched forward as a burst of electricity burst from the collar around its neck. Another blast of wind sliced through the air and Lance stumbled back, hands going to the wall lest she fall. She felt a burning sensation against her cheek.

Her fingers came away smeared with blood.

Well.

This wasn't good.

Narrowing her eyes, Lance hurled one of the toilets with a flick of her wrist only to gasp as the pink wolf stepped in front of Commander Gnaz to take the hit. The woman chuckled as the wolf shook its head. "Go ahead," the woman crooned, smile wide, face radiating smugness. "Anything you throw at me my pet will take instead."

Lance cursed and punched the wall she'd been leaning on. She ran out of the room, a burst of wind making her stumble when it sliced her right thigh. Thundering footsteps followed after her. She didn't dare turn back. She knew the wolf was behind her and though she could probably kill it if she really tried, Lance didn't want to.

The animal hadn't done anything wrong.

It was wearing a collar that released a burst of lightning. It didn't seem to have much choice. Noticing the noise, Galra soon appeared before her, weapons aimed in her direction. Lance hurled them away towards the wolf. Others she electrocuted. She tried sending spikes of ice but nothing appeared.

She conjured up a shield when she rounded a corner only to curse when it shattered. Right. The bullets were made out of Dampening Stones. Of course her shield wouldn't hold. Hands on her knees, she stopped to catch her breath inside a random room before looked out through the little window.

No sign of that wolf _or_ Commander Gnaz.

Good.

Pidge and Matt had taken down their own towers as well.

Catching her breath, Lance quietly exited the room, looked both ways, and started heading in Keith's location. He was close.

Where was she anyway?

First floor probably. She hadn't climbed any stairs. Shrugging, she kept going, fingertips sparking, body taut and ears alert. Peeking out from the wall she was hiding in, she peeked through the door and noticed two Galra guarding two sets of swinging doors. Was this a cafeteria? There were a lot of chairs and table. Plates with half eaten food on random tables, like the owners had left in a hurry and hadn't bothered throwing their plate away. She was about to take care of the two Galra when she sensed Keith close.

Mouth curling into a grin, she stepped out all casual and calm, like she was greeting a friend and sauntered over. "Hey guys!" her voice was loud enough to carry. The Galra straightened and turned their gun blasters her way. Lance leaned on the wall, ankles crossed and looking for all the world like she was having a pleasant conversation.

"Hands above your head!" one of them barked.

"Now!" the other one snapped.

Lance clicked her tongue, not moving from her spot. "You guys need to chill. I swear, every man I've seen in this base is so stiff. Ever heard of having fun?"

"Oh, we can have fun," the first one grinned at her. She didn't like that look in his eyes. "We can show you."

Lance almost scoffed. "Sorry guys, I like my men broody and with an eighties hairstyle." The men growled at her. Lance pointed at the ceiling, right where the grate above their heads was. She grinned. "Just like him."

Keith dropped from the grate with a bang, two daggers at his hands, before falling on top of the two Galra. Before they even knew what was happening, Keith had already slit their throats. The two Galra dropped to the floor with glazed eyes and Keith gracefully got to his feet, wiping the blood from his weapons in their clothes before smirking at her. He'd changed back to his human side. Strands of black hair were stuck to his sweaty temple. A bruise marked his jaw. The scar on his right cheek looked a little dark. Splotches of blood covered his armor around his chest area and shoulder. They didn't seem to be from him though. God, he looked great. "Eighties hairstyle?"

"Don't deny it," Lance teased from her spot on the wall. "You know it's true."

Keith's mouth curved into a smirk before he offered her his arm. "Want to get the hell out of here?"

"Gods yes."

* * *

"I've got Lance," Keith informed his friends through the audio link. "All the Amazons are out."

" _Good_ ," came Shiro's voice. The sound of the others cheering followed right after. Once it died down, Shiro spoke up again. " _All right. Time to leave everyone. There are too many Robeasts for us to handle. Zooey, Lotor, find an exit as well. I want everyone to start retreating."_

Sounds of affirmative echoed from everyone.

Keith's legs were burning. He'd been running all over the place looking for Lance and defending himself at the same time. The only thing keeping him moving was the hand he was clutching in his own as Lance ran beside him. She still had those handcuffs on and the cold metal kept brushing along his wrist with every step they took. She had a cut on her thigh and one on her cheek. Not too bad considering all the enemies they'd had to fight on the way.

Even now, Galra were still hot on their trail. Their footsteps making them run faster. If they could avoid a fight all the better. Lance was tired as well, the adrenaline running through her veins still holding strong. Keith was faster than her, lighter on his feet and easily jumping over fallen obstacles but Lance was the one who had memorized the layout of the base. She was shooting directions and keeping their enemies away by hurling them to opposite walls or throwing objects at them when they got too close.

The doors they had stepped through when they first came to the base were just further again. They were so close to the exit. However, when they were halfway across the room, a sudden gust of wind had them stumbling backward.

There was a howl to the right of them and Keith barely had time to push Lance away just as a huge pink wolf brought him down. His hands went to its neck, arms straining to keep that snapping jaw away from his face.

"Keith!" Lance cried out his name, her footsteps heading his way when a big Galra woman suddenly appeared, picked her up by her hair, and hurled her into the wall. The Amazon cried out as she went through the wall. A cloud of dust covered his view of her.

She'd landed on something sharp, and Lance cried out as a piece of metal went through her right upper arm. Keith felt the sharp pain as if it the injury had happened to him.

With shaking fingers, Lance was trying to pull the object out of her arm only to cause more blood to pour from her wound.

Keith grit his teeth, bringing up a knee to push the wolf off him. He couldn't help her with this thing snapping at him. The thing barely budged. He tried again, this time both knees going up and pushed. The wolf stumble off him and Keith used his elbows to crawl away, aiming a kick to its face. The Galra woman sniffed, and the wolf swiped a huge claw at his head as it tried cornering him against one of the battle cruisers. Tools and dirty rags were under it.

Keith picked up what looked like a wrench and hurled it at the wolf. It hit it one the nose and the thing let out a whimper and Keith almost felt bad. Until it swiped at him, its claws cutting a long line down his arm. All sympathy vanished right there.

"My, my," the Galra woman laughed. "You're a tough one aren't you? But you've already lost." Keith frowned, blocking a swipe at his face with his Bayard. "Those claws of hers have been dipped in a little paralyzing agent that I like to use. How are you feeling? It should kick in pretty quickly."

She was right. Keith could already feel the numbness in his arms, making it hard to block, to raise his sword, to _defend_ himself. His fingertips were starting to tingle. The Galra woman headed toward Lance.

Lance who was still trying to pull that metal piece out of her flesh.

He couldn't let that woman hurt Lance.

He wouldn't _allow_ it.

With strength he didn't know he possessed, Keith kicked at the wolf with all his might, sending the thing a few paces back and dove for the Galra woman. She whirled, bringing up a sword only for Keith to sidestep and shove his own sword into her thigh.

The woman screamed and backhanded him.

His cheek throbbing, Keith landed on his back, cheek throbbing and probably swollen. He tried pushing himself by his elbows, to roll over and grab his sword, but his body felt like it was made of stone, and his limbs only moved a few inches.

"You little half-breed," the Galra woman hissed at him, one hand at her bleeding thigh, her face contorted into one of rage. She headed his way. "I was going to let my pet take care of you and end it quick but you've pissed me off." She raised a blade in her bulky hand, the point angled at his throat. Keith tried moving but his limbs refused to move. "I'll take care of that little bitch once I'm done with you. Lady Haggar would have preferred her alive but her being dead wouldn't be too much of a problem."

"You touch her and I'll kill you," he gritted out. The pink wolf stood behind the woman looking down.

"I'm afraid you won't be here when I take her life," the woman continued, and raised her blade even higher, her smile wide and victorious. "Goodbye little half br –"

A blur of brown and bronze crossed his vision, and Lance slammed into the Galra woman from the side, tackling her around the waist. The two tumbled to the ground with a shriek of outrage from the Galra woman.

"You disgusting woman!" the Galra woman threw a leg and Lance was hurled away, hitting the battle cruiser with a gasp several yards away from them. The pink wolf looked hesitant. It hadn't been given any commands.

The Galra woman rose, purple blood coating her teeth as it dribbled down her chin. Her expression was full of hate. She pointed a gloved finger at Lance and barked at the wolf. "Kill her! I want her dead!"

Keith held his breath, waiting for a shriek of wind, for the snarling to commence as the wolf descended on Lance. But nothing happened.

"You dumb creature!" the Galra woman snapped at the wolf. "Didn't you hear me? I said, kill her!"

"Oh, she heard you," Lance pushed herself to her feet, her right hand lying limp to her side, blood dripping all the way to her fingertips and onto the floor. She had a split lip but despite the injuries she had on her, Lance was grinning. "But I doubt she'll listen to you now that you no longer have this."

She raised her arm, a small item that looked like a car lock, was dangling from her fingers. "One thing you should know about the Varg," she continued, pushing a red button on the device. There was a clicking noise and the metal collar around the wolves' neck opened and dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Lance's smile was all kinds of smug. "They absolutely _hate_ being collared."

"W-wait!" the woman raised a hand, her purple face going pale as the wolf turned its purple eyes to her. She backed up a step only to scream as a blast of wind sliced through her raised arm. Blood began to spurt from the wound. The wolf stalked toward her, eyes an angry red, its muzzle pulled back to reveal sharp teeth, before leaping onto the woman and sending her crashing to the floor.

The woman screamed and screamed as the wolf clawed at her raised arms. At her legs. The uniform she wore was torn off, pieces scattering to the floor, only to be covered in her own blood as the wolf continued to claw at her.

Keith could only stare with wide eyes. Lance limped to his side, a grimace on her face as she dropped to her knees, her still bleeding arm shaking as she brought it up to tap at her bracelet. A yellow vile appeared at her hands before she leaned forward, tilting his head back to drop a few drops into his open mouth.

"Antidote," she answered when he looked at the vile with furrowed brows. She moved his bangs away from his bangs to lay a kiss on his forehead. "You're going to be okay."

"Your hand," his eyes went to her arm. "It still hurts."

She smiled and wrapped her arm around the one still bleeding. "I'll take care of it."

There was pained whimper and the wolf was hurled to the side with a painful cry. The Galra woman was already on her feet, her face looking grotesque, half of her jaw ripped apart to reveal a long tongue and teeth coated in purple blood. She was missing a few fingers; her legs had long scratches that went so deep Keith could see bone jutting out.

She raised her sword.

And the world seemed to slow as Lance covered Keith's body with her own.

Keith went still, his mind screaming at his body to move, and then to Lance to _get away._ Neither his limbs nor Lance obeyed.

The Galra woman's hand began to drop, sword clutched in her remaining fingers.

Lance didn't have enough energy to summon her powers. And all the blood she was losing was making her mind sluggish.

 _Stop_.

"Lance!" he cried out. "Please!" She had to get away. She _had_ to. If she died –

A choking sound interrupted his thoughts and Keith froze, eyes going wide as a silver blade broke through the woman's throat, spraying purple blood on to his and Lance's cheeks.

"I promised you," Zooey Kailee hissed behind the Galra woman, her sword lodged inside the woman's throat. She rammed it in deeper. " _That I would kill you_."

The woman dropped to the floor as Zooey plucked her sword out. She backed away and a ball of red flame appeared at her fingertips before she tossed it to the woman's body. The fire grew quickly, soon enveloping the woman's corpse.

Strong hands pulled him by his armpits and Keith looked up to see Lotor pulling him away lest his clothes catch on fire. In front of him, Zooey was helping Lance to her feet, the Amazon sagging into her friend with a tired but grateful smile.

"I think it's time for us to leave," Lotor suggested, helping him to his feet. That paralyzing agent he'd been given was finally wearing off. He stretched his fingers and wiggled his toes. Satisfied that he could somewhat move, Keith let Lotor pull his hand over his shoulder to help him walk. "Don't you think so?"

"Just get us the hell away from here," Keith pleaded. "I'm so done with this place."

"Tell me about it," Zooey scoffed, hand wrapped around Lance's waist to help her to the exit. "Let's get out of this shit fest."

"Zooey," Lance reprimanded. Her voice sounded slurred. "Language."

* * *

Keith didn't remember much after they got out of the base. He knows was that the Green, Blue and Yellow lions, along with dozens of men in uniform, had appeared as soon as they exited, blasting any Robeast or Galra that tried to attack them as Shiro arrived in Black so they could get in.

Shiro had been worried and immediately taken them to the castle where the others were already waiting. Keith had waved away the use of a healing pod. He wasn't that injured. One of the Amazons that they had saved had volunteered to heal whatever injuries while Adina and Annabelle tended to Lance's injuries.

Her brothers and all of the Amazons had been crowded around her trough the procedure, the women refusing to step into a healing pod until they were sure that their Princess was okay. Hunk and Pidge were among the crowd as well, the yellow paladin biting his nails as he waited for the verdict. Reyna told them to relax but she was quickly shushed. Amaya and Annabelle had a tearful reunion with their own mother before they convinced her to take a good long rest inside one of the healing pods.

Most of their friends had come out unscathed, a bruise here and there but nothing too serious. Apparently the men in uniform that Keith had seen apprehending the fleeing Galra were officers from this planet. Lance had called the Chief of Police the night before, it's why she's been up during two in the morning, and had tried to convince them to help them free the Amazons in exchange for Voltron's help in getting the Galra to leave their planet.

Lance hadn't told any of them that. She hadn't been sure if they would come or not and had not wanted to get their hopes up in case they decided _not_ to show.

Luckily, they had showed up.

The Chief of Police was currently talking with Shiro and Allura about joining the alliance. As well as eight young Galra that Lance had Okayed.

They kept asking about a dental plan?

Keith didn't really know, Shiro had kicked him out of the meeting with orders to get some rest. Berna, the woman who had healed his injuries was currently inside a healing pod getting her own injuries taken care of.

And Lance…she was still in the healing bay, keeping watch over the rescued Amazons and some of the young Galra that had been injured during the fight. The rest of the Galra that had been captured were being held in a prison in this planet. They would soon be chipped out to one of the new prisons that had been specifically made for Galra working under Zarkon.

The Blades and a few rebel fighters that Matt worked with were working there as guards.

Toweling off his wet hair, Keith threw his wet towel over his chair and headed straight for the healing bay. Five minutes later he was stepping into the room and there, legs crossed over the other where she sat on the floor was Lance.

To the side, leaning on healing pod that contained Acacia were Amaya and Annabelle, the two wrapped in a blanket as they slept.

Stopping beside his mate, Keith dropped to the floor next to Lance and poked at her cheek. Lance jumped, wide blue eyes staring at him in surprise. She hadn't changed since arriving and seen her dried blood on that bronze dress made him queasy. "You should take a shower and change. Get some rest."

Lance laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I will. Just wanted to make sure they were okay."

"And they will be," Keith insisted. "Coran keeps checking on them every few hours. Come on, take a shower and change into some clean clothes. Maybe get some sleep."

Lance hesitated.

An idea sprang into his head, Keith smirked down at her. "Lance, what I'm about to say is going to make you very happy and super aroused but I need you to stay calm."

Lance stared at him with wide curious eyes.

His voice serious, he leaned forward to whisper into her ear. "Do you want me to apply your face mask before bed?"

The full on shiver that ran through Lance's body had his smirk growing wider. "Oh, hell yeah."

* * *

The Amazon ship arrived while they were eating breakfast. Everyone that had required a healing pod the previous night was out and breakfast had been moved to outside to make room for everyone aboard the ship. Even Captain Cedric and his crew had joined them.

Lance and Hunk were running back and forth placing plates in front of people. The cook from the Captain's side had pitched in to help and even some of the Amazons had gotten up to help. The young Galra that were seated at the table with them looked to be experiencing a religious experience as tears ran down their cheeks as they all but devoured the food that was placed in front of them.

"It doesn't move!" one of them cried out in joy.

"It actually has flavor!" another one echoed.

"This is the best day of my life!" another added.

Everyone gave them strange looks but Hunk and everyone who had helped in cooking had seemed pleased with their comments.

It's during the third batch that the Amazon ship had arrived. The ship was a dark royal blue, the mark of the Amazons painted at the side in black. At the sight of it, Lance and every Amazon had shot to their feet and went to meet with the passengers. Naturally, everyone else followed to see what the fuss was all about.

A ramp was lowered and a woman with blond hair and covered in a fur coat stepped out first. The woman bowed once at the sight of Lance before speaking. "Your highness, it is good to see you in good health."

"Rhea." Lance blinked, her eyes going to the ramp as four other women stepped out. "What are you guys doing here? Aren't you guys supposed to be guarding my mother?"

Rhea smiled, her green eyes twinkling. "Yes, but once we heard your ship had been damaged, the queen has us depart Cloyetera to deliver you your new ship."

"New ship?"

"Yes," Rhea's eyes were mischievous. "You were planning on going with the rescued Amazons to warn the rest of the women who might be targeted yes?"

Lance flushed.

"She figured a new, bigger, ship might come in handy."

Lance crossed her arms over her chest. "She's just afraid of what we'll do to her once we get back isn't she?"

Rhea's mouth twitched but didn't deny it.

"Wait," Acacia interrupted, poking her head from the crowd to look at Lance. "You're coming with us?"

Lance balled her fists and took a deep breath. "Yes. When I asked you if you would help me aster my ice powers you said no because you had other contacts in other planets with Amazons who had left Cloyetera and wanted to check on their status." Keith startled. Lance hadn't told him about that. "So I decided that I'd go with you and on the way to each planet you can help me master my powers."

Acacia's sea-green eyes went wide. "Your highness, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that."

Lance shrugged, rocking on the balls of her feet with a smile. "You didn't ask. I offered. I _want_ to come. Those women are my people as well. I _have_ to make sure they're all right."

Acacia hesitated and then Annabelle was tugging at her arm. "Oh, please mom? Say yes! It'll be fun."

"We'll be going as well," Lotor piped in.

Zooey scoffed, hands folded over her chest. "Naturally."

"We're Lance's guards, can't leave her alone," Reyna added. Adina and Cesti nodded with matching grins.

"Well," Mikey cracked his knuckles. "I'm not planning on leaving your side anytime soon. Count me in."

"Same here." Aiden added with a grin.

"Us too!" the triplets chorused.

"Guess we're coming too," Zethrid stretched her arms high in the air and yawned. "Can't leave the Prince by himself with a bunch of women."

"Yeah," Ezor grinned. "They might try to have their way with him."

Lotor blushed.

Axca turned to him with a no nonsense face. "I'll be coming with you too."

Narti nodded as well, her tail curling around her waist.

Acacia let out a huff of laughter. "Well, I'll admit. The help _would_ be appreciated." Lance held her breath. "Okay then. I'll train you." Lance let out a squeal and wrapped her arms around the Acacia's shoulders. "It'll be serious stuff your highness, and I will not go easy on you. We still have quite a few women to save."

"I'll be a good student!" Lance promised. "You won't regret it!"

"That's great buddy!" Hunk pulled Lance into a hug as the Captain and his crew let out a chorus of loud cheers.

"Thank you very much for your help," Acacia said to Keith and his team. "We really appreciate it but now we must go."

That wiped the smiles from their face pretty quickly.

"What?" Pidge shrieked. "Already?"

"But we haven't even finished breakfast," Matt protested.

"Won't you stay for the rest of the meal?" Allura implored.

Berna shook her head. "We haven't been able to get in touch with a few of our friends and we're getting worried."

"The sooner we leave the better," Agda said next, her now healed hands folded over her chest. "We'll probably form two teams and get another ship to make the search quicker but we really must go."

Coran's mustache deflated.

"So then," Shiro gazed at every Amazon before turning to Lance. "I guess this is goodbye."

Lance nodded, a small frown on her face. "I'm afraid so." At the deflated looks everyone gave her, she winced. "It won't be forever! We'll visit!"

Rhea coughed into her fist to get everyone's attention. "We've also added a transporter inside the ship due to your father's request," Lance's eyes got wide. "The coordinates to the Castle of Lions have already been inputted as well." She gave everyone a warm smile. "You can visit anytime."

As Acacia and the rest of the Amazons readied the ship, Lance and her entourage bid farewell to everyone by showering them with hugs. Hunk and Coran were already bawling their eyes out, all but refusing to let go of Lance as they hugged her tightly. Shiro and Lotor shook hands, even sharing a one man hug before repeating the motion with Allura and Matt, the latter jumping into the Galra Prince's arms with a wail on his lips.

Zooey awkwardly shook people hands only to stiffen when Captain Cedric pulled her into a big hug along with Lance. "Take care of yourselves Lassies."

Lance made sure to hug everyone on the team, hugging Keith for last, because she insisted that you always saved the best for Lance. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, Lance gave his body another squeeze before she pulled back.

"I'll see you soon," she promised, her lips brushing against his once. Twice. Three times. "I swear."

"Take care of yourself," he scolded her. "Please don't get shot anymore."

"And make sure to call!" Pidge snapped at her. The green paladin looked like she was holding back tears. Lance wrapped her up in a hug and Pidge squeezed her back tightly. "You have the best stories out of anyone."

"I promise Pidge," Lance patted her head and smiled down at her. "No more getting shot."

The two of them pulled back and with another smile and wave, Lance began to make her way up to the ramp when a low growl snapped everyone's attention to the right. There, partly covered by the bushes, was the pink wolf. Dried blood marked its side and it seemed to be favoring its right leg.

Within seconds weapons were drawn from everyone gathered in the field.

The wolf hesitated.

Lance held up a hand and slowly approached the creature, both hands raised to seem non-threatening. Keith and Mikey inched forward; ready to dive in to her rescue if the wolf so much as made a move.

But it didn't.

Once Lance was in front of it she held her palm up and the creature brought its nose into her palm and closed its eyes as if content. Lance smiled. "You're coming with me girl. Would you like that?"

The wolf wagged its pink tail and crept closer.

It didn't seem to want to hurt her. Slowly, Keith and the others put away their weapons and inched closer.

"What are you going to call it?" Hunk wondered.

"Radiance." Lance immediately replied. "I'll call her Radiance."

"Radiance, huh?" Shiro nodded, stepping closer to scratch at its head. Shiro and he had a thing for wolves. "I like it."

"I think she likes it too," Allura murmured with a smile.

"Come on Radiance," Lance called, walking back to the ramp where her team was waiting. "Let's go."

The wolf eagerly followed after and with a last wave, the ship lifted off the ground and disappeared into the distance.

Shiro wrapped his arm around his shoulder as the two followed the ship until it was completely gone. "Don't worry Keith. She's going to be okay. And we'll see her soon."

"I know," Keith smiled and let Shiro pull him back to the breakfast table where everyone had returned. "I _will_ see her soon."

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! And remember, I'm also on Archives of Our Own! Two more filler chapters and then it'll be time for the final battles so look forward to that! And let me know if you find that Shrek refrence XD_


	44. Chapter 44

"There is no place like home."  
― **L. Frank Baum,** **The Wonderful Wizard of Oz**

Chapter 44

Shiro crouched on the rooftop, peering through the binoculars at the delivery entrance behind Velitis City Medical Center. It was early morning, the sun close to rising judging by the hints of light that went from pale gray to a silvery purple. He resisted the urge to yawn; they'd been on lookout practically the whole night.

" _I think I see something,"_ said Pidge through the comm link behind his ear. They'd opted not to wear their helmets today; the air was breathable, though a little humid.

Shiro narrowed his eyes; the dimness made it a tad difficult to see anything from his spot ten stories up. The City of Velitis reminded Shiro of Tokyo, Japan. All tall buildings, lights flashing between neon to blue to pink and to orange. Despite the late hour, or early morning, the city was still buzzing with activity, Shiro could hear aliens chattering even from this far away, ships in various sizes roamed the sky, and the sound of traffic echoed from every direction.

The area Shiro and his team were on was a little more deserted though. The mayor of this city had called this part of town a 'place for commoners.' The buildings were a little shorter, apparently ten stories high wasn't high enough for the rich city folk miles away from their location.

"Where?"

" _There's a ship at the corner,"_ Pidge explained. Shiro brought out his binoculars, adjusted it to night mode, and looked in the direction his friend mentioned. _"Hardly any ships have come to this area, and at first I thought it was just parked, but the engine just turned on a few minutes ago."_

"Can you tell if anyone is inside?"

Hunk answered this time. _"I looked but I didn't get any heat signatures."_

There was a crackle from the comms before another voice came on. " _Perhaps the alien inside is cold blooded."_ Allura suggested.

" _It wouldn't be the first time_ ," Keith muttered next before sighing. " _Can't we just attack them already?_ "

"Not yet Keith," Shiro stressed for what felt like the fifth time. His brother had never been one for patience. Then again, being on lookout for the whole night wasn't Shiro's cup of tea either. His joints ached from being in this crouched position for so long. He couldn't wait to stretch his legs out once the culprits made their move, and they would, according to the medical center staff, they always struck every two weeks. "We have to make sure these are these are really the guys stealing the medical supplies before capturing them."

Keith let out a grunt but said no more.

It'd been another month since their trip to Planet Zenith where they had helped Lance and her team save those captured Amazons. Since then, the Amazon Princess had come to visit twice and the third time Keith had gone to her. The first time was a week after they had left. Adina had finally cleared her and was finally allowed to eat solid food. Naturally, Lance, with Radiance trailing behind her, went to Hunk because as Lance said 'I can finally eat. And If I'm going to have my first real meal in weeks then it obviously has to be Hunk's.' The yellow paladin had cooked up all her favorite dishes and they'd all sat together to eat with her and catch up. She and Radiance had only stayed a few hours before leaving. The second time she visited had been in the middle of the night to visit Keith.

Shiro didn't want to know what the hell those two had done during that time, though he had a pretty good idea judging by the hickies adorning both of their necks the next morning. At least Keith had made the effort of hiding them with a scarf. Lance on the other hand? She did no such thing. The former blue paladin had even gone all the way to put on a tank top so all could see. Pidge and Hunk couldn't stop staring. Coran had just laughed and started a whole story of what _he_ had been like when he was young. Allura had downright avoided eye contact and Shiro? Well, it was hard to look his friend in the eye but he made sure to give her a look, which, not surprisingly, went ignored.

She'd stayed till breakfast once again and then left once Lotor informed her that they'd reached their destination on their side. As soon as she'd left, Shiro had cornered his brother to give him the baby talk; something both of them had been embarrassed about. It's not like Shiro _wanted_ to have that talk either but sometimes he had to remind Keith about what would happen if he didn't use a condom. His face red, Keith had all but yelled at him that he _had_ and to please stop talking about this unless he wanted to get a punch to the face.

The third time Keith had gone to Lance. Shiro and his friends had just returned from a mission and were getting ready for dinner when Keith suddenly shot up from his chair and sprinted out of the room in a hurry. Moments later, Allura had gotten a ping in her bracelet informing her that the transporter was being used.

Keith hadn't told them much. All he said was that Lance needed him and that he'd be staying the night. Normally Shiro would argue but the tone his brother used had sounded troubled so he'd let him be. She wasn't hurt Keith stressed when they asked him for more details but either way he was staying. They didn't contact him after that.

It'd been about three weeks since then but according to Keith, she and her team had been super busy.

So busy that they'd split up into three teams to cover more ground. Nothing they couldn't handle had come up though so at least Shiro didn't have to worry too much. Back in the present, Shiro tapped at the spot behind his ear and spoke to his teammates. "Keith, Allura, I want you two to cover the south and east escape routes."

" _Understood_." Allura answered for the two of them. " _Moving now."_

"Hunk," Shiro said through the comms. "I want you on standby and Pidge, tell us if you see anything on the cameras around the area."

" _Roger_."

" _Keith here, I'm in position_." The red paladin paused. " _You think they'll move soon?_ "

"Yes," Shiro replied after a pause. "They'll want to leave before the sun comes up and –"

" _They're out!_ " Pidge suddenly shouted. _"I count eight altogether_."

"Might be nine with the driver," Shiro corrected as he got to his feet. His body felt stiff from crouching for so long. He did a few stretches to get the blood flowing. "Get ready."

Lifting the binoculars to his face, Shiro saw the black cargo ship pull forward before turning the corner only to come to a stop in front of the delivery doors. Shiro blinked and suddenly the driver appeared. It looked like some kind of chameleon. Was that why Shiro hadn't been able to see it before? They'd encountered a few aliens that could turn their whole bodies to match their surroundings. A few seconds later, the metal doors were thrown open and eight figures poured out of the medical center, masks on their face, and heavy looking black bags in their hands.

Shiro checked his surroundings once more to make sure there were no civilians around before tapping his comm. "Okay guys, let's move."

" _Roger_."

Putting the binoculars inside his bracelet, Shiro jumped down, the jet pack on his back slowing his fall, though his feet still left a small crack on the stone pavement, before he sprinted after their targets. The cargo ship began to lift into the air.

"Hunk, you're up!" Shiro called.

" _O-okay_!" the yellow paladin replied. The cargo ship lifted and only managed to fly for a block and a half before they reached the location Hunk had been on the roof. His Bayard that looked more like a cannon lit up and a large energy beam shot off before hitting the cargo ship on the side. The thing wobbled and Hunk lifted his Bayard once more and fired off two more shots.

The cargo ship went down, black smoke coming off it, as the driver tried to maneuver them away from the buildings. The ship hit the corner of the building where Hunk was at causing parts of the structure to rain down before the ship crashed into the ground.

Shiro tried not to wince. Hopefully, the mayor won't notice the small damage.

" _They're splitting up!_ " Pidge barked through the comms. _"I only saw five of them get out though."_

Shiro turned the next corner only to stumble back as a punch came right at his face. Taking hold of the surprisingly cold blue wrist, Shiro slammed the alien into the wall so hard the man slumped down to the floor unconscious. "I got one in custody," Shiro informed his team. "How are you guys doing?"

" _I've caught two,_ " Keith panted. " _Assholes tried shooting at me._ "

" _I captured one as well,"_ Allura informed them next. " _Knocked him out."_

" _Hunk and I captured the last five," Pidge smugly reported. "Two of them were unconscious, one I kicked in the face, and the last two Hunk knocked out with his Bayard."_

" _Another win for Team Punk,"_ Hunk hollered.

" _Hell yeah!"_ Pidge cheered, the sound of their hands slapping against each other echoing through the feed.

Shiro felt himself smile as he draped the unconscious robber over his shoulder and started making his way to his team. "And the medical supplies?"

" _All bags and supplies are accounted for,_ " Pidge reported.

"Good job team," Shiro picked up the black bag on the floor and took it with him. "Let's turn these guys in and get the heck out of here, I'm starving."

" _I just got a new batch of waffles from Cloyetera,_ " Hunk announced. " _Blueberry and chocolate chip_."

" _And pancakes?"_ Pidge questioned hopefully.

" _Of course_."

" _What about granola bars?"_ Keith asked eagerly. " _I've run out._ "

" _And peaches!"_ Allura gushed. " _Perhaps already in slices?"_

" _Don't worry guys," Hunk proudly announced. "I have everything all ready. I'll even make some Mac N' Cheese today too."_

Shiro stifled a moan. "Hunk, that sounds amazing."

" _I know what you guys like,"_ Hunk chuckled.

" _Princess_?" came Coran's voice back from the Castle of Lions. " _Are you all done?"_

Shards of glass littered the street the closer he got to his companions. Up ahead his team was surrounding eight tied up aliens on the floor, the cargo ship still smoking a few feet away. On the floor next to Hunk were eight black bags. Reaching their side, Shiro dropped his own robber on the floor none too gently and placed his own bag next to the others.

His team didn't look injured.

The sun had risen over the buildings now. Shiro could see pedestrians poking their heads out from random buildings. They hadn't exactly been subtle. The sound of sirens was growing closer, the police force of this planet were on their way it seemed.

Good. Shiro didn't feel like carrying unconscious robbers all the way downtown.

Allura tapped her own comm button to reply to the Altean Advisor, her other hand wiping sweaty white locks from her forehead. "Yes, Coran, we're done." She frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Lady Lance and her team are on the line," Coran's voice crackled in everyone's ear. Keith stood a little straighter. Pidge sent him a cheeky grin that had him growling at her. "They say they have something important to tell us."

Allura shared a glance with him. He shrugged.

"Wonder what it could be." Pidge mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she stifled a yawn.

Hunk turned to Keith. "Do you know?"

Keith shrugged. "Lance isn't talking. Just said we should hurry up."

Hunk gnawed on his lower lip, his voice lowering to a whisper though Shiro still heard him. "You think it's about you-know-what?"

Keith's shoulders stiffened and though his voice came out low, Shiro could detect a touch of worry in his voice. "I don't think so…but," His brows knit together. "I hope not."

Pidge eyed them both suspiciously but surprisingly didn't say anything. That wouldn't last. It was only a matter of time before she lost patience. One look at Allura's narrowed eyes confirmed that she was close to asking them as well but was refraining.

Shiro turned away and tapped his comm. "We're on our way Coran."

* * *

Upon entering the Castle of Lions, Shiro was surprised to see Matt already there waiting for them. Noticing them, Matt offered them a wave and a grin as Pidge's face lit up as she all but ran into his arms to hug her brother. Matt had left a few weeks ago with the Rebels to check on the new prison that the Blade had made specifically for anyone working with Zarkon. They'd needed help sorting them all out and Matt had volunteered to go.

Even Krolia had been there. She'd visited the Castle of Lions a few days ago to catch up with Keith before leaving.

Making his way to his best friend, Shiro lifted his hand and Matt accepted the fist bump with one of his own. "Long time no see Takashi," his friend grinned at him. He swept his light brown hair back. "Is it me or did you gain a few more wrinkles?"

Allura giggled into her hand.

Shiro waved a threatening finger in both of their directions. "Watch it."

Matt laughed good-naturedly and followed after them as they made their way to the bridge, Pidge next to him as she retold him of the mission they'd just finished. Matt made sure to nod and praise her at all the right moments and soon enough they were passing through the metal door and stepping inside to see Coran waiting for the in the center of the room.

Coran smiled at them, orange mustache lifting with the movement. "I take it the mission went well?"

"Too easy," Pidge shrugged. "The only thing that was annoying was standing still for so long."

"We got all the medical supplies back too," Hunk added. "All those patients will be happy."

"So what did Lance want?" Keith immediately cut to the chase.

Coran chuckled and turned back to the console in front of him before tapping a few buttons. "Ask her yourself."

The giant screen at the front lit up and moments later the face of none other than Prince Lotor looked back at them with a smile. Keith immediately scowled at not seeing the Amazon Princess. " _Hello, Paladins of Voltron."_

Prince Lotor had his long silver hair done up in a ponytail, his face wall all sharp edges but still handsome. Shiro could hear running water in the background and wherever they were it was dark. Only the lantern in Lotor's hand gave off any form of light. The clothes he was wearing were black and purple. They seemed a little loose with plenty of room to breathe. A black scarf was wound around his neck.

Keith crossed his hands over his chest and glared. "Where's Lance?"

Lotor rolled his gray-blue eyes and grinned. " _Nice to see you too Keith_." The red paladin arched a brow and with a smothered grin, Lotor turned the camera to face Lance and Zooey who were walking ahead, Radiance at the front. The Amazon Princess looked sleep-deprived. She was all but dragging her feet as she walked alongside her red-haired friend who looked the same. Her black wings were dragging on the floor.

Both of them had their hair up in a ponytail as well. They were dressed identically. Black tights pants with brown combat boots, white loose shirts, and a black and gray scarf around their necks. The same matching armlet on their right upper arm.

Shiro stifled a laugh. "I'm guessing you and Zooey are getting along?"

Lance turned and beamed at him. " _Yup. Watch this."_ She turned to her red-haired friend walking ahead. " _Hey, Zooey."_

" _What_?" she grumbled.

" _Compliment me_."

" _You have eyes._ "

" _Nice."_ She turned back to Shiro and his team with a smile. " _See? Progress."_

Matt and Pidge snorted.

Allura smiled warmly at her. _"How are you Lance?"_

" _So tired."_ Lance panted _,_ her shoulders sagging. _"So hungry. Must persevere."_

Lotor rolled his eyes. " _We haven't been walking that long Lance."_

The Valkyrie sniffed over her shoulder. " _Says you."_ She glanced at her bracelet. " _We've been walking for six hours already."_

Lance and she came to a stop to glare at him. " _Just admit that we're lost already."_

Lotor put his hands on his hips. _"We're not lost."_

" _Are too."_ The two princesses' argued _._

" _Are not."_

" _Are too."_

"Where are you guys anyway?" Matt thankfully interrupted before they could come to blows.

Lance pushed back her sweaty hair and sighed. " _We're in the sewers of some desert planet. According to Acacia, there should be three Amazons living here. We went to their houses but they looked ransacked. This seemed like the kind of place they'd take refuge in."_

" _Unfortunately,_ " Lotor continued with a frown. " _We haven't been able to contact them and this place is_ _pretty big."_

" _Thirty six entrances_ ," Zooey added. " _Fifteen exits. Strange creatures and so many insects. We've been walking for hours."_ She made sure to send a glare at the Galra Prince who pretended not to hear her.

" _We're_ _starving_ ," Lance whined, both hands over her stomach.

Keith's eyes narrowed on his mate. "Are you okay Lance?"

The Amazon straightened, her hand reaching out for Radiance's pink fur as the wolf came to a stop next to her. For a few moments the two of them just stared at each other, probably talking to each other in their minds, before Lance nodded, a tired smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. " _I will be."_

Keith's stance relaxed. He looked relieved. So did Hunk. "Good."

Pidge and Matt stared back and forth between the two but neither Keith nor Lance elaborated. Zooey and Lotor, as well as Hunk, seemed to know though judging by the expressions on their face. Should Shiro be worried? Keith hadn't told them why he'd gone to Lance last time.

"Where's the rest of your team?" Shiro asked instead. It'd be best not to push it. They'd tell him eventually. He also knew for a fact that Mikey and his brothers had gone with her as well as Reyna, Adina, and Cesti. Not to mention the new Amazons that they had met in the previous planets.

" _We've all split up,_ " Lance answered. " _We need to cover more ground."_

" _Others we sent to other planets," Lotor added. "There's a lot of women on our list."_

"Do you guys need us to come help?" Pidge asked, her face etched in a frown. "Is that why you called us?"

The three royals straightened, shared a look, before turning back to them. Lotor spoke first. " _Actually_ ," he looked to Allura and then to Coran. _"Ami and Tami called us a few minutes ago from their ship to inform us about a strange signal they passed._ "

Pidge leaned forward, glasses gleaming in interest. " _Strange signal?"_

" _Yes_ ," said Lotor. He hesitated. " _They believe it's an Altean distress signal."_

Allura and Coran stiffened. Her hands balled into fists, Allura strode forward with narrowed eyes. "This is no time for jokes Lotor!"

" _It's not a joke_ ," Lance took over, hands folded over her chest. " _Lotor and I are familiar with Altean symbols so the twins sent us a link and what we saw and heard is definitely Altean. We were going to check it out once we were done with this, but we don't know how long we'll be, and besides, we figured you should do it instead."_

"Are you absolutely sure?" Coran stressed. "You're absolutely positive?"

Lotor and Lance nodded. " _We wouldn't have told you guys unless we were sure."_

Shiro turned to Allura who had begun to shake and put an arm around her shoulders. She gave him a wobbly smile before he turned back to their friends at the screen. "Thank you for letting us know. We'll go ahead and che –"

A thunderous roar coming from Lance's side interrupted him before he could finish. Lotor whirled, his eyes wide. " _What in the seven hells is that?"_

Lance and Zooey grinned, lightning and fire appearing at their fingertips. " _Dinner_."

The two of them took off in the direction of the noise, Radiance leading the way with a bark, after a last wave in their direction and Lotor let out a curse as he ran to catch up with them. The camera zoomed in on him. " _As you can see, we're a bit busy here but Lance said that she had a strange feeling about that distress signal."_ The sound of lightning and what sounded like loud crashes filled the background. _"If you guys need any help just let us know!"_

" _Guys!"_ Lotor stressed to his teammates _. "Don't eat that!"_

And with those last words the screen went blank.

Hunk and Matt whirled on Keith. The yellow paladin's eyes were wide.

Keith frowned at them from where he was leaning on the wall. "What?"

"Dude!" Matt screeched. "Are they okay or not?"

Keith rolled his eyes, hands folded over his chest and looking bored. "They're fine. It's just a mutated looking alligator. Nothing they can't handle."

If possible, Hunk's eyes got wider. "Mutated Alligator?"

"You're joking right?" Matt asked.

Keith just grinned.

"They always deal with the best stuff," Pidge grumbled with a shake of her head. "So," she turned to Coran and Allura who were talking is hushed tones before turning back to Shiro. "Are we going or not?"

"Of course we are!" Allura snapped, her hand holding onto Coran's own so tightly that the Altean Advisor's hand had gone white. "We _must_."

"There could be more Alteans out there." Coran murmured in wonder.

"We might not be the last ones," Allura tearfully said.

"Wait," Keith interrupted with narrowed eyes. "What if someone is cloning the signal to try and lure us in?"

Allura glared at him.

"And don't forget what Lotor said too." Keith continued, not bothered in the least about being glared at. Shiro had to give his brother props. If it were him he'd be trembling in place. His girlfriend was scary when she was mad. "Lance had a strange feeling about it."

"And when it comes to _feelings_ ," Pidge interrupted. "She's usually right."

"Bad feeling or not," Allura stressed. "We're going." Keith opened his mouth and Allura was quick to cut him off. "And that's _final_."

Keith squared his shoulders, probably ready to argue some more, before Shiro cut in. "It wouldn't hurt to go check it out Keith."

"It could be a trap." Keith affirmed.

"We'll be careful."

"Where do the coordinates lead?" Pidge thankfully asked the Altean Advisor.

Coran's brows creased in concern as he looked back at the console. "Near Delobar."

Ah.

No wonder Lance had a strange feeling. That area was a place no ship liked to venture in. It was filled with dark purple clouds, lightning flashing around every corner, iceberg like objects colliding one after another. Not to mention that it was cold. Very, _very_ cold.

Lance would probably feel right at home. Them on the other hand? Not so much.

Allura went pale. "Are you sure?"

Hunk swallowed, his eyes wide. "Wasn't there a rumor that a big scary monster lived there?"

Keith shrugged. "Probably."

Allura shot him a glare.

Keith glared right back. "Well, there is."

"Maybe we _should_ wait for Lance and her team to finish," Matt suggested with a wince. "We'd stand a better chance with her around."

"Lightning and ice?" Pidge nodded with a frown. "Yeah, Lance can totally handle those things."

"We cannot wait," Allura argued, aquamarine eyes blazing. "We don't know when Lance and her team will be done with their mission, what if it takes them hours? Or even days to accomplish?" Shiro and the others frowned. "If this really involves Alteans, then it is my duty as their princess to go and help them." Allura lifted her chin. "And if I have to go by myself, then I will."

For a moment no one said anything, all of them lost in their own thoughts. Shiro broke the silence first by squaring his shoulders and taking a step forward. "You're not going by yourself. I'll go too."

Allura sent him a grateful smile.

Pidge shrugged. "All these missions we've gone on have been pretty boring lately," she grinned devilishly. The light caught in her glasses, giving her a fiendish look. "If we're lucky, we'll find this monster and have some fun."

Allura's eyes glistened. "Pidge."

Hunk heaved a heavy sigh. "Great. Now I _have_ to go." The corner of his mouth twitched upward. "Someone's got to keep an eye on Pidge."

"I don't need a baby-sitter!" Pidge scowled defensively.

Matt ruffled his sister's messy hair. "Guess I'm coming too. You'll need your big brother to keep you safe from the big bad monsters."

"Says the guy who usually runs _away_ at the sight of said monsters." Pidge muttered under her breath.

Matt flicked her forehead. "Hush you."

Coran puffed up his chest and twirled the end of his mustache. "Naturally, I'm going too. Can't have you kids have all the fun!"

Everyone turned to Keith. The red paladin rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. " _Fine_. I'm going too." He looked away with a grumble. "Someone has to watch out for you idiots."

Pidge cooed. "Aww, Keith cares about us."

Keith's cheeks went red.

"That's so cute!" Matt gushed, enveloping a stiff Keith into his arms. "You've come a long way from those moody teenage years."

Shiro sniffed. "I'm so proud of you baby bro."

Hunk ran over and wrapped both Matt and Keith in his arms. "Someone take a picture quick!"

Coran's eyes went wide. "Is he smiling? I swear he's smiling!"

Keith looked away and squirmed in Hunk's hold.

Pidge popped out the camera and started clicking away. "I can't wait to give these to Lance for a price!"

Keith glared at her, his cheeks still bright red. "Don't you dare!"

As Keith continued throwing obscenities at his friends Shiro stood back with Allura and smiled at the sight. He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "We're all with you princess. For better or worse."

Allura's eyes glistened. "Thank you Shiro." She turned back to the others. "All of you."

* * *

The distress signal was coming from a pitch-black planet. According to Coran, there were no signs of life but there _was_ a ship there. Somewhere. Allura and Coran's eyes were wide, their eyes fixed on the monitor displaying the distress signal. From this close, the signal was stronger, clearer.

"So?" Pidge asked them both when neither of them said anything from her seat at the front left. "Is it an Altean distress signal or not?"

"It is," Coran breathed, eyes wide and expression hopeful. "One used by King Alfor's ships."

Allura clasped her hands to her chest, her eyes never leaving the screen in front of her. "Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?"

"Well," Hunk looked at the screen in front of him where he sat. He rubbed his hands together and blew on them. "Like Coran said, there's no signs of life." He hesitated. "Should we…go check it out? It's kind of freezing here."

It really was. They'd turned on the heater but it didn't seem to do a thing. Keith was the only one who didn't look particularly bothered. Perks of having a mate whose skin was cold twenty-four seven probably. Or maybe it was the Galra part of him. Either way, Shiro was kind of jealous.

Everyone turned to Shiro.

"All right," he said after a pause, the temperature so cold he could see his breath. "We'll go in our lions and check it out," he turned to Coran who was already bundled up in a thick jacket and orange gloves. "I want you to stay close to the planet, keep an eye out on our surroundings. We're far too close to Delobar and that doesn't sit well with me."

"You can see the flashes of lightning even from here," Matt added, brown eyes anxiously looking in the distance. "I swear I heard a roar too."

Hunk paled. He swallowed. "A roar?"

Pidge rolled her eyes at them both. "You're probably just hearing things."

"No," Keith disagreed. "I heard it too."

Pidge sent a glare in his direction as both Hunk and Matt let out tiny squeaks of fear. "You couldn't lie to them and tell them they're imagining things?"

Keith smirked at her. "Nope."

Allura huffed at him.

"Keep the particle barrier up," Shiro instructed Coran when the man turned slightly pale at the conversation behind him. Allura's four mice were huddled together at the Altean Advisor's console, the four of them squeaking and shivering from the cold. "If there's any sign of trouble, let us know immediately." He turned to his friends. "Everyone, suit up. We're going down to that planet."

* * *

There was something off about this place. The unease that had settled into all of them turned electric. One would think that he'd be reassured to know that the planet was all but deserted and it was just his team here but Keith didn't feel that way. The hair on the back of his neck rose the minute they exited their lions to investigate on foot. He'd opted to stay at the rear but all he saw as he scanned the horizon were rocks.

The entire ride here had been too quiet. Too easy.

This part of the galaxy was known to be dangerous, and many ships refused to take this course for the rumors that they'd heard. So for Keith and his team to have made it here this easily…it didn't sit right with him.

It was windy as hell and if Keith weren't wearing his helmet, he was sure his hair would be flying around his face. Dust and dirt was mixed into the air, the sky overhead was almost pitch black. Tree trunks missing leaves frantically swayed to the right with the sway of the wind. Rocks in various sizes littered the dark floor, some even floated in the air. He kept his hand on his Bayard, ready to take it out to defend his friends if anything were to pop out and attack them. Lance had told him to be careful and not to cause too much noise lest they attract the monster that lived in Delobar to appear before she drifted her attention back to the task at hand. Whatever was happening at her side required all of her attention.

He hoped everything would be all right this time. Last time it hadn't and Lance had been in such a bad state that Keith had gone to check on her immediately.

They'd lost an Amazon.

And Lance blamed herself. It hadn't been her fault. He'd seen through her memories, the bullet had struck the woman in the heart _before_ his mate and her team had found them and no matter how much Lance and Adina had worked to get it out, to heal her, it hadn't been enough. They'd lost her.

Lance had been trying to soothe the woman's thoughts as she worked. To try to get her mind off the pain but that had been a mistake. All of the woman's memories, all her emotions, they'd stuck with Lance. There had been so many thoughts. The woman's family had been there. Everyone's thoughts had invaded her own and Lance had needed to get out.

There were too many voices in her head. Too many emotions that did not belong to her coursing through her. So many memories. Keith had felt it through his end, a migraine so intense it had him hissing, and within moments he had been moving. He made sure to get her as far away from the city as he could. He placed his headphones over Lance's ears and blasted the music as loud as it could go until she calmed down.

Until the voices faded.

It took two long painful hours for them to fade. At the state she'd been in, he couldn't just let her be by herself so he'd stayed the night, no one had argued, not even Mikey, before he had to leave in the morning. It'd been a few weeks since then but Keith knew Lance still thought about that woman sometimes.

He didn't know how to help her. Death was part of life. Both he and Lance knew that but she had gotten so confident this past month that the loss came to her as a shock. He'd given her time. Hadn't prodded her to talk about it. Just stayed by her side and tried to quiet her thoughts. If Lance wanted to talk to him about it then he just had to wait.

"Keith?"

The red paladin snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Hunk looking at him with a touch of worry in his face. "Are you all right?"

Keith nodded and continued to walk, Hunk matching his pace easily to walk beside him. "Yeah. Just thinking."

"About Lance?"

Keith frowned. Was he that obvious?

Hunk's mouth curled up. "She's going to be okay. Losing someone is hard, but you really helped her out." He patted his back. "The music was a good idea."

Out of everyone in his team, only Hunk and he knew what had happened a few weeks ago. Lance had told her best friend the next day. No one else from their team knew. Lance hadn't wanted to worry them.

"She said that?"

"Yeah," Hunk smiled at him. "It kept the voices away."

"Good." He breathed in deeply. "That's good."

"You know," Hunk nudged him with his shoulder. "Pidge and I were planning on visiting her and her team after this mission. Want to tag along? We were going to make s'more and have a movie night."

Keith felt his mouth curve into a tiny smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Just try not to bait Mikey or the new Amazons on the ship."

"No promises."

Hunk gave him a look but the corner of his lips twitched.

If they didn't like the way he stuck to Lance so much then they shouldn't look. Keith was going to do whatever he pleased.

"We can bring her a souvenir," Hunk added with a skip to his step. "She always gives people gifts but she doesn't receive many herself."

Keith looked around their surroundings with a frown. "I don't think there's anything here that she'd like."

Hunk looked around with a wince. "True." He shrugged. "Well, I'm sure we'll think of something."

"Hey guys!" Pidge yelled further up. "We found the ship."

Both he and Hunk jogged to catch up to the rest of their friends only to frown at what lay before them. "Is that a pool?"

"Dude," Hunk put his hands on his knees and leaned down. There was a pool of water before them. It was a beautiful warm blue and the only thing with color in this whole planet it seemed. Hunk squinted. "Wait. Is that the ship at the bottom of the pool?"

Pidge glanced at her table, the white light leaving a glare in her helmet. "There's a massive amount of energy radiating from it, though I'm not sure if it's from the ship or the pool itself."

Shiro picked up a rock and dumped it inside. There was a flash of light and then nothing. The rock was gone.

Matt stumbled back. "What the heck?"

"Okay," Hunk took several steps back. "Well, let's not go anywhere near there."

"We must," Allura insisted. "What if the people inside the ship are still alive and running out of time?"

"Hold on," Keith narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you not see what just happened?" Allura glared at him. If she didn't stop with all the glaring he was going to say something rude very soon. "That rock just _disappeared_. We don't know if it was destroyed or if it was sent somewhere. It isn't safe."

"Keith's right," Shiro agreed with him. Allura's eyes went wide in disbelief. "We don't know what we're facing. It's too dangerous to go in there."

Allura balled her fists and clenched her jaw. "I'll go by myself if I have to."

Shiro sighed and reached for her. "Allura wait –"

Pidge whirled towards the pool. "Did you guys hear that?"

Keith took out his Bayard and turned it into a sword. "What? What is it?"

All around him, his friends took defensive positions and raised their weapons, eyes narrowing as they looked around for any signs of trouble. Something snapped to the right. Keith whirled at the noise. A tree had snapped and been taken away by the wind. The wind seemed to grow fiercer. Then, there was another snap, a lurch, and Keith stifled the yelp coming up his throat as he and his friend's feet left the ground.

His stomach dropped. He felt his body getting heavier and his friends began to scream.

"Everyone!" Shiro shouted through the noise. "Turn on your jet packs and head for your lions!"

They did as they were told but no matter how much they tried, their jet packs couldn't move as much with all this wind. Were they in a fucking tornado or something? Lightning flashed in the sky and something bumped into his back. No, not something.

 _Someone_.

"Pidge!" he gripped her flailing hand and pulled her close. Matt stretched his arm toward his sister and just barely managed to grab hold of it as their bodies began to go higher and higher.

"Keith!" Shiro reached for him, Allura holding onto his hand with Hunk clutching her own. They looked panicked. "Take my hand!"

Keith lurched forward, both Pidge and Matt moving with him and after a few tries, managed to grasp his brother's prosthetic hand before Shiro pulled them close. Up and up they went. More flashes of lightning, purple clouds, and every kind of junk that had been on the planet all swirling around like a blender. Keith clenched his jaw and waited for the falling part. For the crash. He braced himself as best as he could but then he saw a flash of bright blue, he heard a splash, a sight of the ship, and then everything went black.

* * *

When he came to, the first thing he saw was grass so green it made his eyes hurt. He was on his stomach. With a groan he tried to get to a sitting position only startle when he felt someone clutching his right hand.

Blinking back rapidly, Keith shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and stared. Green and white armor. Small body.

Pidge.

Scrambling to his knees he turned her over. She was unconscious. "Pidge?" No response. He shook her shoulders. "Pidge, come on! Don't you die on me you bitch!"

"Who you calling a bitch," Pidge slurred, brown eyes narrowing to slits as those brown eyes glared at him. "I'll shank you."

Keith barked out a laugh. "You could try."

There was a groan next to her. "Please stop cursing Katie," Matt complained, rolling to his back to gaze at the blue and purple sky. "You're still a lady you know."

Pidge mumbled something under her breath.

Keith turned his head and looked across the field where he spotted the rest of his friends. He was on his feet and running to their side at once. Or at least, he tried to. When he took a step forward he almost fell on his ass as a wave of dizziness hit him but he shook it off and dropped to his knees beside Shiro who was still clutching both Hunk and Allura's hands.

He tapped at his helmet. "Shiro? Wake up."

Shiro groaned and the red paladin stifled a smile before turning to his others friends to tap their helmets as well.

"Is it time for dinner?" Hunk groaned after a few taps to his helmet. Allura sat up slowly, a hand going to her temple as she blinked owlishly at their surroundings.

"Keith?" Shiro sat up and shook his head. "Where are we?"

"I don't know."

"Am I dead?" Matt groaned as he and Pidge made their way to them. The two of them kept wincing. The green paladin gave her brother a look and stomped on his foot. Matt let out a yelp and cradled his injured limb as he bounced on one foot. "What was that for?"

"That feel real enough for you?" Pidge grumbled.

Letting out a huff, Matt looked around before declaring, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Keith shot him a weird look. "We were never _in_ Kansas."

Matt gave him a look and shook his head. "Oh, you poor boy."

Ignoring him lest he smack Matt in the face, Keith reached forward and clasped his brother's hand before giving it a sharp tug to pull him to his feet. The two stumbled backward but managed to remain standing.

"Uh guys," Hunk did a small circle in place as he took in their surroundings. "Is this the same planet we were in before? Because it looks _really_ different than what I remembered."

A vast field of bright green grass stretched into the distance. Keith could see small orange flowers among them. There were three paths farther ahead. One was a sinister looking forest, black and deep where Keith swore the vines moved. On the left was another set of trees, these dark purple, black clouds over it, and was that rain? Was it just raining on that side? The path in the center led to a cave where all Keith could see was darkness and the sound of hissing.

"How the hell do we get back?" Pidge groaned.

"I think the real question here is, where are we?" Hunk added.

"And how did we get here?" Matt pondered.

Allura frowned as she tapped on her bracelet. "That's weird."

Shiro turned to her. "What is?"

Allura pursed her lips. "I can't seem to contact Coran."

Frowning, Keith and the others tried the same but they received no response. He frowned. "Hold on, let me see if I can contact Lan –" Keith's eyes went wide and his words choked.

Shiro was at his side in a flash, his hand resting on his shoulder. "Keith? What's wrong?"

Keith didn't answer. How was this possible? How had he not noticed until now? At first, Keith thought his mind was playing tricks on him.

 _Lance_?

No response.

 _Lance_?

Still nothing.

In fact, Keith didn't even feel her presence anymore. Usually, when the other was doing something that required all of their attention, they'd retreat from each other's thoughts but their presence would still be there. It was like stepping to the next room. The person wasn't in the same room with you anymore but you knew they were right next-door. All you had to do was open that door and they'd be right there where you knew they'd be. The bond between them was like that when the other needed space.

But right now…right now there was nothing.

Keith felt as if the blood were moving through his body like mud, the veins in his legs turning into concrete, holding him in place as he tried to come up with an explanation to this.

For a moment, his mind made an impossible leap. What if Lance was de – he shook his head. No. He wouldn't think that. He hadn't sensed any impending danger from her side but then again, his mind had been going frantic while they'd been in that tornado. He hadn't exactly been checking on how things were going on her side after that.

"Keith?"

Keith's hands trembled and when he spoke, his voice cracked. "It's Lance." He glanced at his unsteady hands. "I can't feel her at all."

Pidge and Matt sucked in a sharp breath.

Shiro's eyes narrowed, his jaw set, and his eyes clouded over.

Allura stood straighter, her hands clasped to her chest.

Hunk narrowed his eyes on him, his voice got real low. "What do you mean you can't feel her?"

Keith shook his head and stumbled back. "She's gone."

* * *

Lance had been feeling a sense of nostalgia ever since she'd left Planet Zenith to search for the scattered Amazons whose lives were now in danger. Every Amazon that they'd found, whether they were alive or dead, brought a memory to the surface.

Moments when she'd last seen them at the training grounds. On the cobblestone streets as they went on a walk. Talking to them at the market. Bribing them to keep silent so she could go out and play. Getting their advice on how to properly hold a weapon.

So many memories.

So many women.

It all felt so nostalgic.

Lance had been young when most of these women had left. Others she'd seen just a few years ago but despite how long it'd been since their last encounter, Lance remembered each and every one of them. It was nice to see them again. And with families of their own. Their husbands were nice. So were their children. Lance had the pleasure of talking to them before she and her team sent them to another planet, somewhere safer.

If only Cloyetera allowed males.

If only most women living there had had a good experience with them.

If only…

Perhaps if Ebony had still lived in Cloyetera, she would still be alive. A bullet made of Dampening Stone never would have shot her. She never would have had to say good-bye to her husband and two kids as Lance and Adina tried their best to heal her. She never would have had her house trashed by a bunch of Galra, never would have been forced to flee, and she definitely wouldn't have died in some back alley like some kind of animal.

If only those Dampening Stones didn't exist.

If only they had a cure for them.

…Or maybe this was her fault.

The last time she'd spoken to Haggar, the witch had told her that Lance's people would suffer for this. That they would pay.

Was this her fault?

Had she brought all this pain to her people by denying Haggar the right to use her body as her new vessel?

Would things be different if she'd said yes?

Or would it be worse?

Someone flicked her forehead.

Lance stumbled and blinked back to the present. Lotor was standing in front of her looking stern. The light from the lantern in his hand cast his face in odd shadows. "Stop thinking about it." Lance's hands went to her forehead. "You and Adina did the best you could. No one could've done anything for Ebony by the time we found her and her family. Not I and not you. It pierced her _heart_ Lance." The Amazon looked at the ground. "It was a miracle she lasted that long. You made her last moments as painless as you could. You held her hand the whole time. You made sure to give her a proper funeral and you got her family somewhere safe."

Lance clenched her jaw. Despite the weeks since her passing, Lance couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting to her every now and then. Ebony's last thoughts still lingered in her mind. They'd hit her like a hammer, slamming into her with such force; she felt her breath leave her body. Everyone's thoughts had been loud at the time. Her head had felt like lead. What flowed into her mind were not just Ebony's thoughts but her emotions as well.

There had been a ringing in Lance's ears, a cymbal crash landing flat against her eardrums that just rang and rang, and _rang_. So many voices had drifted into her head. Not just her groups' but the whole city as well. It had been so painful, so agonizing, Lance thought her heart would be crushed under the weight.

And then Keith had appeared, tugging her arm and taking her as far away as he could from all the noise. From her friends. From Ebony's family. From the city.

Everything.

A terrible headache had formed.

She hadn't been able to tell whose thoughts were whose.

Her composure slipped faster than water through a child's cupped fingers, and her hands were shaking, her heart pounding, her breathing ragged.

This hadn't happened in a very long time. The last time it happened she'd been five and her mother had taken her to the market with her. Lance had been excited. Their house was miles away from civilization and she had been eager to see what awaited her outside the walls of her home.

Her excitement soon died the further they went into the city. Lance had gotten used to the same seven voices of her family being in her head. She'd learned to tune them out but this had been new. She hadn't been prepared to hear dozens and dozens of new voices from every direction.

Naturally, they never made it to the market. Her mom had brought her straight home, as far away from all of those loud, foreign voices. Eventually, over time, her mother had helped her on how to keep her mind quiet.

The loud music blasting through the headphones that Keith had placed over her ears had helped. It helped tune out all the other noises but it had taken longer than she thought it would. Keith had been worried and all but carried her back to the ship once the funeral was over and Ebony's body had been put to rest. Lance hadn't been able to look the woman's family in the eye. They didn't blame her for what had happened; instead thanking her for making Ebony's last moments as painless as possible.

It only made Lance feel worse and Keith more worried that he'd stayed the night. It was nice. Keith wasn't much of a talker and he didn't ask her to talk about it if she didn't want to, which she didn't, but had remained at her side for moral support.

Lance licked her lips and looked away from the Galra Prince's piercing eyes, "What if this is my fault though?" Lotor arched a brow where he walked next to her. Zooey was at the front with Radiance at her side, the Valkyrie murmuring something to the big wolf as she brushed Radiance's pink fur. Every now and then, those green eyes would look in their direction before looking away. "Haggar said that my people would suffer because I didn't give in. _All_ of this, the hunting of the Amazons, the new uses for the Dampening Stones, its all my fault."

Lotor sighed. "Are you an idiot?" Lance felt herself bristle. "Haggar would have taken the same actions even if she hadn't met you. If she'd found some other Amazon with powers, there's no doubt in my mind that she would have tried to take over that woman's body instead. Haggar has always been intrigued by anything that has powers. You just so happened to get more attention because you were part of Voltron. It made her notice you all the more. Haggar is just doing this because you've managed to evade her clutches more than once. It pissed her off so she's throwing a tantrum." Lotor looked her in the eye and gave her shoulders a hard squeeze. "This is _not_ your fault."

Lance pursed her lips. She felt the urge to cry. "It feels like it is."

"Well, it's not." Lotor emphasized. "But if you really do believe that, keep fighting." Lance stared. "Keep saving those Amazons. Don't lose any more of them. Keep training. And don't let her win." Lotor's mouth curved into a grin. "You can do this. And remember, you're not alone."

Lance's lips curved into a small smile. "Yeah." She breathed in deep. "Okay." She gave her friend's hand a squeeze. "Thanks Lotor."

"No problem." He knocked their shoulders and sang," You've got a friend in me."

"You've got a friend in me," Lance echoed, a real smile breaking through.

"You guys done talking about your feelings?" Zooey grumbled at the front. Lance and Lotor rolled their eyes at her. Why couldn't Zooey just be honest? It was clear from her relived look that she had been worried about her as well. "Good. Because I think we're about to have company."

She was right. The sound of multiple footsteps could be heard coming closer and closer from the dark passageway. The whole place was so dark and the smell was no better. Claw marks were on random walls and Lance swore she could feel insects creeping along her arms. They'd found a few but had managed to deal with them before they could notice Lance and her group. The sound of gun blasters going off could be heard further ahead. Lance could hear Shadow's snarling coming closer as well as familiar voices.

" _We found one of the Amazons!" Acacia's voice rang through their feeds. "But we also found a few Galra!"_

" _Amaya and I have some alligator thing chasing us,"_ Mikey reported, the sound of water splashing and a roar following his statement. _"But we found the other two Amazons as well!"_

" _And their families!"_ Amaya added with a pant _._ A few people screamed on her side and Amaya let out a curse as a howl rang through the comms _. "Okay, we now have an alligator thing_ _ **and**_ _two metal wolves chasing us! We could use some back-up!"_

Lotor turned to them, dagger already out. "Okay guys, here's the p –"

A ball of purple energy zoomed past his ear and moments later Lance's nose picked up the smell of something rotting.

Zooey scrunched up her nose, her mace already engulfed in flames as she swung the purple ball of energy right back at the druid that had just appeared.

The druid merely raised one long nailed palm and stopped the ball of energy before it could cause any damage. The thing chuckled. "Ah, if it isn't the three royals?" Lance and her team narrowed their eyes. "We have to stop meeting like this."

Lance could hear the rest of their scattered team engaging in their own fights through the comms. Luckily, there was only one druid standing in front of them. Unfortunately, it was carrying a Dampening Stone. Lance could feel it. With Lotor and Zooey, as well as Radiance at her side, it was nothing they couldn't handle though. The druid raised his hands, his dark robes spreading. "Do you know why we're doing this?" the thing chuckled behind his beak like mask though it sounded more like a wheeze. "It's because –"

The druid never got to say his next words.

Why?

Because Lance had already taken out her gun blaster and shot him in the face.

The thing crumpled to the floor with a thud, a pool of purple blood spreading around him.

Lotor and Zooey gaped at her.

Lance shrugged, her mouth forming into a pout at the baffled looks she was receiving. "What? You know he was going to go on for a while."

Zooey let out a howl of a laugh and doubled over. Lotor's lips twitched and his shoulders shook. With a flip of her hair, Lance began to head toward the noise of their friends. "Now let's go."

"Wait," Zooey called after her. "Shouldn't we at least check for his wallet?"

Lotor stared. "For what?"

"Do druids even have wallets?" Lance wondered.

"He might have a pot of gold," Zooey's lips twitched.

"He's not a leprechaun," Lance deadpanned.

"The fuck is that?"

"Creepy little men with white beards who have a pot of gold."

Lotor tapped his chin. "Well, he doesn't have a beard," he frowned at the corpse. "I think. But he _is_ creepy."

"Whatever," Zooey shrugged. "We've already committed murder, we might as well rob his ass." Lance and Lotor shared a look. "Aren't you curious to see what a druid holds in his pockets?"

Well, when she put it that way…

Lance turned to Lotor with pleading eyes. The Galra Prince sighed.

"OK," Lotor agreed, feet already sprinting towards the fallen body. "But I want whatever jewelry we can find!"

"Hell yeah!" Zooey let out a fist pump. "I want that mask! It'll be a nice trophy!"

Lance cupped her hands over her mouth as she kept her distance. "I want that Dampening Stone! We could use it for research back in Cloyetera!"

At that moment, pounding footsteps, three howls, and a whole lot of screaming made them startle as a whole bunch of people suddenly appeared. Amaya and Mikey, both looking wet and bruised but okay. Acacia and Annabelle, Zethrid and Ezor with their arms around a wobbly looking Amazon, two boys and another man with a gun blaster in his hand. Shadow with two other Amazons on his back, one of the women holding onto a little girl while Axca had an arm around a stout man's waist and Narti bringing up the rear as she carried a little boy in her hands.

Just behind them, further away, were two metal wolves and another mutated looking alligator that Lance knew for a fact did _not_ taste like chicken. The three of them were snapping their jaws at each other. Putting both palms on the floor, Acacia summoned a wall of ice to cover the entrance they'd all just come from, the thing cracking in the center when something smashed into it.

Zethrid stared at the dead druid on the floor. "Are you…robbing that druid?"

Lotor and Zooey froze, both holding onto items they'd just taken from the dead druid.

"Yes?" Lotor dragged out the word.

"Anything good?" Ezor wondered after a pause.

Zooey lifted up something that looked like a rabbits' foot. "He had money."

"Dinners on him then." Mikey shrugged.

"Oh good," Annabelle patted her stomach with a smile. "I'm starving."

"Me too kiddo," Lance agreed, ruffling her white locks. Annabelle giggled. "Me too."

Something smashed into the wall of ice once more. Acacia winced. "That won't hold them long, we really should get out of –"

"Freeze!"

As one, Lance and her friend whirled at the noise to see about eight Galra with weapons raised in their direction. The Amazon resisted the urge to groan.

The Galra who looked to be in charge looked down on them only to gap when he took in Lotor and Zooey who were still crouched in front of the druid, its items in their hands. "Are you…robbing it?"

How many times were people going to ask them that?

Was it not obvious?

"Yes." Zooey answered, waving the beak like mask in her tattooed hand. "Problem?"

The Galra hesitated and glanced at his comrades. "You guys have a problem with that?"

They all shrugged.

"He was kind of an ass." One brave man murmured.

"That is true," the leader mused and then shook his head. "You're still coming with us though!"

"And if we say no?" Zethrid purred.

The Galra lifted their weapons and aimed them in their direction. The leader opened his mouth to speak but before he could the wall of ice that Acacia had made shattered and a roar followed after it.

"Everyone duck!" Lotor screamed.

Lance and her allies dropped to the ground just in time as a black mutated looking alligator with spikes all along its body crashed through the wall of ice and leaped over their group to descend on the Galra who had _not_ dropped to the ground.

Frantic screams filled the air and Lance and her team wasted no time as they shot to their feet and went in the direction the mutated looking alligator had come from. The metal wolves were nowhere in sight. Had they gone another direction?

Lance spotted a metal head floating in the green dark water. Eyes a dull gray.

Never mind.

Acacia summoned another wall of ice in the direction they'd just come from in case that creature came after them again.

Judging by the on going sound of gun blasters going off, it would be a while.

"Anyone know where the closest exit is?" Lance asked her group, opting to ride on Radiance and keep the little boy that Narti had placed on the wolf from falling. His red eyes kept looking at her in wonder. She gave him a smile, his lips twitching into a shy smile before she directed her attention to her friends.

"I've sent a few of my ice creations to the other openings," Acacia panted, running alongside them. "The closest one is just ten minutes away."

Up ahead, Mikey and Amaya let out startled yelps when they turned the corner and crashed straight into Reyna and Adina, Cesti just behind them looked winded.

"You guys are okay!" Lance exclaimed.

Reyna was up on her feet moments after. Adina gripped her gun blaster and aimed it in the direction they'd just come from. Cesti did the same. "We have to get out of here _now_!"

Axca narrowed her blue-yellow eyes. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Because," Cesti explained, pointing at something in the darkness. "Those things will try to eat us!"

"Things?" Annabelle worried her lower lip, her hand reaching for her mother's green sleeve. "What things?"

Reyna whirled, swords flashing in her hands. " _Those_!"

Something that sounded suspiciously like mice seemed to echo all around them. The second Lance went to take a look, she stumbled back. Countless glowing red eyes seemed to fill that path and tiny little creatures that looked like gremlins with weapons raised above their heads shouted incoherently.

A large, round chamber greeted them, flanked by eight open paths that Lance could not see beyond the darkness.

Lance immediately summoned up a shield to block the path her friends had come from and all the other paths just in case. Those green little creatures banged on the wall, saliva pooling down their mouths with every bang.

"What the heck are those?" Lotor stumbled back, a grimace on his face.

"The inhabitants of the sewers," the stout man in Axca's hold slurred, his skin was a shade darker than hers. "This is their home and we're trespassers."

"We need to get out of here," the Amazon sitting on Shadow warned, brushing back her chopped hair. She was solid, with narrowed green eyes and pale luminescing skin. Feray, if Lance remembered correctly. "They'll be calling for back-up and soon this whole place will be crawling with them."

"Not to mention the other troublesome monster lurking around," the other male holding a gun blaster grumbled. He was tall and slim with steady hands. His skin was a light green, his eyes a beautiful orange.

The little girl and boy looked terrified.

 _Bang. Bang. Bang._

Lance winced. "That's not good, it is?"

Feray shook her head, strawberry blond hair swaying. "They've just called for reinforcements."

"Can't we just kill them?" Zethrid grumbled, eying the creatures behind the shield that Lance had made. "They don't look too tough."

"We better not," Lance shook her head. "They're just protecting their home. We should just leave."

"The guardian will probably show up soon," the stout man in Axca's arms winced.

Adina turned to him with wide hazel eyes. "Guardian?"

"What guardian?" Cesti pressed, blond curls fanning her face.

Something dripped onto her shoulder. Probably water from the rain going up above.

She wiped it away only to grimace at its stickiness.

Lance and her team went rigid as a low hiss filled the passage.

Something moved at the ceiling, but Lance couldn't see what it was. The lights from their lanterns didn't reach that far.

A screech that sounded like nails being dragged across a chalkboard filled the chamber.

Shadow and Radiance snarled as they crouched, ready to pounce.

Zooey summoned a ball of fire and threw it at the ceiling and Lance felt the blood drain from her face as a figure with eight long limbs shaped like crab legs, six beady black eyes, and skin so silver it sparkled was shown.

Lance released a squeak.

The stout man licked his lips. When he spoke his voice sounded strained. "That's the guardian."

Of course it was.

Why was it always spiders?

Granted, this one looked like it was part crab but still.

Lance stepped back into her brother's wide chest and for once didn't argue as Mikey wrapped an arm around her, his big hands all but obscuring her from view. At least she hadn't fainted.

Progress.

"Which way do we go?" Ezor shrieked. The Amazon in her and Zethrid's embrace looked unconscious.

Acacia pursed her lips and looked back and forth between the many paths surrounding them before shaking her head. The bangs were getting louder. The sound of hundreds of little feet scurrying in their direction loud in Lance's ears.

Amaya's mother shook her blond hair, her sea-green eyes looking lost. "My ice creations are gone," she turned in a small circle. "Those things are everywhere."

"Are you saying we're trapped?" Zooey snapped, black wings spread in anger, green eyes still on the creature at the ceiling. Why wasn't it attacking them? It was standing so still…

Lance turned to Lotor. "Are we far away from the city?"

Lotor knit his brows and slowly nodded. "I think so." He gave her a suspicious look. "Why?"

Lance cracked her knuckles and looked at anywhere but at the creature at the ceiling. "If we can't find an exit, then we'll make one." Lance summoned her bolts of lightning. "Everyone aim at the ceiling!"

When they didn't move fast enough, Lance stomped her foot and sent a small burst of lightning along the floor. They jumped and sent her an angry scowl but aimed their weapons at the ceiling and began to shoot. Zooey flew up, black wings flapping, mace covered in flames as she used it to pound a hole in the ceiling.

The spider lunged.

The kids released startled screams.

Lance stopped its descent with a simple thought. As much as she hated spiders, this one was only attacking because Lance and her team had infiltrated its home. There shouldn't be a need to kill it. The spider let out a long hiss and opened its claw like mouth to spew something green at them.

Was that acid?

Lance summoned a shield and kept it locked in. The green spew that the spider had spat landed on her shield; smoke appearing as soon as it landed.

The spider trashed, shoving at the shield in hopes of breaking it.

Mikey ruffled her hair. "That's my sister!"

"So cool!" the little girl in Feray's hold cheered.

"How did she do that?" one of the little boys wondered.

Her cheeks felt hot.

Dozens of little fists pounded against the other shields that Lance had placed on the other eight paths. Red eyes glared at them but no one paid them any mind. With her other hand she conjured up lightning and directed it at the ceiling to make an opening.

Almost done. Lance couldn't wait to tell Keith about the adventure they'd had. Mutated alligators. Metal wolves. Druids. A giant spider that Lance had managed to stop and _not_ faint upon first sight. And now some gremlin like creatures that reminded Lance of Pidge. Maybe he'd praised her for doing so well. And there was no doubt that he would tease the green paladin once Lance showed him what the green little creatures looked like and –

Lance's smile slid off her face slowly and her lightning coming from her fingers stopped. What…? What was going on? She furrowed her brows and concentrated.

 _Keith_?

No response.

 _Keith, this isn't funny_.

Nothing.

Lance's heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. Her thoughts were going a hundred miles a minute, trying and failing to find Keith's presence in her head. But there was nothing. How had she not noticed?

There was no sarcastic reply.

No fiery warmth.

Nothing.

Lance's breath hitched.

How long had he been gone?

"Lance?" Lotor was looking at her in worry, no one else had seemed to notice her state of distress yet, all of them still shooting and punching at the ceiling to make an exit. After spending so much time together, Lotor could read her like a book. He squeezed her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"It's Keith."

The Galra Prince furrowed his brows, giving her all his attention. "What is it? Are he and the others okay?"

"He's gone." Lance looked at him with wide eyes and her voice cracked. "I can't feel him at all."

* * *

Coran was trying not to panic. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this. Six people couldn't just disappear. His hands shaking, he leaned down to the screen in front of him and continued to type.

Allura's four mice were just on the side; their little squeaks sounding worried. "I've tried every test I could think of," he informed them. "But there's no sign of the paladins anywhere."

The four mice let out sad little squeaks, the smallest one going to its big yellow companion for a hug. The other two let out more squeaks, their voices sounded judgmental.

Coran leaned down with a huff. "How could I have stopped her? You know how she is."

The mice waved their hands and squeaked some more. The yellow one waved a hand at him and let out a long series of squeaks.

Coran pursed his lips. "I can't understand anything that you're saying." He crossed his arms and arched a brow. "But I'll assume from the tone that it was an insult."

Ignoring the following squeaks that began after his comment, Coran turned to look out the window. He could still see all five lions perched on the planet below but no matter how many times he called for Allura and the rest of the paladins, no one answered back.

He'd already circled the planet a few times but had found no sign of them.

His calls didn't even get through. It'd only been a few minutes, ten probably, but the panic was starting to seep through. And if that wasn't bad enough, the roaring that Hunk and Matt had mentioned before they left had grown louder.

Coran wearily looked to the window at the right and shuddered as another flash of lightning sounded of. He was far too close to Delobar for his liking. Anyone who had ever seen the creature who dwelled there had not lived to tell the tale.

His bracelet let off a sound of pings. Startled, Coran tore his eyes away from the dark purple clouds and let out a startled yelp as another flash of lightning echoed in the distance only this time…this time Coran had seen a _shape_.

Ignoring the call from his bracelet, Coran kept his eyes wide open and locked on the location he'd seen the shape just to double check that he was, hopefully, just imagining things but as another round of lightning sounded off, an enormous shape was seen once again and Coran felt the blood drain from his face.

That silhouette looked closer than he last saw it.

A loud beep coming from the huge monitor made him jump and he released a shriek that would have made the green paladin laugh at his expanse before he realized someone was calling the Castle of Lions.

As Coran looked up at the screen, his eyes widened at the name being displayed.

It was Lady Lance.

Oh boy.

Had she sensed something wrong with the red paladin? Or perhaps she'd gotten in contact with them and she was just calling him to tell him to stop freaking out and that everything was okay.

The minute he accepted the call and he saw blue eyes looking back at him in barely concealed panic, Corn knew something was really wrong.

" _Where are they Coran?"_ Lady Lance's voice cracked. _"I can't feel Keith anymore. His presence is gone and no matter how much I call him or the others, I get nothing."_ Her voice came out firm _. "So where are they?"_

Coran licked at his dry lips, his shoulders slumped. The Princess's four mice patted his cheeks in a show of comfort as they perched on either side of his shoulders. "I don't know."

Blue eyes narrowed. " _What do you mean you don't know? Explain."_

It didn't take very long to explain. He told her about the paladins going down to the small planet. Of them searching on foot for that signal. Of them screaming through the comms, the sound of the wind so loud it had made the speakers in the castle crack, and then…nothing.

Their signals had disappeared and no matter how many tests Coran had tried or how many times he'd tried to call them through their bracelets he had received no answer.

Lady Lance ran a hand through her hair and suddenly, Coran realized how tired she looked. There were bags under her eyes, her hair was clinging to her cheeks though that was probably because of the rain on her side, and her skin looked a little dry. The poor girl was already busy enough traveling from planet to planet, fighting Galra, druids, and having her powers stripped from her as she and her team did whatever they could to find the Amazons that were being hunted down before it was too late.

She didn't need more problems to deal with. Coran opened his mouth, ready to tell her that it was probably nothing and the paladins were okay when something slammed into the ship and Coran lost his footing and landed on his knees. Allura's four mice clung to his shirt and he cradled them in his arms before they could fall and placed them back on his shoulders.

" _Coran_!" Lady Lance was yelling. " _What's going on? What was that?"_

" _What is it?" came Lotor's voice in the background. "Is something wrong?"_

" _I heard a scream," the Valkyrie Princess grumbled._

" _Coran?" the Amazon called. "Are you okay?"_

Coran was about to answer when a long pink tentacle slammed into the window, or at least tried to, only to let out a screech when it slammed into the particle barrier surrounding the ship. Three more tentacles surrounded the ship and Coran felt the breath leave his body as he gazed into dozens of glowing green eyes staring back at him. A roar like that of cannonballs so loud came from the creature that Coran had to cover his ears. The whole ship seemed to shake. Lights flickered on and off.

" _What the fuck was that?"_ came the Valkyrie's shout.

Holding the nearest seat to help him sit up, Coran backed away, his eyes wide. The ship was being _dragged_.

Dragged straight into the dark purple clouds full of flashing lightning.

It was taking them to Delobar.

Coran ran to the console and began to ready the castle weapons.

" _Coran_!" came Lady Lance's exasperated voice. " _What is going on?_ "

Coran fired off the missiles. The creature let go of the ship and reeled back with a roar. It wasn't just three tentacles. Coran counted more than ten. They were long. Its head looked like a mushroom, it had a pink transparent bell-shaped body, and…Coran squinted. Were the tentacles releasing electricity?

His eyes widened. He knew what this creature was.

"It's a Blavoovian Jelly."

" _Oh_." The Galra Prince sounded meek. " _That…is not good."_

" _That's it!_ " Lady Lance shouted. " _We're coming to help!"_ she spoke to someone in the background. _"How close are we to the ship_?"

" _Another twenty minutes!"_ Cesti answered.

" _You hear that Coran_?" the Altean Advisor turned frantic eyes to the Amazon Princess. Her hair was flying behind her, the Galra Prince looking grim where he stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. They were probably on her hoverboard. " _We're coming your way. Try to hold that creature off for as long as you can!_ " he wasn't sure he could speak without his voice sounding distraught so he merely nodded. Lady Lance grinned, looking right at him, her bright eyes looking mischievous and determined. " _You can do it. You're Coran_. _The man who has faced far more dangerous things than a stupid jellyfish looking creature in your youth._ "

Coran straightened. That was true, wasn't it? Lady Lance's lips curved upward. " _Imagine the story you'll have for Keith and the others when they get back from wherever they disappeared from. Which they will, I'm sure of it."_

Coran's mouth quirked into a warm smile and he pinched the end of his mustache before twirling it around his finger. He puffed his chest and managed not to stumble when another tentacle slammed into the ship. "Very well then. I'll keep the beast busy until you get here."

" _Don't die."_ She teased.

"You got it!"

" _And Coran?"_

"Yes, princess?"

Lady Lance's smile was so wide her white sparkling teeth shone. " _Give it hell._ "

Coran's answering smirk had her laughing.

* * *

"It's not just Lance," Pidge announced half an hour later. "I can't get in touch with anyone. I tried Reyna and Adina but the call didn't even go through."

"I tried Lotor," Matt added, face set in a frown. "Mine didn't go through either."

"I've tried Kolivan and the Blades and got the same results," Shiro declared. Keith didn't need to look at his brother to know that Shiro was looking at him in concern where he still stood, his eyes on his trembling hands as he tried to call for Lance in his mind even though he'd received no response since they got here.

"So Lance might be all right?" Hunk's mouth was set into a hard line, his thick eyebrows pulled together beneath his headband. It's a look the yellow paladin only reserved for when things were serious or something had happened to his best friend. Keith felt Hunk's hand rubbing soothingly over his back, the weight of a warm presence through the overwhelming situation. Keith's shaking slowed as he breathed through his nose, steadying himself against Hunk's solid frame.

Lance was right. Being in Hunk's presence _did_ bring a calming effect.

"Yeah," Pidge answered, her eyes boring into him, her words slow and sure so Keith could grasp the full meaning of her words. "Lance is probably okay. Wherever we were transferred to, it didn't affect them."

Hunk squeezed his shoulder. "You hear that buddy?" he smiled. "Lance is okay."

"So why can't I feel her?"

Pidge tapped her chin, her brown eyes surveying their surroundings with a calculated look. "I don't know. I have a theory but I don't want to say anything until we explore the area a little more."

Was that really true? Was Lance really okay? He hoped so. He didn't like not being able to hear and feel her presence in his mind. "Then what are waiting for?" Keith was ready to leave. "Let's get the hell out of here already."

"But which way do we go?" Hunk chewed his lower lip.

"Hey guys?" Matt called. He was crouched, brows furrowed, gloved hands parting the green grass. After a moment, he pointed at the path in the center where the cave was. "I think we should go that way."

Allura glanced at the cave and then back to him. "How are you so sure this is the right way?"

Matt shot to his feet and grinned smugly. "Don't you guys know what's underneath our feet?"

Shiro frowned. "Dirt?"

Matt swatted his arm. "No!" he crouched and parted the grass before beckoning them closer. "It's a road!"

Keith and the others went to inspect the area he was pointing at. Underneath their feet, yellow bricks, as shiny as a new pin, were almost glowing on the ground. Shiro parted more of the grass with his foot to reveal red bricks leading to the forest. Allura did the same on her side and blue bricks were revealed under her feet, these leading to the area with the purple trees and raining weather.

The golden path that Matt had revealed led all the way to the cave.

It _was_ a road.

"See?" Matt looked damn proud of himself as he shot to his feet and pointed at the path in the middle with the cave. "We have to go this way!"

Keith wasn't sure how he was so confident. There were _three_ roads. What made him think that the yellow brick road was the right way to go and not the blue or red road? Keith asked him and immediately regretted it when Matt looked at him like he was an idiot.

Keith felt himself bristle as his friends, minus Allura, looked at him in sympathy. Seriously. What the hell? Matt shook his head and sighed a sigh that said he was just done with him. Keith wondered if Pidge would get mad if he punched her brother. Nah. She'd probably laugh. "Oh, Keith." Matt shrugged his shoulders, looking like a disappointed parent. "Haven't you ever seen _Wizard of Oz?"_

"The fuck is that?"

Hunk whipped his head around in a fashion so dramatic it would have made Lance proud. "You've never seen the _Wizard of Oz?_ "

"No."

"For the record," Allura raised her hand looking lost. At least he wasn't the only one. "I've never heard of this Oz thing either."

"You sure?" Shiro asked them. His brows were furrowed in concentration. "I could have sworn I showed that movie to you both."

He and Allura shook their heads.

"You have!" Matt insisted and then promptly started clicking the heel of his boots together. Keith wondered if something in the air had made him crazy. Should Keith cover his mouth and nose? He didn't want to act like a fool as well. "Remember? There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

Allura and he stared at him blankly.

After a moment, Allura stepped forward and placed her hand on Matt's forehead. "Are you all right?"

Keith narrowed his eyes and covered his mouth and nose. He took a step back. "Maybe there's something in the air after all." Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge stared at him incredulously. "You should all cover your mouth and nose."

Allura nodded her head, expression grim. "Yes. I too, agree."

His friends stared at them in silence. After a moment, Pidge turned to Shiro with a look of pity on her face. "You poor thing. Must be hard."

Shiro let out a long sigh and pinched his nose. "When we get back we're all watching that movie. It's a classic."

"Okay," Keith answered slowly. He just wanted this conversation to be over so they could get moving. "But you never explained why you think this is the right way."

"Because," Matt sniffed, nose in the air and looking all too smug for his liking. "You always follow the yellow brick road."

"Yeah, but _why_?"

"Because that's the right _way_."

"…I'm going to punch you now."

Matt let out a shriek when Keith took a menacing step toward him and hid behind Shiro who looked exasperated but amused at his friends' antics. Unceremoniously, Shiro shrugged Matt off when the man began to climb on his back and rolled his eyes.

"As much as I'd love to see Matt get punched –"

"Hey!" Matt snapped.

–"For once he's right," Pidge continued as she glanced down at her tablet. "The signal from the ship is coming from the direction of the cave."

"You think we'll be able to find a way home once we find the ship?" Hunk wondered.

Pidge shrugged. "Maybe."

Allura nodded, her hand absently tucking a strand of silver hair behind a pointy ear. Her tight bun had loosened. "Then let us go." She glanced down at the roads underneath their feet. "The yellow brick road was it?"

Matt and Pidge nodded.

Keith rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. "At least Pidge's words made more sense than her brothers'."

His eyes looking fearful, Matt glared at him behind the safety of Shiro's back. "I thought Lance was educating you on all of this!"

Keith crossed his arms over his armored chest. "We're still in the Disney movies section." His voice came out sounding smug at his next words. "I can figure out whatever Disney movie you're talking about just by a simple line."

Pidge's brown eyes glinted behind her glasses. "Oh, yeah?" She took a step forward in challenge. "Here's one: 'Just keep swimming.' What movie am I talking about?"

"That dumbass fish that didn't listen to his father." Keith tapped his chin. "Finding Nemo."

Matt crossed his arms. "Here's one: Be our guest."

"That movie about bestiality. Beauty and the Beast."

Matt's jaw dropped as he wailed. "No, it isn't Keith!"

It totally _was_.

Hunk stepped forward next, all but dancing in place. "You've got a friend in me."

"That movie about those possessed dolls."

Shiro gaped at him. "They're not possessed!"

Funny, Lance had reacted the same when he said that to _her_. Keith gave his brother an unimpressed look. "They're dolls that can walk and talk Shiro. All that's left is for them to pick up a knife and go on a killing spree."

"Such blasphemous words!" Matt hissed.

Keith simply shrugged and started heading towards the cave. This conversation looked like it would take a while. "Say whatever you want," he turned to look at Matt over his shoulder. "But those dolls are possessed."

"Shiro!" Matt cried behind him, the sound of shuffling feet moving in his direction. "Do something about your brother!"

"Now, now," Shiro reasoned. "Be glad he's _at least_ watching the movies."

Matt grumbled something under his breath but Keith wasn't listening anymore. They were inside the cave. Keith was expecting it to be dark. He was expecting it to be full of bats. He was expecting the walls and floor to be made out of rock like most caves were supposed to be.

He was not expecting to walk inside in and see the walls covered in green thick vines that enveloped the whole ceiling. To see the floor covered in pink and violet flowers, a whole field of them, and the yellow brick road glowing underneath. To see giant mushrooms that glowed blue further ahead. It wasn't dark. It was quite bright but it was also incredibly cold. Blue glowing petals rained down on them.

It was…it was…

"Beautiful." Allura breathed, eyes wide as she took in her surroundings.

"It's so pretty." Hunk's head was turning every which way.

Yes, he couldn't help but agree.

"And they don't smell gross like normal flowers do," Pidge added as she raised her hand to catch a few of the blue glowing petals that rained down on them.

"Takashi!" Matt waved at his friend. "Take a picture of me!"

Shiro sighed but raised his bracelet to take the picture as Matt posed near one of the blue mushrooms further ahead.

None of them noticed the vines completely cover the entrance they'd just come in from.

No one else spoke as they waded through the field of flowers; the place was wide enough for them all to walk side by side, the silence occasionally broken by one of them to question Pidge if they were still going the right way.

They were, Matt kept insisting. Just follow the yellow brick road and it'll lead you where you need to go, he kept saying as he marched ahead of them with a confident stride. Keith didn't care how confident he was. There was something… _off_ about this place. The bugs and plants were nothing like Keith had ever seen. He swore he saw the vines along the wall moving, closing in around them, but every time he looked back, nothing seemed amiss.

Was he just imagining things?

Either way, he wasn't going to put his Bayard away any time soon. The further they went in, the warmer it began to get.

"I think you can put your Bayard away," came Hunk's voice to his left. The yellow paladin had slowed his pace to walk next to him where Keith walked a little further away from the group. He couldn't wipe away the feeling of being watched. Matt and Pidge were further ahead, the two of them pointing at the flying bugs that looked like a mix between a butterfly and a bat. They made sure to take pictures. Allura and Shiro walked behind them, the two holding hands as they talked in hushed tones, soft smiles on both of their faces. "This place doesn't seem that dangerous."

Keith frowned and turned to him. "We don't know what lies ahead of us. If there's no escape route, we'd be cornered if we got attacked." He swatted at the flying bug that kept buzzing around his near. "Besides, don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"That something is off?"

Hunk cocked his head and glanced around them. He hummed. "Not really?" Was it just him? Was he overacting after all? "But," Hunk continued, looking back at him. "If you say something feels wrong then I'll be careful. You and Lance are usually right when it comes to 'feelings'." He took out his Bayard and transformed it into its cannon size, the thing almost touching the floor with how long it was. "If anything happens, then we'll be ready."

Keith felt the corner of his mouth lift into a small smile. "Thanks Hunk."

Hunk flashed him a beaming smile. "No problem buddy."

The continued their trek until they came upon a cavern. Matt and Pidge's eyes widened as they sprinted ahead. There was a large tree in the center, green vines wrapped around the trunk, and surrounding it were bushes with some of the biggest berries Keith had ever seen.

Hunk walked ahead and joined them. He licked his lips as he crouched a little to inspect them. "You think they're edible?"

Matt frowned as he surveyed them. "I don't know."

"Guys," Shiro stressed. "Please don't eat anything that glows."

"What if we eat it and it makes us glow instead?" Pidge's eyes were sparkling as she plucked one of them to inspect.

"I would think that would make you _not_ want to consume them more," Allura winced.

Keith inspected the berries from the other side but nothing seemed amiss. There were still vines all along the walls. Keith followed the vines all the way to the ceiling and to the tree and –

He stumbled back, eyes going wide. "Guys!" he pointed at the ceiling. "Look!"

His tone must have sounded pretty panicked because his friends took out their Bayards and glanced up in the direction he was pointing at. They went pale.

Bodies dangled from the ceiling, vines wrapped around their bony figures.

"Are those animals?" Hunk whimpered.

"They look completely dried up," Pidge whispered.

Matt gulped, his hand tightening around his gun blaster.

Shiro frowned, his eyes taking in all of the dead animal corpses hanging from the ceiling.

Allura glanced at the corpses and then to the field of berries. She gasped and turned to Matt and Pidge who were still by the bushes of berries. "Quickly!" she screamed at them. "Get away from those bushes!"

The two of them startled and that's when Keith saw it. The vines curled around the tree _moved_ and headed straight for the Holt siblings. The thing was so fast Keith almost missed it.

Hunk didn't.

He tackled both of his friends to the floor just as a vine struck in the place the two of them had been. The vine missed and struck the ground, the sound loud and deafening, as it made contact. And that's when the rest of the vines around them began to move. They reminded Keith of how snakes moved from side to side, their bodies coiling and ready to spring at them at any moment.

Keith and his friends backed away, the vines were pushing them further and further back towards the tree in the center.

"What the heck is going on?" Hunk cried, his face etched in terror.

"This place is probably their feeding ground," Pidge grumbled, her hand holding onto her Bayard as Matt placed himself in front of her. She sent him a scowl but the look went ignored. "These vines must capture animals to eat."

"The berries!" Shiro exclaimed. "While the animals go for the berries, the vines sneak up behind them to catch them!"

"I don't see a way out!" Allura cried. "The path ahead has completely vanished and the way we came from has been blocked!"

"In other words," Keith muttered under his breath. "We're trapped."

"Then we'll have to cut our way out of here!" Shiro declared, his prosthetic arm turning into a sword. When one of the vines uncoiled itself from the tree, Shiro swiped at it with his sword and immediately stumbled back as the thing let out a pained shriek.

The vine he had cut fell to the floor, twitched a few times, before it curled around itself and turned black. It didn't move again.

That got everyone moving. As one, they moved forward and began to cut down at the vines around them. Hunk and Matt opened fire in hopes of making an exit. Keith didn't know how long they were cutting but the shrieks the vines made whenever they were cut down were a constant presence.

The animal corpses that had been hanging dropped to the floor, Keith and his friends barely avoiding not getting hit.

Every vine that was cut was replaced by four more. Keith's hand was getting tired of swinging and it was clear by the harsh panting from his friends that they were reaching their limit too. And suddenly, the vines retreated as one and went back to their original places along the walls, curled around the tree, and above the ceiling.

His breaths coming down in harsh pants, Hunk spoke. "Is it over? Are we safe?"

Before he could answer an angry female voice seemed to echo all around them. " _What the hell do you think you're doing?"_

And suddenly, as if out of nowhere, three masked figures appeared and stepped in front of them. They were dressed from head to toe in black, two men and one woman. As soon as the one in the middle, the taller man, Keith was sure judging by the body structure and the big biceps, brought out a gun blaster, everyone moved.

The masked man lifted his gun blaster and Keith and Shiro moved forward, swords slicing down to cut the weapon as Hunk tackled the shorter male with eight limbs next to the shorter man before he could start shooting as well.

The third figure, this one a woman, went to deal with Allura, Pidge and Matt but she was fast. As Allura threw her whip to slice at her face, the woman snatched the whip, brought it and Allura forward and punched her back so hard that the Altean Princess was sent flying a good feet away with a pained yelp.

A growl at her lips, Pidge ran forward next, her Bayard shooting out bolts of electricity as it wrapped around the woman's wrist. The green paladin grinned but to everyone's surprise, the woman seemed unscathed. With another tug, the woman gripped Pidge's Bayard and swung Pidge into Matt, the two of them falling in a tangled mess of limbs a good distance away.

The woman hadn't even used a weapon on them and she'd still won.

Hunk had the eight-limbed man in a headlock and Shiro seemed to be fine as he continued fighting the masked man. The two of them were throwing out punches and kicks. They were evenly matched it seemed. He would be fine by himself. As the woman went to finish his friends who were scrambling to their feet, Keith intercepted her and brought out his sword. "You're not going anywhere!"

"My," came the woman's amused voice. It sounded muffled behind the black mask she was wearing. "What a pretty little sword you have there." The woman put a hand to her belt and brought out her own sword, the weapon glowing between them like a slice of sunlight, emitting a soft hum. Judging by the heat emanating from it, Keith was sure if that thing managed to cut him, his skin would cut as easily as butter.

This woman knew how to handle a sword. Lightly on the handle, loose like an extension of her arm. She knew the fighting stance, turning sideways to be as small a target as possible. Keith was going to have trouble with her.

Unintentionally, Keith could feel an electric, warping energy between them. The hell? For some reason, he didn't want to fight her. Something was urging him _not_ to.

"We could have had a civilized conversation," the woman mused, her head tilting to the right. "If you and your friends hadn't done what you did."

" _Civilized_?" Keith scoffed. "You guys are the ones that raised your weapons first."

"For good reason." The woman countered.

Keith lunged forward and the woman jumped away, spinning the sword behind her back to her other hand, and sliced at him. The sword flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning. Keith cursed and raised his own sword to intercept her attack and missed the knee coming up to land on his stomach. Keith stumbled back with a gasp and the woman lurched forward, her right leg looped his leg and jerked his feet from under him.

Keith fell onto his back and immediately rolled as her sword came to stab at his face. Her sword imbedded into the ground but before she could pull it out, Allura's whip and Pidge's Bayard wrapped around her wrist and pulled her forward. The woman stumbled to one knee and Matt took the chance to fire a few rounds from his gun blaster.

A sense of horror filled him at the thought of her getting hurt and before he could think of it, he shouted at Matt to stop.

To his surprised relief the woman brought up her left hand and Matt's mouth parted in disbelief a moment before the shots he fired bounced off. Sparks lit the air between them. Matt stumbled back, perplexed. "What the –"

"Congratulation kiddies, now I'm mad," the woman said, pushing down her black sleeves to reveal black wrist bracers that reached all the way to her elbows. The woman brought down her left hand to the floor and vines _sprouted_ from her palm, and headed straight for them. Matt began to fire and Allura and Pidge stumbled back as vines wrapped around their legs. A second later, Shiro was thrown in their direction, his brother rolling before stumbling to his feet. Upon seeing the dilemma the girls were in, Shiro turned in their direction and began to slice at the vines that now reached their waists. Keith growled and went to attack the woman again but the masked man Shiro had been fighting stepped in his way and kicked him away.

There was a yelp from behind them and Keith turned to look as the eight-limbed man used its tail to smack Hunk in the face and leap away from him to land next to his teammates. He was a good foot shorter than them.

"Get these things off me you bitch!" Pidge growled as the vines tightened around her body and with her free hand, lifted her Bayard and aimed the grappling hook towards the woman's' face. Keith's stomach twisted into knots. He didn't understand it. Why was he acting this way? This woman had attacked him and his friends. Keith should _want_ to hurt her. But for some reason, he didn't. The cable shot off like a rocket but before it could reach her, the masked man stepped in front of her and took the hit instead.

Stumbling back, his hand came away from his face and Keith and his friends could only watch in shocked surprise as his helmet shattered and a familiar face stared back at them.

What the hell was this?

Was he seeing things?

Had he hit his head?

Somehow, Keith found his voice. "S-Shiro?"

Matt's eyes were wide. "How…?"

Shiro's jaw was wide open as he stumbled back like someone had punched him.

Allura and Pidge were looking back and forth between the two men with equally shocked faces. The vines wrapped around them had stopped moving but were still curled around their bodies.

The man who looked exactly like Shiro only with completely black hair lifted a gun blaster in their direction. "Stay back!"

His voice sounded different though. Unlike Shiro, this one had an accent.

"If you've come for the piece of the comet," the eight-limbed man spoke, his voice sounding suspiciously like a certain annoying alien he knew. "You'll never get it." He took a step forward and his helmet disappeared. He and his friends gasped. What the hell? The guy looked _exactly_ like Slav. "I'll die before I let it fall into Alteans hands."

"We should just kill them," the woman clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms over her black general apparel. "The plants would be appeased that way too."

Now that he thought about it, this woman's voice sounded familiar too. Keith put his Bayard away and raised his hands to show them he meant no harm. He glanced back at his brother but he still looked rattled. Keith took a step forward. "Shiro, please."

The man narrowed his eyes. "My name is not Shiro."

Hunk's eyes were wide. "What the heck is happening right now?" he looked back at his friends and then to the three people standing in front of them. "Did everyone get amnesia and wake up with a weird accent?"

Slav's look alike narrowed his eyes. "You know us?"

"Of course we do!" Matt answered, one hand still pulling at the vines wrapped around his sister. At the warning growl from the woman, he raised his hands. "You're Shiro and you're Slav!"

"Our friends rescued you from a space prison," Allura added, her Bayard disappearing to show she meant them no harm. The masked woman tilted her head but made no move to make the vines disappear. "You're also slightly crazy." She added as an after thought.

Pidge was frowning, her brown eyes going from Shiro to Shiro's look alike and to Slav.

Slav scoffed. "I may be crazy, but you've never rescued me from anything before." His brows knit together and then his eyes widened. "Unless –"

–"Unless you're from an alternative reality," he and Pidge said at the same time.

Hunk looked very confused. "Uh, what's that now?"

Pidge turned her head to address everyone. She looked a little awkward with all those vines wrapped around her. "I think that when that tornado wrapped around us and sucked us into the pool of water where the ship was, we entered an alternate reality."

"You mean like what Slav was usually talking about?" Hunk wondered and then turned to Slav. "Well, not you. Well, yeah you, but a different you." He waved his hands. "One that talks about alternate realities a lot."

"Oh, yeah," the woman spoke up, hands folding behind her head and ankles crossing like she had no care in the world. Again, the move was familiar. "That's definitely him."

Slav glared at her as Not Shiro lightly chuckled.

Shiro finally spoke up, and though his eyes never left his lookalike, his words were for the woman. "Now that we've established that we're not enemies, would you mind removing your vines from my friends?"

The woman hummed and crossed her arms. "I don't know," she twirled her sword, the bright light coming from it blinding them momentarily. "Depends."

"On what?" Keith growled at her.

The woman lifted her chin. "Will you attack the vines again?"

Keith gaped at her. "We only attacked them because they were trying to kill us!"

"Yeah," the woman snapped back. "Because you were touching its berries!"

"Well we didn't know that!" Keith snapped, eyes narrowing.

"And if that wasn't bad enough," the woman turned to Allura and her voice came out full of hatred. "You brought a _filthy_ Altean with you."

Shiro bristled and took a step forward. Not Shiro and Slav pointed their weapons at him and that had Keith and the rest of his friends rising their own in return. "Don't talk about her like that!"

The woman clicked her tongue. "I'll call her whatever I damn well please. You don't know what they've done. How many people the Alteans killed when they refused to join their cause!"

If Allura could move, she would have stumbled back. Even so, her eyes widened. "What are you talking about? Alteans are _good._ They would never do that!"

"I don't know how Alteans are in your reality," the woman snarled, "But in this reality they are nothing but killers and slave owners."

Allura was shaking her head. "That's not possible…" her eyes narrowed. "You're lying!"

The woman clenched her fists. "Then look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying." The woman brought up a black-gloved hand and removed her mask. Keith felt the air leave his body as the woman stared back at them with pained blue eyes.

His friends gasped but Keith could hardly hear them as he stared at sun kissed skin, short brown hair, and familiar blue eyes. He knew those eyes anywhere. He'd stared at them enough times to recognize them.

"L-Lance?" Keith wheezed, taking a step back. And even as he said it, he knew that this wasn't _his_ Lance. If it was then the connection between them would be flaring, her thoughts would be in his head and his would be in hers. But there was nothing.

Just Keith's urge to stand beside her and protect her. She had Lance's face for fuck's sake! Excuse Keith's instincts for wanting to protect someone that looked exactly like his mate.

She looked a couple of years older and upon closer inspection, he noticed a brutal red scar across her throat. As if someone had slit it open.

Not Lance frowned at him. "That's not my name."

"Holy shit." Pidge gaped.

"Language." Shiro chastised as if on autopilot. His obsidian eyes were wide in shock.

"Oh man," Matt groaned. "I think I got a headache."

"Dude," Hunk breathed.

"Why did you take the yellow brick road?" Not Lance growled. "Everyone knows that the red bricked road is the safest road."

Matt gaped. "B-but –"

Keith sent him a smug look.

Allura and Not Lance were staring at each other and whatever the Altean Princess found in those blue eyes made her pale. "You're…not lying."

"Of course I'm not," Not Lance scrubbed a hand down her face, shaking out her short strands of hair in the process. She sighed and lifted her left hand in their direction. The vines wrapped around Allura and Pidge uncoiled themselves from their bodies and slithered over to Not Lance's side before they curled around her own figure and disappeared into her palm. Holy shit. The Lance from this reality sighed in irritation. "But I guess you _are_ a bit different from the Alteans in this reality. You don't look very evil. Not like _she_ was." She paused and glared. "At the moment."

Slav sighed in annoyance. "As much as I'd like to compare realities with you all," he tapped at his wrist where some sort of watch was clipped on. "We don't have a lot of time before the piece of the comet activates again and moves somewhere else."

Not Shiro put away his gun blaster. "Then we must go."

Slav nodded. "Sven, Leia. Let us go."

Leia pointed a menacing finger at Keith. They met eyes again and fucking _Christ_ , it felt like being jolted with electricity. She looked so much like Lance damn it. How dare she look so god damn pretty just like his mate. "Don't attack the plants or next time I _will_ kill you Billy Ray Cyrus."

"The fuck did you call me?" Keith menacingly stepped forward.

"Have you seen your hair?" Not Lance scoffed. "Perfect replica."

"Y-you bitch!"

"Keith!" Shiro snapped.

"Asshole." Not Lance sniffed.

Slav and Sven sighed. Shiro's look-a-like pulled at her sleeve and the three turned away.

"W-wait!" Shiro stepped forward when the three of them began to walk away. "Let us go with you!"

"Y-yeah!" Pidge agreed. "The reason we got here might be because of this comet you're talking about. Maybe we could get home by using it!"

Slav glanced at his companions and the three turned their backs on them and began to talk in hushed tones. Not Lance made sure to glare in their direction every once in a while. And though the red paladin wanted to flip her off, it would probably not help in convincing them to let he and his friends tag along. Keith and his friends glanced at each other. "So," Matt spoke up for all of them. "This is weird, right?"

Murmurs of agreement passed around the group.

"The weirdest." Hunk echoed.

"At least there's no lion, a scarecrow, or a tin man." Pidge reasoned.

Keith stared at her blankly. "Why _would_ there be?"

Pidge shook her head at him. "Oh, you poor thing."

Keith wondered if he could get away with slapping the little gremlin without being caught by Shiro. He could totally do it. As he stepped forward, his eyes caught Shiro's already suspicious eyes and Keith resisted the urge to pout.

Better not.

"It's okay," Allura clasped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I, too, don't understand what they're talking about."

Matt gave Shiro a look. "You better show them this movie when we get back."

Shiro ran a hand through his white locks. "Trust me, I intend too."

"All right," Slav agreed, he and his companions turning back to face them. "You can come with us." Neither he nor his companions looked too happy. "But we must be quick." His eyes looked at their surrounding with narrowed eyes. "We don't know have much time. Let's go."

* * *

The Blavoovian Jelly was a thing of beauty. It's pink tentacles emitted lightning. Its numerous blue glowing eyes shone with intelligence. It reminded Lance of a jellyfish only much bigger and definitely cooler looking.

It looked like it could crush her with just a flick of its tentacles.

Coran's relentless attacks with the castle weapons had managed to cause some damage at least. One of its eyes was leaking purple blood that seemed to glow. Two of its tentacles looked singed, and the creature made sure to keep its injured limbs to its side.

As another tentacle smashed into the ship, Lance spoke to her companions, never once breaking eye contact with the creature outside. She could feel her blood thrumming through her veins. She was itching to go out there. "You guys stay here."

"Uh, excuse me?" Zooey growled, red damp hair clinging to her cheeks. Neither she or her companions had changed before coming here and Lance felt a little bad at the mud stains she and her friends were leaving behind on the spotless floor. Not to mention the odor coming from there. It wasn't…pleasant. Zooey tightened her grip on her mallet, black wings turning to steel in anger.

Coran shot the Valkyrie a nervous look before typing a few commands on the console before him. Six beams shot off from the ship and landed on the creature in front of them. The thing reeled back with a roar, pink tentacles recoiling.

"Are you sure?" Lotor was giving her a weary look. His eyes shifted to the creature outside before darting back to her. "It…looks pretty big."

That was one way to put it.

Lance's pulse pounded in her head. Not from fear. But from excitement.

This creature wasn't a druid.

It couldn't intrude her thoughts.

It didn't posses a Dampening Stone.

Which meant her powers would be in tact.

Lance licked her lips in anticipation. How long had it been since she could go all out against an enemy without having her powers zapped? Weeks? Months? Either way, it was far too long.

Her powers ached to be used.

To go all out.

To cause some damage.

And thinking of how to take down this creature was better than thinking of Ebony and getting depressed for not being able to save her. Of thinking of Keith and the rest of her friends and having her thoughts turn dark from all the possible things that could be happening to them at the moment.

Keith and the rest of her friends were _fine_.

She was sure of it.

Worrying to death about them wasn't going to help anyone.

"Yes," she finally answered when the silence stretched for too long. "I can do it." She turned to her friend. "Please let me do this." Lance clenched her fists. "I _need_ to do this."

Lotor gave her a long look, his eyes searching hers with an unreadable expression. When Lance was beginning to get uncomfortable and the creature outside slammed another set of tentacles at the ship and eliciting a shriek from Coran and Allura's mice, Lotor spoke. "Be careful."

Zooey growled.

She snorted. Lance picked up the helmet Coran offered her, placed it over her head, and started climbing the stairs leading up to the roof of the ship. A chill twisted through the damp night and fat drops of hail rained down as she made her way outside. She hadn't bothered changing into a suit. All she needed was the helmet. Her boots already had magnets under their soles to keep her from losing her balance.

Black and purple clouds marked the sky. Bolts of lightning coming from both the clouds and the creature had her veins singing in pleasure. The temperature was so cold that it had even _her_ shivering.

Beady blue eyes glanced down at her.

A roar filled the night.

" _Lance?"_ pressed Lotor. " _You okay?_ "

"Peachy." She said, and stepped forward. A bolt of lightning struck her from one of the clouds and Lance sucked in a breath as it engulfed her. It felt so nice. If anything, the attack only made her stronger. Her own lightning wanted to be released.

Lotor and Coran both started talking, but Lance tapped the spot behind her ear and the voices disappeared, replaced by a strong beat, a heavy bass. It wasn't her usual choice of music. It was Keith's.

The same ones he'd made her listen to when she was having her "episode."

And as the music filled her ears, blocking out the Blavoovian Jelly's relentless roars, her thoughts on Ebony and Keith and the rest of her friends, Lance summoned a sword out of lightning in her left hand and a sword made out of ice on her right and grinned.

Beady blue eyes narrowed on her, sparks of lightning came off from those tentacles, as the thing lurched forward in her direction.

She was going to keep this ship and its inhabitants safe until her friends returned. And they would. It was only a matter of time. Lance lifted the rippling sword of lightning above her head and the one made out of ice in challenge.

"Let's do this."

* * *

No one spoke for the first few minutes or so as they waded through the thicket of vines, all of them parting for Not Lance as she took the lead. Creatures that Keith had never seen before, with skin that looked to be made out vines and wood, lurked around the walls and though they watched their every move, they didn't move to attack them. Keith and his friends kept their weapons out just in case though.

Despite the fact that the Leia had said Allura didn't look very evil, neither Leia nor her two companions went near her. In fact, they made it a point to stay as far away from her as they could, occasionally shooting her suspicious looks over their shoulders. Or in Leia's case, a glare so fierce it had them looking away. Allura was pretending it didn't bother her but it was obvious that it _was_.

At least Shiro was at her side, distracting her with easy conversation.

Keith's mind was moving a million miles a minute, trying and failing to convince himself to go and talk to the woman who looked exactly like his Lance. He was insanely curious. Was her appearance the only thing similar to her? Was she also an Amazon? Did they share the same sense of humor? Did they like the same type of food? Her powers were obviously different. Granted, Keith had only seen her use one but it was still different from the powers that the Lance from his reality had.

He couldn't stop staring at her.

Not surprisingly, Slav broke the silence first. It seemed that even in another reality the guy couldn't keep his mouth shut for long. He slowed his pace to walk alongside Shiro. The black paladin tensed as Slav walked beside him, all but shoving Allura away. "So," Slav licked his beak of a mouth. "Are you also dating my lookalike in _your_ reality?"

Shiro stumbled, his face wide in horror. "W-what?"

Keith felt his mouth twitch.

"Well, aren't you?" Slav impatiently pressed. "Because if you're not then you really should."

Shiro wheezed.

Matt huffed out a laugh.

Sven turned his head to give Slav a soft look over his shoulder. "He's right, you know."

Shiro looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

Sven let out a dreamy sigh and fluttered his lashes at Slav. "He's just so manly."

Slav blew him an air kiss.

Shiro choked on his own spit.

Allura looked like she wanted to both laugh and argue.

"Oh man," Pidge grinned at her brother who looked torn between laughing and helping out his best friend. "I can practically _hear_ Shiro's blood pressure rise from over here."

Matt and Hunk nodded. "I know right?"

"You're not dating him yet are you?" Slav sighed like a disappointed mother as he clicked his tongue. "Let me tell you of all the reasons you _should_."

Sven slowed his pace to walk on Shiro's other side. "Tell him that you have eight arms and can reach so many places!"

"Oh, yes," Slav grinned at his lover. "I almost forgot about that! Thank you for reminding me darling!"

Keith was really starting to worry about his brother's well being. He looked too pale. Allura stepped forward though, probably to help him out, and Keith turned his attention back to Lance's lookalike only to stumble as blue eyes looked back at him. "Do I look that much like her?"

"W-what?"

She pursed her lips. "This Lance you mistook me for." She slowed her pace to walk beside him. "Do I look that much like her?"

"O-oh." He cleared his throat. "Y-yeah. Everything's the same." He frowned and shook his head. "Well, that's not completely true. You're a little older. You have short hair while she has long hair."

He made sure not to mention the scar on her throat. He didn't know how she would take it if he asked. But damn it, he was fucking curious.

Not Lance scowled. "Doesn't that annoy her? I hate long hair. Always gets in the way."

Keith surprised himself by laughing. "Yeah, Lance says the same thing. Pretty sure she'll cut it sooner or later."

Not Lance hummed and the two dissolved into silence for a few moments. When she spoke again, her voice was a little hesitant. "What is she like? The me from your reality? Is she also an Amazon?"

"Yeah, she is." Keith thought about it the rest of her questions. How would one describe Lance? Brave? Selfless? Someone who cared about her friends? Always the center of the room? Lance was a lot of things. After a moment, Keith spoke up. "She's the kind of person to walk into a room full of strangers and come out with ten new best friends." His mouth curled up into an unconscious small smile at the thought of her. "She's amazing."

Not Lance stared. "You _like_ her."

"I love her." Keith corrected her. Blue eyes widened. Almost shyly, he tugged at a piece of black hair. "We're getting married when the war is over." If possible, Not Lance's eyes widened even more. "We've already marked each other at least though."

Not Lance looked at him in confusion. "Then why are you getting married?"

"What?"

"You said you two have marked each other right?" at Keith's nod she continued. "Then you're _already_ married."

Keith came to a stop. "W-what?"

Not Lance rolled her eyes at him. "You're half Galra right?" At Keith's surprised look, she waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, please. Don't be so surprised. I can smell it on you. Anyway," she pointed a finger at him. "Galra are very private people. They keep to themselves. But when they mate with someone, both parties mark each other. When a Galra and its mate do that, it means they're bonded for life." She grinned at him. "In other words, you two are _already_ married. At least in the Galra culture."

Holy shit.

Seriously?

Why the fuck did no one tell him that?

When he got back he was definitely telling Lance. Maybe they could celebrate…

"Anyway," Not Lance interrupted his little fantasy of pinning Lance against a wall and ravish her as she gasped out his name in that way that had his heart pounding. "My name is Leia. Local heartthrob. I'm known quite well."

"Is that your self proclaimed title?" Keith deadpanned, stopping as Leia moved her hand to make the vines move away from their group. The yellow brick roads could still be seen under the field of flowers.

"I don't know," she stepped in front of him and leaned forward as he leaned back. She fluttered her lashes and ran her index finger down his cheek right where his scar was. Keith's body shivered and he swallowed audibly. "You tell me pretty boy." Her voice got lower as she leaned even further to whisper into his ear. "Do I make your heart throb?"

Faster than a bullet, Keith felt his face flood with warmth and immediately stumbled back. What the fuck was that? Was she flirting with him? Did this count as cheating?

"Are you blushing?" Leia blurted, eyes dancing in mirth. "That is adorable."

Keith blushed even harder in embarrassment and glared at her.

It only had her laughing.

"I'm telling Lance you're flirting with her doppelganger!" Pidge called out to him from the back. "Shame on you!"

Keith raised his arms and stepped back. "I wasn't flirting with her!" he tried to reason. " _She_ was flirting with _me_!"

"Didn't look that way to me," Matt teased, brown eyes twinkling.

"You said more than five words to her Keith," Shiro intervened, trying in vain to get rid of Slav and Sven, only to frown when they easily caught up to him. "That's four more words than you usually say to someone you just met." Shiro gave him the stink eye. "You were flirting."

"Men," Allura sighed with a shake of her head.

"Definitely flirting." Hunk shook his head at him and looked at with big wide eyes. He looked like he was going to cry. "How could you?"

"Leia!" Slav scolded her, turning from Shiro to glare at his companion. "Stop flirting with strangers!"

"My husband is right," Sven added. "It is, how do the young people say it?" he furrowed his brows and snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes. Not cool."

" _Husband_?" Shiro shrieked, hand going to his chest. "Did you say _husband_?" he stumbled back into Allura's waiting arms. _"Oh, my god."_

"Deep breaths Shiro," Allura soothed him. "Deep breaths."

"I think I'm dying Allura," Shiro wheezed, hand clutching at her arm. "This is a nightmare, right? Wake me up already!"

"And…Shiro's lost it," Matt shook his head. "Poor thing."

"I'm surprised he lasted this long," Pidge muttered under her breath.

Hunk rubbed his back soothingly.

Shiro's panicking went ignored by both Slav and Sven as they looked disapprovingly at their teammate. "Prince Lotor will not be pleased."

Keith's head snapped up at that. "Wait, what?" he glanced back at Leia who was rolling her eyes. "You're dating _Prince Lotor?"_

His voice did not squeak.

"Didn't see that coming," Matt muttered under his breath.

"Really?" Hunk tilted his head. "I could totally see that happening."

Keith glared at him.

Hunk threw his hands up. "Not that _our_ Lance would!"

Leia scoffed. "He wishes."

"You live in the same house." Slav reasoned.

"You share the same bed." Sven added.

"You have pet names for each other." Slav continued.

"And I'm pretty sure I heard you two going at it a few weeks back."

Keith wasn't sure how to take this. He felt a strong urge to back to _his_ reality, find the Galra Prince, and beat the shit out of him.

Leia put her hands at her hips. "Because we're best friends!" she snapped. "And we were playing cards the other day. It can get pretty heated." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We're not together." Her next words sounded angry. "I don't have time to be dating! Not until I kill all the Alteans and make them pay for their crimes!"

Keith reeled back. In all the time that he had known Lance, he'd never seen her truly angry before. Annoyed, yes. Exasperated, definitely. But the look that Leia had on her face as she talked about the Alteans was more sneer than anything.

It was a little scary to be honest.

"You all keep saying that Alteans are bad," Allura stepped forward, hands clenched at her sides. "But how can that be possible? Alteans are good people. They help out anyone in need. They're some of the most kind people one could ever meet."

Leia scoffed and flipped her short locks back. "If they were such good people, then why did they blow up Cloyetera?"

The words were like a blow to the stomach.

Allura staggered back in shock. "W-what?"

"They did what?" Pidge's face looked like the blood had been drained from it.

Hunk stumbled back. "Cloyetera is gone?"

"Why did the Allura from _this_ reality," Leia continued, "The one person I thought was my _friend_ , go to Earth just to execute the rest of my family when I refused to join her side?"

Allura was at a loss for words.

She wasn't the only one though. Keith was too. Cloyetera was gone? Leia's family had been executed? And by the Allura from _this_ reality? What the hell?

"Aren't your people supposed to be _kind_?" Leia snapped, chin lifting to reveal the red brutal scar across her throat. "Compassionate?" She pointed at her throat. "Then why did they do this to me?"

Sven and Slav were trying to calm her down but their words went ignored as Leia's voice kept rising towards the point of yelling. Allura, to her credit, was just numbly absorbing the situation. She wasn't crying, though she looked close.

"You don't know anything!" Leia snapped, bolts of lightning shooting out from the corner of her eyes. The plants in the room looked restless. Howls came from the ceiling. Leia opened her mouth and closed it as she snapped her head to somewhere behind them. She stepped back. Her hands went to her side and just like that, all the anger left her. Her next words sounded calm though her eyes were blazing. "If you don't believe me, then see for yourself."

At that moment, Slav's wrist let out a beep and the alien brought up the screen to see what the fuzz was about. He paled. "Oh, no! More Alteans!"

Allura snapped her attention to him. "Wait! More Alteans?"

And that's when the sound of thousand of plants shrieking in pain came from somewhere behind them. Keith gripped his Bayard. Someone was walking. Leia's glare was fierce, bolts of lightning shooting from her fingertips before she took a step back.

"Their scanners must have picked up our arrival," Slav reported as he continued tapping the screen that came out of his wrist. "The ship is just beyond these vines," he turned to his companions. "Sven, Leia, let's go!"

"Wait!" Keith took a step forward. "You're just going to leave us here?"

"You can't do that!" Pidge growled. "You said the Alteans were evil!"

Allura shot her a look.

Leia and Sven bolted to the right and put their backs to the vine-covered wall. Slav followed their lead and put his back to the vines. As the vines wrapped their bodies and pulled them back, Slav turned to them one last time. "If I were you, I'd run."

And with those last words, the three of them disappeared.

Matt stared at the spot they'd been in with a look of confusion on his face. "What the heck just happened?"

"They did say there were Alteans heading our way." Allura commented.

Shiro turned in the direction the shrieks were coming from and turned his prosthetic arm into a sword. "Everyone, prepare yourselves!" Allura gaped at him. "We don't know what we'll be facing!"

"Oh, man," Hunk whined, pointing his cannon sized gun towards the shrieks. "Anyone else getting a really bad feeling about this?"

Matt raised his hand, the other one gripping his gun blaster.

Allura stomped on her foot. "Stop that!" she glared at them. "Put your weapons away! Alteans are _good_!"

"That's not what they said," Pidge muttered under her breath, hand on her Bayard and ready to shoot.

Allura whirled on her. "They were _lying_!"

Keith glared at her and pushed her none too gently behind him towards Shiro. "I really doubt that."

Allura opened her mouth to retort when the vines that they were no facing began to shriek and a green smoke began to fill the space. Keith and his friends took a few steps back and could only watch as the vines fell to the floor with pitying whimpers, curled in on themselves, and stopped moving.

Metal feet stomped on the dead plants on the floor and moments later, eight robot sentries, these silver and yellow, marched into the cavern they were, surrounded them and aimed their weapons in their direction. If that wasn't bad enough. Three more figures in white and blue flight suits entered right after them.

The woman with violet short hair, blue narrowed eyes, and baby blue crescent markings under her eyes glared at them as she walked to the front. "Put down your weapons."

Allura gasped from behind him. "Alteans."

The woman's pointy ears twitched and her glare disappeared as her eyes met Allura's own startled ones. "It…can't be…" The next moment the Altean woman and the other men behind her, one Altean and the other one unknown, dropped to one knee and bowed their heads in respect. The five sentries followed their example. "Empress."

Hunk stared. "Uh, I'm confused." He shared a look with Matt. "What's going on?"

Matt shrugged helplessly.

The woman kneeling on the floor raised her head in Allura's direction. "Are you Empress Allura?"

Allura stepped forward, shrugging off Shiro and Keith's hands when they tried to pull her back. Why the hell was she so stubborn? It made Keith grind his teeth in annoyance. "I am _Princess_ Allura." She looked over at the kneeling group to address them. "Please. Stand."

They did.

The woman stepped forward and Keith and his friends tensed. "I am Commander Hira, Empress." She spread her hands as her brows knit in confusion. "How can you be here?" At Allura's confused expression, Hira elaborated. "You put down most of the Galra, annihilated all of the Amazons and their home, and established the Altean Empire before you were publicly executed by the last Amazon alive six years ago."

Wait, what?

 _Leia_ had killed the Allura from _this_ reality?

"Holy shit." Pidge whispered.

Shiro stepped forward to stand by Allura's side and immediately had weapons pointed in his direction. Keith and his friends lifted their own weapons as well.

Hira's face turned into a dark scowl. "Sven from the Guns of Gamara!" she raised her weapon and Shiro narrowed his eyes at her. "Step away from the Empress!"

"He's not who you think he is!" Matt defended his best friend. "You've got the wrong guy!"

"Y-yeah!" Hunk backed him up, edging closer despite the fact that he looked scared. "He's a good guy!"

" _You_ put down your weapons!" Pidge ordered the Alteans.

"You take another step and I will shoot!" Keith barked at them, ignoring the look Allura threw at them.

Why didn't she get it? These guys weren't like the Alteans that Allura knew from _their_ reality. It wasn't just because Lance's doppelganger had said so but something about them had the back of Keith's hair standing on edge.

Shiro raised his hands to show them he meant no harm, Keith didn't. After what he'd just heard from this Hira lady, about Cloyetera and the Amazons being wiped out, he wasn't really in a mood to trust Alteans. At least, the ones in _this_ reality. When Shiro spoke, his voice was calm. "Where we're from, all the Alteans were wiped out by Zarkon when he destroyed your planet."

Commander Hira's blue eyes widened in shock. Slowly, as to show that they meant no harm, the five robot sentries and the two men behind her got to their feet. The skinny Altean male with dark skin and slicked back silver hair adjusted his glasses and turned to them in awe. " _Where_ did you come from?"

* * *

Explaining where they come from and how they had gotten there didn't take very long. The Alteans in this reality didn't seem to find the whole 'being thrown into another reality' all that strange. They seemed intrigued about the differences both realities seemed to have and Keith really wished Allura would shut her mouth and stop telling them everything they wanted to know.

It wasn't anything that badly.

Just simple things but it had Keith's mood turning sour the whole time they were in their presence. These guys were looking for this piece of comet that the Slav from this reality had mentioned before and were positive that once they found the ship, they would find the comet.

Apparently the ship and crew they were looking for had found one of the pieces and were brining it back to Altea when the ship was struck down, probably by Leia's crew, and landed somewhere in this planet. The Alteans wanted to retrieve the piece before the Guns of Gamara members find it themselves.

They already knew exactly where the ship was thanks to their scanner and they didn't seem all that bothered using herbicides to kill the plants that were in the way.

If you'd asked Keith half an hour ago to cut down a few plants to get to their destination, he would have said sure. Fuck it.

But now? After seeing how much the Lance from this reality had defended them, it made Keith sick to see the Alteans just kill them off like a bunch of insects. He wasn't the only one though. Hunk kept covering his ears every time the Alteans killed off another plant, their shrieks of pain loud in the otherwise empty cavern. Pidge and Matt looked queasy. And though Shiro didn't say anything, his jaw was clenched tight. Allura was busy talking with Commander Hira and the other Altean male that Keith had already forgotten his name.

If her people killing off all of these plants bothered her, she was hiding it pretty well.

"There." Commander Hira announced as the last set of vines dropped to the floor and their eyes found a giant ship before them. On its side, in blue and white, was the Altean symbol. "We've found it."

The woman stepped forward, placed her palm on a scanner that appeared and like fireworks, from one room to the next, blinking on like a long slumbering monster, the ship awoke.

* * *

"Amazing." Pidge whispered a few minutes later. The piece of the comet was long but small; it reached from his palm all the way to his elbow. The crew that had retrieved it were no longer inside though there was blood in the bridge, as if someone or _something_ had dragged them away.

Two of the eight robot sentries were sent to look for the missing crew.

Shiro and Allura had gone with Commander Hira while Keith had opted to stay with the rest of his friends as the other Altean, Ragil, and his assistant, Moxilous, allowed them to look at the comet that they had come to retrieve.

"It's Voltron," Pidge informed them when she glanced up from the screen she'd been looking at.

Matt balked. "It's what?"

Pidge frowned and looked back down at the screen. "It's not _Voltron_ , obviously." Matt leaned down to look at the screen while Hunk leaned on her left to do the same. Keith opted to stay leaning on the wall where he could keep an eye on this Altean male and his assistant should they try anything. "But the readings from this comet are the same ones Zarkon was searching for. The same ones that led us to the Yellow Lion."

Ragil gave them a charming smile, his blue Altean marking under his eyes going up as his eyes crinkled. "That's how you were able to pass through to this reality. The vehicles you were in are made from the same trans-reality material."

Hunk frowned. "Bu we weren't on our lions when we were thrown here."

Matt shrugged. "At least now we know why Voltron is so powerful."

Ragil continued smiling at them. Didn't his cheeks hurt from all that smiling? "With this material, Altea can create their own trans-reality traveling ships. We can spread our peace and stability to all realities." He tapped his wrist and a screen popped up in front of him. "General Hira, I have just stumbled across the comet and after doing a few scans, I can assure you that it will ensure Altea's rule for millennia to come."

Keith narrowed his eyes and glanced at his teammates. They looked a little uneasy.

* * *

"So the Alteans of this reality have defeated most of the Galra?" Allura asked Commander Hira as they stepped into the bridge. It was dim, the only light coming from the giant crystal in the ceiling. Shiro kept his guard up as he walked behind the two Alteans, his eyes taking in everything.

Commander Hira smiled. She had a mole just below her mouth at the left. "Led by you, My Empress." She smiled warmly at Allura, all but ignoring Shiro who was trailing behind them. "Without your will to fight and avenge the loss of your father, Altea would not have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe."

Allura's expression brightened and she smiled.

Shiro narrowed his eyes and spoke up, "So tell me," Commander Hira's features closed off as she turned to him. Allura didn't seem to notice. "How exactly did King Alfor die? Did the Galra kill him? Or was it the Amazons?"

He wasn't sure what to think about all of this. The Lance from this reality, or Leia as she liked to be called, had said that her home planet had been destroyed, that the Allura from this reality, someone who was supposed to be her friend, had betrayed her. And then the words that Slav had spouted, about Alteans being nothing but killers and slave owners didn't sit well with him either.

Allura was too focused on the fact that she and Coran weren't the last Alteans alive to really pay them that much attention but something didn't sit right with him. No matter how much the Altean male smiled at them or spoke kindly to them, Shiro didn't feel at ease.

At least Keith had gone with Pidge and the others to keep an eye on them if anything went wrong.

Commander Hira squared her shoulders. "The Galra killed him."

"Were you there when it happened?" Shiro pressed. Allura frowned at him. "How did they kill him?"

"He was poisoned." Hira glared at him. Allura gasped. "He was visiting his dear friend Zarkon," she said the name with a snarl. "When he suddenly collapsed and died. The Galra said that he had a heart attack but there was probably something in the air or something that he had eaten from the Galra home planet that killed him."

Shiro gaped at her. "So you weren't even there when it happened? Did you guys even do an autopsy or did you just declare war on the Galra without any real proof?"

"Shiro," Allura put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm down. "You know how the Galra are. They probably did poison my father from this reality."

Shiro knew that Allura was probably right. He knew how the Galra were. They liked to conquer planets. They liked experimenting on different races. They liked throwing them in battle arenas to watch them fight to the death for their own entertainment.

But not all Galra were like that.

Kolivan and the rest of the members from the Blade of Marmora were proof of that.

He knew how the Galra were.

But he only knew how the Galra from _his_ reality were.

Maybe the Galra from this reality were different.

The Alteans certainly sounded different than the ones Allura spoke so highly of.

Commander Hira's glare seemed to intensify. "There was no need. It's obvious that the Galra were to blame. We'd had disagreements over the years."

"Okay fine," Shiro stepped forward. "But what about the Amazons? Why were they all annihilated? What did they do that was so bad?"

Commander Hira folded her arms over her plated chest. "The Amazons were asked to join our side when war broke out between the Alteans and the Galra. They refused at first, so Empress Allura asked for a private meeting with her childhood friend, the Amazon Princess Leia, and implored her to join our side. The princess refused. Something about not enough evidence and not wanting to join neither the Galra or the Alteans." Hira scoffed. "It was probably because she was already smitten with their other childhood friend, Prince Lotor if you ask me."

"Wait," Allura frowned. "Is that why Cloyetera was destroyed?"

At Allura's words, Hira's expression softened. "That was part of it. But you also said that their technology had gotten more advanced once they teamed up with the Olkari scientists. Empress Allura said that it was only a matter of time before the Amazons created weapons more advanced than ours and that they had to go." Allura's eyes widened in horror. Hira didn't seem to notice as she went on with a shrug. "Princess Leia was lucky she was visiting Prince Lotor when we blew up her planet. Otherwise, she would have died right alongside her people."

Shiro couldn't believe what he was hearing. That was the reason Leia's planet was destroyed? Why the Amazons were wiped out? Because they refused to join the Alteans? Because the technology in Cloyetera was more advanced than the Alteans?

What the hell?

"Princess Leia went on a rampage after that and wiped a good deal of Alteans with Prince Lotor at her side," Hira continued, expression dark. Her next comment had her wickedly grinning and Shiro paling. "Empress Allura got her revenge by going down to Earth to kill the rest of her family." Allura and Shiro couldn't believe this. How could she talk about the slaughtering of innocent people with a smile on her face? "It was her own fault."

Allura stumbled back. "How could she do that? Slaughter innocent people like that?"

"They weren't innocent," Hira stressed. "They probably would have fought against us sooner or later. Empress Allura did the right thing. And now, thanks to her, Earth belongs to us now."

So the Leia from this reality hadn't been lying. Her anger was more than justified. Shiro narrowed his eyes and took a step back.

"After that, we managed to defeat Zarkon and most of the Galra but were unable to rid ourselves of the Galra Prince or the last Amazon left but it didn't matter. Their force isn't that big and so far we've managed to continue bringing the same peace Altea has achieved to the rest of the universe."

Allura looked distraught.

These Alteans weren't good.

They were enemies.

* * *

"No struggles, no wars." Hunk murmured in wonder. "That doesn't even sound possible."

"Is it not?" Ragil pressed, turning to his companion who was staring off into the distance with a blank look on his face. "Look at Moxilous. For generations his people have been in constant battle with the other planets in their system. It was a barbaric, futile existence. But look at him now."

Keith and his friends turned to look at him. Moxilous was still staring off into the distance. Matt waved a hand in front of his face and received no response. Had he even blinked this whole time?

"So uh," Matt hedged, stepping back. "What changed?"

Ragil's smile widened. Keith felt like he was looking at the Joker though kept his comment to himself. "The hoktril." He made a spinning motion with his finger and Moxilous turned around. Keith sucked in a breath. There, at the back of his skull was some kind of device. It was shaped into a wide V with blue glowing lines and two needle like attachments plucked in. Wasn't that uncomfortable? Didn't that hurt? "Our civilization's," continued Ragil. "most advanced technological achievement."

Pidge lifted her glasses and squinted. "What does that do?"

"It saps the fighting force from our enemies." Ragil said with that ever-present smile. He lifted his glasses and grinned. "Their will, you might say."

His friends gasped.

Lance's doppelganger was right.

The Alteans from this reality were not friendly.

Keith turned narrowed his eyes to his friends who subtly nodded.

Not at all.

* * *

"Advancements have been made," Hira continued, a pleasant smile on her face. "Entire races who warred for millennia can now know peace and help us to further our new world."

"You mean _slave_ labor." Shiro clenched his jaw. This Hoktril that Commander Hira sounded so proud of only made him sick. Peace my ass.

Hira shook her head, "They're not slaves because they don't have will." Was this lady serious? "Slaves are always trying to escape or revolt. The non-cogs are content doing what they're told." Her expression turned almost peaceful. "Preservation of life is the Altean Empire's highest priority." Her smile widened. "And now, with another piece of the comet retrieved, we can do even more than we thought possible."

"But you're taking away their free will." Shiro stressed.

Hira gave him a pitying look. "The same will that would end your life with no remorse. Thanks to us, no innocent will lose its life to the free will of an evil being."

She stepped back and pressed a button on her wrist, bringing up a map of the universe. "Empress Allura, _this_ is our Altea." She stretched an arm to her. "Come with me and allow me to show you the magnificence it has achieved.

Allura looked distraught, her eyes kept going to the map of Altea with a look of awe but every time she glanced at Hira, her face would crumple.

"Allura." Shiro warned. He could see how the idea was tempting. To go to Altea and see her home planet again. To be surrounded by her own people again and not be one of the last Alteans alive…he could see the appeal.

But surely she could see how this was a bad idea.

The things these Alteans had done? Destroying Cloyetera? Annihilating the Amazons? Enslaving innocent people and taking away their wills?

This was wrong.

All of it was very, very wrong.

* * *

"Is anyone else getting a strange vibe from these guys?" Matt asked them as soon as they'd left Ragil and Moxilous behind in the other room with the excuse of going to the restroom. The four of them were huddled together to make sure their voices didn't carry.

"Yeah," Hunk agreed, hands at his hips and face looking concerned. "There's definitely something off about _these_ Alteans." He glanced up at them with an arched brow. "I mean, is it me or did they pretty much scramble that big dude's brain?"

"And let's not forget about what they did to Cloyetera," Pidge said next. She looked angry. "They destroyed the whole planet. All those women. Reyna, Cesti, Adina and the rest of the Amazons that we've met and made friends with. All of them. Just gone."

"Maybe the Lance from this reality was right after all," Matt's brows knitted together. "She was right about everything. The slavery. The part of them being killers." He waved his hands. "They destroyed a whole frickin planet."

Keith glanced back in the direction they had come from. No one had come after them yet. "We can't trust them. We need to get that piece of the comet away from them, get Shiro and Allura, and return to _our_ reality."

His friends nodded back in determination. They were in the middle of coming up with a plan on how to get the comet without them noticing when a piece of grate fell to the floor with a loud slam. His friends jumped and Keith whirled, weapon ready to be used.

"Yoo-hoo!" A familiar voice with an accent called from the ceiling. "Over here!"

Hunk stumbled back as Sven and Slav poked their heads out from the duct. "Whoa! How'd you find us?"

Keith scanned the area behind them for a familiar blue-eyed Amazon but saw no sign of her. "Where's Lan –" he could himself off. "Where's Leia?"

Sven shrugged and shot him an apologetic look. "She said she wasn't in the mood to see a guy with a nape drape for hair."

Keith felt himself bristle. What was it with the Lance from his reality and the one from this reality making fun of his hair? It looked great!

Slav answered Hunk's question with a smug look. "I figured there was a high probability that –"

"Wait, stop." Pidge interrupted. "Nope. Never mind. You'll just go on forever"

Slav gave her a sour look.

"We have to get to Shiro and Allura," Pidge continued. "And figure out a way to stop the Alteans from getting that comet."

Slav sent them a thumbs-up. "Already on it. We just need one more thing and you guys can help."

Keith nodded. "Okay, then –"

The sound of footsteps interrupted his next words as Ragil and the eight robot sentries surrounded the hall and their way back to Shiro and Allura. Eight gun blasters were aimed in their direction.

Shit.

"Perfect!" Ragil grinned, arms crossed behind his back. "I had a feeling the Guns of Gamara were on this ship." For the first time since they'd met him, his smile had disappeared. He looked like a disappointed parent. "But I didn't know Empress Allura's friends would be working with them." He pointed a gloved finger in their direction. "Apprehend them at once!"

Double shit.

* * *

"Returning to Altea," Allura whispered, her eyes looking troubled. "It seemed like such an impossible dream, I could never allow the thought."

Her gaze went back to the Altea being shown in the holographic map before them.

"Allura," Shiro reasoned. "This doesn't sound like the Altea that you remember."

Commander Hira arched a brow at him. "You're right. _This_ Altea is home to a people who made sure that the Galra scourge was more than wiped out before they could spread their evil like they did in _your_ reality." She turned back to Allura, face softening. "Empress, I assure you, we will do everything in our power to help. The comet in this ship's hold possesses the ability to travel between realities. All we have to do is get it to the rest of pieces already in our possession and we'll be able to send a whole legion to help out. If you will activate this ship's power, we can fly it to the place where we hold the rest of pieces, combine them, and we can use it to travel to your universe and bring peace there, even to the Galra."

"Think this through Allura," Shiro pressed. "You know from experience that not all Galra are bad. Some of them are even our allies."

Allura looked from Shiro to Hira for a long moment before clenching her fists. She opened her mouth but before she could say anything, the door behind them opened and Ragil and the rest of their friends, including Slav and Sven, were pushed forward, hands bound behind their back. Three of the robot sentries stood behind them with weapons ready to use.

Keith had a bruise on his cheek and his eyes were narrowed in anger. He hadn't gotten caught willingly.

Shiro took a step forward, obsidian eyes blazing. "What the hell are you doing?"

Allura's eyes widened. "What is going on?"

Ragil didn't even look in his direction as he addressed Allura. Shiro was getting really tired of being ignored. "Empress, the Guns of Gamara have infiltrated this ship." He pointed a finger at Shiro's friends. "These people were working with them."

"Let our friends go!" Shiro snarled.

"Hira," Slav spoke up, eyes narrowed to slits. "You and the rest of Altea have turned this universe into an army of slaves. Peace at the sake of freedom!"

Ragil sent him an exasperated look. "Non-cogs are not slaves!" he pointed at Slav and then at Sven. " _You're_ the ones who spread chaos and destruction!" He took a step forward and a maniacal look crossed his features. "We're going to scan that little brain of yours and get every last rebel location. Finally, our wars can end."

"Hira, please." Allura begged. "We both want the same thing. Peace."

Hira's blue eyes narrowed. "Do we?" Her face turned into a sneer. " _Your_ weakness has brought nothing but pain and suffering to your people at the hands of the Galra." She placed a hand on her chest. " _We_ have brought peace and order to ours. And once this piece of the comet joins the rest already in our possession, we will bring our peace to every reality." Hira's lips curled. "You're no Empress of mine."

"And you're no Altean." Allura answered, her Bayard already appearing in her hand. There was a flash of light and her Bayard turned into a whip.

The robot sentries turned their guns at her and then Slav threw his head back and started laughing.

"You're laughing?" Hunk gaped at him. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because," Slav said between chuckles. "This is the reality where everything works out fine!"

The next moment, the whole ship began to rumble as the sound of explosives went off somewhere else on the ship. Everyone rocked forward as two more blasts went off and vines began to crawl down from the ceiling.

Slav grinned. "Just in time."

Keith slammed his whole body against the robot sentry closest to him and brought it down just as Matt tackled the one behind him and Hunk and the rest tackled the last sentry to the floor.

Allura threw out her whip towards Commander Hira who had already taken out her sword and caught the whip before it could strike her face. Allura reeled her back toward her and Shiro stepped in, pulled back his fist, and punched the Altean woman across the face.

The snapping of bone felt real good.

Allura grinned at him. "Now let's go."

They didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Vines were sprouting from everywhere. The ceiling. The floor. From the other rooms as they all ran towards the exit. Two robot sentries appeared further ahead but before the things could fire at them, vines wrapped around their figures and crushed their bodies before throwing them aside like discarded toys.

Leia dropped down from the grate in a graceful crouch and shot them a smirk. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry," Allura apologized as she they reached her side. "Had to take care of a few Alteans."

Leia blinked at her in surprise before grinning. "Finally saw the light, huh?"

"Something like that," Allura grumbled, running next to her. "I'm sorry for my behavior earlier."

"No biggie," Leia flipped her hair back before taking out a dagger and sending it flying straight at a robot sentries' chest. The thing crumbled to the floor with a twitch. Pidge whistled. "Just happy to have more allies." Her blue eyes went to Keith's with a smirk. "Even _if_ they have bad haircuts."

Keith bristled. "Shut up you bean pole."

"Keith!" Shiro snapped at him. "Be nice."

"She started it!"

"That is no excuse."

"Yeah," Matt added with a grin. "Stop flirting already."

Keith gaped at the reproachful looks he received from his friends. His cheeks hot, he snapped, " _I'm not!_ "

"He totally is," Slav whispered to his husband.

Sven's lips twitched.

Leia threw her head back and laughed.

"You're all assholes," he grumbled under his breath.

His friends whirled on him. "Language!"

Before he could retort with something nasty a robot sentry appeared at the hall to the left and fired off a shot straight at Shiro.

"Shiro!" Keith warned his brother.

The black paladin whirled and suddenly Slav was there, arms spread wide to take the shot for him. Shiro caught him in his arms and the two of them toppled to the floor with a groan. Pidge stepped between them and turned on the shield as Keith and Allura dragged them away, Hunk, Matt, and Sven providing cover fire as two more sentries joined the first one.

"Are you all right?" Shiro looked down at the groaning Slav in his arms. "You saved my life!"

"Can you feel them?" Slav groaned.

Shiro frowned at him, his face etched in worry as he leaned down to hear him better. "Feel what? What are you trying to say?"

"My six pack," Slav mumbled with a tired smile. "Did you feel them?"

Keith gaped at them.

Seriously?

Pidge and Matt barked out a laugh.

Leia and Allura doubled over with a laugh of their own.

Hunk didn't laugh though his lips twitched like they wanted to.

"Aren't they great?" Sven added his two cents. "This is why you should be dating the Slav in _your_ reality."

Shiro threw Slav in the direction of the robot sentries. "He's all yours!"

Sven let out a girlish shriek as he went to retrieve his wailing husband.

Luckily for Slav, the sentries had already been taken care of.

Not so lucky for Shiro though.

"You monster!" Slav cried in his husband's arms. "I could have died!"

Shiro clicked his tongue. "So close."

"Man," Leia grinned at Shiro. "You are hilarious."

"Let's just go!" Keith groaned at them.

"But what about the piece of te comet?" Pidge stopped them. "We need that to get back to _our_ reality!"

"No problem," Leia tapped the bracelet on her wrist and produced the piece of the comet that they needed. "Already swiped it."

Matt threw his arms around her with a squeal. "I think I love you!"

Keith and Pidge glared at him.

Leia gently pried him off, though she looked pleased. "Too bad I'm only into one night stands."

"Uh guys?" Hunk nervously called. "We got a problem."

Keith looked further down the hall and felt his eyes narrow as Commander Hira as well as Ragil and eight more robot sentries stood in their path.

"That's the exit!" Pidge informed them.

"I'll take care of this," Leia snarled. Before anyone could stop her, she was off. Vines sprouted from her palms and the ones coming out from the ceiling followed right after her. She should be fine right? So why did Keith have a bad feeling?

Commander Hira stepped forward, reached into her pocket, and raised a green crystal the size of Keith's palm in Leia's direction. The Amazon gasped and stumbled to her knees, the spark of lightning disappearing from her fingertips.

"What the fuck just happened?" Pidge snapped.

"It's a Silent Stone!" Sven whispered. "Quickly, get away Leia!"

Green veins appeared on her arms and Commander Hira snapped her fingers and Moxilous let out a roar and leaped towards a swaying Leia. The creature picked her up by her throat and slammed her into the floor so hard that she left a small crater behind.

Leia let out a gasp of pain, her hands scratching at the thick arm holding onto her neck.

Hunk and Matt began to fire.

Sven and Shiro stepped forward only for their path to be blocked by a couple of sentries. Allura grabbed one with her whip and hurled it to the wall.

Keith began to head her way when Slav grabbed hold of his sleeve. "What?" he snapped at him. "She needs help!"

"I know!" Slav snapped back at him. He handed him a syringe with dark green liquid. "Give her this!"

"What is it?"

Slav growled at him. "Just give it to her!"

Slav gave his butt a kick in Leia's direction just as a robot sentry slashed down at him with his sword. Slav tripped it with his tail and began to pound on it.

With one last look in their direction, Keith sprinted towards Leia just as Moxilous let out another roar and hurled her across the hall. Keith picked up his speed and caught her in his arms just before she could hit the floor.

She was unconscious though her breathing sounded ragged and the back of her head was oozing blood. Keith shook her. "Leia? Wake up!"

"Moxilous," Ragil snapped his fingers at the creature. "Take care of this wench."

"With this," Hira added with a grin. "We will finally be rid of all of the Amazons."

Ragil sniffed. "That's what she gets for killing our Empress."

Moxilous crouched and Keith could only stare as spikes appeared on his back before he hurled them in their direction. Keith turned on his shield and turned Leia away. One of the spikes managed to nick his shoulder and Keith let out a hiss. "Come on Leia!" Keith shook her again. "This is no time to be taking a nap!"

Moxilous leaped at them, fists rising above his head to slam into them when a shot rang out from below Keith and the creature dropped to the floor with a howl and didn't move again. "Who's sleeping?" Leia slurred, eyes set into a weak glare. There was a gun blaster in her grip. A _smoking_ gun blaster. "I was just resting my eyes bitch."

"Nice shot." Keith whistled. "And sure you were," Keith deadpanned. "Bitch."

Hira let out a growl and took out her gun blaster when Keith threw one of his own daggers into her palm. The woman let out pained yelp as the weapon dropped to the floor, Slav already there and kicking it away before she could pick it up.

Leia rolled her eyes at him as she swayed to her feet. "Shut up Kentucky waterfall."

Keith gaped at her. "What the hell Leia? We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!"

Leia looked away and snatched the syringe from his hand. "Nope. Don't remember. Didn't happen."

"You're _still_ flirting?" Pidge yelled at him in dismay. "I'm _so_ telling Lance when we get back!"

"I wasn't flirting with her!" Keith cried. "How many times do I have to repeat myself!"

"Until we believe it!" Matt answered with a grin.

The fighting sentries had been defeated. Only Hira and Ragil were left and they were currently occupied by Shiro and Allura. Leia turned in their direction. Keith pulled her back by her wrist. She snarled at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Leia looked at him like he was an idiot. "Uh, going to go kill a few Alteans? Duh."

"They have a Silent Stone!" Keith stressed. "That thing takes away your powers right?" At the surprised looks he received from Leia and her teammates, Keith was sure he was right. "I know because in _our_ reality they have the same things! The Galra and druids are hunting down the Amazons with them! You're no match!"

Leia scoffed and flipped back her hair. "That's why I have this." She lifted the syringe in her palm so he could see and then plunged the needle into her right arm and continued pressing down until the green liquid disappeared. She cracked her knuckles. "I got this."

Leia tossed the comet to Slav and went to join the fray. Keith was ready to haul her ass back when she crumbled to the floor but to his surprise, nothing happened when Hira shoved the green crystal in her direction. The Altean woman looked stunned and tried shoving the thing in Leia's direction once again but nothing happened.

What the hell?

Why weren't green veins appearing on her hands?

Why didn't she look drained?

"Guys," Pidge breathed. "I think she just used a _cure_."

"Dude," Hunk swallowed. "Do you know what this means?"

"It means," Matt took over, excitement taking over his features. "That if we found out what that liquid is made out of and tell Lance and the rest of the Amazons –"

–"They'll have a better fighting chance against those Dampening Stones." Keith finished for him.

He was going to find out what ingredients were used to make that liquid no matter what.

With this…with this Lance won't have to worry about having her powers taken away…

Keith narrowed his eyes.

One way or another he was getting that info.

Leia continued advancing. "I'm going to enjoy this."

She took out her glowing sword and Hira surged backwards to avoid the attack but it was no use. Leia's blade cut through the armor and blood seeped out of the wound. Hira doubled over, gasping. The green vines were restless. Leia circled her and slashed down at her throat only for Hira to raise her arms instead.

The woman hissed through her teeth and tried to knock her to the ground but Sven appeared next to his friend, took hold of the Altean woman's foot and hurled her towards Ragil who had been inching to the door after throwing out some kind of smoke screen.

The two of them toppled to the floor with a groan.

"Give it up," Leia looked down on them with absolutely no pity on her face. "You've lost."

Hira and Ragil looked around for any signs of escape but all they saw were Keith and his friends as they surrounded them. Their shoulders slumped in defeat.

Sven reached forward and plucked the green crystal from Hira's clutch and stomped on it.

Slav wiped the sweat from his brow. "Now that that's been taken care of," he turned to Shiro. "It's time for you all to leave." He glanced at the piece of comet in his hand. The comet that was now glowing. "We don't have much time."

"How do we get back though?" Pidge asked them.

"In just a few moments, the comet will open up another portal. We'll go outside so the ship and everyone inside doesn't get taken in as well."

"All you'll have to do is step through," Sven continued with a smile. "And you shall be home."

"Don't worry," Leia informed them. "We'll destroy this piece of the comet once you're through." She leveled a glare at the two subdued Alteans on the floor. "No one will be using this. And once we're done interrogating these two, we'll destroy the rest of the pieces that the Alteans already have."

Hira spit at the ground. "We'll never talk!"

"S-she's right!" Ragil stammered, broken glasses askew. "All hail the Altean Empire!"

Leia merely shrugged as she leaned down with a grin. "Don't worry," her voice sent a chill down Keith's spine. "I can be _very_ persuasive."

Ragil had the good sense to look worried.

After securing both prisoners and bounding their wrists, everyone stepped outside and was greeted with a field of flowers and green thick vines covering the ceiling. As soon as Leia stepped out, green vines wrapped around her figure and curled themselves around her arm. A blue flower sprouted and was lifted towards her face and Leia softly laughed as she plucked the thing and placed it behind her ear. "You are most welcome."

"It's happening!" Slav snapped at them. He hurled the piece of comet a good distance away and just before it reached the ground, there was a glowing light, and a portal as tall as Shiro swirled in front of them. "This should take you back to your own reality."

His friends sighed in relief and started heading towards it.

"W-wait!" Keith turned to Leia. "That liquid. What was it made out of?"

Leia cocked her head. "Liquid?"

"The one you injected into yourself!" Keith pressed, stepping forward in her direction. "I need you to tell me so I can tell Lance and the rest of the Amazons!"

Leia pursed her lips. "I don't know if the ingredients from _this_ reality will be the same as _your_ reality _but_ ," she held up her hand when it looked like he was going to explode on her. "The ingredients used to make this serum are only two things. One is a Silent Stone. It takes away our powers and makes us weak. And two is another stone. The druids hate this particular stone. It doesn't take their powers away but it does hurt them if it touches them. Grind them together. Turn them to dust or liquid and you'll be fine. Do you have those stones in your reality?"

"There's plenty of Dampening Stones," Pidge spoke up.

"As for the stones that hurt the druids…" Keith knit his brows. He thought back to the planet where'd they'd met the Dossiers'. Hadn't Mrs. Dossier said something about crystals like that? "I think I know where to look."

"Good," Leia seemed pleased. "It won't give the Amazons their powers back," Keith and his friends gaped at her. What? It didn't? "But it does let them retain their super strength and makes it easier for them to move."

"If the Amazons from your reality are anything like our Leia," Slav grinned. "Then super strength is all they'll need to take down their enemies."

It wasn't the kind of cure he was looking for but Leia and Slav were right. If they could gather those two ingredients and mass-produce them…the Amazons won't be taken care of so easily. This was good. _Really_ good.

"Keith," Allura squeezed his shoulder with a bright smile. "This is good news!"

"Yes, it really is," Slav waved a hand and pointed at the portal behind them. "But you really need to go before the portal disappears!"

The thing already _looked_ smaller.

His friends exchanged good-byes with Leia and her team.

"Remember," Slav nudged Shiro in the ribs and sent him a wink that had him scowling. "Eight arms. A six-pack. A _genius_. No way you can pass that up."

Sven sent Shiro a wink and a thumb-up. "Just do it!"

Shiro's face was completely blank as he gave them both the finger. He didn't put his hand down even as he reached the portal despite the fact that Matt and Pidge were gaping at him.

Leia let out a long laugh and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, man. I love that guy."

Slav nudged his husband with a grin. "He's thinking about it."

"Oh, I know he is." Sven chuckled. "He'll be dating the Slav in his reality in no time."

Shiro raised his other arm to flip them off with both hands as he continued walking backwards. He made sure to wave both arms around in a circle.

His message was pretty clear to everyone but them.

Allura's lips twitched.

"I _really_ don't think he will guys," Hunk winced.

Neither Slav nor Sven paid him any attention.

With a last glare, Shiro stepped through the portal and disappeared, Allura stepped in next with a last wave and followed after him.

Pidge sighed. "It's too bad the Slav from our reality is such a wimp."

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "At least we know that in at least _one_ reality, Slav is a badass."

Slav puffed up his chest and Sven pretended to swoon as he fell backwards into Leia's waiting arms. She didn't look the least surprised.

"Come on guys," Hunk chastised. "The Slav in our reality isn't _that_ bad."

Pidge and Matt gave him an unimpressed look.

Hunk winced. "Okay, he's a little annoying."

"Little?" Matt gasped.

"I think you mean a lot," Pidge rebuked.

And with a last wave, the three of them stepped through the portal with a last wave and continued their discussion of how annoying the Slav in their reality really _was_.

Keith was the only left. He took a step toward the portal before clenching his fists and turning back. "You should go to Earth," he told Leia.

She arched a brow at him. "Because…?"

Keith flushed. "Well, b-because that's where the Keith from this reality probably is," at her arched brow, his words came out rushed. "There's something the Slav from my reality always says. It doesn't matter what reality it is, soul mates are absolute. And well, Lance and I, _we're_ soul mates, so whenever you want to stop the one night stands and make a real connection, you should go fin him."

For a long moment Leia just stared at him and Keith's eyes kept glancing back at the portal just to make sure it was still there when she finally spoke. "And what makes you think he'll still be alive? The Alteans have taken over Earth."

"Because," Keith insisted. "If the me from this reality is anything like me, then he's stubborn as fuck." His lips twitched upward. "He's definitely out there kicking some Altean ass."

Leia hummed but made no further comment.

When it was clear she wasn't going to say anything else, Keith waved good-bye at the three of them and headed for the portal.

"Hey mullet," Leia called. Keith felt his eyes twitch. He turned to her with a scowl only to stumble when she threw something at his face. Keith barely caught the object and when he did he glanced down in surprise. It was a crystal shaped into a flower. At his questioning look, Leia shrugged. "I don't know how the Lance from your reality is like but I've never been fond of the dark." She pointed at the flower crystal in his hands. "That thing glows in the dark and releases a pleasant smell that makes it easy to fall asleep. I think she'll like it."

Oh.

Lance would _love_ this.

His mouth curved into a small smile. "Thanks."

"See you later Billy Ray Cyrus."

"Good-bye you fucking bean pole."

And with those last words and Leia's echoing laugh, Keith stepped through the portal.

* * *

When Keith stepped through out of the portal, he was met with black and purple clouds throwing off shots of lightning and a roar so loud it had Keith stumbling back.

 _You're back!_

 _Lance!_

Keith's relief was instant.

"Keith!" Shiro caught him from behind, his face etched in worry. "Are you all right?"

"What the fuck is that?" he asked instead.

"Uh guys," Hunk lifted a trembling finger at the sky. "What the heck is that?"

"Dude," Matt whimpered, brown eyes wide. "Is that a giant jellyfish? It looks pretty deadly."

"It's attacking the ship!" Allura wailed. "Quickly, let us return to our lions to get it away!"

"Wait," Keith winced as the creature let out another roar and threw out three more tentacles towards the ship only to reel back in pain when something slashed at it. No. Not something. _Someone_.

It was Lance.

And she was laughing wildly into the air, lightning and ice shooting out from her palms. She was having _fun_.

It was the first time since Ebony's death that Keith had felt such joy coming from his mate. She wasn't thinking of what she could have done to save that woman's life. She wasn't blaming herself and getting more depressed the more she thought about it.

Her thoughts were clear.

There was only delight.

Keith wasn't going to take this feeling away from her just yet. Some part of him thought that she needed this. To let loose. To go all out against an enemy that couldn't intrude her mind or have her powers taken from her by a mere stone.

"Let's just head to the castle," he said instead. At his friends dumfounded looks he quickly added, "Lance is here." Eyes went wide at the news. "And she's taking care of the monster so let her. She'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Matt stressed, eyes going back to creature with an audible swallow. "It looks pretty big."

"I'll say!" Pidge snapped. "That thing is ten times bigger than Voltron!"

"Keith," Shiro looked at the monster and then to Keith. "Is she sure?"

"Yeah," he looked back just in time to see three spears of ice go flying towards the monster. Two embedded themselves on its tentacles and the other one stabbed one of its eyes. Keith felt his mouth curl up. "She's got this."

Shiro nodded and turned back to the rest of their friends. "Everyone get to their lions and head for the castle. As soon as we're inside Allura will wormhole us away."

"Right!"

Within moments everyone broke into a run and headed for their appropriate lions. Red let out a relieved purr once he sank down into the pilot's seat and started her up. "I know," he patted the control panel. "I missed you too girl."

He pulled back the controls and the two of them took off after the other lions that were already airborne.

" _Whoa_!" Matt exclaimed through the comms. " _Lance looks like she's having fun!_ "

She really did.

Hunk let out a whoop. " _You got this buddy!"_

" _Give it hell Lance!" Pidge shouted her own encouragement._

There were six huge bows made out of lighting before her and when he blinked, six giant arrows made out of ice appeared. With a feral grin, Lance pulled them back and let them fly when the monsters tried to squash her with four of its tentacles.

The ice arrows reached their marks and purple blood rained down its eyes as the creature reeled back. Hail began to rain down but Lance merely surrounded herself in a sphere shield and threw back a round of blue lightning.

She looked like she was dancing as she gracefully avoided the tentacles aimed her way.

" _Paladins_!" came Coran's relieved voice through the comms. " _Oh, I'm so happy you're all alright!"_

" _Finally,"_ the Valkyrie Princess grumbled behind him.

" _Welcome back guys,"_ Lotor spoke next _. "Climb aboard."_

" _On our way!"_ Shiro informed them.

* * *

The hangar bay doors were already opened and as soon as they parked their lions, everyone sprinted out of their chairs and headed straight for the bridge. They were all panting by the time they got there. The ship kept rocking every time a tentacle slammed into the ship but they made it in one piece.

When they got to the bridge, it was to the sight of Zooey and Lotor calmly zipping tea and a rattled looking Coran who flinched and spilled his own drink whenever the ship was hit. Even Allura's mice were munching on a few cookies and looking peaceful.

The hell?

As soon as Lotor noticed them, he smiled. "Welcome back once again." He lifted his cup. "Tea?"

"It's vanilla red," the Valkyrie informed them as she took another tea. "It's quite good."

"Uh, no thanks?" Matt asked.

The Valkyrie Princess clicked her tongue. "Shame."

"How can you guys have tea while that _thing_ is out there?" Hunk screeched.

Lotor shrugged. "Lance can handle is." He smiled. "She's having fun isn't she?"

She was.

"A-anyway," Allura interrupted with a pointed cough. "I'm afraid we'll have to cut her fight short." She cracked her knuckles and stepped on the podium, the space lighting up. "Because we're going to wormhole away."

"Someone should tell Lance then," Pidge grumbled, then jumped as another tentacle slammed into the ship. The particle barrier was still up but the monster was relentless.

"I got it." Keith turned away and concentrated.

 _Lance?_

She gave him a nudge through the bond to let him know she was listening.

 _It's time to go._

A wave of sadness filled the bond.

 _I have a surprise for you._

The bond flared in interest.

 _I'm on my way._

When Lance's figure descended the ladder, Allura summoned up a wormhole as Coran moved the ship as far away as they could from that creature. It didn't seem happy about it and the thing followed after them with a roar of rage.

Hunk and Matt released startled shrieks but then the wormhole finally appeared and with an extra boost from the engines, Coran maneuvered the Castle of Lions inside and they were taken somewhere else.

* * *

As soon as they reached the other side, everyone sighed in relief, and Coran put a hand to his chest as he wiped at a bead of sweat running down his brow. "Oh, thank the heavens."

"Where the heck have you guys been?" Lance stomped her way over to them, blue eyes narrowed and hands at her hips.

At the sight of her, everyone engulfed her in a giant hug. "Lance!" everyone cried.

Hunk lifted them all off their feet and waved them from side to side. "Oh man, I was so worried when Keith said he didn't feel you!" his eyes got wet. "But here you are!"

Lance frowned as Hunk put them all down. "Of course I am. _I'm_ not the one who disappeared."

"You stink!" Pidge pinched her nose and waved her hand. "Ever heard of a shower?"

"Same old Pidge," Lance muttered under her breath. With a grin, Lance leaped at the green paladin and gave her a long hug. "I met your kind in a sewer today!"

Pidge let out a shriek. "Let go, you bitch! I'm going to stink!"

Shiro shot her a look.

"Where were you guys?" Lotor asked them as he and Zooey, followed by a teary looking Coran made their way over. "We couldn't detect you guys at all."

"I called you all so many times!" Coran wailed as he brought them all in for another hug. "But no one answered!"

Keith shared a look with his friends. "Boy do we have a story for you."

The Valkyrie Princess glanced at her teapot. "I'll make more tea."

Matt cringed. "Oh. You don't _have_ to."

Green eyes narrowed on him. "I'm _making_ more tea."

Matt straightened so fast it was almost funny. "Yes ma'am!" he gave her a salute. "I can't wait!"

Zooey nodded looking appeased.

* * *

By the time they were done telling Lance and her team where they had gone and who they had met, it was nighttime. And after more grumbling from Pidge, Lance and her team took a quick shower and decided to just stay the night after informing the rest of their team back on their own ship.

Lotor and Zooey looked intrigued about the other reality they had been transferred to and wanted to know what was so different and kept asking question after question at them.

Was the sky the same color over there?

Were their own doppelgangers there as well?

Were their weapons better?

Did they seem more advanced than them?

The whole time, Lance was pouting.

Pidge had told her about Keith's "flirting" and she didn't look pleased.

"You flirted with those Galra guys back in Planet Zenith!" he reminded her. "You've flirted too."

Lance clicked her tongue at him. "When _I_ did it, it was only to convince them to let us out of the cages." She sniffed. "When you did it, it was just plain flirting."

"I wasn't flirting!" he cried.

"You said more than five words to her Keith," Shiro solemnly nodded his head. Traitor. "That's four more words than you usually say to strangers."

Keith let out a long exasperated groan but at the twitching of Lance's lips, he knew she was just messing with him. He swatted at her arm. "You're doing this on purpose!"

Lance giggled. "I saw an opportunity."

"Bitch." Keith grumbled at her.

"Keith!" Shiro cried in dismay.

"Asshole." Lance grinned at him, taking another sip of her tea.

Shiro whirled on her. "Lance!"

"Careful Shiro," Matt teased. "This can't be good for your blood pressure."

"It's already reached some of the highest levels today," Pidge added with a mischievous grin.

"That reminds me," Coran piped in as he reached across the table to pour himself some more tea. It was surprisingly good and Keith and his friends found themselves pouring more onto their cups. The Valkyrie Princess seemed pleased where she sat next to the Galra Prince. "Slav called while you were gone," Shiro tensed. "Should I call him back?"

"Don't you fucking dare," Shiro grumbled. "We're not here. We've moved. Send him a message telling him he's got the wrong coordinates."

Keith and Lance started laughing.

Shiro banged his fist on the table and even in his pajamas he looked fierce. "I'm serious!"

"I shall call him in the morning," Coran informed him.

Shiro let out a wail. "Coran, why?"

As the others laughed at his expense, Keith gripped Lance's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. "I can't wait to tell my mom the good news," she whispered to him. "This could turn the whole tide!" her smile turned hopeful. "Thank you for getting this information for us!" she placed her forehead against his and stared into his eyes. "Really, thank you _so_ much."

"When we face the Galra for the final battle," Keith whispered back. "We'll be unstoppable."

Lance's answering grin was contagious. "You bet we will."

* * *

 _Reviews are more than welcome! They make my days guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!_


	45. Chapter 45

"Things happen. And good things happen, and bad things happen."

\- Manti Te'o

Chapter 45

 _Side step. Feint. Crouch, wait for an opening. Dodge, keep your eyes on your opponent. Soon…yes, now!_

Keith lunged, training sword tight in his grip, only to scowl as his opponent leaped back.

Fast.

This guy was fast.

But Keith's instincts were better. Planting his word on the ground, he used it to help him launch himself after his opponent just as the man landed, kicked his leg out, and pointed the sword at his neck just as the Blade member was beginning to get his bearings.

"I win."

The man raised his hands in surrender and Keith grinned, using his other hand to help the man to his feet.

"Nicely done," the Blade soldier rumbled, his voice sounded deep. "You've gotten faster."

Keith preened at the praise.

Training with the Blades was always a favorite activity of Keith's. He liked the pleasant strain in his muscles after every spar. The way the Blades didn't go easy on him just because they were allies. No offence to his team; the paladins of Voltron were nice to spar with but if he really wanted a challenge, then the Blades were definitely the group to go to.

Another black suited Blade member stepped forward, their mask obscuring their face and making their voice sound muffled. "Ready for another round?"

Keith felt himself grin. "Hell yeah."

Not waiting for a signal, the Blade lunged forward, training sword coming down fast at his face. Keith brought his own sword up and the two weapons clashed. They'd come in close, switch to hand to hand, then back to the sword. He didn't know how long the two kept swinging but his arm felt sore and he could feel sweat running down his back.

He was having fun.

He missed the kick to his stomach and was sent sprawling to the floor, his breath coming out fast. His opponent looked down at him, almost thoughtful. Not one to let himself be knocked down without facing the consequences, Keith took the opportunity to hook his foot around the Blades ankle and tugged with as much force as he could. The Blade member, he wasn't sure if it was male or female, tumbled backwards, and Keith used the momentum from the pull to grip his training sword, and pointed it at the Blade's throat.

This Blade was not to be underestimated though. Just as Keith's weapon went to the Blades throat, so did the Blades. The swords pointed edge was hovering close enough that he could feel the coldness against the side of his throat.

"Tie?" Keith asked, his chest heaving but doing his best to stay still. Regardless of the fact that the swords they were using were made out of wood, they could still draw blood with enough pressure.

"Tie."

Keith's eyes widened at the voice.

This close he could hear it perfectly.

No frickin way.

"Mom?" Keith fell on his butt with all the grace of a toddler taking its first steps and watched in horror as his opponent got to her feet, removed her mask, and lo and behold: there was his mother.

"Hey sweetie," violet eyes looked down at him teasingly. Those who were close enough to hear snickered in his direction and Keith felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment. "You've gotten better."

"Y-yeah," he managed. He could practically feel the pride radiating off her. It made him happy. "W-what are you doing here?"

He gratefully took the hand she offered and let her pull him to his feet. Krolia parted sweaty black strands from his forehead with her gloved fingers and smiled at him. His cheeks darkened at the barely concealed chuckles from those watching. "Mom!" his voice came out whinier than he intended as he backed away. "Quit it."

Krolia ruffled his hair with a smile, ignoring or not aware, of how much the action embarrassed him even further. "I'm here to teach the new recruits from the Voltron Alliance some new moves." She turned to the side and said quite loudly, "They kind of suck."

That had all the onlookers flushing and turning away, their swings coming out a little more forceful. Keith felt his mouth curve into a pleased smile.

Take that.

All smugness went out the door when Krolia leaned forward and pinched his cheek. The onlookers burst into laughter.

Assholes.

His eyes wide in horror, he hissed, "Mom!"

Krolia grinned. She just couldn't let him keep his dignity, could she?

She batted his hand away. "Oh, you know you love it."

Yeah, when they were in _private_.

"So," his mother walked over to the concession stand to grab two water bottles. One for herself and one for him. He gladly took a long sip. "How is Leah doing? Is the food poisoning gone?"

Keith almost choked on his water. And when his mom went to wipe at the water dripping down his chin with her sleeve, he almost choked again. "How do you know that?"

His mother arched a brow, giving up on wiping his chin. Keith was a big boy. He could do it himself thank you very much. "Leah and I are close. She told me."

Keith reeled back. "Since when are you two close?"

"Since we exchanged codes a few months back."

If possible, Keith's eyes widened even more.

Krolia shrugged as she finished her water. "She's a good girl. Have you listened to her pick-up lines? They're pretty good." She put a hand to her chest. "Almost had _me_ swooning."

"I did not need to know that."

His mother nudged him on the ribs, a teasing smile on her lips. "Admit it, that's what got you too isn't it?"

"I have the right to remain silent."

Krolia laughed and threw her bottle into the recycling bin before turning to him. "So, shall we go again?"

He was about to say yes when three loud groans made him frown.

When he found that the source of the groans were from Pidge, Matt and Hunk, his frowned deepened. "What?"

Pidge huffed and wiped a beat of sweat along her forehead. The Blade member she was sparring with patiently waited and stood still as the green paladin turned to glare at Keith. "You've been sparring for _hours_!"

Had he?

"All of us have." Hunk panted, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Oh, man." He wiped at the sweat on his face. "I think I pulled something." He waved at Keith's mom. "Oh. Hey, Keith's mom." He panted some more. "H-how's it going?"

Krolia sent him an amused look.

"The Blades won't stop coming at us until we _all_ decide to take a break." Matt added, breaths coming in harshly. How out of shape were his friends? He pointed a finger at Keith. "If you don't take a break soon, we're all going to die."

Keith frowned and turned to the other side of the room where Shiro was currently sparring with both Kolivan and Ulaz. His brother looked tired, his moves were slower than usual but he was still putting up a pretty good fight. In the other training ring, Allura was sparring with Xylian, the two of them practicing their hand-to-hand combat. The Altean Princess was sweating profusely.

The only one who seemed fine was Coran. The Altean advisor was talking with Jonaz and Leylee who had just finished their own sparring, his hands flailing in the air as he was no doubt telling them about how he had faced a Blavoovian Jelly all by himself a while back.

He told the tale to anyone he could get his hands on.

Keith rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose I could use a break…"

"Hallelujah!" Hunk dropped to the floor and spread his limbs.

Matt and Pidge joined him and did the same. "Thank god."

Shiro and Allura thanked their sparring partners before heading their way, the two of them looking bruised and tired. Allura's tight braid had come undone and loose silver strands stuck to her sweaty face. Shiro tucked them over her ear and gave her a smile that had her cheeks turning red.

Shiro looked at his friends lying on the floor with an amused smile, "Why don't we all get some fresh air? We've been here for hours."

Hunk actually whimpered as he massaged his legs.

With some effort, Pidge stood and helped a wincing Hunk to his feet. They should have removed their paladin armor like Keith had. The Blade of Marmora uniforms were pretty easy to move around in. Plus, they were all black which was also pretty nice.

It hid the blood quite nicely.

Matt released a groan and glared at his friend from the floor. "Takashi," his brown eyes narrowed. "I _just_ sat down."

"And now it's time to get up."

Matt lifted his arms. "Carry me."

Shiro grabbed him by the ankle and began to drag him out of the room. Matt spluttered. "This is _not_ what I meant!"

Shiro just grinned.

Sharing a laugh, the rest of their friends followed after them, the green paladin shooting Keith a 'come on' look.

Keith turned to his mother, thanked her, and said he'd catch up with her later before jogging to catch up to the rest of his friends. Reaching into his back pocket, he fetched the ring that Lance had given him and slid it onto his finger. His eyes couldn't help but watch the rest of the fights going on around the room though. There were two weeks left before the final fight against Zarkon and his army and Kolivan and the rest of the Voltron alliance had taught that holding some training sessions with members from each alliance would be a good idea.

Keith saw Olkari members sparring with each other, some in their robes and others in the robot suits that they would be using during the actual fight. He saw a few Balmera training with a few insect like aliens, a staff on their hands as a few Blade members demonstrated how to use the weapons.

Keith even saw a few Arusians among the crowd, their small little bodies giving them an advantage as they ran under their opponents' feet to nick them at the ankles. Olkari doctors were walking around the big group and checking for any injuries. Originally, most of the Alliance members wanted the training sessions to be in Cloyetera since they had that field where Keith and the others had played the girls vs. boys game but Queen Lexi had quickly vetoed that idea.

Most of the Amazons, and especially the Valkyries, didn't like the idea of having so many males coming into their home. While some were okay with the idea, most had adamantly refused. After much discussion, it was decided that the Olkari would host the training sessions and so here they were.

Keith and his team had only been here for three days but everyday, a new ship carrying more aliens from the Alliance would arrive.

The only ones not present yet were the Amazons and the Valkyries. Lance's teams had come down with food poisoning thanks to Zethrid's cooking and were currently drifting in space in their ship so as to not get anyone else sick. The Valkyries would only arrive once Princess Zooey herself told them to but since she also had food poisoning, they were a no show.

At least there had been progress with making the cure for the Amazons. Lance had told her mother about what ingredients they would need and within hours of the news, dozens of ships had left Cloyetera in search of the ingredients.

Finding the Dampening Stones was easy. Lance and the rest of her guards who were out looking for the scattered Amazons had no problem acquiring them. They encountered a bunch of druids and Galra carrying them after all. As for the other crystals…those were a little harder to find. They'd found some more in the mines at Planet Zaebos where the Dossiers lived but it wasn't nearly enough for everyone.

Keith gnawed on his lower lip as he caught up to his friends. The sudden brightness of the outside had him shielding his eyes. Olkari was a little humid today. It didn't bother Keith all that much since he used to live out in the desert but the rest of his friends and most of the aliens from the Voltron Alliance weren't used to it yet.

"So when are Lance and her team coming?" Pidge asked him as she took a seat on the wet grass. Shiro and Allura went to take a seat on the bench behind her. Hunk just plucked down on the floor with a grateful sigh and chuckled as Shiro dragged Matt a little closer to their group before finally letting go of his ankle.

Keith shrugged where he stood next to her. He wasn't all that tired yet. "When they can stop puking their guts out every ten minutes."

"I do wonder what Zethrid put in that food to make them all so sick," Allura wondered out loud. "It's been a week. I'm starting to get worried."

"Have they taken any medicine?" Shiro asked him, his eyes crinkled at the corners in worry. "Do they have saltine crackers? Did you tell them to avoid greasy food?"

Pidge gave him a deadpan look behind her glasses. "Calm down Space Dad," Shiro spluttered. "I'm sure they're smart enough to know what _not_ to eat."

Shiro still looked unconvinced.

Hunk tapped at his chin, his obsidian eyes taking in the archers out on the field as they practiced their shots. "You think I should make a home visit? Bring them some soup?"

Allura and Shiro were already nodding but Keith shook his head. He and Lance had already done research on this subject. Lance knew what she and the others needed and besides, she'd turned off the transporter on her side so even if Keith or the others had wanted to visit they couldn't. It was kind of annoying. "I think Lance has it covered."

Pidge's brother sniffed loudly.

Matt was pouting at Shiro. "That's the last time I ask _you_ to carry me."

Shiro ran a hand through his sweaty white locks and leaned his arms back on the bench before crossing his ankles. "I didn't have the strength." His lips twitched. "Besides, I was doing you a favor."

"How so?"

"Didn't you see how all those women were staring at you?"

Matt's eyes widened. "T-they were?"

Bullshit.

"Oh, yeah." Shiro solemnly nodded. Allura sent him an amused smile. "If I'd carried you, all that manliness you exude would have gone down the drain."

Liar.

Allura and Pidge snorted.

Hunk covered his mouth to cover his laugh.

Matt's eyes were wide. His eyes watered. "Takashi," he shot to his knees and hugged Shiro's legs. "You're such a good friend."

Shiro patted his head. "I know."

Keith arched a brow at his brother.

Shiro put a finger to his lips that had Keith's lips twitching.

"So, did you guys hear?" Pidge suddenly asked after catching her breath. "Two spies from the Blades were chosen to participate in the Kral Zera ceremony."

Shiro and Allura glanced at each other with a wince. The black paladin let out a sigh. "Oh, we know."

"We were at the meeting when they announced it," Allura added. She twiddled her thumbs. "Not everyone was… happy."

Keith clenched his jaw. "More like _Lance_ wasn't happy."

Hunk lifted his head. "Wait, why?"

Shiro sighed. "Lance thought that Lotor should have the right to participate in the ceremony since he too got an invitation."

"And the Alliance said no?" Matt frowned from the ground.

"Yes," Allura twirled the golden pizza necklace around her neck as she explained. "She said that if anyone should take down Zarkon, it should be Lotor."

"On that I agree." Pidge piped in.

"The rest of the Alliance said that he still couldn't be trusted though," Shiro continued. "They said he could be hiding his true colors under that charming smile he showed to everyone and said no. Since two Blade members that Kolivan himself trusts were chosen to participate in the ceremony as well, it was decided that either one of them would do."

"No wonder Lance wasn't happy." Hunk commented. "If Lotor wasn't allowed to participate."

"Well he should," Keith voiced out. He'd been at the meeting as well. Since not all the members could be gathered in one place, they'd had the meeting via video chat. While Shiro and Allura had voted yes, the rest of the Alliance, minus Lance and Zooey, had voted no. They'd discussed it for hours –loudly. Some had even said that Lotor should be executed after they won the war just so they could be sure that he wouldn't try anything like his father. Lance had lost her temper in a way Keith hadn't seen in a long time, had shouted back that Zarkon's fate was Lotor's alone before she called the Alliance members something nasty, and she and Zooey cut off the communication on their side and left the meeting.

Queen Lexi and Queen Afya had to apologize on their daughters' behalf.

Matt sat up and leaned back on his hands. "How did Lotor take it?"

Shiro and Allura shared another look. The Altean Princess spoke. "We…are not sure."

Pidge threw a fistful of grass to the floor. "Well that sucks."

"Maybe he took it well?" Hunk looked at them all with a wince.

"Guess we'll see when they arrive." Shiro finally said.

Keith was about to say something when Allura took a sharp breath, her aquamarine eyes wide as she spotted something out in the field. Frowning, Keith and the others turned in the direction she was looking.

He and Shiro sucked in a sharp breath.

"Shit."

For once, Shiro didn't berate him for his use of language. He was in total agreement. "Double shit."

The others frowned at them before Pidge spoke up. "What? What is it?"

Shiro nodded in the direction he and Allura were looking at. "See that man talking to Thace?"

Pidge and the others turned to take in the man next to Thace. He looked like a walking parrot. Green feathers covered his whole body. A yellow beak for a mouth. Red beady eyes. He was wearing a dark green vest, black loose pants, the back of his head was covered in long orange feathers that reached down the middle of his back. Surprisingly, he had human looking hands, still green, but hands nonetheless. Trailing behind him and Thace were twelve more bird like people, their eyes taking in everything with narrowed red eyes.

Hunk frowned then turned back to them. "What about him?"

Allura swallowed. "Remember when we said some people had suggested that Lotor be executed?"

His friends tensed. Matt arched a brow, his face oddly serious. "Yeah?"

Keith pursed his lips to the right. "Well, that's the guy who suggested it in the first place."

Allura gnawed on her lower lip. "He was pretty adamant about it too."

Pidge, Matt and Hunk sucked in a sharp breath.

Shiro ran a hand through his white locks. He looked like he'd aged ten years. "That's King Reynfred."

Pidge whistled lowly. "Lance is not going to be happy about this, is she?"

No, she was not.

* * *

" _If anything, the Galra Prince should be executed as well!"_ King Reynfred's words rang through her head. _"I don't know why you've taken in the son of a murderer but I will not allow him to participate in this ceremony! He should be executed along with his father!"_

Lance almost stabbed the pot she was stirring with the ladle in her hand. The nerve of that guy! Lance didn't care that the guy was a King. Just because Lotor's dad was a dick that went around conquering planet after planet, didn't mean that Lotor was the same!

Lotor was _kind_.

He cared about his people.

He'd joined their side to put a stop to both of his parents' deeds. He'd given any information that the Alliance members wanted without so much as a fight. He checked on any Galra that defected to their side and made sure they were okay.

He'd saved Lance's life time and time again and had become like a brother to her.

He was a good friend.

And when it came to her friends and family, Lance was very protective of them.

So she'd called the King and those who agreed with him something nasty. Big frickin deal. They should be glad Lance hadn't gone to their planet to pay them a home visit and show them how mad she _really_ was. She wouldn't have gone alone either. Zooey had looked ready to join her. So had Lotor's generals.

And Lotor?

Well, he'd simply shrugged and said that he understood why the Alliance members felt that way. He'd even gone so far as to say that when they won the war and the Alliance members _still_ felt that way, he would gladly go to his execution.

Lance almost slapped him for that.

Over her dead body.

She couldn't understand it. Why wasn't he angry? Why hadn't he broken a table like _she_ had? Why had he looked like he understood their reasons?

"Blue eyes."

Lance almost dropped her ladle into the soup she was stirring. "Zooey!" she exclaimed, spinning around to find her red haired friend slouching over the kitchen counter next to her, barely a few inches away. "You scared me."

Zooey shrugged, munching on a few saltine crackers as she straightened in her seat, her wings making a black shadow behind her. "Not my fault you weren't paying attention." She took another cracker. "Is dinner ready yet? I'm hungry."

Lance gave her a deadpan look. "Do you know how many people I have to cook for?" Zooey munched on another cracker. "A lot."

"Yeah, but I'm more important."

"Since when?"

"Since forever."

"I must have missed that memo."

Zooey gave her a half amused glance, crossed her tattooed arms on the counter, rested her head on them, and quietly watched as Lance went back to stirring the pot. The rice was already done but the soup still needed a few more minutes. With everyone else still sick, it was best to let them eat something easy to digest.

The soup would make the rice soggy and they could just swallow it.

Zethrid was definitely never allowed to cook for them again. It'd been she and Ezor's four-month anniversary and the woman, wanting to do something nice, had cooked up a giant meal for her girlfriend and everyone else.

Lance remembered Ezor's pleased face when Zethrid had presented the food to her. Out of everyone on board, Ezor had eaten the most. Nothing had been wrong with the meal. They'd been fine. Until an hour later.

That's when everyone had rushed to their respective bathrooms and immediately thrown up. It's a good thing Lance hadn't eaten that much, otherwise she'd still be in bed like the others. Poor Ezor was looking more and more like a skeleton. Zooey had finally gotten better just yesterday and finally left her room, spending most of her time in her greenhouse in the fourth floor.

"You're being weird."

Lance glanced at the Valkyrie. "What?"

"You're being weird," Zooey repeated, placing her pale cheek on her palm, those green eyes boring into her. "You usually sing when you cook. But right now you're not. It's weird." She glanced at Lance's white knuckles wrapped around the ladle. "And you look like you're about to murder that pot." She hesitated, eyes drifting down then up to her face. "Something on your mind?"

Lance pursed her lips, loosening her hold on the ladle to continue stirring. "Maybe."

"…Is it about the parrot King?"

Lance blinked. "Parrot king?"

Zooey waved a dismissive hand. "You know, that douchebag that said we should execute Latte."

"Lotor."

"L'Oreal?"

" _Lotor_."

"Loltor?"

Lance's lips twitched. "Close enough." She opened the cabinets behind her with her mind and took a handful of plates out. "Just curious, but what is _my_ name?"

"Squeah."

"Leah," Lance immediately corrected.

"Leela?"

" _Leah_."

"La bitch?"

Lance threw the kitchen towel at her with a laugh. Zooey's lips twitched and the two dissolved into comfortable silence, the only sound coming from the clanking of the plates as Lance began to pour the soup into each one. "So?" Zooey inquired a few minutes later, breaking the silence. "Was I right?"

Her friend wasn't looking at her anymore, instead she was focused on her manicured nails but her voice betrayed her concern. Lance knew her well enough by now to recognize that pose. The way Zooey stood perfectly quiet, looking like she had no care in the world when it was obvious she was listening intently to anything Lance might say.

Oh well, what was the point of keeping it to herself. Might as well tell someone that actually agreed with her.

"Yes," she admitted finally. "I'm worried that the other Alliance members might make good on their word to execute Lotor after the war."

Zooey said nothing but her body tensed.

"King Reynfred was pretty insistent and others agreed with him too." Lance's grip on the ladle tightened. "It just…makes me so mad, you know? How can they say that? They're judging him when they haven't even met him yet! People shouldn't be judged by the actions of their parents! It's wrong!" Lance turned off the stove before she could burn the contents inside and rested her hands on the counter, hair falling down her face. "Lotor is so different from his parents. If he had the chance, he could change the Galra for the better but the Alliance members won't even give him the chance to try." Lance narrowed her blue eyes and slid the ring Keith had given her back on her finger. "It's that damn parrots fault. What a dick…"

Zooey was quiet for a very long moment, as if pondering Lance's words, debating what to say, how to reply. Jade eyes were still focused on her nails but her foot kept tapping a steady beet as she thought up a response. "I suppose I can understand," she said at last. Lance looked at her sharply but Zooey wasn't looking at her. "They don't know him. After so many years of Zarkon and his army doing whatever they pleased for so long, the thought of letting his _son_ take over as Emperor isn't exactly ideal for them." Zooey leaned her back on the counter and watched as Shadow and Radiance slept on the floor in the living room. "Before I got to know him, I didn't particularly like the Galra Prince either. I used to think he was exactly like his father. And all the rumors of the things he'd done didn't exactly make him trustworthy either."

Lance opened her mouth to argue that _Zarkon_ had commanded Lotor do all those things but Zooey barreled on.

"I know that his father was the one who commanded he do them. But he still did them. Lotad knows that as well. He can't change the things he's done. But he's trying to be better. And he _is_. After all this time together, I trust him with my life." Zooey grinned. "And so do you, right?"

There was no hesitation. "Of course."

"Actions speak louder than words." Zooey continued, turning to fully face her. "And this joint training session is a good opportunity for us to show everyone of how good our little Luigi actually is. It'll be a chance for them to get to know him." Lance was not going to correct her on Lotor's actual name. Her friend was on a roll. Zooey shrugged, looking pleased. "Shouldn't be too hard for him. All he has to do is be his charming self."

Lance's wide grin matched her friends. "They'll be putty in his hands."

Zooey's toothy grin was all types of feral. "Damn straight." She thrust an empty plate in her direction. "Now please serve me some food. My advice doesn't come cheap."

"You're lucky you're cute."

"Oh, I know."

The two of them shared a smile and filled the rest of the empty plates for the rest of their sick friends. Zooey was right. They would change everyone's opinion on Lotor if it were the last thing they did.

* * *

Lotor's room was practically pitch black. The only source of light was coming from the two lamps on the desks on both sides of his large bed. And there, silver hair splayed on the purple pillow, one hand on his forehead, and looking like a damsel in distress was Lotor himself.

Lance walked through the black carpet; plate full of soup clenched tightly in both hands lest she spill it, and took a seat on Lotor's bed to glance down at him. Blue-yellow eyes looked up at her with a grim smile. "I look terrible don't I?" Lotor's voice sounded hoarse, beads of sweat clung to his forehead, and despite the three layers of covers wrapped around him, he was still shaking. Lance frowned and placed a cool hand on his cheek and forehead. He had a fever. "Think you can eat something today?"

Lotor glanced down at the plate in her hands with a grimace but sat up using his elbows to help him. "What is it?"

"Chicken soup." He arched a brow. "Minus the chicken." His lips twitched and he reached for the plate. Lance lifted it out of his reach. "Oh, no. Last time you tried to take the plate you spilled it all over yourself."

"So what?" he cleared his hoarse throat. "You're going to feed me?"

"Of course."

"I can do it myself."

"You're shaking hands say otherwise."

"Are you doing this because we're friends?"

"Of course."

Lotor stared, one purple hand combing back silver hair to look her in the eye. "Lance."

"Lotor."

"Who are we kidding?" Lotor sighed, turning to fully face her. "It's just us. It's always been just us."

Lance resisted the urge to laugh. She knew this game.

"Maybe we should just drop this façade between us and speak honestly about how we feel."

Lance pretended to catch her breath. "Oh my."

Lotor took her hand and gave it a squeeze as he leaned forward. "Leah."

Lance glanced down at their intertwined fingers and when she spoke, her voice sounded out of breath. "Lotor."

Lotor leaned forward some more, until only a few inches separated them. He looked her in the eye, his face serious. "I love you."

Lance stared.

Lotor stared.

And then –

The two of them burst into laughter, hands going to their sides as tears leaked down their eyes, trying in vain to catch their breath. Lotor glanced at her and Lance couldn't help the snort that came out of her as he pretended to look serious.

They didn't stop laughing for a long while but when they finally did they were still smiling. Lotor wiped at his face and grinned, taking the plate from her hands so he could start eating. Lance punched his shoulder. "You liar." She pointed at his _not_ shaking hands. "You're _already_ feeling better."

Lotor shrugged, clapping his hands to turn on the rest of the lights in the room before answering her. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

"How'd you fake the fever?"

"I had on a hot compress on my forehead. When I heard you I quickly stashed it and pretended to look sick." He flashed her a smile. "Fooled you, didn't I?"

Lance snorted. "You did." She smirked. "Now _you_ can take Ezor and Zethrid's food to them yourself."

Lotor paled. Last time he'd been there and seen Ezor throw up, he'd fled the room before he could join her. The Galra Prince nervously gnawed on his lower lip. "Are they…feeling better?"

"More or less. They've stopped puking at least. The same can be said for the others. Reyna and Adina should come out of their rooms by today. Axca and Narti are already in the kitchen with Ami and Tami looking for more food. Pretty sure Zooey is with them too. And the rest of my guards are at one of the training rooms."

"And your brothers?"

Lance shrugged. "They're fine. They just want to be pampered."

"So only Ezor and Zethrid are feeling under the weather."

"One more day of bed rest should do it. They'll be up and full of energy by tomorrow."

Lotor nodded absently. "I'll check on them." He took two more bites before speaking. "And how are _you_ feeling?"

Lance tilted her head, confused. "I'm fine."

Lotor gave her a dubious stare. "Are you sure? You've been a little pissy since the Alliance meeting."

Lance clenched a fistful of Lotor's silk sheets. "For good reason."

Lotor gently smiled at her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lance sighed and shook her head. "Zooey talked to me about it." Lotor raised both brows in surprise but he looked oddly proud. "And…I suppose I can understand the Alliance's point of view now…I'm still not happy with them, but I understand."

Lotor padded her thigh. "That's good. It wouldn't bode well if you couldn't get along with the Alliance members. I don't think you know this, but most of the Amazons would side with you. If you acted coldly to any of the Alliance members, so would the Amazons."

She _did_ know that.

"How are _you_ feeling?" she asked him. "Once everyone gets better, all of us will be going to Olkari for the joint training session. Not everyone is going to be happy about seeing you. You'll definitely get a few glares aimed your way."

Lotor shrugged and placed his now empty plate on his right desk before leaning back on his pillows. "I can't say I'm looking forward to being glared at but it wouldn't be the first time. I can handle it."

"If anyone bothers you, just say the word and we'll beat them up."

Lotor's lips twitched. He gave her a look. "Lance."

"Okay, _fine_." She threw her hands up. "We won't beat anyone up." She pouted. "But can I call them something nasty behind their back?"

"By all means."

Lance grinned and shot to her feet. "Try to get a little more sleep after you check up on Ezor and Zethrid, you still look like death." Lotor looked offended. Lance picked up the empty plate and began to head out. "If Ezor sees you like that she'll make fun of you."

Lotor pouted. "I don't look _that_ bad."

"You look like a White Walker."

"Okay, I take offence to that!"

"Go take a shower." Lance teased over her shoulder. "Use that new face mask I left in your bathroom, it'll make you look ten years younger."

"Is it the peach one?"

"Of course it's the peach one." Lotor look pleased. "I'll go check on my brothers."

Lotor gave her wave good-bye before the door slid shut behind her.

* * *

Lance stood in front of the gray metal door in front of her and paused. Usually the thing would open up as soon as it registered her presence. Her big brother always told her that she was welcome anytime. Not that she made regular visits to this room but still.

Why wasn't the door opening for her now?

"Mikey?" Lance knocked on the door.

There was thump from inside, as if someone had fallen off the bed. Heavy footsteps sounded from the room before Mikey's slightly panicked voice answered back. "O-one minute!"

Lance waited, her right foot tapping the floor impatiently. "If I go in there," she drawled. "And I see nothing but pictures of me, then I'm leaving."

"T-there isn't!" the sounds coming from the room grew in volume, as if someone was throwing things around none too gently. "J-just cleaning up! I'm not hiding anything, I swear!"

Liar.

"You have five seconds before I override the door and go inside."

"What!"

"Five."

"Leah!"

"Four."

"Just hold on!"

"Three."

"I'm not wearing clothes!"

"Two."

"Damn it!"

"One."

Lance placed her palm on the door and sent a small trickle of lightning through it, her lightning easily overriding the code for her. The door slid open and Lance calmly made her way inside the slightly darkened room, plate held securely in one hand as she took in the room before her.

Piles of dirty clothes were scattered on the floor. Video game cases among them. A few dumbbells varying in weight were placed on a brown sofa. Lance turned to the bed at the far right to see her big brother lying on it, green sheets held all the way to his chin as he looked at her with that 'deer caught in the headlights' look.

"This place is filthy."

Mikey looked relieved and dropped the sheet to reveal a tan chest. Her brother had been working out, those abs looked great. Locking a strand of his shoulder length hair behind an ear, Mikey pouted. "I told you."

Lance turned on the lights and her eyes immediately went to the closet that looked ready to burst. "What's in there?"

Mikey's eyes grew wide. His eyes darted to the closet and then to her. "Porn."

Lance placed the plate on the coffee table and crossed her arms over her white and blue V-neck shirt. "Really?"

"Yep."

"What kind of porn?"

"The…dirty kind?"

Lance put her hands at her hips. "If I go in there, and I don't find any porn, I'm going to be really mad."

"…That's not something I ever thought I'd hear from you."

Lance took a menacing step forward. Mikey shot up from the bed in nothing but a pair of blue boxers and blocked her path. Lance startled. "Mikey." She clenched her fists. "Move."

Mikey swallowed. "No."

For a moment the two stared each other down. Lance took a step forward. Mikey took a fighting stance. "Do you really want things to go down this way?"

"I'm telling you!" Mikey wailed. "It's only porn!"

"Then why can't I go and see?"

"B-because you're too young!"

Lance shot forward with a battle cry but Mikey was ready. He caught her in his chest and locked his arms around her as she squirmed and tried to free her self. "Mikey!"

Her brother just tightened his hold. "This is for your own good!"

Lance threw her head back and head-butted him. Mikey howled and dropped her. Lance dropped to the floor in a crouch and tried to throw a punch at him but Mikey caught her hand. Lance swung with her other hand. Mikey caught that too.

Lance glared.

Mikey smirked.

Lance grinned, and sent a burst of lightning up her arms and toward him. He twitched. "You c-cheater!"

The pillows in the bed rose up in the air with her mind before she threw them at her brother. Mikey caught the first one and swung it back at her with such force that she crashed into the coffee table with a gasp. The soup spilled down her shirt.

She grimaced. That thing was still hot.

"Oh my god!" Mikey dropped to his knees and cradled her face in his big palms. "Are you okay?"

Lance narrowed her eyes. The room lowered in temperature. She could see every breath her brother exhaled. "Oh, it is _so_ on." Lance's foot shot forward, sending her brother crashing back to the bed before she darted forward on all fours towards the closet. Mikey let out a roar and tackled her. Her hands inched forward to the closet. She was so _close_! "Let me see!"

Mikey tried pulling her back. "No!"

"…What are you guys doing?"

The two of them froze and turned their heads towards the door to see the triplets and Aiden looking faintly amused in nothing but their pajamas.

Mikey and she shared a look. "Playing?"

Aiden arched a brow as he leaned his shoulder on the side of the door. "The truth please."

Mikey gave her a warning look. Lance impishly grinned. "Mikey is hiding something in his closet and he won't let me see!"

Mikey paled.

The triplets grinned and stepped forward as one.

Freaky.

"Is it treasure?" Kyrian grinned.

"Food?" Colt pressed.

"Or is it the bunny costume you want Leah to wear?" Alan teased.

Lance choked. "The _what_?"

"I told you that in confidence!" Mikey barked at him from on top of her.

"I bet it's all Leah merchandise from Cloyetera." Aiden deduced looking smug.

Mikey's nostrils flared.

Lance decided to add in her own two cents. "He says it's porn."

Lance and her brothers gave Mikey a calculating look. Their brother tightened his lips. Kyrian spoke up next, brown eyes glinting. "Shall we make a bet?"

Colt ran a hand through his short black hair. "Losers have to do the laundry for the rest?"

Alan crossed his arms over his white tee. "With no complaints?"

"Now wait just a minute –" Mikey started.

Lance shrugged from under her brother. "I'm game."

"Leah!"

Lance and the triplets turned to Aiden.

He tapped at his chin before shrugging. He folded his glasses, placed them inside his bracelet, and cracked his knuckles. "What the hell?" Blue eyes glinted. "I'm in."

"W-wait!" Mikey wailed.

That was all he had time to say before the triplets shot forward towards the closet, mouths set in a wide smile. Mikey cried and tried to tackle them but Lance and Aiden lunged and gripped the back of his legs and pulled him back.

"Let go of me you beautiful creatures!" Mikey struggled, pulling the triplets from the back of their shirts.

Lance and Aiden grinned, the two of them pulling him back with all their might. Alan managed to free himself from Mikey's grip and made a dash towards the closet. Looking panicked, Mikey wildly looked around his room before hurling a pair of red boxers at Alan's head.

The poor boy howled and dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. "I can't see!"

"Brother!" Kyrian and Colt broke free and went to help their brother who looked haunted. "It's going to be okay," Kyrian soothed a shaking Alan.

"The smell –" Alan chocked.

Colt ran a hand through his brother's back before turning to glare at Mikey. "You monster!"

With a cry, Mikey shot to his feet and headed toward the closet and Lance and Aiden who were still clinging to his legs were dragged along with him. Geez. How strong was her brother?

If he got to the door then he could just point his bracelet at it and make everything inside disappear.

Aiden turned to her. "Time to play dirty?"

Lance nodded, face determined. "Time to play dirty."

Like they'd done since they were small when thing got tough, the two clamped their teeth around Mikey's ankles and bit hard. Mikey shrieked and dropped to the floor.

Not wasting any time, Kyrian took the opportunity that was given to him and ran to the closet, flinging the two doors open even as Mikey threw obscenities at him. Letting go, Aiden and she stepped over Mikey's still wailing form and went to stand next to the triplets who were already pushing their way inside.

"Is it porn?" she breathlessly asked.

"It's Leah merchandise." Aiden panted, hands on his knees. "Please tell me it's Leah merchandise."

"It's got to be food." Colt stressed.

"Treasure!" Kyrian insisted.

"Bunny costume!" Alan pressed.

It's –

Lance's eyes went wide as she took in the black bunny costume, the two boxes of macadamia cookies, two soda cans, a treasure chest with pictures and home videos of herself from ages one through eighteen, and a stack of porn magazines.

Lance spoke first. "It's…everything we thought it was."

Aiden frowned. "So we all won?"

Kyrian shared a grin with Alan and Colt. "You know what that means."

"It means –" Colt started with an impish grin.

–"that Mikey has to do all our laundry!" Alan finished triumphantly.

Mikey spluttered. " _What_?"

Lance pulled out the bunny costume and held it up. The look she gave Mikey would have had children running to their mothers. "Something to say?" Mikey swallowed. "Big brother?"

Mikey swallowed once. Twice. And at the dangerous looks that the rest of her brothers gave him he finally sighed. "Fine." Lance and her brothers cheered. "You guys are lucky you're cute."

"Well," Lance sighed as she took in her brothers. She made sure to stash the bunny costume in her bracelet to Mikey's dismay. "You guys look fine. Guess I didn't need to worry about you all after all."

Mikey's dark blue eyes sparkled. "You were worried about me?"

Aiden arched a brow. "Pretty sure she said _all_ of us."

Mikey shushed him.

"Guess I'll go." Lance shrugged, taking in her soup covered clothes. "I need a change of clothes anyway."

"Wait!" Kyrian clamped his hand around her wrist. "You're leaving already?"

"You never spend time with us!" Alan cried.

"Yeah!" Colt added. "What are we, chopped liver?"

Lance hesitated. "I have to check on the others."

Aiden waved a hand in the air. "Most of them are fine. Those who are okay are checking up on the others." He gave her a soft look. "Spend some time with us. It's been a while."

Mikey vigorously nodded his head. "What they said!" he thrust an oversized red shirt in her face. "Wear this!"

Lance pursed her lips and took the shirt. Should she? Aiden and the triplets had gotten back from their own teams just a week ago before they'd fallen ill thanks to Zethrid's cooking. All the teams that had been sent out with the rest of her guards had found most of the missing Amazons and had just returned as well.

Even Amaya and her family had finally left as well. Acacia had taught her all that she could and had said that the rest was left to her. Lance hadn't told them about the upcoming war. They'd already done so much. And besides, with all the other people from the Voltron Alliance, she was sure that they'd be fine. Acacia and all the other Amazons that they had found could finally go back to living their lives.

Lance glanced at the hopeful looks her brothers were sporting and couldn't help but smile. It _had_ been a while. Looking annoyed, she said. "Fine." Her brothers grinned, not fooled by her act. "What should we do?"

The triplets shared a look. Alan spoke first. "Well, Colt still has a bit of a cough." As if on cue, Colt started to cough loudly. Lance sent him an amused look. "And there's always one thing we do when one of us is sick."

The six of them shared a grin and said at the same time, "We watch Shrek!"

Aiden let out a whoop. "Hell yeah! Let's do this!"

"Turn off the lights!" Kyrian demanded as he threw himself on Mikey's King sized bed.

"Move over!" Colt demanded. "I don't have enough room here!"

"I don't want to be in the middle!" Alan stressed. "You move!"

"Aiden and Leah go in the middle!" Mikey barked as he fetched the soda and the two boxes of cookies. "That's the rule!"

Aiden and she groaned and wailed at the same time. "But why?"

Mikey and the triplets grinned. "Because you guys are the babies!"

With a bit of grumbling, all six of them settled in with Alan and Colt on the right, Mikey and Kyrian on the left, and Aiden and she in the middle before the lights dimmed and the holographic screen popped up in the center of the room.

The cookies and soda were passed around.

As soon as the movie started, the six of them who knew every word of this movie from heart began to speak, " _Once upon a time there was a lovely princess…"_

* * *

"You should wear something slutty." Reyna suggested two days later as their ship made its way to Olkari. They were an hour away.

She couldn't wait to see Keith and the others.

Lance made a face at her friend, discarding the blue dress that showed way too much cleavage on the back off the chair that Harmony was currently sitting on. "I can't wear something slutty when meeting with members from the Voltron Alliance."

"Exactly!" Mikey banged his fist on the table. Cesti and Adina shot him an annoyed look. "You'll catch too many eyes! I refuse to let my little sister out into the public looking like _that_."

"Why not?" Diona asked, leaning forward in her seat to place a card on the table. She and Dolly were currently playing a round of Uno. "We know most of them. I doubt Kolivan and Ryner will mind."

Adina winced where she sat drinking tea with Erie and Echo. Zooey was pouring more into Ami and Tami's own cups. The Valkyrie Princess seemed pleased that more people were drinking the various teas that she had brought with her. Adina shot Diona a look. "Pretty sure that _Shiro_ would have a heart attack if he saw her in that dress."

The triplets snorted where they played on the floor with their Nintendo DS console. Kyrian shrugged, brown eyes never leaving the screen. "The guy is a prude." Alan and Colt nodded their heads.

"That is true," Lotor mused as he walked into the room, his guards right behind him looking better. "But you should still wear something not so –"

"Slutty." Zethrid finished for him.

"Exactly!" Lotor beamed.

Ezor sighed happily as she draped her long lean body across the pink love couch. "No matter how many times I see this room it still amazes me."

Lance couldn't help but agree. The stargazing room was wide and spacious, with a glass-domed vault that let in the starlight. Shelves full of books and maps were all along the walls, little trinkets that they had brought back from their missions lining some of them. The beak like mask that Zooey had taken from the druid was among them, the thing displayed like a trophy.

Pictures they'd taken as a group, as well as pictures she had taken with the members of Voltron were displayed on a few walls. In the middle of the room was a semi circle of chairs and sofas, beanbag chairs, and a small coffee table in the center.

If Lance wanted, she could make the walls transparent with a push of a button. The walls and even the floor would disappear only to reveal a sea of stars as they traveled. It was pretty cool.

Axca and Narti took a seat in two armchairs crowded with pillows as Zethrid chose to stand behind the couch where Ezor was currently sprawled in. Narti's cat, Nova, hopped off her owner's shoulder to go bug Shadow and Radiance who were on the floor by Aiden's feet.

Lance hoped the cat didn't start another fight with them. Shadow had looked ready to eat the darn thing. Aiden looked up from his book. "Whatever you decide to wear, just make sure you put on your crown."

Mumbled agreements passed around the room.

It was no secret that Lance preferred _not_ to wear it.

The thing was heavy for one.

Lance frowned and eyed the crown sitting on the coffee table. It's not that she didn't like wearing the thing. It was beautiful really, the way it looked like golden waves were crashing against each other, blue little crystals lines all around it. The crowns of Cloyetera were different for both the princess and the queen.

Every queen and princess that had ruled had their own unique crown. The process was easy. A golden tiara was placed on their head and whatever thought was currently in their mind would help shape ones own crown.

When Lance had first arrived in Cloyetera, her thoughts were still on the family that she had left behind on Earth. On her father and her five brothers and on the last day that she had spent with them. They'd gone to Varadero beach and spent the whole day there.

She remembered finding shells with Mikey.

Playing tag with the triplets.

Building sandcastles with Aiden.

Listening to her father tell scary stories by the bonfire as her mother desperately tried to somehow salvage the food she'd just burned at the grill.

It's no surprise that Lance's crown had taken the shape of crashing waves. She loved the thing but people always treated her differently when she wore it. She didn't want people dancing around her, trying to keep her happy.

When she went without the crown people treated like she was anyone else. It was nice.

As if sensing her thoughts, Mikey reached across the table to give her arm a squeeze. "It's only for a little while. Then you can take it off."

"Wouldn't want to piss off mom." Aiden grumbled under his breath.

The triplets shuddered. Alan pursed his lips as he looked up from his game. "You think she's still mad about the shoes?"

Kyrian and Colt shared a look. "Probably."

At least they hadn't locked their mom in a room full of mice like Zooey had done to her own mother. Poor Queen Afya had looked traumatized when she'd finally been let out.

"We did lock her in a room full of crocs." Mikey mumbled with a shudder. Whoever had invented those things must have had a screw loose because the things were hideous. Her mother certainly hated them. "And then you and Little Bird weren't exactly on your best behavior during the last Alliance meeting."

Zooey narrowed her green eyes at Mikey. "Don't call me that."

"What was that Little Bird?" Mikey teased. "Did you say something?"

Flames appeared at the Valkyrie's fingertips. "Watch it Sister Complex."

"Sure thing." Mikey paused. And then he grinned. "Little Bird."

Zooey bristled, throwing a ball of flame in his direction. Mikey merely leaned to the right and the ball of flame went flying into the trashcan that Reyna lifted with a roll of her eyes. A puff of black smoke filled the room that had everyone coughing.

Axca groaned loudly in her seat. "Can you two please stop flirting already? It's getting quite annoying."

Mikey and Zooey bristled, the two of them shouting at the same time, "As if I'd flirt with _that_!"

"Already finishing each other's sentences," Ezor teased with a little grin. "How cute."

Before things could get out of hand, Lance clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright then. We'll be going in our training gear." She shot everyone a look. "We'll be arriving at Olkari soon, so everyone should go get ready."

One by one, people got to their feet and began to head out of the room. Zooey threw Mikey a glare before leaving with a huff, black wings puffed behind her back. Lance shot her brother a look. "Stop teasing her so much."

Mikey merely shrugged as he followed after her to her room. "She makes it so easy." That was true. "Besides, it's a term of endearment. She secretly likes it."

That was also probably true.

It had taken a while but after so much time together, she was glad to say that Mikey and Zooey were on better terms than they were in the beginning. The Valkyrie didn't tense so much when her brothers were in the same room as her anymore. And she didn't make it a point to stand only next to her or Lotor anymore either.

Progress.

"Either way," Lance placed her palm on the scanner beside her door to let herself in. "Just don't go overboard."

Mikey saluted her. "Yes ma'am."

Lance pursed her lips but made her way to her closet to start getting ready. Mikey shivered where he sat on her bed. "Too cold?"

Lance's room was like a winter wonderland. Everything was mostly made out of ice so it was no surprise that the temperature was below zero. She'd shaped her ice into snowflakes in different sizes to line the wall behind her headboard. Trees made out of ice had libs that reached all the way to the ceiling and spread throughout the room. Lance had placed a blue crystal inside both of them so they lit up and covered the room in soft white and blue colors. She had two white long couches facing each other, a small coffee table made out of ice in the center where she had placed the other things she had made with her new powers.

Small stuff.

Arrows made out ice.

Roses.

Small little daggers.

Even the flower that her doppelganger had given Keith had companions now. She'd made three so far. Zooey and Adina had wanted one. So did Narti apparently. Now if she could just figure out a way to make them light up like the one she owned that would be great.

Her nightstand was covered with pictures of she and Keith as well as the rest of the Voltron people. It was starting to look a little cluttered honestly.

Mikey merely shrugged as he leaned back on her bed. "Its not too bad."

Lance pulled out her bronze armor and placed it on the bed. "Shouldn't you go and change?" she eyed his wrinkled shirt and gray sweat pants.

"I am." Mikey got to his feet, his heavy footsteps thumping against the ground as he went inside her walk-in closet only to come out with army pants, a black t-shirt, and brown combat boots. "I left some of my stuff here."

Lance startled. "When the heck did you do that?"

Mikey shot her a grin behind his shoulder. "I have my ways little sister."

The bathroom door closed behind him with a small click.

Lance shook her head and began to change.

Mikey was weird.

* * *

"Everyone ready?" Lance and her group were still at the bridge, watching from their seats as Lotor parked their ship to one of the spots that an Olkari was pointing at. At the nods she received from every member of her team, she smiled. "Good. I want everyone on their best behavior." She turned to Zooey, her friend clad in her black training uniform, her golden crown of flowers at the top of her head. "Are your four guards here?"

Zooey nodded, stretching her tattooed arms in the air. "All four of them should be waiting outside for us."

Lance turned to Axca. "Stick close to Lotor, not many people will be pleased to see him."

Axca's blue-yellow eyes narrowed defiantly. "I'll deck anyone who tries to touch him."

Lotor shot her a look behind his shoulder. "No, you will not."

Zethrid cracked her knuckles. "Yes, we will."

"No you won't." Lotor stressed as he finished parking _The Serina_.

Ezor widely grinned. "We _so_ will."

Lance's lips twitched. "No hitting anyone." Lotor's guards scowled at her. "But you may call them something nasty behind their back."

That didn't seem to appease them at all but they begrudgingly nodded. Cyra leaned toward her and whispered, "We'll keep an eye on them don't worry."

"Okay then," Lance got to her feet. "Let's go."

 _Lance?_

 _Keith?_ She could sense the nervous energy surrounding him. _What's wrong?_

Keith didn't answer right away. By the time he did, she and her party were already walking down the ramp where Ryner was already waiting for them.

 _There's something you should know…_

* * *

Lance's jaw was clenched so tightly her face looked like it was cast in stone. It made everyone in the room nervous, he included.

Keith had been right.

Lance was not happy to see King Reynfred again.

And neither, it seemed, was King Reynfred.

The silence between the two of them was so thick that Keith could hear it.

As soon as Lance and her entourage had arrived in the meeting room with Ryner in tow, King Reynfred's orange eyes had zeroed in on Lotor and scowled. Lance and Zooey had scowled right back, the two of them looking ready to fight on their friends' behalf if the King made so much as a move toward Lotor.

In fact, everyone who had come with Lance looked ready to throw down.

Shadow and Radiance were all but baring their teeth.

Pidge and Hunk looked like they were holding their breath.

Matt couldn't stop biting his nails as he looked back and forth between the two groups.

Shiro and Allura were oddly silent.

Ryner and Coran looked uncomfortable.

As for Kolivan and Krolia? They looked faintly amused by the whole ordeal.

Antok even looked like he was taking bets with his fellow Blade members where they stood behind their leader.

The staring contest between Lance and King Reynfred was reaching epic proportions. Keith had to give the two credit. Neither wavered from looking each other in the eyes.

After what felt like an eternity and Matt looked ready to piss himself, Lance crossed the room toward King Reynfred, not once breaking eye contact, before she thrust out her hand and offered the King a smile that was clearly forced. Zooey followed after her with narrowed eyes. "King Reynfred," Lance's voice sounded tight. "So lovely to see you again."

King Reynfred's face was expressionless, completely unimpressed with Lance's forced smile, but took her hand in his to give it a kiss as was customary when greeting a queen or princess. Lance twitched. Keith and Mikey scowled. "Princess Leah, lovely to see you too." He turned to Zooey and repeated the gesture, the Valkyrie's face pinching ever so slightly as that beak of a mouth brushed her knuckles. "And Princess Zooey. You both looked radiant." The King turned his eyes to Lotor. "I see you brought your… _friend_."

Axca bristled where she stood beside the Galra Prince. Zethrid and Ezor, as well as Narti shifting closer to their Prince.

Lotor merely bowed his head once. "King Reynfred. I've heard so much about you. It's nice to meet you."

"Yes," King Reynfred mused, orange eyes glinting. "I too, have heard so much about you."

The two stared at each other from across the room before Lance deliberately placed herself in front of King Reynfred, effectively blocking his view of Lotor. The man scowled at her. "Now that we've all greeted each other, how about we start this joint training session that we all came for in the first place."

King Reynfred snorted. He looked her up and down. "You and the rest of the ladies you brought with you will be joining the fights?" he looked over at Kolivan and Ryner. "I thought they were just here as healers for the rest of us."

Keith would have felt Lance's anger from across the room even if they weren't bonded. The way the room turned colder, the way Lance's fingers twitched, the way her face went completely blank.

The Amazon Princess was pissed.

Lance and Zooey's guards shifted in place.

They did _not_ look happy.

"I assure you," Kolivan cut in, an edge to his voice, yellow eyes narrowing. "Princess Leah and her entourage are more than just healers." He gave King Reynfred an unamused look. Keith's mom was downright glaring. "They are more than capable of defending themselves. In fact," Kolivan stepped toward the King, not bothered in the least when King Reynfred's guards shifted forward. "I believe that having the Amazons and the Valkyries in the upcoming war will greatly turn the tide in our favor."

King Reynfred snorted as he took in Lance and her group and then to the rest of the women gathered in the room. "I'm sure you believe that to be true for the rest of the women gathered here as well." He rolled his eyes. "I, on the other hand don't agree. They should stick to what they're good at. Taking care of the men who will actually be doing most of the work during the upcoming battle."

The list of swear words that streamed through the bond from Lance's side were so obscene that even Keith raised an eyebrow, impressed.

Zooey bristled.

Pidge looked ready to pounce and it was probably thanks to the hold Allura and Shiro had on her shoulders that was stopping her from doing so though they didn't look particularly happy either.

Ryner frowned at the King.

Krolia's violet eyes narrowed to slits and even Leylee and Xylian who had been as still as statues glared at the King's back.

Lance gave the King a sweet smile. Everyone who knew her instantly paled. Keith's mate only smiled like that when she was ready to cause trouble. "Why not test us then?" Everyone but King Reynfred broke into a nervous sweat. "How about we have a friendly match?" Keith's wide smile matched his mates. It was all he could do not to break into hysterical laughter. "So we can prove ourselves."

"Fucker's going to regret this," Pidge's grin was feral. Shiro shot her a warning look but didn't disagree. Every woman in the room looked pleased with this idea. "This parrot is going to get the beating of a lifetime."

King Reynfred and his guards seemed to like this idea too. Some of his guards were already making snide comments.

Oh, these poor fuckers.

"Very well then," King Reynfred smirked. "But don't blame us when we win." He narrowed his orange eyes at her. "We will not go easy on you. I don't care if you _are_ women."

Lance seemed pleased. "Wouldn't want it any other way your highness."

"If we win," King Reynfred turned to Lotor with a scowl. "Then I want that one to be locked away for the duration of our stay _and_ I want no complaints from anyone in your group."

"Fine," Lance gave the King a cool look. "But if _we_ win, then you leave Lotor alone _and_ you have to apologize to every women gathered here for your disgusting words."

"Agreed." King Reynfred snorted and started making his way out of the room, his guards and an uncomfortable looking Ryner following after him.

This was going to be fun.

As Lance and her entourage made to follow, Shiro stepped in their view. The black paladin looked nervous. "Lance," his voice came out pleading. "Please go easy on them." She scowled. "Don't beat them up too much."

Zooey snorted. "I promise nothing."

Lotor and Shiro sighed.

Dramatic much?

Pidge's brown eyes met Lance's own blue. "Beat the shit out of them."

"Pidge!" Shiro hissed.

Hunk made a beeline to Lance and hugged her tightly. Lance hugged him just as fiercely. Looking Shiro in the eye, Hunk said to his best friend, "Beat the crap put of them."

Shiro looked at Hunk in disbelief. "Hunk!"

"Give them the one two!" Coran added.

"Coran!"

"No mercy." Was Allura's advice.

"Allura!"

"Remember to hit them where it really hurts." Was Matt's wonderful tip.

"Guys, seriously!" Keith could practically see Shiro's hair turning whiter.

His mouth curved into a wicked grin, Keith turned to Lance. "Have fun."

"You guys are the worst."

Lance faced Shiro with an arched brow. "Any advice you want to pass on?"

After a long, and way too dramatic sigh, Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Just make it look like an accident."

Everyone cheered.

* * *

The fight lasted ten minutes.

And Keith suspected that those extra nine minutes were just Lance's way of letting her guards have some fun because if Lance had been really serious, she would have taken King Reynfred and his guards down with a simple thought.

Keith and everyone else who had been told to get off the field had watched the show in another room filled with cameras. Bets had been made within minutes, the large crowd murmuring in excitement as Pidge and Mikey told everyone what the fight between the Amazons and the Tarqens was about.

Those who had met Lance when she used to be the Blue paladin placed their bets on her.

Those who didn't know her placed theirs bets on King Reynfred and his men.

Naturally, Keith and his team bet on Lance.

Pidge was downright cackling as she counted her winnings.

The fight had been fucking awesome.

The sound of screaming men had filled the speakers as the Amazons and the Valkyries had descended on them. He saw Reyna hurl her opponent toward a tree so hard that the thing crumbled to the floor. He saw Ami and Tami bashing their opponents' heads on the floor with too wide smiles. Diona and Dolly catching their opponents with the whips around their waists only to throw them toward Harley and Harmony who kicked them in the crotch.

Even sweet Adina had shown no mercy as she, Cyra, and Cesti fired from their positions at the top of a tree. Erie and Echo had teamed up with Zooey's four guards whose names Keith still didn't know. They looked to be using the two men in their hold as piñatas.

As for Lance and Zooey?

The two had gone to face King Reynfred. Keith hated to admit it but the man had some good moves. His weapon of choice was a two-pointed spear and he used it like a pro. Both princess's had decided not to use their powers but the flaming sword that Zooey had used, as well as the bow and arrows that were made out of ice and lightning that Lance chose, proved to be a challenge for the man.

Despite the fact that the weapons they were using could cause some serious damage, all three of them made sure to hit non-fatal spots.

King Reynfred was not afraid to punch either of them in the face.

The ones that met Lance's cheek had Keith hissing through his teeth but Lance and Zooey never faltered. They punched back twice as hard. The red paladin couldn't help but notice the proud grin that Lotor was sporting as he watched his two friends switch to hand-to-hand combat.

Lance had mentioned that she and Zooey had yet to beat the Galra Prince when it came to using their fists. It made Keith want to fight the Prince just to see which one of them would win.

Mikey was taking pictures looking like a proud parent, the triplets were cheering for their sister, as Aiden recorded the whole fight with a smug smile.

While Zooey attacked, Lance attacked from the back, occasionally turning to shoot a Tarqen that tried to defend his king. Lance and Zooey were a good team; it reminded Keith of their own teamwork though theirs was still leagues better.

The mock battle was only put to end when Lance had grabbed hold off King Reynfred's ankle while Zooey had kept him busy and smacked him from side to side at least six times before the man finally lost consciousness and the fight was brought to an end.

Keith turned to look at Lance; her entire face was lit up with triumph, her eyes shining in pure ecstasy. His heart thudded heavily in his chest. Lance's smile could have powered the Castle of Lions for decades.

Goddamn, Keith loved this woman.

* * *

"This is bad idea," Axca called from outside.

Lotor finished tying his silver locks into a low ponytail before he rapped his knuckles on the metal door. Axca stepped into the small dressing room, wordlessly stepping behind him to pull the zipper all the way up. Keith was right; the Blade of Marmora outfit was very comfortable.

He gestured at his new outfit. "How do I look?"

Axca's face softened ever so slightly. "You look like you belong."

Lotor gave her a smile before plopping down on the bench so he could put on the black boots that combined with the outfit, making the outfit look like the boots had always been attached to it.

Axca as well as the rest of his guards had already changed to the Blade of Marmora outfit as well.

"Sir," Axca's tone was tight. "Not everyone is going to be happy to see you. In fact, more than half of those people would want nothing more than to see you hanged."

He got to his feet, his voice coming out teasing. "Only half?"

Axca tightened her blue colored lips. "That mock fight that the Amazons and the Valkyries had with the Tarqens seemed to scare anyone else who even dared try to harm you but they will not treat you well." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you sure we should join them in this joint training session?"

Lotor resisted the urge to sigh. He'd had the same talk with Lance not too long ago. His friend was worried about him and though she swore she would keep an eye on him, Lance couldn't be with him twenty-four seven.

Not that he wanted her to.

Lotor could take care of himself and besides, Lance had quite a few things to teach this gathered lot when it came to resisting a druid's pull on their minds. They didn't have much time either. The sooner she and Narti started training these people on how to shield their minds from a druid, all the better.

If Lotor could somehow help train these people for the upcoming war then that would also be beneficial. He just hoped that he wasn't as hated as he thought he was. He just wanted to help. They didn't have to like him, but letting him help would be better for both parties.

"I'll be fine Axca," Lotor placed a reassuring hand on his right's hand shoulder before opening the door and stepping out of the small dressing room. Zethrid and Ezor were already waiting for them. Narti was leaning on the wall, Nova perched on her shoulder, she too dressed in a Blade of Marmora outfit like the rest of them. At the determined look they were all giving him, he gave them all a suppressed smile. "You're going to shadow me all day, aren't you?"

"Damn straight." Zethrid spoke up for all of them. "We have to earn our money."

That was a lie.

Lotor hadn't paid them for their services since his father made him enemy number one in the entire universe all those months ago. Lotor had given them the option of fleeing. Just because _he_ had a target on his head didn't mean that they had to stay.

Lotor wouldn't have blamed them if they'd chosen to leave.

But they _hadn't_.

They'd chosen to stay, regardless of the fact that he couldn't pay them anymore. As long as they had food and shelter, they were fine. Or so they continuously reminded him.

"We promise not to get into any fights." Ezor assured him with a wide smile. At his dubious look she pouted. "Okay, we promise not to _start_ any fights."

Zethrid snorted.

He swept past them and headed for the elevator, all four of them hot on his heels. Narti pressed the button for the first floor, the cafeteria. After the fight with the Tarqens, Ryner had suggested they all get something to eat while the Tarqens got their wounds healed by the Amazons.

Lance had suggested they use the healing pods instead but after taking one look at both Shiro and Kolivan who looked ready to start a lecture, she gave in. There were five healers in Lance's group, she included, and after some grumbling they set to work.

King Reynfred had gained consciousness thirty minutes after. Something had changed in the man. When he looked at Lance and her group there was a look of deep respect in his gaze. He'd kept his end of the deal and apologized to every woman that had been in the room. The man had even apologized to _him_ and promised that neither he nor any of his men would bother him.

They'd keep an eye on him because they still didn't fully trust him though, Lotor understood that, but they wouldn't cause any trouble for him.

Lance and Zooey seemed to be appeased by that and most of the tension that had been between the three of them had subsided considerably. The elevator came to a stop. The doors opened, and Lotor strode out, head held high.

"Here we go." Ezor mumbled under her breath.

As they moved through the lime green halls, Lotor felt the familiar shift of eyes, the weight of attention, as Lotor and his group swept into the cafeteria. The place was packed full. A stream of various aliens went in and out. All these months with Lance and her team, of living in Cloyetera, and Lotor had _almost_ forgotten what it felt like to be hated.

To always be on display, to be judged by his face, his name, and his lineage.

Months of not having to put up an emotionless mask, months of just being himself, of not having to prove himself to anyone because Lance and her group had taken him as one of their own and accepted him for who he was with no expectations, and now, as Lotor and his generals strode into the cafeteria, he all but _felt_ heads turn their way.

They weren't seeing him for who he was. When they saw him all they saw was someone they could place all their resentment on. His father wasn't here but Lotor was. There was no doubt in his mind that some, if not most of them, would take the opportunity to use these training sessions to seriously try to hurt him.

His skin prickled under the scrutiny. Axca and Zethrid glared where they walked on each side of him. Ezor and Narti who were at the rear were probably doing the same despite the fact that Narti had no eyes or mouth. The way her tail twitched, the way she walked purposefully, the way her hands clenched into fists were all signs of her anger.

Lotor forced himself to focus on the room instead. The eyes that did manage to catch his eye displayed nothing but mistrust. His spine straightened. Lotor felt like he was back in his father's ship. The Galra there hadn't trusted him either while others hated him for his lineage.

Lotor almost laughed. As if Zarkon showered him with love. Lotor's father was as ruthless to Lotor as he was to his enemies.

"Hey!"

Lotor snapped his head toward the sound, he knew this voice, he trusted the person the voice belonged to with his life, and met a familiar set of blue eyes across the room. Lance was waving at him from her seat. She wasn't alone. Keith and his team, as well as Lance's brothers, Zooey and her four guards, and the rest of the Amazons were all seated at two tables that they had combined. "We saved you guys a seat!"

Lotor and his team made a beeline toward their table, every step in their direction making the tension seep from his shoulders. He slid next to Zooey, the Valkyrie scooting over to make room for Lotor and his team. Cups of tea were placed in front of them within seconds. As soon as they were settled, the green paladin, Pidge, leaned forward in her seat and grinned at the whole group. "Did you guys see how king parrot's face looked after Lance and Zooey beat him up?" she didn't wait for a response as she dug out her tablet and flipped it to show the whole table the picture displayed there. "His face was so swollen I almost didn't recognize it!"

Lance and Zooey shared smug smiles.

Shiro heaved a heavy sigh where he sat three people away from her. "Pidge, please don't go showing that to just anyone."

Pidge snorted, settling back into her seat. "Duh, I'm only showing you guys." She wiggled her brows. "Anyone want a copy?"

Quite a few people raised their hands to Lotor's amusement and Shiro's dismay. The discomfort he had felt all but faded. Keith swiped some yellow item from Lance's plate, the girl in question screeching, before the red paladin turned to Lotor, somehow dodging Lance's punches aimed his way without looking. "The Blade outfit looks goods on you." He glanced at the rest of Lotor's generals. "All of you."

Lotor nodded, his mouth forming into a smile as Zooey slid her tray between them so they could share. She refused to make eye contact. Were her ears red?

Lance and Allura shot the redhead a fiendish smile that had her glaring at them both. Lotor was confused. So were Keith and Shiro, the two brothers looking back and forth between the three girls.

"They're sharing a meal." Ezor excitably whispered to Lance.

The Amazon Princess grinned. "That's basically middle school marriage."

Ami and Tami squealed.

Diona and Dolly fanned themselves.

Was he missing something?

Zooey threw a piece of bread at her blue-eyed friend. Lance caught it in the air and stuffed it in her mouth. "Bring it!"

"Any problems so far your highness?" Coran hurriedly asked with a worried frown before the two princess's could come to blows, orange mustache twitching as he gazed at him down the long line opposite of him.

"No one's harassed you guys or anything right?" Matt worried at his bottom lip.

Cyra and Cesti frowned. "Have they?"

"Oh gosh," Hunk worried at his bottom lip. "Are they bullying you guys?"

Mikey cracked his knuckles where he sat on Lance's right. Aiden and the triplets paused in their card game to gauge his reaction. "Just point them out to us." He fiendishly grinned. "We'll take care of them."

Aurelia, one of Zooey's guards, gave Mikey a weary look where she sat on Zooey's right. "That would be…unwise."

Mikey snorted. "Only if we caught."

Cassia and Decima shared a look, fingers tapping their chins in thought. "He's not wrong."

Balbina narrowed her red eyes at them. "You will do no such thing." She turned to Zooey. Hesitated, and then spoke. "Unless you wish for us to do just that your highness?"

Zooey momentarily stiffened at being directed by her guard before exhaling slowly. The Valkyrie Princess was slowly opening up to her guards. She more or less remembered their names at least. "We'll see how things go." Green eyes glinted ominously. "I pity the fools who try though."

Lance and her team wolfishly grinned.

"We'll break their bones." Kyrian hollered.

"We'll pull at their hairs." Alan added.

"And haunt them for the rest of their lives!" Colt wiggled his fingers.

Aiden shook his head at their antics.

Lotor couldn't help feeling touched. It had taken a huge amount of patience but Zooey and he had finally become good friends. Months ago, the Valkyrie wouldn't have stood up for him at all but now it was different.

Lotor found that he liked spending time with her. He liked talking to her about their shared interest in music and literature. They were both fond of the classics. The hours they spent together just talking about it warmed his heart.

No offence to Lance of course. She was still his best friend. He could tell her anything but Lance wasn't much into reading the kind of books that he was into. Lance was more into fantasy, adventure, and a bit of romance. Give her something else that wasn't any of those subjects and she would lose interest real fast.

Lotor picked up a pretzel, split it in two, and offered the other half to Zooey who took it with a mumbled thanks. Now that he thought about it, every time he spent time with Zooey his heart felt like it would burst out of his chest.

Was he getting sick?

Someone giggled.

Blue eyes caught his own across the table. Lance was grinning way too widely for his liking. Seriously, was he missing something? Keith gave his mate a confused look but Lance just shook her head at him and said she'd tell him later.

"Can we _please_ talk about something other than hurting people who so much as glare at Lotor?" Shiro stressed, his tray of food mostly gone. Pidge opened her mouth. "No talking about bets either." Pidge closed her mouth with a grumble.

Silence descended on the group, all of them looking at each other for a change of topic. It was no surprise that Lance was the one who broke it.

"You guys want to hear a joke?" the dozens of groans that came from everyone at the table did nothing to dim Lance's wide smile. "Did you guys hear about the guy who lost the left side of his body?"

Pidge's glare was fierce. "Don't you finish that sentence."

Keith's voice sounded almost pleading. "Please don't."

"Everyone shut up!" Mikey barked.

Adina leaned forward, her heart-shaped etched in worry. "What happened to him?"

"Nothing." Lance smiled. "He's _alright_ now."

More groans followed the statement.

"Oh!" Matt's head shot up. "I have one too!" Pidge was already shaking her head, her little hands going to cover her brother's mouth but Matt parried her hands away from his face. "What do you call a girl with one leg that's shorter than the other?"

Shiro looked like he was going to cry. "Matt. _Please_."

Coran leaned forward. "What do they call her?"

Matt spread his arms wide. " _Ilene_."

Lance and Hunk burst into hysterical laughter. Tears running down their eyes as Coran loudly blew his nose. "Beautiful."

"You guys are the worst." Zooey deadpanned.

Lance's eyes shone in challenge. "Oh, yeah?" she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Think you can do better?"

Zooey scoffed and flipped back her hair. "Of course I can."

"Then by all means," Lance's smile was feral. "Go ahead."

Zooey hesitated but at the wide-eyed looks her guards were giving her, she straightened. "Okay. Today at the bank, an old lady asked me to help her check her balance." She paused. "So I pushed her over."

Gasps emitted from the group.

"That's terrible!" Allura scolded.

"You pushed an old lady?" Kyrian screeched.

"Shame." Colt shook his head.

"Shame on you." Alan stressed.

Zooey flailed her arms. "I d-didn't actually do it!" She glanced at her shocked guards. "It was a joke!" she huffed. "Like you guys can do better!" she nudged Lotor on the ribs. "You tell one!"

Lotor stilled as all eyes fell on him. This is your time Lotor. Time to show everyone that you could be funny too. "What did the traffic light say to the car?" Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. "Don't look! I'm about to change!"

Lance spat the drink she'd been drinking and burst into laughter. Even Keith's lips twitched.

Matt and Hunk joined her soon after.

Pidge nodded in respect. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

Shiro nodded in approval. "Now that one I get."

"Umm, your highness?"

At the meek voice coming from behind them, everyone turned to see two Olkari, one Tivren, and two Balmerans. One of the Balmerans, this one a male, turned yellow eyes to Zooey before speaking. "We were hoping you could help us."

Zooey arched a brow; surprised that anyone that wasn't part of their group was talking to her no doubt. "I –"she cleared her throat and turned to face them. "Yes, what is it?"

Her voice came out gruff. She was probably embarrassed.

The five aliens shared a look. "Well, there was this one move that you did during your fight with the Tarqens and –"

"It was awesome!" the purple Tivren interrupted, gray eyes wide. "We were hoping you could teach us!"

Zooey stared. She pursed her lips and glanced in Lotor's direction, green eyes taking him in. "Actually," she smirked in Lotor's direction. Why did he feel a sense of dread? " _He's_ the one who thought me all my hand-to-hand moves." That was a lie. He'd only thought them a _few_ moves. "I probably couldn't explain it all that well." She narrowed her eyes at the five aliens. "You guys don't mind if he tags along right?" her smile was devious. "He'll be _so_ helpful."

The aliens hesitated.

"Lotor is _such_ a good teacher." Lance boasted across from him. He shot her a look. "He's so patient with us. And you know what else?"

The other Balmeran spoke slowly. "W-what?"

"He gives you free lollipops for every move you get right!"

Lotor whirled, his eyes wide. Lance blew him a kiss that had Keith frowning.

Ezor coughed into her hand to hide her giggles. Narti's shoulders were shaking. Zethrid was downright smirking and Axca looked like she wanted to smile.

The Olkari male turned to Lotor with an awed look. "Is that true?"

Lotor hesitated.

Were their eyes sparkling or was he seeing things?

Resisting the urge to sigh, Lotor finally nodded. "Yes." It sounded more like a question.

"Lies." Ezor coughed. He gave her a warning look. "Sorry, something in my throat."

Guess he'd better buy some lollipops soon.

"Can we go right now?" the other Olkari asked, this one a woman. "We already reserved a room."

Zooey shrugged and got to her feet, her four guards doing the same as they picked up their trays. "Very well." She turned to him. "Well? Let's go."

Lotor got to his feet, his eyes taking in everyone's reactions at the table. They looked like they were going to burst into tears. He looked away before _he_ burst into tears.

He could feel their support as he and his guards followed after the excited group.

"You got this Lotor!" Lance screamed after him.

Lotor closed his eyes with a smile.

He had made some really good friends.

* * *

He was late.

He was so fucking late.

Lance was going to be pissed.

Keith hadn't thought he'd take that long but as soon as he saw those pair of earrings in one of the stalls that he passed, he couldn't help but go back to buy them.

Who would have thought that buying a pair of earrings would take so long?

And what the hell had been with all those questions?

Was it a present?

Of course it was.

Did he want it gift-wrapped?

What type of paper did he want it wrapped in? Did he want a bow on it? Did he want to write a message on it? Did he want the perfume that came with it? No wonder women took so long to shop. Did they get asked these questions too?

Jesus.

He'd promised Lance that they would go sparring as soon as he got back. It'd been too long since they last sparred together and he wanted to see if she'd gotten any better. Lance had claimed that she could kick his butt now to which he snorted and asked her if she was still sleep talking.

He couldn't wait to fight her.

Would she be mad?

A glimpse through their bond showed that she was distracted by something.

Maybe she hadn't noticed?

 _Oh, yes I did._ Was Lance's instant reply.

Fuck.

 _I'm on my way._

 _See you soon mullet._

At least she hadn't probed deeper; otherwise she would have seen the earrings that he'd bought for her. By the time he made it to the cafeteria, his breaths were coming out in short gasps. Keith's eyes flew around the room. Where was she? Where –

There.

She was sitting at the same table they'd all sat at yesterday. Lance had a sketchbook with her, pencil flying across the page as she drew something. A pair of different colored pencils sat waiting for her on the table.

She wasn't alone.

Krolia was with her.

Keith's mom was pointing at something in the sketchbook. Lance nodded, grabbed an eraser, and then resumed drawing. The two were smiling and laughing as they talked.

They hadn't noticed him yet.

Slowly, cautiously, Keith made his way over to them.

His mother noticed him first, a teasing smile appearing on her lips as he leaned toward Lance who hadn't noticed him yet, and kissed her cheek.

Lance froze.

Her cheeks turned bright red.

She covered her flushing face with both hands and let out a loud whine of his name.

Keith grinned.

While Lance got herself under control, he slid into the booth next to her and glanced down, curious to see what she was drawing. It was a baby boy with black hair and blue-gray eyes looking up with a tilt of his head.

Something about it seemed familiar.

"What are you drawing?"

Her cheeks no longer red, a shame really, Lance sent him a smirk. "It's you."

Keith nodded. "Oh I see –" he reeled back. " _What_?"

Lance and his mother laughed. Krolia answered. "I was just telling Leah that I don't have any pictures of you when you were small." She grinned. "And so _she_ said, that if I can imagine it, then she can draw it."

"You were so cute Keith!" Lance gushed, flipping a few pages to look for a specific one. Keith's eyes zeroed in on the other ones. How many had she drawn? She flipped to one where he stood on chubby little legs, a rubber knife in his palm, and an awed look on his face. Keith blushed. "This ones my favorite!"

Keith blanched. He couldn't help but stare. His fingers trailed the drawing of himself. He'd been so _small_.

"Don't worry," Lance said to Krolia. "I'm almost done with this one. Just a few minutes more if you want to wait."

Krolia shook her head and got to her feet. "That's all right. I promised to help Kolivan out with a few recruits." She squeezed Lance's shoulder. "You and Keith go on ahead. I'll find you later."

Lance frowned. "Are you sure?"

Krolia nodded.

Keith stared back and forth between them with an amused smile. "You two seem awfully close."

"Well," Lance fluttered her flashes at him. "I'm a huge fan of her work."

Keith's cheeks heat up.

Krolia ruffled his hair and his cheeks heated up further. "Mom!"

"Oh relax, I fixed it for you," Krolia teased. "You should try spending some time with Javier and Lexi. They're…very interesting."

Lance vigorously nodded her head. "Right? Especially my dad! He's awesome!"

"We don't exactly have a lot of time to meet up," Keith grumbled.

His mother's violet eyes gleamed. "Well, it's a good thing that Leah's father will be joining us tomorrow."

Keith's eyes went wide.

If Lance had been drinking water, she would have spat it out. Either way, the blood seemed to have drained from her face. "W-what?"

Krolia gave her a look. "He didn't sound very pleased."

Lance let out a gush of hair. "Pretty sure I'm in trouble."

Keith arched a brow. "Is it about locking your mom up in a room full of crocs?"

Lance worried her lower lip. "Probably." She looked around the cafeteria and spotted Mikey getting some food. "But I won't be going down by myself." She raised her voice. "Hey, Mikey!"

Quite a few aliens turned around to see what the fuss was about.

Mikey McClain whirled at the sound of his sister's voice, his dark blue eyes sparkling at being called. He didn't seem to care that he was holding up the line. "Yes, baby sister?"

"Dad's coming tomorrow." Mikey froze. "Pretty sure we're in trouble."

Mikey dashed to the door, empty tray in his hands. "I'm not here!"

And then he was gone.

Lance stared. "Maybe I shouldn't have told him."

Keith snorted. "You think?"

Lance lightly bumped her shoulder against his in a silent message, and Keith slid out of the bench, getting to his feet and tucking her sketchbook under his armpit as Lance stretched out her arms high in the air with a satisfying pop.

Today she'd put away her crown, it was too heavy she insisted, and had put on something simple. A loose blue tank top, a black sports bra underneath it, black leggings and her black convers. And Keith, after some whining from Lance, had put on a similar outfit; only his tank top was red.

Both of their mate marks were on full display.

Allura insisted they wear their paladin colors at least. And even though Lance wasn't the Blue Lion's pilot anymore, the color blue still belonged to her. Allura had worn pink.

The two of them said their farewells to his mom, waved at Diona and Cyra who were on guard duty, and then they were out the door and into the quiet halls of the Olkari building. He handed her sketchbook back and Lance stored it inside her bracelet.

"Sorry I was late in meeting you. I was held up." Keith explained, thumb brushing across Lance's knuckles in apology. Lance huffed out a breathy laugh and took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together so she could swing them up and down.

A few aliens gaped at the display.

Not many of the new Alliance people knew that he and Lance were together.

They weren't hiding it but they weren't exactly announcing it.

The rings on both of their fingers should have been enough proof anyway.

So were the mate marks.

"What held you up?" she paused.

Keith didn't answer right away. Should he give her the earrings now? He glanced at the group of aliens walking down the hall. Tightening his hand on hers, he led her further down the hall to room B7, the one he already reserved.

The metal door slid open and the two stepped inside, the lights turning on instantly at their presence, before he let go of her hand.

"Keith?"

"There's something in your hair."

Lance's hands went up to her head, frowning when she didn't find anything. "Where?"

Keith pointed at a random spot. "There."

Olive brown hands padded at her hair only to come up with nothing. "Are you sure?"

"Here," Keith stepped forward, earrings hidden in his fist, and reached behind her ear, going so far as to pull at a few strands, only to reveal the earrings he'd kept hidden from her. Lance's eyes widened. Feeling suddenly shy, he thrust them in her direction. "Ta-da?"

Lance's mouth opened in a soft, "Oh."

She took the earrings into her hands and stared at them as if in awe. They weren't anything that special but they had caught his attention. They looked like blue teardrops hung from a carved signature scroll. Keith had thought they looked pretty.

When Lance only continued to stare and the silence was beginning to get uncomfortable, Keith spoke up. "I saw them on a stall and I thought you might like them…"Lance didn't say anything. He deflated. Had the earrings been a mistake after all? Or were the earrings not as pretty as he thought they were? Trying to look like he wasn't bothered, Keith crossed his arms over his chest. "Sorry." His voice came out sounding gruff. "I guess you don't like them." Lance's head snapped up. "I can return them if you wa –"

"No!" Lance pressed the earrings to her chest and stepped back. At Keith's wide-eyed expression, her voice softened. "No. There's no need. I love them. I really, _really_ do." Lance's smile was shy but her whole face had softened. "Thank you Keith."

A relieved smile tugged at Keith's mouth. "You're welcome."

"But," Lance frowned. She glanced down. "I didn't get _you_ a present."

"Lance," he ruffled her hair with a smile. "You already gave me the best present I could ever ask for."

Lance tilted her head in confusion. "What's that?"

Keith smile was wide. "You."

Lance's whole face went scarlet, her breath caught in her throat, and she looked away with a huff. Her voice came out in a low mumble, "You need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

Lance pressed a hand to her chest. "Stealing my heart."

Now it was Keith's turn to turn away, cheeks flushed. When he spoke his voice sounded more like a whine. "Why are you so cheesy?"

"You really shouldn't be talking." Lance stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist. Her forehead was pressed against his chest, and he could feel her fingers gripping fistfuls of his shirt.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, placing his hand on the back of her head. Her hair was soft and fluffy, the scent of something floral and perfume-y hit his nose and he took a deep inhale.

"Nothing," she said. "I just really missed you."

His face flushed. "You've seen me all of yesterday." He said. "Today too."

"It's not the same." She argued, voice coming out mumbled. "There were too many people around us. Too many eyes." Her hand rubbed small circles on his back. "I wanted you all to myself."

Now that wasn't fair. Why did Lance always have to act so cute when it was just the two of them? Keith didn't know how much his heart could take. How could he possibly ruin the mood and tell her it was time to start sparring _now_?

Totally unfair.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Lance and Keith groaned. That was the timer letting them know that they were on a timed schedule. Keith had only reserved the room for two hours and Keith buying those earrings wasted most of that time. How much time did they have anyway? An hour?

Other aliens would want to use the room too, they'd signed up for it.

With a sigh, Keith began to pull back. Lance held on tighter. "Lance."

"Just a few more seconds." Her eyes sparkled. "I'm sucking up all your energy so I can kick your butt."

That had Keith snorting. "It's come to this?"

Lance glanced up at him from her eyelashes. "I _really_ want to win."

"You'll have to hold on for a very long time then," he teased. "Because I've got energy in spades."

Lance narrowed her eyes at him. "It's on Mullet." She stepped back and put some space between them. "You're going down!"

"Whatever you say," Keith paused and smirked. "Wife."

Lance almost tripped and stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever." She grinned. "Husband."

And if that didn't send a thrill up his spine.

Engagement rings safely tucked away in their bracelets they began.

Now a good foot away from each other, they silently stared at the other before slowly moving in a circle. Keith's eyes narrowed, he was watching for any ticks that preceded a move. Lance hadn't been lying though. She'd become so proficient that Keith couldn't find any.

Damn.

"First to ten palm strikes wins?" the brunet asked and only when Keith nodded did Lance lunge forward, Keith barely avoiding the crushing blow that he might have gotten if he hadn't moved. The ground wasn't so lucky. There was a dent where the Amazon had struck it. Lance stuck out her left leg and Keith threw himself backward over his hands and flipped over to a crouch.

As those blue eyes took him in from across the room, a challenge in their depths, Keith felt adrenaline pump into his system like a flash flood. He grinned, suddenly giddy, and took on a fighting stance.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

"That's good," Shiro nodded in approval as he helped a Tivren properly hold a sword. It was a miracle the guy hadn't dropped it. His hands were more like pincers. "The sword is like an extension of your arm, you have to –"

The training room slid open and two Olkari came rushing in.

"Guys!" the male one shouted to the group as the other one tried to catch his breath. "There's a fight going on down the hall between the red paladin and the Amazon Princess!" he braced his green hands on his knees. "The whole training room is a mess!"

"I…I…think," the other one panted. "That they're trying to kill each other!"

Shiro's head snapped up at that, his obsidian eyes seeking out Allura's own aquamarine to find worry in their depths. He was already sprinting out the door before he even realized it, Allura hot on his heels. "What room?" he snapped to the aliens rushing in after them.

"B7!" was shouted after him.

"Do you think they got into an argument?" Allura asked as she ran beside him, silver hair flowing behind her.

"I don't know," Shiro clenched his jaw. "But if they did what could have caused them to start fighting? Usually they just give each other the silent treatment for a few days before making up."

The door a few paces in front of them slid open and out came a panicked looking Hunk and two frowning Holt siblings at his heels. Shiro and Allura almost crashed into them but immediately halted. Hunk's eyes were wide as he reached for Shiro's shoulders to shake him. "Lance! Keith!" he shrieked. "Killing each other?"

"Calm down," Pidge snapped at him.

Matt's brown eyes were wrought in worry. "Is it true?"

Shiro was about to answer when the sound of pounding footsteps began to near them. "Out of the way!" came Mikey McLane's voice. "My sister needs me!"

This hall was not wide enough to fit all of them.

"Come on," Shiro urged his friends before Mikey and the rest of his brothers reached them. "Let's go."

The five of them resumed their running, five more set of feet coming up from behind them before another voice broke the silence. "Is it true?" Lotor gasped, he and Zooey at their heels. "Are Lance and Keith trying to kill each other?"

"We don't know," Allura answered, eyes locked in front of her. "We're about to find out."

* * *

Keith dimly realized that they had an audience but he didn't give a damn. He was having way too much fun to really care. Ducking to avoid another one of Lance's bone crushing kicks, Keith slipped down and swept a low kick to Lance's grounded foot.

Lance flipped back, twirled, and striked at his chest with her palm, before dancing away. Keith followed after her, and lashed out with a series of blows. Each one was smoothly avoided by a series of backflips on Lance's part.

Damn this acrobatic.

The Amazon cracked her knuckles, shot him a feline grin, and lunged. Keith's eyes flew open in shock. One second she was across the room and the next she was mere inches from his face. He couldn't dodge this. Gritting his teeth, he brought his hands up in an X and just barely managed not to cry out as Lance's fist made contact and sent him sliding a few feet away.

His hands felt numb.

They were five to eight.

Lance was winning.

Putting his hands though, his eyes looked around the room for his opponent but found no sign of her. Keith whirled, saw a blur of blue launch itself from the opposite wall, and was immediately brought down on his back.

Lance struck at his chest as he tried to catch his breath.

"Come on darling," Lance teased as she circled him. "Isn't it about time you let your inner kitty come out and play?"

Lance wanted him to bring out his Galra side?

"If you don't," Lance leaned down, hands behind her back, smile wide and mischievous. "I'll probably win." Keith narrowed his eyes. "I'll expect a reward when I do."

"Fine." Lance backed away and watched him get to his feet. Keith concentrated. He knew the second the room grew louder that it was working. His nails grew into claws and spots of purple began to form at his arms. "But don't blame me when you lose."

Lance merely grinned, she opened her mouth, and Keith lunged forward at an incredible speed that surprised not only him but her as well. The punch he aimed at her sternum sent her flying across the room, he felt the pain in his own chest, and briefly wondered if he'd been too rough but Lance had already rolled into a crouch and had one of the biggest grins he'd seen in his life that he couldn't help but grin back.

"Six to nine."

Lightning flashed in those blue eyes of hers.

"You're going down mullet."

And then she launched herself at him.

* * *

"If those two are trying to kill each other," Mikey swore as they finally saw the room. "Then I'm beating the shit out of Keith."

Shiro sent him a scowl but couldn't help but warily eye the weapons held tightly in each of the McLane siblings' hands. They looked ready to cause some damage.

The black paladin screeched to a halt as he and his party stumbled inside the training room. He held an arm out to stop the others from crashing into him.

"Shirogane!" Mikey snapped at him. "What are you –" then he took in the scene before him and stared.

Jaws dropped.

The tension dropped from Shiro's shoulders so quickly he was surprised he hadn't gotten whiplash. Lance and Keith weren't trying to kill each other. They were simply sparring. A little aggressively but it was still sparring.

Keith's Galra ears were out, as well as most of his Galra features. He was faster. More aggressive. But Lance was faring well. Her lightning was out and she was sending ripples of it on the ground. Keith twitched but managed to keep going, the two of them moving so fast they were practically a blur.

"Whoa." Matt breathed.

"Who's winning?" Pidge wondered.

"I don't know," Hunk murmured. "But they look cool."

"Are you not going to stop them?" One of the aliens from the gathered crowd plastered on the wall demanded. "They'll kill each other!"

Shiro shook his head. "No." he turned back to watch his friends sparring, took in the wide smiles adorning their bruised faces, and leaned back on the wall to watch. "They'll be just fine."

* * *

This was fun.

This was seriously fun.

A ripple of lighting went up his arm and Keith felt a brief flash of pain but quickly shook it away.

They were nine to nine.

Whoever hit the other one next would win.

Lance had just landed, her balance was off, and Keith lunged forward, a kick aimed at Lance's knees but Lance dropped into a handstand and kicked at him with her legs. He stumbled back, but Lance caught hold of his collar, head-butted him and sent him sprawling on the floor with her on top of him.

Her palm lightly smacked at his chest. "I win." She breathed.

For a moment he just lay there, trying to catch his breath. He'd lost but somehow he just couldn't find it in him to care. Instead he felt…proud. This was the first time Lance had beat him in a spar and it felt so _good_.

"Keith?" Lance was looking at him in worry, her hair had spilled from its braid, and strands were stuck to her sweaty face. "Are you okay?"

"You beat me."

Lance's lips twitched. "I did." She pressed her forehead against his. "Is that okay?"

Was that okay? Seriously? His hands came around her and he crushed her to him. His lips twitched, and then a laugh erupted from him. "It's more than okay!" Lance's smile widened. "You beat me! For the first time! I'm fucking proud of you!"

"Language." Lance pursed her lips. "Do I get a reward?"

Keith's smile broadened. "What do you have in mind?"

Lance's eyes were sparkling. "Oh, I think you know."

The two of them leaned forward, their lips mere centimeters away, when suddenly –

"Okay!" Mikey snapped, Shiro and Aiden holding him back. "Back it up! You're making everyone jealous!"

"Pretty sure you're the only one who's jealous." Pidge muttered under her breath.

When the fuck did everyone get here?

"Break it up!" Mikey barked, Shiro and Aiden still pulling him back when he pushed forward. "No more kissing until you're married!"

Lance and he shared a knowing smile but remained silent. Keith held out a hand to grasp the one Lance held out to him and heaved himself up. He felt sore.

"You okay?" Lance asked him again, hands hovering near him in case he collapsed.

Keith snickered. "Yeah, I'm good. Nothing you can't fix."

Lance released a breath, "That's good, I thought I hit you too hard."

"Nah, I'm fine." He hadn't let go of her hand yet and the coolness coming from it was doing wonders for red knuckles. He turned to see his friends mixed in with the crowd that had come to investigate what all the noise had been about and felt the insane urge to laugh.

They looked slack-jawed.

"That…was so cool!" someone shouted.

"Did you see the way they moved?" another added.

"Can I take both your pictures?" someone demanded.

Lance let out a loud laugh and wrapped an arm around Keith's shoulders to pull him close. "Of course you can take our picture!"

Keith rolled his eyes and managed to conjure up a small smile for the camera.

Sparring with Lance was fun.

* * *

"Is there a reason we're all gathered in a small circle in the field at six in the morning?" a Balmera grumbled under his breath as he stifled a yawn with his big hand and got himself as comfortable.

The Amazon sent him a grin as she sat in the middle of the circle. "Because this is the perfect time to train."

There were quite a few grumbles at the comment.

Despite the early morning, Olkari was still painfully hot. The sun had already risen, casting the field in purple and red lights. There were a few aliens out and about, mostly Blades, stretching their long limbs so they can start their morning jogs.

Keith and Shiro were already up as well, the two of them training in one of the rooms inside the buildings.

Only Mikey and Reyna had tagged along with her, the two of them watching from a distance where they perched on a tree. Mikey was the only one who looked the most alert. She needed protection they claimed. The only protection she needed was from the two wolves whose heads were currently on her lap at the moment. Shadow and Radiance were huge and if angered, they looked pretty frightening. Many of the people made sure to give them a wide berth.

"What kind of training?" a little Arusian asked through a yawn. Lance stifled a squeal. The Arusians were so cute! She just wanted to hug them and dress them up.

"Is it sword training?" a Blade eagerly asked, his face somewhat looking excited.

"Hand-to-hand?" a Tarqen guessed, running a hand through his purple feathers.

"Why couldn't we do that in the afternoon then?" an Olkari whimpered.

"Because," Lance sniffed. "Right now your minds are muffled. You're still waking up which means you're not at your best yet. Perfect for the kind of training we'll be doing."

"Which is what?" someone grumbled.

"How to face a druid."

At her words, most of them sobered up. They sat up straight. Lance hid a grin, now that's more like it.

"Are you going to teach us how to defeat one?" the same Arusian eagerly asked, his little gray face brightening up.

Lance was about to answer when a new voice interrupted.

"Yes," King Reynfred mused as he and two of his guards came up on her little group. "I too, am interested to know more about this subject as well."

Shadow and Radiance snarled. A simple pat on their heads was enough to get them settled down though they kept their eye on the King. So did Mikey who was glaring. Reyna sat up straighter.

Lance forced a smile on her. "King Reynfred, I was wondering why all the birds had stopped singing." She snorted. "Figures it was you."

The crowd broke into snickers.

King Reynfred's eye twitched. "Watch it." He gestured at the small circle they had formed. "May I join?"

"By all means." One the King was seated, right in front of her for some reason, Lance turned back to the crowd. "Have any of you ever faced a druid before?"

A few people raised their hand.

"That's good," Lance mused, "Anyone know how they can tell when they're in the presence of a druid?"

A Blade raised her hand. "They get control of your body."

"That's true," Lance agreed. "But there's also two other signs that give away their presence. Anyone know what it is?"

"Their smell." King Reynfred supplied.

Lance nodded. "If you are ever in combat and you get a whiff of rotten eggs or anything that smells like its been left out in the sun for too long, then you're probably in the presence of a druid. If your hair stands on end and you get a really bad feeling, like the urge to throw up, then you're probably in the presence of a druid."

Murmurs passed through the gathered crowd.

"Druids are actually pretty weak. It's why they keep their distance. But get up in their face and you could take them down with a few well aimed punches."

"What if you can't?" a Balmera whispered. "Balmera aren't that fast. And druids teleport right?" Lance nodded. "Then how would we be able to stop them from getting into our heads?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" Lance grinned, clapping her hands. "For the next two hours I'll be teaching you how to fortify your minds. I'll teach you how to keep the druids out. During this lesson, it will be your job will be to keep _me_ out. If you can't then I'll take control of your bodies." Eyes widened in horror. Lance brought out a stack of books and picked a random one. "I'll be trying to get inside your minds all at once. Do your best to resist and keep those walls in your head strong. If you can get me to look up from my book then you pass."

"You're bluffing." One of the Tarqens glared. Those pink feathers of his were gorgeous. "No way you can take control of our bodies." Lance gave him an unamused look and easily stepped into his head. The man stiffened. Lance urge him to move and after a second, he did. The man spluttered. "W-wait!" he wiggled his hips and shook his arms in a random beat. "Stop!" he was really good at doing the hustle.

A few people laughed.

Some looked horrified.

King Reynfred look amused.

"Okay!" the man snapped when she made him do a split. "I take it back! I believe you! Now please stop, I'm not supposed to bend this way!"

She let him go and he collapsed on the floor in a heaving mess.

"So," Lance turned to the rest of the gaping crowd. "Who wants to learn how to face a druid?"

Everyone raised their hands.

* * *

Boring.

Boring

Boring.

Lance was bored.

Lance let out a long sigh and pressed her back on the tree she was leaning on to watch the different species training out in the field. Radiance snuggled to her side and Lance's hand brushed through that soft pink fur of hers until she settled back down. Her eyes drifted over to Keith where he was trying, and failing, to teach a few aliens a few hand-to-hand moves.

It was only a matter of time before he tried to run away.

Shiro must have noticed his brother's discomfort for he was making his way over to him, Antok and Krolia hot on his heels.

Lotor and Zooey with a crowd of aliens, there were more than a dozen, and were showing them some stances. The Galra Prince was walking around each alien, adjusting their stance or answering questions when asked something. A few Tarqens were among the group and though they hadn't done anything, they were keeping a close eye on him.

Lance had sent Shadow to keep watch. It seemed having the big animal around scared quite a few of them. Lotor was doing well. She'd even seen a few aliens invite him over to sit with them during lunch.

She was glad.

Pidge, Hunk and Matt were with Ryner and a few other Olkari making adjustments to the robot suits they would be using during battle. Pidge wanted to add cannons and Hunk was trying, and failing, to convince her not to while Matt seemed just as excited about the idea.

Allura had just gone to take a water break with Coran at the cafeteria, the Altean advisor waving his hands around, as he no doubt told her another story.

Lance had been sparring with the triplets till just a few minutes ago before they got distracted by Ami and Tami and had gone with them to spar.

"What's up with you?" Reyna asked as she approached. Her friend had been sparring with Zethrid and Mikey. She wiped the sweat from her brow and plopped down on the wet grass beside her. "No one here a challenge for you?" Yellow cat eyes glimmered. "I'm more than happy to knock you down. Just say the word."

Lance snorted. "As if you could."

"I totally could."

"That one time I was sick. It didn't count."

"Sick my butt." Reyna snorted and stretched out her long legs. "Just admit that I beat you that day."

Lance stuck her tongue out. "Never."

"So?" Reyna pulled at a strand of Lance's hair. "What's got you sighing?"

Lance pursed her lips. "I'm bored."

"Like I said, I can kick your pretty butt right now, just say the word."

"It's not that." Lance gestured at the field. "We've been here for three days and it's just the same routine. I don't think I've seen anyone actually train at what they're _not_ good at. Except for my group." Lance pointed at a Balmera. "Like that guy! I've seen him do nothing but hand-to-hand combat but I saw him try to shoot a gun blaster and miss the mark by a huge margin!" she pointed at an Olkari in a robot suit. "Or that one. I don't think I've even seen him _out_ of the suit. What if the suit gets damaged during battle and he has to eject out of there? He'll be totally stumped on what to do!" she pointed at a Blade. "That one actually has some good ideas but hasn't said a word! He keeps opening and closing his mouth before deciding to remain silent!"

Lance threw her hands up. "They have so many things they can learn! Why not practice the things that they're _not_ good at? If you have good suggestions, speak up!" she slouched and blew a few strands of hair away from her face. "This training session won't do them any good if they don't take things seriously!" she pointed at a few individuals. "And those I'm pretty sure are asleep with their eyes open!" By this point she was practically yelling. "Where's the motivation? Where's the urge to pummel something? Where's the drive to _win_?"

Reyna laughed. Lance shot her a dirty glare. "Why not get them motivated then?"

Lance's brows knit together. "How?"

"I think you already know." Lance looked confused. Reyna rolled her eyes. "What gets people motivated? What makes them want to win so badly that they'll do things they wouldn't have even considered if they weren't so desperate?"

Lance's eyes lit up. "Competition."

"I was thinking incentive but yeah that works too." Lance shot to her feet. "You have an idea don't you?"

Oh, she definitely did.

Now if only she could get the others to agree.

* * *

"No."

Lance threw her hands up. "I wasn't even done talking!"

Kolivan's stare was hard. "No."

"Now, now," Shiro intervened when it looked like she was ready to snap something nasty back. "Let's hear her out."

"I got the gist of it." Kolivan crossed his arms at the head of the circular table. "This is no time for games Princess. We're all training seriously here."

"But that's exactly _why_ she's saying it." Keith defended her where he leaned on the wall. Lance sent him a grateful smile from where she sat. She'd gathered all the important figureheads to discuss this. The only ones in the room were Kolivan accompanied by Antok and Krolia, Keith, Shiro and Allura. Ryner. King Reynfred and two of his guards and Lance and Zooey with Reyna and Aurelia to guard them. "I've noticed the same thing she has. Most of the people here are training at things that they're _already_ good at. They should be training for the things that they're _not_ good at."

"I too, have noticed this." Ryner admitted, pale green hands locked before her on the table where she sat.

"I've seen some of them slacking off," King Reynfred added, orange eyes narrowed where he sat across from her. "When they spar against someone else they don't try their best. They lack motivation."

"They suck." Zooey bluntly stated next to her. "Even children could take them down at this rate."

Kolivan frowned.

"Yes," Allura agreed, her dark hands braiding her silver hair quickly and efficiently. "If we want to win this upcoming war, then everyone must actually take this seriously."

"That all may be true," Kolivan admitted; silver braid cascading down to his chest. "But how does a game of capture the flag help?"

"What even is capture the flag?" Antok wondered out loud.

"I'm sorry," Keith interrupted with a frown. "Who are you?"

Antok bristled.

Keith went on, "Kolivan, I didn't know you'd gotten a new second in command. Whatever happened to Antok?"

"I'm here you douche!" Antok snapped.

Keith's eyes brows shot up. "Huh. Well, look at that. Couldn't recognize you because of those caterpillars on your face."

Antok looked ready to burst. The Amazon Princess intervened before he could.

"You've never played a game before have you?" Lance deadpanned, turning to Kolivan. "You poor thing. No wonder you're so pent up."

Krolia and Keith hid a grin.

Antok glared but turned to Krolia so she could explain what the game was. Lance was going to find a moment where Antok was alone so she could kidnap him and shave those god-awful eyebrows of his. She couldn't even see his eyes anymore!

"Not true," Kolivan corrected her. "I remember a time, many years ago, where I sat down with a few of my fellow Blades and played cards with them. I had the time of my life for those ten minutes."

"I thought that was a Myth," Antok whispered to Krolia in awe.

"I don't know why you're bragging about that," Keith muttered under his breath. "It's kind of sad really."

"What was that Kogane?"

"I said I'm glad you had fun sir."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you said."

Lance stifled a laugh. She cleared her throat and turned back to Kolivan. He was the one she really had to convince. "And how did you feel during that game? Excited right?" Kolivan nodded. "Desperate to win? Would you say you gave it your all?" Again, Kolivan nodded. "Then that's what we need! A game to get everyone motivated!"

"We could offer the winning team a price that'll make them work harder." Shiro added pensively.

"With a price involved," Allura continued, smile spreading at the corners. "People will be more than eager to do their best."

"We can have video surveillance to check up on them while they play," Ryner added. "It would help us see what areas they really need help with."

"Whatever the price is," Keith spoke up. "Competition will be good for them. It'll make them work harder."

"I say we do it," Zooey grinned, black feathers twitching in excitement. "I'm ready to beat people up."

"It doesn't sound too bad Kolivan." King Reynfred crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the harm?"

"See?" Lance pointed at King Reynfred with a grin. "Even the baldie agrees!"

"B-baldie?"

"Would you prefer parrot?"

"What's a parrot?"

"You are."

"You're insulting me aren't you?"

"I can always just call you Lame face. Or maybe Big Bird."

"Now listen here –"

" _Lance_." Shiro's voice came out sharp. Lance huffed but didn't say anymore. "Be nice."

The Amazon turned back to Kolivan who looked ready to give in. "Well? What do you say?"

Kolivan's face screwed up, he looked constipated, but Lance knew that was his thinking face. She waited patiently for him to say something. Well, as patiently as she could which was an effort. When it felt like he wasn't going to say anything and Lance was ready to burst, the Blade of Marmora finally spoke. "If we do this, and I'm not saying we _are_ ," he quickly added at her broadening smile. "Then what would we offer as a price? It has to be something monumental to get them to participate."

Now _that_ had her stumped.

What _could_ they offer?

"We could offer up rides in the lions?" Allura suggested.

"No." Kolivan vetoed. "The lions are to be used for combat not joy rides."

"We could offer a free Blade uniform?" Antok suggested next. Keith perked up at that.

King Reynfred snorted. "Not everyone likes those." He leaned forward. "We could offer some delicious bird meat."

Lance blinked and whispered to Keith who had come to stand behind her chair. "Isn't that cannibalism?"

The red paladin scrunched up his face.

Shiro and Ryner looked pale. "Let's…not."

King Reynfred looked confused.

Licking her lips, Reyna spoke up beside Keith. "Well, there is _something_ we could offer." Those yellow cat eyes zeroed in on her. "But I don't know if my princess will agree. We _have_ been saving it for a special occasion."

Lance furrowed her brows. What was she talking about? What had they been saving up? What –

Lance's blue eyes widened. "No!" her fist hit the table. "That's ours! Zooey and I had to hunt it! It took us days to get it! I refuse!"

Zooey's green eyes widened in realization. "That creature is rare!"

"And that's exactly why we should offer it as a price." Reyna countered.

Shiro looked from Reyna to Zooey and then to her in confusion. "What are you guys talking about?"

Reyna maliciously grinned.

"Speak." King Reynfred demanded.

Lance rounded on her. "Don't you dare talk!"

But Reyna didn't listen. She never did. "Have any of you ever heard of the Trixuks species?"

Lance wailed.

* * *

"Listen up everyone," Kolivan addressed the gathered crowd. "It has come to our attention that not all of you are taking this joint training session seriously." A few aliens shifted on their feet. Others coughed and glanced nervously at one another. "You are not motivated enough," Kolivan continued where he and the rest of the leaders stood at the podium. "And for that we are sorry." Murmurs of surprise echoed around the room. "If you are not feeling motivated enough then we, as your trainers, are to blame. We have obviously not made this as interesting as we had hoped. But don't worry," Kolivan looked at the gathered faces, "We intend to fix that now."

When Kolivan didn't say anything more, someone raised their hand. Kolivan nodded at the Olkari. "How are you going to do that?"

Kolivan turned to Lance who was already grinning. "Ever heard of capture the flag?"

"The rules are simple," Shiro took over next. "The objective of the game is for players to venture into the opposing teams territory, grab their flag, and return with it to their own territory. Only then will you win."

"However," Allura took over. "If you are tagged while in the opponents territory, then you must go to the opponents holding zone until the game is over." She reached into her pocket to reveal small circular objects. "We will be passing these around to everyone. Everyone gets three. You may put them wherever you please but they must be somewhere on your body that anyone can see. Once all three areas have been hit by an opposing member, you are out of the game and may no longer participate."

"Be warned," Ryner cautioned. "These objects will feel like a real wound. So choose where you place them seriously."

"In other words," King Reynfred snorted. "Don't put them on your eyes, throat, or your crotch. Have some sense people."

"Teams will be random." Kolivan explained. "Each of you will reach into the box we'll be providing and whatever headband you take out, be it red or blue, will be your team."

A Balmera raised their hand. "What if we don't want to play?"

"Then you don't get to eat." Keith spoke up for the first time.

People gaped.

"Is that why the cafeteria is closed?" A Tarqen demanded.

"Yup," Zooey grinned. "So if you want to eat I suggest you participate."

"Winning team will get a price." Lance answered next.

The crowd broke into quiet murmurs.

An Arusian raised his little gray hand where he was sitting on Hunk's shoulders. "What is this price you speak up your beautiful highness?"

Keith glared at him.

Mikey, who was standing next to Hunk and the Arusian, seemed pleased by the comment.

Lance snapped her fingers and Reyna and Zethrid wheeled in a small table with a covered dish inside. Zethrid's grin was fierce. "You lot ever heard of the Trixuks species?"

The crowd went still.

She swore some stopped breathing.

Reyna removed the pot and the smell coming from the piece of meat that they had cooked up a little while ago washed over the room. Lance's mouth instantly watered. The meat was a beautiful golden blue, light brown juice still dripping down into the plate. Lance and Zooey had been saving this piece of meat for a special occasion. The Trixuks were the size of a house. They looked like long serpents and though they were very delicious, they were one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe.

Many men had fallen to their deaths in trying to capture one.

Taking it down had not been easy.

It had taken them _days_.

"It's so beautiful." A Tarqen whispered, tears running down his face.

"I need that in my body right now," a Blade murmured under his breath.

"Can I touch it?" an Olkari stepped forward, green hand outstretched. "Just one little lick."

Reyna placed the cover back on and Lance swore a few people cried as that wonderful smell disappeared from the room. She discreetly wiped at her chin. Had she been drooling? Keith reached forward and wiped at the corner of her mouth with his sleeve.

You were he mouthed back to her.

She flushed.

Another alien raised his hand, they looked like pincers honestly. "What if we lose? Do we still get food?"

"Nope." Zooey answered looking pleased. "You'll all go to bed hungry." Cries of outrage filled the room. "At least until tomorrow. So if you want to eat, I suggest you try your hardest to win."

"What if you're a vegetarian?" another alien asked.

"There's plenty of grass on the ground." Zooey deadpanned. Lance smacked her upside the head. Lotor stifled a laugh somewhere in the crowd.

"Not to worry," Allura was quick to appease them. "We will be providing food for everyone. One in particular is this fabulous invention called the Cheese Cake." She fanned herself, ignoring the amused look Shiro sent her. "I've tried it and it was just… _divine_. The taste, the texture, the coolness going down your throat and that _flavor_!"

A few people licked their lips.

"Trust us," Lance took over. "You will not be disappointed."

"So," Kolivan looked at the crowd. "Who wants to play?"

Everyone raised their hands.

* * *

"How the hell are you three on the same team?" Keith demanded fifteen minutes later. He was crushing the blue headband that he'd just taken out of the box. There were still aliens stepping up to the podium to see what team they would be on. Lance, Lotor, and Zooey had all gotten a red one.

Lotor gave him a cheeky little grin and wrapped an arm around Lance's right shoulder. "It's fate."

Zooey wrapped an arm around Lance's left shoulder. "It's fate."

Lance wrapped her arms around her friends' waist. "It's definitely fate."

"You all cheated." Keith grumbled.

"Cheated?"

"How dare you?"

"That's low Keith. We would _never_."

Allura looked unconvinced.

"The Revengers always stick together!" Lance praised.

"The Revengers?" Keith asked, amusement deep in his voice.

"Yeah," Lance said with a nod. "Because I want revenge, Lotor wants revenge," Lotor nodded. Lance turned to the Valkyrie Princess. "Zooey, do you want revenge?"

The redhead shrugged. "I could go for some revenge."

"See?" Lance smiled at him. "The Revengers."

Keith snorted.

"Oh? You three are in the red team too?" Shiro asked as he made his way over to them with a grin. "This will be fun."

The three royals grinned.

Keith gaped. Shiro was on the red team too? What the hell?

" _Nice_!" Pidge hollered, waving a red headband in the air. "Best team ever!"

She and Lance high-fived.

"Great," Keith grumbled. "The gremlin is on the team too."

"I'm not a gremlin!"

"That's exactly what a gremlin would say."

Pidge flipped him off.

"Oh, god," Matt whimpered as he clutched his blue headband. "This can't be good."

"I think it's wonderful," Allura disagreed, blue headband wrapped around her right wrist. "I love beating Shiro in a game." She flashed her boyfriend a beautiful smile. "Remember the last game? So fun."

Shiro sent her a rueful smile. "We'll see who wins."

"You guys will go easy on us," Hunk removed his yellow headband and wrapped the blue on one instead. "Right?"

Their friends on the red team grinned.

"Oh my gosh!" a new voice exclaimed. "Leah? Is that you?"

Lance turned at the sound of her name and her blue eyes widened at what she saw. "Oh my god! Nyma? When did you guys get here?"

"We just arrived with the new batch of recruits," Nyma explained. "We were on our way inside when we heard a game of capture the flag was about to start."

Keith's mate wrapped a familiar yellow alien into a bear hug, the two women squealing and jumping as they talked.

Pidge frowned as the two came back. "You know Nyma?"

Lance snorted. "Do I know her?" she wrapped an arm around Nyma's waist. "We used to go out."

I'm sorry, what?

Nyma's purple eyes shifted over to Lance. "Hey, Leah. Meow, meow sexy panther purr."

Lance laughed, a blush on her cheeks. "Oh. It's nice to see you again. Ruff, ruff dog tail."

"The fuck was that?" Pidge demanded.

"Our safe words." Nyma and Lance answered at the same time.

Keith was glaring. He knew it. He knew the others were aware of it but he didn't care. Safe words? Really?

Nyma ran her hair through Lance's brown locks. "You let your hair grow."

"You don't like it?"

"It looks nice but you looked better with short hair." Nyma mused. "When will you cut it?"

Lance paused to think about it but eventually shrugged. "I guess the next time someone pulls at it."

Nyman's purple eyes twinkled. "Shall I pull at your hair then?" she grinned. "Just like old times?"

Mikey coughed loudly.

Lance turned to Keith and her eyes softened. "Have you met Keith? He's my mate."

Nyma's eyes looked like they would pop out of her head. "What? You and the red paladin?"

Keith glared. "Problem?"

"Yeah," Mikey crossed his arms over his wide chest. His dark blue eyes promised death. "Problem?"

Nyma quickly shook her head. "I was just surprised, relax." She nudged Lance on the ribs with a grin. "Good for you. I can't wait to tell Rolo."

Lance's eyes lit up. "Rolo is here too? Where?"

"Right here baby girl."

Lance whirled and a familiar purple alien with lanky white locks and amused look stood behind her. "Rolo!" she engulfed in a hug too. Rolo laughed and ruffled her hair with his four-fingered hand. "Did you get taller?"

"Nah," he smiled. "You just got shorter."

"Hey!"

Nyma lifted a yellow hand to reveal a red headband wrapped around her wrist. "Looks like we're on the same team."

Rolo reached into his pocket and pulled out a red headband.

"Bes team ever!" Lance cheered. She turned to Keith. "You guys on the blue team are going down!"

"Attention everyone!" Ryner said through the speakers. "All teams have been chosen! Red team will head to the forest, and blue team will head to the mountainside. An Olkari will come with your individual flags. You have twenty minutes to come up with a plan before the game begins. Good luck everyone!"

Lance and Pidge stuck out their tongue at Keith and his team and quickly ran to catch up to their own teammates.

* * *

"We're going to lose."

"Really?" Allura drawled, turning to give Matt an unimpressed look. "We haven't even started yet."

"Exactly!" Antok quickly added, bushy eyebrows covering his eyes.

"Who's that?" an Olkari whispered to his friend.

"I think it's Kolivan's right hand man." The friend answered.

"What?" the first one gasped. "What happened to that Antok guy?"

"I think…that _is_ Antok."

" _Dear lord_ what happened to him?"

"I can hear you!" Antok growled at them.

Keith stifled a laugh.

"Okay, but like seriously," Hunk spoke up, looking nervous. "How are we going to win? They have Lance and Shiro. Not to mention the sneaky little Pidge. Mikey and Reyna who look like they can bench-press us. The rest of Lance's brothers. Zooey and Lotor who can kick some serious butt and most of the Arusians. Those guys are so small, no one would notice them!"

"Hunk," Keith placed a hand on the yellow paladin's back. "Calm down."

"Yes," Allura agreed. "We have most of the Blades on our side."

"True," Antok nodded at his fellow Blades. Each team had forty people each. He frowned. "But Kolivan is on their team too."

"Wait, what?" Keith stepped back. " _Kolivan_ decided to play?"

"We're definitely going to lose." Matt sighed.

"Hey!" Cyra snapped, green eyes blazed in anger. "You have me and four more of the Amazons on your side too. We're tough!"

Balbina raised her tattooed arm. "Me and Decima are here too."

Ezor raised on orange hand. "Narti and I can take down Zethrid and Axca no problem!"

Most of their team still looked dubious.

"Don't worry," Allura ferociously grinned. "A certain…someone just arrived. The red team will have a hard time playing with him on the team."

Keith frowned. "Who are you talking about?"

Allura's smirk only widened.

* * *

"Okay guys," Slav said to the group, red headband tied around his head. "Here's the plan. We'll leave a few people to guard the flag while the rest of you form a shield around me as we march to the enemies' camp to get their flag. Some of you may fall but that is a sacrifice I am willing to take."

For a moment there was silence.

And then –

Shiro spoke up, his left eyebrow was twitching so hard Lance was shocked he wasn't having an aneurism. "Who let this fucker in here?"

Nyma and Rolo stifled a laugh.

"Best friend!" Slav cried.

" _Shut up_."

"If you must know," Slav answered with a bat of his lashes. "The lovely Allura gave me this headband and directed me in this direction."

Pidge whistled lowly. "Damn. Betrayed by your own girlfriend."

"The betrayal is real." Mikey whispered with a chuckle.

Shiro heaved a huge sigh. "God damn it Allura."

"Shiro!" Lance snapped. "You kiss Allura with that mouth?"

"Damn straight." Shiro sniffed. "And today I'll be singing our praises when we beat those losers in the blue team!"

"Hey!" a passing Olkari with a blue headband snapped. "We can hear you!"

"Sorry!" Shiro apologized before lowering his voice. "We're taking those losers out!"

"That's my best friend." Slav sniffled.

"You shut up."

"By the way," Slav lifted the black small circles for all to see. "What are these for?"

"You put them over your eyes," Shiro smoothly lied. "It'll let you see heat signatures."

Slav's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Shiro." Kolivan warned.

Shiro made a face, smacking Pidge when the girl started laughing at him. Aiden took pity on Slav and begrudgingly started to explain what they circular objects were for.

"So?" Lotor asked the group. "Anyone got any ideas?"

Zooey raised her hand. "The Valkyries and I can start a fire."

"Oh, that'd be nice," Zethrid rumbled, sharing a fist bump with Reyna.

"If my sister wants to burn stuff," Mikey piped. "Then she will."

The triplets cheered.

The Olkari in the group looked at them in horror.

Kolivan and Shiro quickly shook their heads. "No fire."

"Yeah," Lance agreed, turning to the red haired Valkyrie. "Use it as a last resort."

Zooey sent her a feral grin even as Shiro, Kolivan, and Aiden sent her disapproving glares.

"I don't know why we're still talking about this," Slav interrupted with a frown. "I already told you guys the best plan there is."

Someone whimpered.

"Please tell me that's not the plan," Axca deadpanned.

"It is." Slav insisted.

Shiro places his prosthetic arm over Slav's face to shut him up. "No, it's not."

Half a dozen metal butterflies flew in formation up above them, ready to record their fights as soon as the game began. A few senior Blades as well as King Reynfred were going to keep a close watch on the monitors to determine what they'll need to work on after they're done with the game.

Lance eyed the gathered group with narrowed eyes. They had a few Olkari. Some Tarqens. Most of the blue team had gotten the Blade members while they had most of the Arusians and some other aliens that looked like moles with huge claws.

Those claws of theirs were interesting though.

"Hey," Lance called out to one of them. The poor thing jumped and sent her a weary look. Those white eyes of theirs were pretty cool. "Can you dig with those?"

The thing shared a look with four other of its species before slowly nodding. "Y-yes, your highness. We're very adept at it."

"Lance?" Shiro was peering at her curiously. "Do you have a plan?"

"Judging by that grin," Pidge observed with a cheeky grin of her own. "I'm going to say yes."

Kolivan turned to her. "What do you have in mind Princess?"

"This is going to require us to be really, really quiet." Lance started, she turned to Slav who was still trying to pry Shiro's arm off his face. "Which means that _he_ will have to stay as far away as he can."

Lotor's grin matched hers. "What's the plan sleeping beauty?"

* * *

"I don't like this," Hunk whispered into the quiet forest as he crept along with Matt, Keith and Allura. "It's too quiet."

"The game started more than half an hour ago," Matt went on. "And we've been walking inside the forest for a while now and have yet to see anyone from the red team _or_ their flag."

Keith eyed the trees with narrowed eyes. Lance usually liked using the trees to attack. So far there was nothing. No rustling of trees. No footsteps. No voices.

Nothing.

He was tempted to look through the bond to see where she was or see what she was thinking but that would be cheating. The two had dulled the bond on purpose, at least until the game was over.

Lance was a good strategist. When it came up to coming up with plans, Keith usually turned to her.

"I wonder where they are," Allura mused, rubber knife clutched in her hand.

A few paces to the right of them were Antok and a few Blades. On the left were Cyra, Diona, Harley, and Ami and Tami.

A few feet behind them were another three groups mixed in with a few Blades, a few Olkari, and a few Tarqens. They'd left the flag up in a field where they could see anyone coming from all angles to a few Olkari in robot suits. Apparently they were allowed, as well as Balbina and Decima.

"Nardar?" someone called out. "Nardar, where are you?"

Keith's group stopped. Allura turned to the group walking behind them. "Is something wrong?"

An Olkari woman looked every which way, her green hands squeezing together in worry. "It's just," she hesitated. "My friend. He was walking with us just a few minutes ago and now he's gone."

Hunk frowned, nervously chewing on his lower lip. "Do you think he went to the restroom or something?"

The Blade in the other group gave him an unimpressed look.

"No need to glare," Matt grumbled. "It was just a guess."

Someone screamed.

Keith whirled, rubber knives lifted and ready to use.

"Ammal?" A Blade shouted. "Where are you?"

Someone on the right screamed. Allura ran in the direction of the noise, Keith and the others following. Two Arusians were holding tight to each other. "What's wrong?" Keith demanded.

"O-our friends," one of them stammered. "They were right here and then we looked away for only a few seconds and they were just gone!"

"Okay, I'm getting really scared guys," Hunk whimpered. "What's happening?"

"It's Lance's team," Keith growled. "It has to be."

"But how are they doing this?" Matt cried.

The two Arusians screamed and pointed at something high above. Keith turned and felt his eyes widen at the sight of an Arusian hanging from the tree, rope wrapped around his little body, and the three circular objects on his chest glowing red.

Someone had taken him out.

"Everyone group up!" Antok barked. "Stick together! They're hunting us down!"

Within moments they were running towards the center. Hunk suddenly screamed and Keith turned, ready to see an enemy, but there was nothing.

No enemy.

And no Hunk.

Matt let out a wail and stumbled back, Allura pulling him back towards the direction they were running. On the way they saw a few more aliens hanging from the tree, the circular objects in their chests glowing red. Whoever had done this was smart. They'd covered their mouths to keep them from talking.

Shadow was already walking around, taking the hanging aliens out of the game.

Keith felt his mouth curl into a wide smirk.

This was definitely Lance's doing.

"Kogane!" Antok snapped. "Get your ass over here!"

The sound of a fight breaking out in the distance made them all jump. Was that gunfire?

"Isn't that in the direction where we left the flag?" an Olkari whispered.

"It definitely is." Matt sighed.

"Should we go back?" Allura asked.

Antok paused to think about it. "Half of us will keep going while the other half goes to check on the flag."

Matt and Hunk volunteered to go back with the other half while Allura and Keith kept going with Antok's group. The further they walked, the louder the sound of fighting resonated. Keith could hear the sound of gun blasters going off, laughter and screaming mixing, and what sounded like cannons going off.

They ran faster.

Where was that damn flag?

"Maybe we should –"

The Blade that had been speaking was cut off and Keith whirled just in time to see the ground swallows his body.

"They're underground!" Antok growled, leaping to the closest tree to get away as multiple hands popped out from the ground like zombies. Keith and Allura leaped back and watched as something underground went after them.

What the hell?

"Get to a tree rig –" an arrow hitting him on the chest cut off Antok's words. Antok growled and snapped the arrow but the damage had been done. One of the targets on his chest was red. Two more and he'd be out of the game.

"We got this!" Cyra cried, she and the other four Amazons in their team landing a hard punch to the ground. The floor shook and two brown aliens that looked like moles popped out of the ground with their long clawed hands over their ears.

"There goes our cover." A familiar voice teased.

Three more people popped out of the ground, they too familiar. Lotor twirled the rubber knife in his hands. "Hello Keith."

Keith got into a defensive stance. "Hello, Lo-turd."

Axca's blue-yellow eyes narrowed, she tightened her grip on the toy gun blaster in her hand. "Don't call my prince that."

Zethrid cracked her knuckles. "Let's do this."

Cyra screamed.

Keith turned, eyes widening at the sight of the triplets pulling the Amazons underground. The Amazons were trashing but the triplets just kept on grinning. The Arusians on the left let out screams of their own as Aiden and Rolo popped out of the whole, quickly tapping the targets on their chests before disappearing underground again.

Damn.

"Regroup!" Antok snapped, quickly taking out the two Olkari who'd been trying to take him out. "We have –"

Kolivan dropped down from one of the trees and swung his rubber knife at his second in command so fast it was a blur. Antok stumbled backward, Kolivan following after him, two knives in his hands. The man was quick.

"Look down below!" Ezor shouted as she materialized from the tree she'd been on. The orange skinned woman jumped on Zethrid's back, the two of them stumbling backwards as they began to fight. One of the triplets screamed, Alan maybe, as Narti appeared from the bushes she'd been hiding on only to wrap her tail around Alan's ankle to drag him out.

Kyrian and Colt cried out and immediately went to their brothers' rescue.

"Keep going!" Antok shouted at them as he dodged one of Kolivan's punches. The leader of the Blades dropped to a crouch and swiped Antok's leg from underneath him. Antok dropped to the floor and rolled just as Kolivan's blade was coming down.

Keith and Allura wasted no time and began to run, Lotor and Axca hot on their heels. The red flag must be close. He and Allura ran in zig-sag in hopes of losing them but it was no use. By the time they saw the red flag embedded on a huge rock, a few Olkari, Slav, and Aiden were waiting by the flag.

Keith's mouth formed into a grin.

They were close.

So why didn't Aiden and his group look worried?

The answer to that became obvious when Allura surged ahead of him. She took five steps forward and a prosthetic hand shot out from the ground and snagged her ankle.

The Altean Princess went down with a startled shriek. The minute she hit the ground, the floor crumbled under her and she fell into a whole where Shiro was already waiting.

Keith stumbled to a stop as the ground surrounding the flag opened up all around it. Aiden and his team opened fire and Keith ducked to the closest tree to avoid getting hit with those rubber pallets. He took a breath and then ducked as Axca's foot came crashing towards his face.

The tree he'd been leaning on cracked but remained standing. Allura and Shiro were fighting down the hole; it looked like Shiro had the upper hand. Allura couldn't use her whip in such close quarters but the black paladin was fine using just his fists.

Far away, a conch horn blew.

The blue team before them cheered.

Slav even did a little dance.

Keith cursed. That was the signal to inform them that the blue flag had been taken. He had to hurry. But how to get across? Before he could think more about that, Lotor and Axca slashed at him with their rubber swords.

He sidestepped Axca's swing but couldn't avoid Lotor's thrust. Keith lifted his hand and took the hit intended for the target on his chest. His hand throbbed. What the hell? These rubber weapons weren't supposed to hurt that badly were they?

Axca slammed him in the chest with the butt of her rubber sword and he hit the dirt. His chest felt like someone had stabbed him. One of the targets on his chest was red.

For a moment he was disoriented.

And then Lotor was standing above him, lifting his rubber sword to finish him off, when a big body slammed into him from the side and knocked him to the ground. Keith struck out with his foot when Axca leaped at him and managed to send her back a few steps. She growled, took a step forward, and froze.

Ezor materialized behind her, hand wrapped around her throat and a big smile on her face. She'd keep Axca busy. Who had taken Lotor? His eyes searched through the field and felt his eyes widen.

Was that Hunk? Against Lotor?

The yellow paladin looked ready to piss himself but he was holding Lotor back by shooting in all directions. He'd run out of rubber bullets soon. Not wanting to let this chance go by, Keith ran back towards the flag.

Maybe he could use the trees?

No.

The closest trees that were around the flag had been deliberately cut so as to not be used.

Damn.

Then an idea popped into his head.

"Allura!"

The Altean Princess tilted her head in his direction, grabbing onto Shiro's ankle to throw him. The black paladin landed in a crouch and was back on his feet in seconds.

"Lend me your whip!"

Allura's hand went to her belt, stepping back as Shiro continued throwing punches her way. One of his hands got to close and she raised her hand to block it, took the hit, and grabbed onto her whip with the other hand.

She threw it upward in a random direction before focusing on Shiro.

Keith snagged it from the floor and thought of all those lessons his father had taught him in how to rope a horse. He made a medium sized hoop and began to twirl it above his head. Aiden noticed him first and began to shoot. Keith grunted.

Two shots hit him on the shoulder. His eyes narrowed on the aliens defending the flag with Aiden. Who to use?

Who –

There.

Slav was inching closer to an Olkari.

Perfect.

He swung the whip in his hand and snagged it around both Slav and the Olkari. The two let out startled noises as the thing wrapped around them. Keith tightened it and began to pull it his way. They tried to resist but then Slav slipped and Keith pulled them the rest of the way towards the whole.

Sharing a shriek the two stretched their bodies so they wouldn't drop.

Keith ran and used their bodies as a bridge to cross.

Aiden threw a punch his way; Keith ducked, brought his palm up Aiden's chin and swiped his feet under him. Aiden was a good shot but when it came to hand-to-hand, Keith was better.

Lance's brother went down with a groan.

Three more steps and he had the red flag in his hand. Allura and Hunk let out a cheer as Keith stepped over the Olkari and Slav to cross. The two of them toppled to the hole their team had dug with another shriek.

He had to hurry.

The red team had already gotten their own flag a while ago.

If they made it to their own territory they would win.

He ran.

A passing Arusian with a blue headband saw him as he passed, grinned, and blew on the conch shell to inform the rest of the blue team that they had the red flag.

Cheers and whoops echoed around the field.

Those who were wearing a blue headband stopped their fighting and ran after him. At one point Antok appeared at his side, a smug grin on his lips, and two of his targets already red. "Come on Kogane! Almost there!"

The red team was hot in pursuit and began to open fire.

Those on his team who had been flanking him broke off to deal with them.

Then he heard yelling, elated screams, and he saw Lance and Pidge racing toward the boundary line with the blue flag lifted high. Zooey, Reyna, and Mikey as well as a few other people from their team flanked the two.

Decima and Balbina were hot on their trail, the two of them swooping down. Zooey broke ranks, flew high, and swung the rubber sword in her grasp. Keith picked up the pace.

Lance finally noticed him.

Pidge noticed him too, grinned, and put her fingers to her lips to let out a loud whistle. Lance and her entourage came to a stop. Keith was confused.

And then he felt the ground rumble underneath him and cursed.

Holes were opening up all around them.

"Keep going!" Antok barked at him.

Keith did, followed by the rest of the blue team.

The further they ran, the more they lost members as they fell into the holes Lance's team members were making. The red paladin took a step forward and yelped as his foot began to sink. Antok caught his collar and hurled him up.

Two battle cries rang out ahead of them and suddenly Jonaz and Xylian jumped down from the tree they'd been hiding from, kicks aimed at Lance and Pidge, only to be caught by Mikey and Reyna who hurled them in opposite directions.

Lance and Pidge began to run again.

So did Keith and Antok.

Decima and Balbina came crashing into the field courtesy of the Valkyrie Princess.

The red-haired Valkyrie swooped down like a bullet, and tackled Antok, the two of them falling in a tangled heap.

Keith was on his own.

He was so close though.

It was all he could do not to fall into those pits. Heavy footsteps came his way. Keith looked up. It was Mikey. The man was just a few feet away when an Arusian stepped in front, his little hands outstretched, and Mikey stumbled to a stop before Matt and Narti tackled him.

Mikey went down with a curse.

Keith deliberately stepped on him, smugly grinned, and leaped to the other side just as Lance handed the blue flag to Pidge and hurled her across the boundary. Keith landed on their own side on all fours and he whirled to see Pidge, blue flag clenched tightly in her chest, also on her territory.

Who had won then?

A loud horn sounded off indicating that the game was over and then Ryner's voice sounded throughout the whole field. " _The game is over! It's a tie!"_

Both sides exploded into cheers.

Lance and Reyna picked up Pidge and started carrying her around their shoulders as the rest of the red team staggered out of the woods with wide smiles on their faces.

Pidge was screaming at the top of her lungs, blue flag raised high above her head.

Matt and Mikey were helping a grumbling Mikey to his feet.

Keith felt his body being lifted and stiffened only to relax when he found a familiar pair of obsidian eyes on him. Shiro and Hunk grinned at him as they lifted him on their shoulders.

"Nicely done little brother."

"We get to eat delicious meat!" Hunk hollered.

Allura smiled at him.

Antok staggered to their side with Kolivan helping him. "Not bad Kogane."

"Very well done." Kolivan nodded to him.

"I'm telling you," Lotor stressed. "There's twigs in my hair!"

"You're imagining it." Zooey snorted.

Axca was already weaving her fingers through those silver locks.

"That was fun!" Ezor cheered where she sat on top of Zethrid's shoulders.

"Best friend!" Slav cried, hands outstretched in his direction. "I did good right? How about you praise me?"

Shiro's whole face twitched as Slav leaned into his personal space. Allura arched a brow in his direction. Shiro sighed and patted Slav on the head. Slav seemed to have stopped breathing. "Nice…job…you."

Keith snorted.

Slav swooned.

"Let's go get our meat!" Hunk whooped.

* * *

The whole camp was celebrating.

Giant machines that looked like grills were wheeled out and those who were competent enough to cook were in charge of cooking the Trixuks meat so it was no surprise that Hunk was among them, supervising. The smell coming off had everyone's mouth instantly watering.

Those who had been injured during the games were being looked over by the medics. It didn't seem very serious so Lance and her Amazons weren't needed to check on them.

Shiro who sucked at cooking was going back and forth binging giants jars of juice and other drinks to the field. Mikey, Zethrid, and Reyna were helping him.

Everyone else was given a task and was set to work.

Music was blaring through the speakers courtesy of the Holt siblings.

The sun was beginning to go down but everyone was smiling.

The game had been a good idea. They'd gotten some really good data. The next training sessions would be better.

Lance snagged Keith before he could get away and made him help her in washing the vegetables in one of the portable sinks along with the other aliens. After distributing half of the chopping duty to Keith, they decided to make some chili as well.

The aliens were intrigued by the description Lance gave them and were eager to help.

Even Kolivan and King Reynfred were set to work, the two looking out of place with the two aprons Lance insisted they wear. The Amazon was busy cutting her half of the vegetables when she noticed Keith staring down at an onion like it had hurt his mother.

Then suddenly, he slammed the blade in his hand down, and half the onion went flying off the chopping board and knocked out a poor Arusian, the plate of vegetables he'd been carrying falling to the floor.

Two Olkari immediately went to check on the poor thing.

The aliens around them gave Keith a weary look before moving a few paces away lest they get hit with onions as well.

Lance turned to Keith who had the decency to look guilty. "You have to cut it more gently Keith."

Keith took out another onion and muttered under his breath, "It looked like it'd be hard to cut so I thought it needed a lot of force."

His expression was so genuinely innocent that Lance couldn't help but laugh. Keith pouted at her. "Here," she took out a handful of vegetables and put them on her chopping board. "Watch me."

She made quick work of the vegetables before her, cutting them evenly. Keith watched curiously, looking mystified at her quick cutting. His chest was pressed against her back, the heat coming off him making her shiver, and it was all she could do to stay focused on the task at hand and not chop off her finger by accident. Amusement rang out through the bond.

The jerk was doing this on purpose.

When Keith looked ready to try it out, she passed him the chopping board and leaned on one of the poles of the tents they had set up to watch him. She never grew tired of watching Keith.

The vegetables he was cutting were uneven but he seemed to have the hang of it. Her eyes roamed across the other aliens to see if anyone else needed help when a set of familiar baby blue eyes caught her attention.

Those eyes belonged to a man with close-cropped dark brown hair, caramel colored skin and a familiar smile that crinkled at the corners.

It was her father.

One finger beckoned her over.

Lance swallowed, mumbled that she'd be back, and walked over to meet her father. Javier McLane set off across the field and Lance was left to trail after him. She couldn't gauge his expression. Was he mad? Was he here to ground her? On the way they passed her brothers who quickly looked away.

Mikey looked like he wanted to go after them but her father gave him a stern look that stopped him in his tracks.

He hadn't arrived when Krolia had said he would so she just figured that he wouldn't come after all. Yet here he was. Don't get her wrong. Lance loved her father. She looked forward to seeing him. But at the moment, she wasn't sure what to think.

She usually greeted her father with a hug and a kiss to his cheek.

"I saw the game." He suddenly said, Spanish accent leaking out. Lance jumped. They'd walked away from the group by now, Lance could still see them but from here, the conversation between her and her father wouldn't be overheard. "Was that your idea? Having the Memnot's dig holes to make the other team lose their footing?"

He gave her a warm smile over his shoulder and Lance felt warmth spread through her chest at the proud smile aimed her way. "Yes." She played with the crystal necklace around her neck. She was suddenly shy. "How did you know?"

Her father gave her a rueful smile as he leaned back on a tree to watch her. "Who else would come up with a plan like that but you?" he reached forward and ruffled her hair. "Esa es mi hija (that's my daughter)." Lance felt her cheeks warm at the praise. His next words made her stiffen. "I also saw the fight you had with King Reynfred."

He arched a brow. Lance looked away. "He was being mean."

Her father sighed. "Your mother saw the video as well." Lance stiffened some more and felt Keith's worry for her go through the bond.

 _Do you need help?_

 _No. I'll be fine but thanks Keith._

 _Just let me know._

"She wasn't happy," her father winced. "To say the least." Of course she wasn't. "She was ready to storm over here herself." Lance was surprised she hadn't. "I talked her down though." Of course he did. He always could. "But I'm not happy with you either."

"I'm sorry," Lance wrung her hands together and looked down at the ground. She didn't like being scolded, especially by her father. He never yelled, never raised his voice, but his face expressed so much. And right now…he looked disappointed. "I did try to be on my best behavior but like I said, he was being mean. You always told us that if we want respect then we have to treat people the same way _we_ would want them to treat _us_."

"Yes," her father agreed. "I did."

"And he agreed to the fight anyway," Lance pressed on. "We went easy on them."

"Yes, I saw that too but Leah," her father narrowed her eyes. "We've discussed this. You can't let your anger take over. You especially." Lance pouted. Her father's face smoothed out. "I know you try to control yourself but you have to be better. Don't forget Leah, your emotions are linked to your powers. And when you're angry, your powers get out of control. Do you remember what you did in planet Zaebos?" How could she not remember? The feeling of Keith's blood dripping down her cheeks, the way his heart began to slow as he bled out before her, the way her lightning rained down, attacking anything and everyone that stood in its way.

"You've been angry at King Reynfred since the Voltron Alliance meeting," her father went on. "I don't blame you but he was just being cautious. Calling the alliance members something nasty and then ending the video chat in the middle of the meeting was not wise. Your mother was very angry."

"Are you going to ground me?"

"Of course not. I just want you to be more careful sweetie." He stepped forward and placed his warm hand on the top of her head. "Anger can be a good thing. It can give you purpose but it can also blind you to your surroundings. Don't let the anger take over. Control it." He smiled. "I know you can do it, after all, you're my daughter." He opened his arms and Lance stepped forward to accept the embrace.

What he said was true.

Her emotions _were_ linked to her powers.

And sometimes she _did_ forget.

But she could be better. She knew she could.

"Does this mean I'm not even in trouble for locking mom up in a room full of crocs and setting her own shoes on fire?"

Her father snorted and hugged her tighter. "Oh, no. She's still mad about _that_." He tweaked her nose and lowered his voice. "Personally, those shoes were starting to smell awful. I'm glad you got revenge for my boots."

The two of them shared a laugh.

"By the way," her father frowned. "Have you heard from Calixta and her team?"

Lance mimicked his frown. "No. Why?"

Her father hesitated. "Well, she and two others left Cloyetera a few days ago in search of more gray stones to make the cure but they missed their checkpoint yesterday."

"I see," Lance narrowed her eyes. "It's not very unusual for us to miss checkpoints every now and then. Maybe they'll check in tomorrow?"

"Let's hope so."

"Mr. McLane?"

The two of them pulled away from the other and Lance's father smiled at the familiar redheaded Valkyrie standing behind them. "If it isn't Little Bird." He opened his arms. "Don't I get a hug?"

Zooey's cheeks flushed and she eagerly stepped forward to accept the hug. Lance grinned. Zooey had taken to her father after all the times he had visited. Lance was glad. Her father treated Zooey like she was his own child and Zooey eagerly soaked up the attention.

"I've been good Mr. McLane," Zooey stepped back and gave him a bashful smile. "Will you be staying for dinner?"

"I suppose I can stay the night," her father shrugged. "Guide me back?" Lance took her father's right hand and Zooey took his left, the two of them clinging tightly to him as they walked back to the others. Thoughts of Calixta and her team faded the further they walked. By the time they reached the others the food was done and aliens were eagerly lining up to pick up their food.

* * *

The field was especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed all around. Tables and chairs were brought out so the older aliens could rest their legs. Most of the crowd was milling around on their feet, clustered into small groups as they talked and ate.

The meat was fucking delicious; it was only after Keith had taken that first bite that he understood why the crowd had fought so hard to win. He'd gone back for seconds, deliriously happy that there was still plenty of meat left.

As he took his plate from the Olkari woman who had piled more meat on it, Keith's eyes drifted across the field to take in the crowd. His eyes found Lance first, they always did, and he felt a smile tug at his lips at the sight of her talking with her father. The two were between Lotor and Zooey; the three of them were listening attentively to whatever Mr. McLane was saying, eyes wide and curious, where they sat around one of the bonfires that had been lit up.

His eyes found Shiro and Allura, the former feeding the Altean Princess some chili. Hunk and Matt were sitting on the floor with a plate full of cheesecake. Pidge and Coran were back in line to get some more of that delicious Trixuks meat.

He looked further across to see Antok being dragged against his will by Lance's guards. No doubt they were following Lance's command to wax those bushy eyebrows of his. Keith felt the urge to go and laugh at him but figured Ami and Tami would share the pictures with everyone later.

Lotor's guards were sitting at a table with Zooey's guards not too far from their charges. Even Nova the cat had a plate full of meat on it. Keith was sure this was the first time he had ever seen the cat looking so happy.

Slav was making his way over to Shiro and the black paladin must have noticed him because he took Allura's hand and began to lead her further into the crowd where Kolivan and Antok were chatting.

After a moment of hesitation, he made his way over to Lance and her group. Shadow and Radiance as well as the rest of Lance's brother's now among them.

Mr. McLane's eyes lit up at the sight of him. "Keith! How is my favorite son-in law?"

"Just here hoping that I'm the _only_ son-in-law you have."

The man laughed and embraced him. "You and your jokes!"

He was actually pretty serious about the question though.

Lance sent him an amused smile and snatched a piece of Trixuks meat right from his place as soon as he sat next to her on the log she was hogging. Keith pouted. Lance grinned.

"Quit your damn flirting." Mikey muttered under his breath on Lance's other side.

"Jealous much?" Aiden teased from across them.

Mikey stuck his tongue out at him.

The triplets laughed.

"What are you guys talking about anyway?" Keith wondered, taking a piece from Lance's cake. It was only fair.

Zooey's green eyes lit up. "Mr. McLane was telling us a story."

"It's about the island of the dolls." Lotor spoke up next.

"La Isla de las Munecas," Mr. McLane whispered quietly. "Would you like to hear it?"

"Yeah," Keith was suddenly looking forward to this. Back when Keith's father was alive the two of them used to go camping a lot. Keith remembered loving to set up the tent. Looking for firewood and cooking their meals as they sat around the fire. His dad would always tell him a scary at night and with the sky dark and just the sound of the wind and insects chirping all around them, it made the whole experience much scarier. "I'd love that Mr. McLane."

The man smiled and began his tale.

* * *

Keith leaned back on the log he was siting on, silently listening to the deep dusk of Mr. McLane's near hypnotic voice relating legends of the wailing lady, el cucuy, and a whole bunch of other stories. It was strangely soothing.

More people had joined them and were sitting around the bonfire as they listened attentively to Mr. McLane's tale. Even Krolia and Kolivan had showed up and Slav was surprisingly quiet where he sat no to Shiro. The black paladin kept eyeing him suspiciously; ready to bolt if Slav so much as opened his mouth.

"Now then," Mr. McLane paused to take a bite of his cake. "Who wants to hear about Bloody Mary?"

The crowd oooed and awwed.

* * *

Capture the Flag became a daily activity in the afternoon.

Like Lance had predicted, the game got the crowd motivated and the private training sessions became better than they were before. Even a few people from Lance's own group had managed to make her look up from the book she kept bringing to every training session.

Some had even managed to make her sweat making her deliriously happy.

Mr. McLane had stayed for three more days and spent his time with Aiden and the other archers. Lance and Keith joined them occasionally.

Antok looked like his old self again and like Keith had predicted, Ami and Tami had passed around pictures of the whole waxing process. Even Kolivan had cracked a smile at the sight of Antok's petrified face as he was held down.

All too soon it was time to leave.

The final battle would be the next day and Kolivan thought it wise to let everyone spend their last night before the upcoming battle with their families.

Shiro and the others had been more than willing to let Lance and her group stay with them but Lance had politely declined. She still had a few things to check on back in Cloyetera. And so after a long hug, she and her group left Olkari and went back home.

* * *

Lotor was having the most wonderful dream when he was roughly shaken awake. With a groan, the Galra Prince opened his eyes and glared at the two people in his room. The lights instantly lit up.

"Do you guys have any idea what time it is?" he grumbled, pulling his covers up to his chin.

Lance and Zooey grinned. "Midnight."

"And also your birthday," Lance smiled as she revealed a squared cake.

Lotor felt his eyes widen and was immediately sitting up. "How did you know it was my birthday?"

Lance scoffed. " _Please_. I'm your best friend." She put a hand to her chest. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't remember your own birthday?"

Lotor arched a brow. "You got it out of Axca didn't you?"

"We did." Zooey admitted. "We also got her permission to take you out, though they said they'd be nearby."

Of course she did.

Axca was always overprotective.

Lance pouted at her and then turned to Lotor to hand him the cake. "Cut off a piece, eat it, and then get up." She marched over to his closet and began to look for clothes for him. "We're going out."

* * *

The cake was delicious.

Lance had obviously chosen it.

Despite the late hour, there were still plenty of Amazons and Valkyries walking around. His friends took him to the movie theater where they watched a movie so bad it was funny. They took him to the arcade where they won him a large fluffy stuffed animal that Lance said was a bunny. Zooey took them to a fancy restaurant where they ate even more delicious food and had some really nice tea.

Lotor knew that his friends were trying to make him feel better for not being allowed to participate in the Kral Zera ceremony later on. Lotor would be lying if he said he wasn't bitter about that but he could understand the Voltron Alliance's decision.

They didn't fully trust him yet and no one wanted another Zarkon to rule.

He understood that though that didn't mean he wasn't happy with the decision either.

It really _was_ his birthday though.

And Lotor had never really celebrated this day among friends.

It was nice and something he would not mind repeating.

It was as they were beginning to walk back toward Lance's home, ice cream cones on their hands, heads bent down as they laughed at a joke that Lance had just told, that an Amazon called out to them.

"Your highness?" the pale Amazon looked confused. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the meeting?"

Lance frowned. "What meeting?"

The woman looked even more confused, obsidian orbs narrowing. "The meeting _you_ called for. Queen Afya and Queen Lexi were notified by a message sent by you to meet up. The message said it was urgent so they should be on their way to the big meeting room. Queen Lexi is probably already there. Queen Afya was at her favorite coffee place but I'm sure she's on her way as well."

Lance slowly shook her head, her spine stiffening. "I didn't call for any meeting."

Something was wrong.

"Then…if you didn't call for that meeting…then who did?"

Lance opened her mouth and instantly stiffened. The Amazon next to her his friend stood absolutely still. Lotor and Zooey were immediately on alert, scanning their surroundings with a weary eye.

Lance's eyes scanned the mostly empty streets, the ocean and then the sky. She frowned. What was she looking at? Lotor turned to the sky and saw nothing. But then suddenly something shifted across the particle barrier surrounding the island.

A smear of black. Something big.

"Please tell me those are just the gryphons flying around." Lotor said.

The Amazon next to Lance shook her head. "It's not. It's mating season. All of them are up in the floating islands taking care of their eggs as they have been for the past week." She squinted. "This…this is something else."

Lotor curled his fingers into fists and next to him Zooey spread her wings, stretching them in case she needed to take off at a moments notice.

"Your highness," the Amazon said. "Should we sound of the alarms?"

Others had noticed the thing in the sky as well, other had stopped and were pointing, some were beginning to shout. A hole ripped open in the particle barrier, and Lotor pushed the three women to the ground, covering them as much as he could with his body.

Distantly he could hear Axca calling his name.

Footsteps coming their way.

Something crashed to the ground in the spot they'd been standing on. Whatever it was let out a wet crunching sound. Lance was already shoving him, demanding he let her up so she could see but Lotor already had a pretty good idea what it was.

Whatever had crashed sounded like a body.

"Lotor, get off me!" Lance shouted and with one more push, shoved him away and shot to her feet. She took one step forward and froze.

Blood shone on the cobblestone road, sparkling like a new set of rubies. There, in the spot they'd just been standing on not even five seconds ago was a woman. Her body was bent, her back arched on the impact. Her pink hair, or what was left of it, was dirty and covered in blood.

She was missing an eye.

Two fingers.

Half of her right leg was gone, the other one bent unnaturally. She was twitching, chest heaving as she took raspy breaths. Lance screamed and was immediately at her side, hands already glowing a warm green in hopes of healing her but Lotor knew it was already too late.

She wouldn't last very long.

"Sound the alarm!" the other Amazon ordered.

"Calixta," Lance begged, glowing hands at the woman's chest. "Stay with me! Just hold on!"

"Y-your h-highness…" Calixta rasped, dark hand latching onto Lance's own. "T-they k-know," she took a shuddering breath. "T-they're c-coming…h-hurry."

"Don't talk," Lance pleaded, placing her now bloody hands on the woman's face. " _Think it._ Tell me everything."

The woman shuddered, her body began to tremble, and the whole time Lance's eyes grew wider. The sound of the alarm was blaring all around them. Orders were shouted across the streets. Calixta opened and closed her mouth, blood dripping down her cheek, tears falling down her one remaining eye. "I'm so…s-sorry your h-highness."

"Shh," Lance cooed, face drawn. "It's okay. Rest now, your fight is over. May we meet again."

Calixta's body shuddered one last time, she smiled, and then she was gone. Lance closed her remaining eye with her hand and stepped back. "We have to go. _Now_."

The sky was beginning to turn dark as dozens, no, _hundreds_ , of ships began to materialize just outside the particle barrier. They opened fire all at once, the particle barrier shuddering with each impact. With all those ship firing against it, it wouldn't last very long.

Just as he thought it, two holes opened up and the ships wasted no time in passing through them. They weren't big holes though which meant that only one ship could pass at a time.

They were Galra ships.

The Galra were here.

Lance snagged his wrist and began to drag him somewhere. Lotor almost stumbled. Zooey and the other Amazon followed after them, weapons drawn. "The Galra know that we plan to intervene during the Kral Zera ceremony," Lance explained as she continued dragging him. Axca and his guards were just behind them, weapons out. "A few days ago, my father told me that Calixta's team had not checked in when they were suppose to."

Amazons and Valkyries were rushing past, racing for their posts, others, like the children, were being directed towards shelters. The bracelets they used to communicate weren't working. Lotor had tried.

Black smoke stained the sky.

Fires were started.

"But then two days later they _did_ check in," Lance continued, expertly weaving through the crowd, her face down to keep others from stopping her and taking her away to safety. "I figured that was that but clearly we were wrong." Her jaw clenched. "Calixta and her team were captured by the Galra and then were tortured by the druids. They resisted as much as they could but then…"

"Then what?" Zooey snapped.

"Then Haggar took over," Lance finally said. Lotor stiffened. "They didn't last very long after that. They got my codes from them. They were the ones to send that message to our mothers. And they also got two of the codes that Calixta and her team were given to open a small hole in the particle barrier for their ship. Zarkon and his army know that we're coming and they've decided to start the ceremony a few hours early."

"How early?" Lotor asked, his stomach clenching at what he already guessed.

"Right now." Lance admitted, turning through an alley. "Since the Amazons and the Valkyries post a lot of trouble for them, they've decided to take us down first."

"Those _bastards_." The Amazon hissed, fists clench tightly. "Your highness, where are we going? You should be taking shelter!"

"Not going to happen," Lance immediately replied. The attack that hit the particle shield next had the whole island trembling and they stumbled. Fights had already started from behind them. Lotor could see the cannons emerge on the rooftops of a few building where they opened fire. "There's something I need to do first."

There was a green building before them, stone pillars on each side, and two massive steel doors. Lance pushed on ahead, startling the two Amazons inside. They raised their weapons but at the sight of Lance they immediately put them down.

"Your highness!" one of the Amazons snapped at her. "You should be taking shelter!"

"Fire up the transporter," Lance ordered instead.

"W-what?" the other Amazon asked.

The Amazon that had been with them went to barricade the doors, placing the heavy furniture in first. The whole building didn't have any windows, well except for one though it was very, very small, everything looked to be made out of steel and Lotor saw more than one set of holographic computers. He'd never been in this building before.

Lance was already turning to the side where a set of stairs led further down. " _Now_." The two Amazons hesitated before nodding. They shot towards the consoles before them and began to type.

"Where to?" the first one asked.

"The Castle of Lions."

The woman nodded and began to type.

"When we're done using it, turn it off." Lance ordered. "And then do the same to all the other transporters in Cloyetera and destroy the consoles so they won't be used again."

The women gaped. "All of them?"

" _All of them."_

"U-understood your highness."

Lance dragged him down the stair, the sound of the alarm growing dim the further they walked down.

"Lance," Lotor stumbled after her, his wrist still held tightly in her grasp. "What are you doing? Why are we going to the Castle of Lions?"

"Not we," Lance corrected. " _You_."

"W-what?"

They reached the bottom and Lance jogged over to the circular door, tapping her foot impatiently as the doors slowly slid open, before stepping inside.

There was a transporter in the middle of the room. A set of fat wires running down on both sides and a gray crystal inside a glass, glowing brightly. As soon as they stepped in front of it, the transporter lit up and a swirling mess of blue appeared inside the transporter.

Lance turned to him. "I know what the Voltron Alliance members said but I disagree." She squeezed his shoulders. "If anyone has the right to take down your father it's _you_." Zooey stepped beside her friend. "The two of us already talked about this. We were going to send you to the Castle of Lions so they can take you to the ceremony regardless of what the Alliance members decided."

Lotor was already shaking his head. " _You want me to go?"_

A shot rang out dangerously close to the building and the whole place shook, dust from the ceiling falling over their heads.

"You have to," Zooey interrupted. Her green eyes were hard. "You said you wanted to correct your fathers' mistake. You said you wanted the Galra to be _better_." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Then go participate in that ceremony, beat your father, and become Emperor so you _can_."

Lotor shook his head, they wanted him to flee? Now? When they needed all the help they could? He couldn't, wouldn't do that to them. Never to them. "I can't do that!"

"Yes you can," Lance's voice was calm despite the danger they all faced. "The Galra will listen to their Emperor. They have to. Especially one who just took down the previous Emperor that has ruled over the last ten thousand years." Lotor opened his mouth. "I know you think you're abandoning us. But you're _not_."

"The faster you defeat your father, the faster you can put an end to this war and the faster you can stop these attacks in Cloyetera." Zooey took over.

Lotor hesitated. Everything they were saying was true but still…he couldn't just leave his friends here to face the wrath of the Galra army. Lance tapped at her bracelet and then pointed at the ground. A black sword the length of Lotor's arm materialized before them.

It looked like a chain sword. Lance picked it up and the thing glowed a warm purple before materializing into a scimitar. She held it up to him. "Happy birthday from me and Zooey."

Lotor took the weapon in his hand. It felt good in his palm. Perfectly balanced, the edges glowing purple.

"We gave it a little tweak," Zooey suddenly said, pointing at a small button close to the hilt. Lotor pressed it and almost dropped the sword when fire and lightning erupted from both sides. The thing crackled in his hand. "We wanted you to have a piece of us with you during your battle," she blushed. "So you don't feel so alone out there."

The building shook once again.

"Lotor," Lance urged. "You have to _hurry_."

"Sir." Axca stepped forward, already dressed in her armor. "I agree with them. You should join the ceremony."

"We'll watch your back." Zethrid promised, Ezor and Narti nodding along and looking determined.

Lotor looked at the gathered faces before him and felt his will crumpling. They were right. If he could take down his father and become Emperor then he could give out the order to put an end to this war. He could save his friends.

Decision made, Lotor clenched his jaw and wrapped both princess, his best friends, into a tight hug and took a deep inhale. "You keep each other safe," his voice came out sounding rough with emotion but he didn't care. Lance and Zooey hugged him back just as tightly. "Watch each other's back and don't you _dare_ die on me."

"Right back at you Prince Charming," Lance mumbled into his hair. "Don't die on us."

"Or we swear we'll haunt your ass," Zooey swore, voice thick with emotion.

He pulled back, his hands still at their shoulders and took them in. they looked determined. Ready to fight. He stepped back before he changed his mind. His guards were already waiting by the transporter.

Ezor let out a sob and ran over to engulf the two princesses into a tight hug. "Don't die on us okay!"

Zethrid sniffled and ruffled both of their hair. "What she said. I like you both too much to lose either of you."

"Fight well," Axca said to them both, squeezing their hands in her own.

Narti stepped forward and wrapped them in a hug; whatever she said to them in their heads had them cracking a smile.

"Here," Lance handed him two circular objects that looked like small buttons. "When it vibrates, hurl them both as far and as wide as you can." She squeezed his shoulder. "Only then. Remember that."

"What are they?" Ezor asked curiously.

Lance grinned. "You'll see."

Lotor turned back one last time. Lance and Zooey put their right fist over their hair and stood up straight. "May we meet again."

Lotor did the same. "May we meet again."

And then he stepped through the portal.

* * *

As soon as Lotor and his group passed through the transporter went dark. The gray crystal giving it power stopped glowing. Lance turned to Zooey. "There's an escape patch further down through that secret passage at the end of the room," Zooey startled. "I want you to take it."

"Are you crazy?" the Valkyrie snapped.

"You're worried about your mother right?" Lance snapped back. "Go and find her."

Zooey hesitated. "But what about your mom?"

"My mom is probably already at the meeting place. That whole building has its own particle barrier, she'll be safe there. But _your_ mother went to the coffee shop. Go find her."

'I'm not leaving you," Zooey snarled. "We have to stick together. We promised."

"I know," Lance sighed. "But the Valkyries are out there fighting with no orders. The Amazons already know what to do. They don't need us. But the Valkyries need to get organized. You and your mother can do that."

Zooey wavered.

"I'll be right behind you," Lance promised. "There's just one more thing I need to do and then I'll follow right after you. I won't be alone. Three Amazons are here with me."

The Valkyrie gnawed on her lower lip before engulfing her in a quick hug. "Don't you dare die on me."

Zooey ran to the end of the room and felt around the walls before slipping through the secret entrance. Lance ran up the stairs. She had to hurry. Keith was quiet in his mind. Probably still sleeping.

It _was_ three in the morning. Almost four.

She had to hurry.

She stumbled up the stairs, satisfied to see the consoles completely wrecked per her instructions. The three Amazons straightened up at the sight of her. "Your highness!"

"There's a message I need to send out to all of the Voltron Alliance," she breathlessly said. "Can you make that happen?"

"Of course!"

The three shot in random directions and began to get to work. She tried to calm herself. What she was about to say had to be said calmly lest she freak everyone out.

"We're ready your highness." One of them said, Zenaida, red eyes determined.

"Okay." Lance took a deep breath and began to speak once the red light on the camera lit up. Throughout her whole speech she managed to keep her cool though her heart was pounding like crazy on the inside. When she was done, the camera was put away and three Amazons flanked her side, weapons out, ready to go outside.

The screaming from outside suddenly grew in volume and the whole room began to shake.

No.

Not the room.

The whole planet seemed to be shaking.

"What's going on?" Lance snapped.

Vernada ran to the small window, standing on her tippy toes to get a better view. She gasped.

"What is it?"

And that's when she felt it.

Lance's knees buckled and she and the Amazons dropped to the ground with a pained gasp, hands going to their throat as they tried to breathe. Her whole body was shaking.

Thea turned to her side and hurled.

This feeling.

She knew this feeling.

"It's…a b-black t-tower," Vernada gasped, hands at her throat, blonde strands on her wet cheeks. "They're b-bringing in a b-black t-tower."

Damn it.

"We have to get away," Lance gasped, hands inching forward toward the stairs. This was so much worse than the last tower she'd encountered. Exactly how big was this tower compared to the last one she'd seen? She couldn't even get to her feet! "Hurry!" she urged the others. That tower hadn't been dropped yet. If it had then they would have lost consciousness already. "We have t –"

A loud boom shook the building as something crashed outside, the screams and shouts came to a sudden stop and a splitting headache took over her senses.

Her vision became blurry.

She rapidly blinked, trying desperately to stay awake.

The metal doors shook as something slammed into them.

No…she couldn't…lose consciousness now…

The Amazons around her already had their eyes closed. She nudged Thea who was closest to her with her leg. The brunette didn't even budge.

She was out cold.

Lance was the only remaining.

She could feel Keith's panic through the bond. He was calling her name but it all sounded like a jumbled mess. She tried to respond. To reassure him but there was a ringing noise in her head.

The metal doors shook once again. The barricade they'd made wouldn't hold out for very long.

Lance had to stay awake…

She had –

Her outstretched hand fell limp and then everything faded.

* * *

 **This chapter took me forever to write! And for that I am sorry. I wanted everyone to have a good time before their final battle and this was what I came up with. If you've seen Shrek or Pitch Perfect 3 then you might recognize a few lines from here.**

 **Please leave a Review! I love getting them!**

 **Next Chapter Summary: Shit gets real**


	46. Chapter 46

"And I shall rise, oh well I shall rise  
Again and again."

\- I Shall Rise by Karen O (Rise of the Tomb Raider Soundtrack)

Chapter 46

The sound of the alarm is what woke him up.

But it was the feeling of his lungs seizing, the nauseating feeling in his stomach, the weight of something dark and heavy pushing him down coming from Lance's side of the bond that had Keith shooting out of bed and into the hall in nothing but a pair of red boxers and his Bayard clutched in his right hand.

Something was wrong.

Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

His footsteps pounded down the red-lit hall.

The alarm kept blaring, the sound growing louder and louder the closer he got to the bridge.

Keith resisted the urge to run straight to the transporter to get to Cloyetera. Something was wrong in the Castle of Lions as well. Better to deal with the problem on this side first before heading to Lance.

Hunk stumbled into the hall in his yellow pajamas; brown teddy bear clutched to his chest as his wide obsidian eyes caught Keith's own startled ones. They ran side by side. "What's going on?"

Keith opened his mouth to say he didn't know when Coran's voice suddenly sounded through the speakers. " _Attention all paladins! Our teleporter has been breached! We've got intruders!"_

Keith let out a curse and hissed through his teeth when he took a step forward and his knees began to shake. A terrible headache had formed.

 _Lance_?

No response.

Just a high pitch ringing in his head.

 _What's going on? Talk to me!_

He took another step and dropped to one knee. Hunk dropped to his side, his hands going to Keith's shoulders to shake him. The teddy bear he'd been clutching was abandoned on the cold floor. He was saying something. Probably asking if he was okay but Keith couldn't hear. There was a ringing in his head that was growing louder and louder with every second that passed.

He hissed and gritted his teeth.

He had to focus.

What was going on in Cloyetera?

He had to see through Lance's eyes.

He had to know.

But all he saw was a blur. At first he thought that he had hit his head or something but then he realized that the blurriness he was seeing wasn't from _his_ side.

It was coming from _Lance_.

This was what she was seeing right now.

Keith heard something pounding from her side.

As if something was trying to break inside.

A hand came into view, an aquamarine ring shaped like a snowflake on the fourth finger, dragging its owner forward to get _away_.

That thought was the only one that he could make clear of.

What did Lance want to get away from?

 _Lance!_

More pounding was heard from her side.

Fear trickled down the bond and Keith felt his own fear spike up.

Lance's eyelids rapidly blinked.

 _What's going on? Answer me!_

Keith saw her hand stretch forward one more time and then –

It fell limp and Keith was thrust back to his own head as Lance lost consciousness on her side. He let out a shuddering gasp, startling Hunk who was still kneeling at his side, and put a hand to his throat, as his lungs no longer felt like they were burning.

He took heavy breaths.

His heartbeat began to calm.

The fear began to fade.

He was okay he chanted in his head. He was okay. Everything was fine.

"Keith?" Hunk prodded him gently. "Buddy?"

Running footsteps slid to a halt where he and Hunk had stopped in the kitchen. It took Keith far too long to reach for his weapon, he was still reeling from the emotions Lance had been feeling not that long ago, but Hunk shot to his feet and stepped in front of him, Bayard already transformed into it's cannon size, jaw set and ready to defend him.

Pidge threw her hands up as she slid to a stop. "Whoa! It's just me!"

Hunk heaved a relieved sigh and lowered his weapon away from their friend. Keith repeated the motion after a second where he still crouched.

"What are you guys doing?" Pidge asked, her hands going up to straighten her glasses. "Do you guys not hear the alarms still blaring? We have intruders!"

"Yeah, we know," Hunk glanced at Keith who was slowly getting to his feet. The Yellow paladin placed a hand on his shoulder and helped him. He looked worried. "What happened? It was Lance right? Did something happen to her?"

Pidge straightened and narrowed her brown eyes. Her brown hair was sticking up in odd angles. "What are you guys talking about? Did something happen to her?"

Keith shook his head to clear it. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to focus. He counted to ten slowly. Once the world seemed to stop spinning he began to move. They had intruders after all. Pidge and Hunk hurried after him. "I don't know what happened," he finally said through gritted teeth. "But something is going on in Cloyetera. Something bad." He pursed his lips. "Lance lost consciousness."

Pidge and Hunk took a sharp breath.

"She was trying to get away from something." He paused. "Something bad." He hesitated before whispering his next words. "She was scared."

Hunk let out a sound that sounded like he was drowning.

"You seem…awfully calm about this." Pidge's tone was cautious.

Did he? Because he wasn't. Not at all. It was taking all of Keith's power not to get on Red and head to Cloyetera to go make sure Lance was okay. He felt sick. The last time Keith had felt like this was when Lance had come in contact with one of the black towers. The feeling was the same but somehow different.

It was stronger than before.

So much stronger.

Was that it?

Was there a black tower in Cloyetera?

Or had Lance gone somewhere, to another planet, and come in contact with one?

Either way, raging about it wasn't going to help anyone. Shiro and Kolivan, as well as his mother, had been helping him control his anger. He couldn't let his emotions run wild like he had before in the past.

Even if all he wanted to do was rage.

He had to keep calm. Had to keep his head cleared. It would help him handle the chaos around him better.

Or so Shiro always said.

And his brother was usually right.

Jaw clenched, Keith answered. "I'm definitely _not_ fine. But I can't help Lance right now. Not yet. We have to deal with whoever snuck into the ship first and then we'll deal with Lance."

For a moment there was silence from the two paladins running behind him and then Pidge sniffled, "Look at our baby boy, Hunk," she sniffled some more; easing the tension they were all feeling. "All grown up."

Hunk chuckled, "I'm so proud of you."

"Fuck you guys." Keith grumbled, cheeks warm.

Pidge snorted. "There's the Keith I know and love." She gripped her Bayard. "And by the way…"Keith chanced a glance behind his shoulder when she didn't continue. "Fuck you too."

Hunk sighed.

"Whatever Gremlin."

"I don't want to hear it Emo boy."

"Guys," Hunk stressed. "Can you not?"

Pidge and Keith flipped each other off but didn't say anything else. The room to the transporter was just a few feet away. Footsteps sounded off from further ahead before Allura and Shiro, as well as a wide-eyed Matt appeared from the other hallway, weapons in their hands and ready to fight.

At the sight of them, Shiro sighed in relief. The three of them were still in their pajamas, hair mussed and clothes wrinkled. They'd clearly just gotten out of bed as well. Keith was very conscious of the fact that he was the only one who was practically naked among his friends.

Shiro arching a brow in his direction wasn't helping either.

"Anyone know who hacked into our transporter?" Pidge hissed once they all met up in front of the metal door. "Because I'm going to kill those assholes."

Matt sighed. "Please don't curse Katie."

"I don't know," Shiro answered, prosthetic arm turned into a sword. "We're about to find out." His other hand hovered over the hand scanner. "Everyone on your guard."

All of them nodded.

Shiro spared them one more glance just to make sure they were ready before placing his hand on the scanner. The metal door swished open, the lights in the room lit up, and everyone burst in with a battle cry.

Someone squeaked.

Someone cursed.

"Don't shoot!" Someone shouted. A _familiar_ someone.

Keith and his friends slid to a stop and gaped. Shiro found his voice first and lowered his weapon, brows scrunched up in confusion. "Lotor?"

The Galra Prince lowered his hands once they realized who he was. Ezor put a hand to her chest and sighed as Axca put her gun blaster away. Lotor was dressed in fancy looking clothes though his boots had a bit of dried blood on them. "Do you guys know what's going on right now?"

His friends looked confused. Keith stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "It's about Lance right? Something is going on in Cloyetera."

Shiro snapped his gaze to him.

Lotor solemnly nodded, his hand clenched on the handle of the black sword he was holding. Fire and lightning danced on both sides of it, the sound of sparks coming from the sword. Allura spoke quietly into her bracelet and a moment later, the alarm finally turned off and the lights in the hallway turned from an angry red to a bright yellow.

" _Paladins!"_ Coran spoke through the speakers. " _A video message has been sent to us from Cloyetera! It looks important!"_

"We're on our way Coran," Allura answered back.

"What's going on?" Keith demanded. "What's happening in Cloyetera? And why are you here?"

He could feel the lingering stares of his friends on his back.

Lotor looked back at his guards before shaking his head. His tone was cautious. "I think you should see the video message that just arrived. It might explain things better."

Keith wasn't particularly happy about hearing that. He wanted to shake the Galra Prince and demand he get some damn answers but Lotor looked so serious. The red paladin glanced at the transporter, biting his lip as he debated. Should he use it? Lotor caught his stare and shook his head. Keith kept his mouth shut and began go follow the others in a sprint as they headed to the bridge where the Altean Advisor was already waiting for them in nothing but an orange onesie.

"Okay Coran," Shiro folded his arms over his chest after another look at his friends. Keith nodded, hands clenched at his sides. "Play the message."

Coran nodded, took a breath, and pushed the button for the big screen. The thing lit up and moments later, the determined face of Princess Leah McLane appeared on the screen. They could hear screaming in the background. They could hear the sound of ships firing. They could see the dust that fell from the ceiling as the place shook.

There was a battle going on.

But despite the chaos around her, Lance looked calm.

" _People of the Voltron Alliance,"_ Lance spoke, her voice sure and measured. _"This is Princess Leah McLane of the planet Cloyetera._ _I bring you this message bearing bad news."_ Lance took a breath. _"The Galra know that we're planning on interfering with the Kral Zera Ceremony at planet Feyiv."_

Everyone in the room stiffened.

" _They know and they have decided to go ahead with the ceremony anyway. However," she paused. "The time has been changed to_ _ **now**_ _."_

Shiro let out a low curse.

" _Forget whatever plans we made. They already know. It's time for battle_." A particularly loud blast coming from Lance's side had her stumbling. Lance grit her teeth and Keith could see movement from behind her as the Amazon Princess straightened, her hands fisted at her side _. "As you can hear, there is a battle going on here as well."_ Lance glared. _"The Galra have arrived in Cloyetera."_

Hunk gasped. "Oh, no."

Pidge's eyes were wide, her hand taking her brother's hand in her own.

" _It doesn't matter,"_ Lance went on, her eyes fierce. " _I know some of you want to come and help. And you have my gratitude but I want you all to go to the Kral Zera ceremony. Don't come to Cloyetera. Don't come to our aid."_

Allura gasped, hand covering her mouth. "What?"

Matt gaped. "She's joking…right?"

Keith clenched his fists.

Shiro put a comforting hand on his shoulder, his face hard.

" _It's time for a better world. A world where we can live alongside each other peacefully without the threat of Zarkon and his army. I've seen it. I see it on every single one of you in the Voltron Alliance. Just a year ago, most of you would have left everything to the paladins of Voltron. Most of you wouldn't have fought alongside the Blade members because of what they are: Galra. But now you have. You gave them a chance. And you've seen that not all Galra are evil." She paused. "Lotor…is not evil. I've sent him to the castle of lions. I know most of you disagreed with having him there but if anyone has a right to kill Zarkon it's him."_

Lotor gave a wry smile at that.

Lance lifted her chin. _"You've all met him. Some of you were taught by him during the training session we have. You dined with him. You joked with him. You know he's not like his father."_ Lance's voice lowered _._ It turned pleading. _"You don't have to like him. But please…just give him the chance to participate in the ceremony. It's only right."_

Coran and Allura glanced at Lotor and his team with small smiles.

" _I've seen Galra and Olkari fight together."_ Lance went on. _"I've seen the Balmera leave their planet for the first time to give aid to those in need. I've seen Amazons and Valkyries working together with men for what is probably the first time in centuries. Times are changing. And clearly for the better."_

Ezor took Zethrid's hand in her own and gave it a squeeze.

" _Too long have we been preyed on by Zarkon and his army. Too long have they preyed on the weak. It's time for us to fight for our future. It's time for the final battle._ " Lance put her right fist over her heart. " _I give you my word that the Amazons and the Valkyries will join you."_ She gave the screen a wry smile. " _We might be a little late but don't worry about us. This is a fight for just us Amazons and Valkyries._ _ **No**_ _ **one else."**_ She gave a meaningful look at the camera. _"We can do this. Believe in us. Believe in_ _ **me**_ _."_ Lance smiled, even as the building she was in shook. Even as screams filled the background _._ Even as the sounds of battle seem to grow louder. Lance continued to smile. _"You can do this. Fight well and may we meet again."_

The message cut off and then there was silence.

"Keith?" Shiro's voice was cautious, as if he was speaking to a wild beast. "Are you okay?"

Was he okay? Was he _okay_?

No.

He wasn't okay.

He was furious.

He was scared.

He wanted to punch something.

He wanted to race to Cloyetera and find Lance.

But… _but…_

His clenched fists slowly opened and he took a long deep breath, fully aware of all the eyes on him watching him with baited breath, half expecting him to explode. He almost did. He wanted to.

Those cautious looks were pissing him off.

" _Believe in us." Lance's words echoed in his head. "Believe in_ _ **me**_ _."_

Lance never asked for much. Keith sometimes wished that she would. It was a dream of his to spoil her rotten He'd get her anything she wanted. All she had to do was ask. But it wasn't like her. Instead, she was always the one giving. Whether it be her friendship, her time, or even small little trinkets that were actually expensive as hell, Lance gave it all. But this time she had asked for something. She'd asked them to believe in her. The way she had looked meaningfully at the camera when she said those words were pretty obviously aimed at _him_.

Lance was asking _Keith_ to believe in her.

To not come to her aid like he wanted to.

As much as it pained him, as much as it made him want to tear at his hair in frustration…how could he not believe in her when she asked him so seriously?

"I'm fine." Eyes widened at his words. "I believe in them. They'll join us as soon as they're done." Keith clenched his jaw. He was met with stunned silence. Matt's jaw looked like it would literally fall to the floor with a little more prodding. "Well?" he glared at them. They startled. "What the hell are you all waiting for? Suit up and get to your lions." He turned toward the door. "We're going to war."

Shiro's proud smile made him look away. "Keith."

"Save it." He snapped. "Let's just go."

Before he changed his mind.

"Not just yet," Lotor interrupted. Keith glared at him. He would have looked fucking cool if he just walked away after his little speech. "There's something I still need to do." He glanced at his transparent bracelet with a frown before turning to Allura and Coran. "May I use your communications device to send out a few messages?"

Pidge gave him a suspicious look. "Why?"

Lotor's guards stiffened.

"For one thing," Axca drawled, "Our bracelets aren't working."

The others frowned and began to poke at their own bracelets. Only Hunk and Coran's seem to be working. The others…not so much. The hell?

His wasn't working either.

"They must have knocked down one of the towers," Matt mused, mouth set in a frown. "Cloyetera has four towers. One in different directions so the bracelets could get a signal from every corner of the universe."

Hunk's eyes were wide. "Really?"

"Yeah," Pidge nodded. "Matt and I went on a tour at the engineering company. They told us."

Coran turned a curious gaze to the Galra Prince. "Who are you going to message?"

"Well," Lotor grinned as Allura gave him the go ahead. "Lance said not to come to her aid but I'm pretty sure that message was only sent to everyone _in_ the Voltron Alliance."

Matt frowned at him. "Yeah…so?"

"So," Lotor's fingers flew over the keyboard in a blur. "She never said anything about people _not_ in the Alliance coming to help." Hunk's eyes widened and Lotor's grin spread.

Keith felt like he couldn't breathe. He felt a spark of hope bloom in his chest. "Who are you going to message?"

Lotor's face was all types of smug. "Just a few people who owe us a few favors. We made a lot of friends during our travels these past four months." Messages began to send off one after another. "It's only fair. After all," he stood back after the last message was sent and gave them all a wicked grin. "we did save their lives."

* * *

Lotor's messages spread like wildfire. They went from planet to planet. To every corner across the universe.

To snow covered planets where the villagers looked like felines. To a planet with huge creatures that flew in the sky and where pirates liked to dine in dingy bars. To remote planets where two silvered haired women lived with a woman who could make ice appear at her fingertips.

To planets so far and well hidden that its new occupants who had just made it their home lived. Those who received the call for help rose to their feet. They called their friends. Gathered ships. Picked up weapons. Swords were drawn. Armor was donned. Pirate hats were carefully chosen. The Amazon sigil was drawn to every ship that was gathered.

They bade their families' farewell, kissed them, and left for battle.

The townsfolk where those people lived parted like the sea, making way for these warriors to pass, wide-eyed and awed as they progressed. They could tell that these warriors were headed for battle. They wished them luck. Some gave them extra materials.

First aid kits.

More weapons.

Sturdier armor.

It was amazing how fast Prince Lotor's message spread. Faster still was the way all these warriors quickly gathered. They remembered the Amazon Princess. Remembered how she and her allies had saved them. Gave them new homes. How she had asked for nothing in return but their happiness.

It was time to return the favor.

It was time for _them_ to save _her_.

" _To Cloyetera!"_ these warriors shouted. " _To Princess Leah!"_

Far and wide, throughout the whole universe, these warriors flew to the home of the Amazons.

* * *

Someone was dragging her.

She could tell by the way her head lolled to the side with the movement, the feel of someone's hands under her armpits as they pulled her back, they way her legs scarped the cold metal floor.

" _Please_ ," someone whispered behind her. "You have to wake up your highness."

It was a woman.

The one dragging her. Lance could feel every shudder that racked the woman's body as she continued to pull her. Even her voice seem to tremble as she spoke. The sound of an alarm was loud.

Even louder were the howls and shrieks coming from outside. What was going on? Why did she feel so sick? The urge to throw up?

She felt so weak.

What happened to her? The thought ran through Lance's mind as she struggled to open her heavy eyelids.

 _You have to wake up Lance!_

…Who was that?

"Your highness, _please_!"

 _Lance!_

Who was screaming in her head?

 _Lance! Wake up!_

Lance's eyes flew open. Her head was pounding. A small gasp escaped her and behind her someone exhaled in relief. "Your highness!"

The hands that had been pulling at her, left her only to come back to grip her shoulders when she almost fell on her back. Warm hands touched her cheeks. They trembled. "I know you don't feel well, but we have to go."

Wide obsidian orbs looked into her eyes. Lance blinked. Vernada.

 _Lance_. That was Keith's voice. _Are you all right?_

She could feel his worry as clear as day through the bond.

 _Yes. I think so._

Relief.

 _Good. That's good._

The building shook and dirt rained down. Lance looked at Vernada, whose gaze was flint-eyed but fearful. Footsteps approached them and Vernada turned, shielding Lance from view, as she raised a dagger.

It was only Thea though.

Vernada lowered her weapon.

"We have to hurry. I closed the door but it might not hold them off for very long." The brunette glanced behind her, blue eyes narrowing on the path she'd just come from before turning to Lance. Her eyes widened and a relieved smile lit up her face as she dropped to her knees to wrap Lance in a tight hug. "Your highness!" she sniffled. "I'm so glad you're awake!"

Lance wrapped an arm around her; someone had put on her silver arm cuffs for her, and glanced down the red-lit hallway they were in. This wasn't the room they'd been in before. "Where's Zenaida?"

"Right here your highness," she answered from behind them. Red eyes glanced at her when she turned. "We have to go princess, I don't know how long that door will hold them off."

"What are you talking about?" Lance rasped, taking Vernada's green-scaled hand to help her to her feet. Pain blackened her vision. She stumbled and Thea caught her, lifting her before she crashed to her knees on the cold metal floor. She struggled to breathe. It was like being burned alive from the inside out. Her hand went to her throat, rubbing up and down to ease some of the discomfort. The three Amazons crowded around her, Thea's warm hands rubbing her back as Vernada and Zenaida told her to breathe slowly. Lance licked her lips. They felt dry. She had to clear her throat twice before she could speak. "Who are we trying to hold off?"

As if to answer her, a loud thud echoed in the direction Thea had come from. Something heavy had fallen. Snarls and growling followed after it.

Well.

That didn't sound good.

And just when Lance thought it couldn't get any worse…the lights went out and they were engulfed in darkness. Lance's heart lodged in her throat.

Zenaida's voice trembled. "We have to go. _Now_."

Nobody argued.

Thea's grip on her waist tightened and the two began to move toward the end of the hallway. Away from the snarling coming from the other end. Zenaida covered their back and Vernada walked at the front.

All this to keep her safe.

If she didn't feel so weak at the moment she would have argued that she could handle herself just fine.

The lights began to flicker and the snarling began to grow louder.

They walked faster and took a few turns.

At least the blue dress she'd chosen for the outing with Lotor and Zooey was short. It made moving so much easier when she wasn't tripping over her dress. The heels though? Not so great. She might just toss them somewhere and go on foot soon. The Valkyrie Princess had probably already ripped her own dress to make it easier to move.

The though of Zooey made her stomach flop.

She hoped her friend was okay…wherever she was.

Lance's breaths sounded loud to her own ears.

Or maybe that was the other three women with her. They didn't look too well in the flickering lights.

 _You have to stay calm._

Lance took a steady breath and listened as Keith murmured comforting words to her. If she wasn't so terrified about the snarling she could hear from somewhere behind them she would have told him to focus on whatever he was doing on his side instead.

Zenaida's shriek turned her blood to ice and Lance turned to help even as Thea urged her to start running. But Lance couldn't. Zenaida. Something was going on with Zenaida.

"Run!" Zenaida shouted. "Keep her highness safe!"

There were a few painful grunts, something that sounded like a hiss, and then a thump. Lance looked over her shoulder to try and get a better look.

The woman screamed as huge, scaled claws, streaked with blood seized her and yanked her down the hall before she could utter a third scream.

What the hell was that?

Lance heard the crunching of bone and Zenaida's screams turned into painful wails. "We have to go back!"

Thea ignored her struggling and all but lifted her down the hall and turned the next corner. "We can't do that your highness!"

Her throat closed with tears. "But she needs our help!"

"Zenaida wouldn't want that," Vernada hissed, her green-scaled hands wrapping around her thrashing legs to help Thea carry her down the hall. "Your life is more important!"

Lance wanted to cry.

This had always been a possibility. Lance knew every Amazon in Cloyetera were willing to die for her. She'd always known this. But it didn't mean she had to like it.

Zenaida had stopped screaming.

She was gone.

A shot rang out dangerously close to Thea's ear and the brunette swallowed.

"Why you running ladies?" a voice drawled.

A male voice.

Lance stopped her thrashing.

She wasn't sure if she was even breathing.

Thea and Vernada seemed to be holding their breath.

Even Keith had gone silent through the bond.

"The more you run," the voice continued in a teasing voice. "The longer we'll torture you before killing you."

"You don't want to end up as food for our pet do you?" Another voice spoke. Thea swallowed. "If you give up now we'll make your deaths as painless as possible."

The two men shared a mocking laugh and Lance wanted nothing more than to go over there and beat the crap out of them.

Vernada slowly pushed open the metal door they'd stopped at, put a finger over her lips for silence, and waited for Lance and Thea to walk through it before carefully closing the door behind them. A set of metal stairs leading down to the transporter greeted them and the three of them quickly and quietly made their way down.

To where the secret passage that led outside waited. Lance couldn't help but glance back though. "May we meet again."

"May we meet again." Thea and Vernada murmured.

She nearly tripped on the first step, she was so rattled, but Thea grabbed her arm to steady her and she realized that the woman was shaking. Lance wasn't the only who was scared.

"She would have wanted you to live," Thea said. There were tears in her voice, just barely restrained. "So you're going to live. You're going to get out of here, find her majesty, and stay safe."

"If we lose either of you," Vernada murmured, turning back to glance at her. "Then the war will be lost. You have to live princess."

Lance couldn't find any words to argue. Instead, she simply nodded and followed after Vernada as she led them downstairs. Thea handed her a dagger the length of her palm and Lance gripped it tightly, ears straining for any signs of their pursuers but there was nothing, even though the battles raged on just outside. They should have been able to hear the clash of metal and screams nearby, but the further down they went, the more they had begun to fade.

Now there was only silence.

The three of them reached that last step and cautiously stepped up to the circular metal door and began to pull the thing open. In their weakened state it took them far longer than Lance would have liked but after what felt like forever, an opening just big enough for one person to pass through was made.

Lance passed through first. Then Thea. And finally Vernada.

The transporter stood in the middle of the room. The gray crystal, its energy source, was for once dim. They skipped past the fat wires on the floor and began to feel around the walls to reveal that secret entrance. Lance had forgotten where exactly it was. She knew it was on this particular wall but she'd forgotten which stone she had to push to open the entrance.

"I think they went this way," a male voice said.

The three Amazons froze.

The man's companion snorted. "Only way they _could_ go." He clicked his tongue. "Let's just get this over with so we can join the fight outside. It sounds way more fun than here."

"Princess," Vernada whispered, looking frantically over her shoulder. Their pursuers were very close. "You have to go, you have to run." She stepped back and took out another dagger. "I'll keep them busy."

" _What_?" Lance stared at her, horrified. She wanted Lance and Thea to leave her here by herself? Against those two males and whatever the hell had taken Zenaida? At her weakened state? Lance shook her head. "We should stick together," Lance hissed, gripping her green-scaled arm. "We'd have a better chance of making it out."

"They'd just come after us." Vernada shook her head, black curls bouncing. "I'll hold them for as long as I can." She turned to Thea and gripped her arm. "Take care of her."

"I will." The two of them shared one quick hug before letting go. "May we meet again."

"Wait!" Lance protested. Why was no one listening to her? "Vernada you cant –"

Vernada reached forward, cupped her cheeks, and kissed her forehead. Her lips were warm. "You have to live your highness." She repeated. Her green-scaled hand patted her cheek. She smiled. "You're going to be a great queen one day. I just know it." She stepped back. Her right fist was placed over her heart. "It's been an honor watching you grow to the woman you are today. I couldn't be more proud." Tears prickled the corner of her eyes. "May we meet again."

"May we meet again." Thea murmured, voice thick with emotion.

Lance opened her mouth, ready to continue arguing when suddenly a shot rang out and Vernada jerked forward, her knee buckling out from under her. She screamed and Lance could only watch in horror as blood began to seep from the back of Vernada's leg.

Smoke seemed to be coming out of the wound.

It was a bullet made out of Dampening Stones.

"Found you," a male voice sang.

A scream ripped itself out of Lance's throat. "Vernada!"

"It's time for us to go," Thea gripped her arm and dragged her back towards the wall. Lance struggled, her eyes locked on Vernada's obsidian orbs, pain vivid on her face. She waved at them to go. The sound of metal being pried apart caught Lance's attention and the Amazon turned her face in the direction, blue eyes widening as a set of black claws coated in red blood began to pry the doors apart. She could see the legs of the two males just behind.

What was that thing?

She'd never seen a creature with claws that huge.

She'd yet to see its face but there was no doubt in Lance's mind that it wasn't going to be pretty.

Thea made a relieved sound from behind her. She'd found the stone. The wall swung to the side and the brunette wasted no time in dragging Lance towards it.

She couldn't break free. Lance could only stumble as Thea pulled her inside, kicking the door shut behind them. The last thing Lance saw before the door completely shut was Vernada's body shuddering as she struggled to her feet before launching herself at a mass of black and red with a battle cry on her lips.

There was snarling, the sound of gunshots, a whole lot of yelling, and then nothing.

Everything went quiet.

* * *

Thea moved in front of the door, blocking Lance's way when she made a move towards it.

" _Princess_ ," she pleaded softly, everything she wasn't saying thick in her voice. "We have to keep moving. Don't let her sacrifice be in vain."

Lance clenched her fists, tightly closed her eyes to will away the tears threatening to fall, and turned away.

Mourn them later. Survive now. That's what her mother would say if she were here.

Thea pushed away from the wall and led the way down the long dank tunnel. White lights flickered to life, illuminating the space around them. Lance followed after her in silence. She couldn't help but think that this was _her_ fault.

 _You can't think like that_. Keith was back. _This is no time to be feeling sorry for yourself._ Lance winced and Keith's voice lowered, turned softer _. I know you're scared. And I know you want to save everyone but Lance…you told me to believe in you. And I do. I really do, but you're making it really hard for me not to go to Cloyetera and save you myself. People are going to die. People you know. And It's going to hurt and you'll want to cry but you can't do that. You have to be strong. Because I won't be there to save you this time. And these women? They_ _ **need**_ _you to be strong._

 _I don't feel strong…_

 _You_ _ **are**_ _. You have no idea how strong you are but I do. And I know you're scared but so are the women around you. Both you and your mom are nowhere in sight right now. They must be freaking out right about now. So you need to get out of this building, find your mom, and give these women some hope because they really need it._

Could she?

Would her presence really give these women hope?

Her mom she could understand. The Queen of the Amazons was strong. But her?

Sure she'd trained but she'd yet to beat her mom in a fight. What they really needed was her mom. She'd know what to do.

Thea paused at the front, her hands went to the wall in search of something, and pushed at a stone block. The wall slid to the side and Thea gestured for Lance to follow after her. Dust rained down on their heads, before the lights spluttered to life.

Inside was a storeroom filled with all sorts of things. Clothes, weapons, and shelves of preserved food. Thea turned to her. "We should pick up a few weapons since our bracelets aren't working."

The former blue paladin caught the golden bronze armor that Thea threw at her and quickly changed out of her blue dress. Heels were replaced with long golden boots that were definitely easier to run in and way more sturdy than what she had been wearing.

Thea pulled on her own set of clothes, similar to her own, and moved to the weapons rack. She gave Lance a twin set of black daggers that she strapped to her waist and another one that she strapped to her right thigh. "Let me see if there are any gun blasters around," she murmured. "You're better at long range."

Lance nodded and she went to help her look when she spotted a mirror above the dusty sink. She quickly made her way over, wiped the dust off, and stared back at her reflection. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Lance closed her eyes and concentrated. There was someone she desperately wanted to see right at this moment. When she opened her eyes, Keith was staring right back at her. He was in his red paladin armor, swords strapped to his sides. Lance could see the red shower curtain just behind it and knew that he was in the restroom inside his room. He must have sensed her intention and rushed back to the restroom so he could see her as well.

Keith's eyes softened. "Hey."

"Hey," she whispered back. There was no need to talk in each other's head when they could hear each other just fine by doing this. Thea gave her a questioning look. Lance pointed at her mate mark and the woman nodded in understanding, even moving a little further away to give her a little privacy. "Leaving already?"

"Yeah," Keith nodded, eyes raking over her form for any signs of injuries. He knew there was none, he'd be able to feel it, but she understood his need to see for himself. "Everyone's ready. The rest of the Voltron Alliance members are already heading to the ceremony."

"And Lotor?"

"He'll be riding with Shiro."

"Good." Lance exhaled in relief. She hadn't been sure if they'd let him attend. "That's good."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, but it was a lie. She was so not okay. But Keith knew that. "As good as I can be considering the situation."

Keith's eyes narrowed. He hesitated. "Do you want me to come after all? You told me not to but –"

Lance shook her head, though she desperately wanted to tell him to come after all. If Keith was at her side, she could do anything. But she'd told him to believe in her. She couldn't go back on her words now. Besides, he and the others had something far more important to do. Voltron was a symbol of peace. And their allies needed to know that they were going to be there for this final fight. "No. You were right."

Keith's eyebrows shot up. His mouth twitched upward. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I don't think I heard you."

Lance's cheeks warmed. "I said you were right." Keith's smirk widened. "I need to be strong right now. And brave. I can do it." She shook her head stubbornly and clenched her fists. "No. I _will_ do it."

"Good," Keith placed his gloved hand on the mirror in front of him and Lance did the same on her side so it looked like their hands were touching. They weren't but the sight still brought a smile to both of their faces. "I have to go, I can already feel Shiro grumbling his way to my room."

"Okay," Lance swallowed. There was so much she wanted to say to him. So much she wanted him to know. But they didn't have enough time. They both had to go. So she said the most important thing of all instead. "I love you. _So much."_ She tightened her lips. "So don't you _dare_ die on me."

"I won't," he promised. He swallowed once, his eyes taking all of her in before looking up into her eyes. He looked like he wanted to say more but she could already hear Shiro's voice in the background, urging him that they had to go. His eyes bright and his voice thick with emotion, Keith said, "I love you too. More than anything in the world. So make sure you come back to me. Promise?"

Lance extended her pinky and placed it on the mirror. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Keith's mouth curled up and he extended his own pinky and did the same as he recited the rest of the song that she'd taught him. "Eat a thousand needles if I lie."

The two smiled and uttered the last phrase together. "This is the pinky promise song."

The two stared at each for another for another minute, eyes never leaving the other, before finally dulling the connection between them so there'd be no distractions. Keith would still be able to feel her but he wouldn't be able to hear her thoughts and the same went with her.

Lance closed her eyes and when she opened them, only her reflection stared back at her.

"Your highness?" Thea lightly touched her shoulder. "Are you ready to go?"

Lance steadied her breathing. She needed to be prepared. She needed to be calm. Keep her emotions in check. Because what awaited them outside was going to be so much worse than what they had already faced.

"Yes." Lance headed for the door. "I'm ready."

The entire room suddenly shook, a deafening crash coming from the direction they had just come from. Thea and Lance stumbled, the former ducking her head into the hallway to see what was going on. "We need to go." She clutched Lance's arm and hauled her over. " _Now_."

That's when she heard the snarling.

She didn't need to ask what that was. It was clearly the creature that had been with those men. Which meant that Vernada…

Lance swallowed and then she and Thea were running. The older Amazon took the lead, Lance trusting her when they had to make all those twists and turns. Something whizzed by her ear, a flicker of heat coming off it, before it slammed into the wall in front of her, smoke wafting into the air.

A bullet made out of Dampening Stone.

Crap.

Their enemies were close. Too close.

Lance and Thea took a turn. Someone cursed behind them. The snarling creature sounded angry. To Lance's delight, however, she didn't hear another male or another set of footsteps. Which meant that Vernada must have taken down one of the males before…Lance swallowed and shook her head. She had to keep pace with Thea; no matter how much it felt like her lungs were ready to burst.

There was the rattling of a chain from behind them and suddenly Lance was on the ground, a massive black thing with razor sharp teeth snapping at her face. Her hands went up to its face to hold that mouth away, her arms were trembling.

Thea skid to a stop, shouted something, and then she too was slammed to the ground, only not by the same creature as the one Lance was currently trying to get away from but a Galra. The two rolled on the ground, throwing punches and clawing at each other's face in Thea's case.

Lance was on her own.

Through the dim lighting Lance could see that the creature was blind. A thick line of jagged bloodstained teeth ran down like a zipper from its forehead all the way down to its jaw. Lance noticed a metal collar was wrapped around its neck, the sound of a chain rattling every time the thing moved. A long forked tongue shot out from its mouth, probing for Lance's face. She craned her head back. Saliva pooled down her cheek.

"Your highness!" Thea snarled, and then she swung what looked like a crowbar. The creature hurtled to the floor. It twisted out of Thea's reach as she swung again. Lance scrambled to her feet, eyes widening as the black thing turned its back to them, and Thea and Lance went down as a razor-sharp tail struck threw them off their feet.

What the hell was this creature?

The man Thea had been fighting, now with blood and scratch marks on his purple face, snarled and turned his gun blaster on them. Thea and Lance rolled to opposites sides at the same time the creature made to smash them with its tail.

The bullets hit the things tail.

The man paled.

He scrambled back, hands going to his pockets in search of something.

With a pained howl, it turned its head to the one who had injured it, and leaped on _him_ instead. The cavern was soon surrounded with pained screams and the snap of bone. Lance and Thea shared one quick look, nodded, and ran down the tunnel. If they could avoid a fight all the better.

"We're almost there." Thea panted, her breaths sounded harsh, and her legs kept trembling. Lance wasn't any better. The effects of that tower was still in effect. The sound from the Galra had faded only to be replaced by the screams of her own people the closer they got to the exit.

Another turn and beyond that was a long ladder that led all the way up to a metal latch. The exit. Lance exhaled in relief, they'd made it. Thea pushed her to go first, and just to save time, Lance didn't bother arguing and began to climb. With a grunt, her hand pulled at the lever to open the metal hatch in front of her. She wasn't as strong as she'd like to be, and it took her longer than expected, but after a little longer the hatch made a clicking sound and the hatchet opened. Lance pushed it the rest of the way until she heard the thud and began to climb out.

They were in some alley, the screaming was definitely louder, and overhead she could see Galra and Amazon ships firing back at each other. The blue Amazon ships seemed to wobble and teeter to the side. The pilots weren't exactly one hundred percent. Valkyries were in the air; some carrying injured Amazons to safety, others backing up the Amazon ships. There were blasts from every direction, shattered pieces of ships rained down on them, leaving a trail of black smoke in their wake.

"This looks bad," Thea murmured, elbows resting on the ground as she popped her head out. She glanced down at her hands with a frown. "I wonder why we can't use our powers."

"It's the tower," Lance murmured, offering Thea her hand to help her out. The brunette took it with a nod of thanks. "It takes our powers away. And it'll stay that way until we can destroy it or turn it off."

Thea frowned and began to climb out when suddenly she was yanked. Lance almost lost her balance but managed to quickly regain her footing. There was growling coming from down the tunnel. Thea screamed. Lance grabbed hold of her pale hand with both hands and tried pulling back.

"Your highness," Thea gasped, face draining of color, her other hand gripping the edge of the hole they'd just climbed out of. "You have to let me go."

Lance was already shaking her head. "Not happening."

Thea grit her teeth, and the smell of blood wafted in the air. Why won't that thing let go? Lance pulled as hard as she could but her feet kept sliding down, making all the progress she'd just made go to waste.

"Your highness."

Lance grit her teeth, she was losing her grip.

Blood poured from the corner of Thea's mouth. "You have to live."

Lance felt tears at the corner of her eyes. "Stop talking." Her hands felt sweaty. "I'm getting you out of there!"

Thea smiled and she closed her eyes. She shuddered, face etched in pain. "You'll be a wonderful queen." Tears slid down her cheeks. She smiled. "Long may you reign."

And then she let go and disappeared down the hole with one last scream. Lance scrambled to her hands and knees to peer down the opening but Thea was gone. All that was left was a trail of blood on the steps they'd just climbed and the floor as she'd been dragged.

Her throat closed with tears.

 _You have to live._

Lance took a breath.

 _You have to live._

She got to her feet.

 _You have to live._

She palmed two daggers and began to exit the alley. She had to get to her mother. She had to. For Zenaida. Vernada. And Thea.

For everyone still fighting.

She couldn't die just yet.

Taking one last look at where Thea had disappeared, Lance put her right fist over her heart and murmured, "May we meet again."

And exited the alley.

* * *

The world tilted. Black tunneled Lance's vision. This was a nightmare. It's not like the Galra hadn't attacked before. They had. Dozens of times. But not once had they ever breached the city. They'd never gotten that far.

This time they had.

Crimson splattered the cobblestones steps, the bodies of those Lance had lived, worked, trained with, fallen and broken on the streets. It was a slaughter. The bodies of the Galra were far less compared to those of the Amazons. A few Valkyries here and there. One or two of those creatures that Lance had encountered, scorched to death.

The red-tinged air was full of the smell of burning, the early morning split by shrieks and screams. Doors were open all up and down the rows of houses. Roofs were wrenched apart, doors shattered, screams erupted from inside.

Beyond that, all around the island, the sea was on fire. Purple flames danced. It wasn't just this island though. From what she could see, purple flames surrounded every single island. Galra ships hovered further down the sea, weapons aimed below them.

The Myr wouldn't be able to lend their assistance.

Those flames had to be deadly. She knew red flames were bad. Blue flames were worst. But purple flames? Well, she didn't want to find out. She assumed they were bad.

Where were the gryphons? Where was Nyx? Shadow and the rest of her companions?

Lance glanced at the floating islands in the sky and could just barely see something red and glowing up there. She wasn't sure what it was, she couldn't tell from this angle but whatever it was must be keeping Nyx and the other gryphons busy.

Lance moved. She knew where she was. She was close.

The building her mother was in was just a few blocks away. The street before her was clear. She could make it. She began to walk, sticking to the shadows. Every body she passed only fueled her anger. She was going to find her mother, come up with a plan to take down that tower, and then she would go all out against these Galra.

A scream broke through her thoughts and without even thinking about it, she headed in the direction of the noise by cutting through the alleys. It sounded close. She turned the corner, passed through the café where they served some of the best brownies, until she heard the laughter. The two Galra in front of her didn't see her coming up from behind them; too busy laughing at something, before Lance drove her daggers into their necks. Her technique was a little sloppy, she couldn't get a good grip on the daggers with her unsteady hands but she made it work.

She didn't wait to for their bodies to fall, just kept going, even as her weak legs began to tremble, her panting turned harsh, and her vision began to swim. It wasn't hard to spot the dark tower. It was taller than any building they had. A purple particle barrier surrounded it and though Lance was a good distance away, she could feel the effects just fine.

What would she feel if she was right in front of it?

Would she lose consciousness?

Start dripping blood everywhere?

Have a seizure?

And what about the women who lived in that area? Had they gotten out in time?

God, she hoped so.

She cast one last look at that tower and kept going on. This wasn't the time to think about that. She'll deal with that problem later. Probably after visiting Olwen to get a dose of the cure first. Right now, she had to find the source of the scream she'd just heard.

Just as she thought it she heard another shout.

It was closer this time.

But it wasn't just screams she heard.

There was laughter as well.

Growling and the sound of chains rattling.

Lance narrowed her eyes and slid to a halt between a bakery and a salon, quickly putting her back to the wall to hide her presence from those in front of her. There was an Amazon, Quinn, a bloody sword raised above her shoulder, her other hand lying limp and dripping blood, standing in front of a clothing store. Behind her were two little girls, one sobbing into the other shoulders while the other one glared at the enemies surrounding them and cradled her injured foot.

They must not have evacuated in time.

Before them, laughing and mocking, were five Galra and two of those creatures that Lance had seen earlier. They looked even worse in the daylight. One of the Galra leaned forward and Quinn turned her sword to him. The moment she did, another Galra threw a bottle at her. It hit her shoulder, causing her to stumble back. The girls shrieked and the two creatures opened up their jaws and let out a terrible screech that had them whimpering.

The Galra laughed.

Quinn glared and though she had to be in pain, she stood her ground. Lance assessed the situation quickly, took in the injuries from all three girls, and then glanced further down. There were no other enemies in sight beside the ones already here. The ships fighting in the sky were too high to notice anything happening down below.

Lance looked back at Quinn. Her arm was injured, but otherwise she seemed fine. She could get those little girls out of there if Lance took all the attention herself. Would her weakened legs be able to hold out that long? Would she be able to make it to where her mother was before they caught her?

Only one way to find out.

Lance palmed her two daggers, took a breath, and shot out from her hiding spot. "Hey!" she shouted, waving her hands. The Galra startled and whirled. "Amazon Princess over here!"

"Hey it's that girl!"

"The one lady Haggar wanted?"

"Get her!"

Lance met Quinn's startled stare and gave a sharp nod. The blond gave a sharp nod of her own, she understood, and Lance turned and ran.

Her weakened legs stumbled over the blood on the floor, her breaths harsh even though she hadn't been running that long, but she ran.

There was motion behind her. Shouting. More footsteps joined the chase.

Don't think about it. Just run.

Snarling and growling could be heard behind her. She turned to the right, pushing the trashcan and all its contents behind her. She heard a curse and a few thuds. She didn't stop.

It was getting hard to breathe, her legs were screaming, but she jumped across a fallen body, raced past broken shards, past more Galra soldiers who whipped their heads at the commotion. Lance tightened her grip on her daggers, her hands had gotten sweaty.

They were closing in.

Orders were shouted, Galra at the front began to fire at her.

The first few shots missed, the others she managed to bounce off her arm gauntlets just in time, the recoil making her stumble. How many Galra were following her? Definitely more than five now. Another shot rang out, this one closer and to the left.

Lance lifted her hand, the bullet hit her arm gauntlet, the recoil stronger this time and she tripped on her feet and fell. Scrambling to her knees, she let out a gasp as a particularly broad Galra jumped down from the roof he'd been in only to land in front of her.

Lance raised her daggers.

He grinned, took a step closer, and a ball of flame landed on his face.

He stumbled back, hands going to his face, but it was too late. The flames were already spreading.

"Princess Leah!"

Chest heaving, Lance raised her head and saw two Valkyries in the sky, balls of flames at their fingertips. Lance was so relieved she could have cried.

"Run!"

She didn't need to be told twice.

She ran.

Behind her, the Galra began to scream as the two Valkyries descended on them with mighty battle cries, sword and mace already covered in purple blood in their hands. Lance had only made it a few feet when someone blocked her path. She didn't hesitate. He lifted his sword and Lance slashed at his throat.

Blood sprayed.

Lance whirled, slammed into the next Galra, stabbed him in the shoulder, ducked as his sword rushed to her head, and continued to run while he howled in pain.

Three more were heading her way.

Lance wiped the sweat from her forehead, bloody daggers already rising, when balls of flames were thrown at the Galra. More Valkyries had come. Lane could see their shadows from the ground, their wings beating as they flew behind her. The Amazon eyed the sky but saw no sign of Zooey anywhere. She hoped her friend was all right.

The enemy ships had finally noticed them.

A shower of bullets began to fire behind her and only kept getting closer.

Some of the Valkyries split up to face them.

Lance turned and jumped through the broken window of somebodies home, quickly flipping the torn up red couch with some effort to cover her just in case and froze when she came face to face with one of those creatures. The things face split open, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth.

The thing let out a terrible scream at her face.

Lance plunged her dagger into its mouth, her own mouth curling up into a smirk as the thing scrambled backward, green blood dripping down its forked tongue. A second later her smirk disappeared as that tail struck her in the chest and threw her across the room.

The pictures that had been hung on the wall crashed with her. "Okay," she muttered, her vision swimming. "I deserved that."

The thing ran at her on all fours, mouth opened wide, and leaped. Her right hand came up just in time and the things mouth closed on her arm gauntlet just as her other hand picked up the biggest piece of glass she could find before plunging it into its throat. With one leg she tried pushing it back.

It was like trying to move a brick wall.

A clawed hand came up to her side and Lance felt pain as those claws pierced through her armor and bored into her skin. She pushed the piece of glass further in, a whimper escaping her, as those claws seem to sink in further. Saliva and blood dripped down her arm, those teeth still trying to break her arm gauntlet, but its strength was waning.

With one last burst of strength, Lance cut through tissue and bone until the things body sagged to the floor, its jaws still wrapped around Lance's arm. With a disgusted sigh, she tossed the things head somewhere across the room and began to pry those claws from her side.

The damage wasn't too bad.

The armor had taken most of the damage but she was still bleeding. She now had five puncture wounds on her right side. Lance studied the claws that had been in her not too long ago and was satisfied to find that it wasn't coated in poison.

That would have made running harder.

With a wince and a hand to her side, she got to her feet and headed for the backdoor. The bleeding seemed to have stopped. On the way she passed more broken furniture, shattered dishes, a bloodstained wall, and a bathroom that was missing its door before finally making it to the backdoor. Hopefully the family that lived here had gotten away.

She didn't hear any noise coming from this way. Had the Valkyries taken care of her pursuers? Was it safe to come out? Where even was she? She'd taken some random turns after all.

"I think she went this way!"

"Holy shit, did she kill one of the Synats?"

"Watch your backs!"

Guess that decided it. She was going out using the backdoor. Better than staying here. Lance opened the door and quietly slipped out. The coast looked clear. Now where was she? One of the houses ahead was on fire, and clouds of swirling embers stung her skin as she passed, she pressed a hand to cover her mouth and nose and hurried on. A few yards ahead were two bodies, skin charred to black. They looked male.

A flash like a burst of lightning further ahead startled her. She couldn't see through all this smoke. What the heck was that? Lance picked up her pace, one hand waving away the smoke, the other pressed to her side where the Synat's claws had pierced her before. Her side had begun to throb.

Oh.

She'd already arrived at her destination.

The main entrance lay open and unguarded, a dozen dead Synat's scattered around the whole building. A few Galra were among them. The reason why they were all dead? The blue particle barrier that surrounded the whole building probably had something to do with it. In Cloyetera, they had two different types of particle barriers. The crystal clear one that surrounded the whole island was to keep anyone and everything from entering. The blue particle barrier was different.

It attacked anyone who touched it. Anyone that wasn't a royal that is. That proved it then. Her mother was definitely inside. Only someone with royal blood could have put this barrier up in the first place. She was almost there, just a few more yards.

"There she is!"

Ah, crap.

Lance headed for the building. If she could make it inside then she would be safe.

"Get her!"

Footsteps pounded behind her.

She leaped across the fallen bodies of her enemies sprawled on the ground, passed the eight columns with vines wrapped around them, almost tripped as shots began to fire at her, leaped back to avoid the tail of one of the Synats that had managed to catch up to her, and stretched her arm out.

Almost there.

Almost.

Her hand passed through the blue particle barrier. Then her head. And finally the rest of her made it through. There was a sharp tingle as she passed through, like a static shock along her whole body, and then the comforting feeling of no longer being in danger as the particle barrier closed behind her. The two Synat's that had caught up to her hit the particle barrier head on and were immediately bounced off, like they had hit a stonewall. Their black bodies looked as they'd been burned. The three Galra that had spotted her slid to a stop a good distance away from the building and glared at her.

Lance gave them a cheeky grin and turned her back on them.

It was time to find her mother.

* * *

"This is a trap, isn't it?"

Lotor couldn't help but agree with the black paladin. "Yes, I believe it is."

Because why else would the Galra ships be parting for their arrival if not to lead them to a trap? There were hundreds of them. No. Thousands of them. Maybe even more. The ground wasn't any better. A sea of soldiers greeted them there as well. Lotor couldn't count all of them but every direction he looked there was an enemy.

" _I say we shoot the fuckers."_ Was Keith's wonderful piece of advice through the intercoms.

Shiro heaved a heavy sigh. Lotor resisted the urge to do the same.

" _I'm with him."_ The green paladin growled.

The yellow paladin swallowed. He was already sweating. " _Maybe they're willing to talk?"_

Princess Allura narrowed her aquamarine eyes. _"I somehow doubt that."_

" _Shiro,"_ came Kolivan's voice next _. "What should we do?"_

The black paladin turned to him, hands still clutching the controllers in front of him. "What do you think? Will they attack us as soon as we enter or will we be fine?"

Lotor thought about it. His gaze turned to the far distance, right where the stadium for the Kral Zera ceremony was being held. It was all black edges. A giant sword, the Kral Zera, was dim. The usual purple flame that was on as long as there was a Galra Emperor was gone. Once the ceremony started, every single person inside would battle it out; the first person who climbed the steps of destiny and relit the Kral Zera would become Emperor.

Lotor narrowed his eyes. Somewhere in the stadium was his father. The prince could practically feel Zarkon's gaze even from so far away. His father was taunting him.

 _Well_? Lotor could just imagine him saying. _Will you face me like a man or will you kill all of us here and become Emperor by cheating your way through?_

The choice was obvious.

"We go through." Lotor finally said. "Don't attack unless they attack first." He paused. "Though I doubt they'll try anything until we reach the summit."

Shiro gave him a sharp nod and relayed the command to single allies that had come with them. Slowly, cautiously, the Black Lion led the way in, a trail of ships following after them. Lotor's eyes went to the sword at his hip. Though he didn't mean to, his thoughts trailed off to his two friends back in Cloyetera. Were they doing all right? Had they managed to take care of the enemies on their side? Were they on there way yet?

"I'm sure they're fine sir."

Lotor startled at Axca's voice from behind him. She and the rest of his generals were checking over their weapons for the upcoming battle.

"Yeah," Ezor piped with a reassuring smile. "Those two are as tough as us." She gave him a thump-ups. "They got this."

"She's right." Zethrid rumbled.

Narti nodded her head in agreement.

"Lance and Zooey will be fine." Shiro interrupted. "Lance told us to believe in them. They'll join us soon. Just you wait."

" _Damn straight they will."_ Keith added. " _Lance pinky promised."_

"And a pinky promise is sacred. _"_ Lotor confirmed with a twitch of his lips. "Or so Lance says."

Shiro smiled.

" _I almost feel sorry for the enemies._ " The green paladin snickered.

" _Yeah_ ," the yellow paladin ruefully smiled. " _Just think of all the ways Lance is toying with them."_

" _And let's not forget the Valkyrie Princess,_ " Allura voice her opinion. " _Something tells me she's worse than our former paladin."_

" _Princess Zooey?_ " Matt barked out a laugh from his own ship with the rebels. " _Oh, yeah. She looks like she'd enjoy torturing._ "

Lotor smiled gratefully. They were right of course. So why did Lotor have a bad feeling?

" _Look_ ," Keith interrupted his internal thought. " _The sooner you beat your father and anyone else that stands in your way, the sooner we can truly put an end to this war."_ Keith's gray-blue eyes stared him down from the screen. " _You can do this. Lance believed in you. And so do I. And if anyone stands in the way, then we'll light the fuckers up."_

Cheers accompanied his statement.

Shiro sighed heavily. "Watch your language Keith."

His friend pretended not to hear and just grinned wider. Keith had to be the most nervous out of everyone here. Unlike the others, Keith and Lance were bonded. Everything Lance felt, Keith felt. And everything Keith felt, Lance felt as well. He wasn't showing it though. The red paladin looked ready for battle, eyes narrowed on the enemies before them, hands gripping the controllers in his palms, finger hovering over the button to start firing if anything should happen. If anything, that should have made Lotor feel even more reassured but there was still something nagging him at the back of his head.

"All right guys," Shiro's voice turned serious. They'd arrived. "I'm going to drop off Lotor and his generals. Do not engage unless attacked. Is that understood?"

Murmurs of affirmatives were heard.

Every single Galra down there was already staring. They didn't stop as the Black Lion began to lower itself and they didn't stop as Shiro came to a stop a distance away from the gathered crowd. For a moment no one moved. Keith and the rest of their allies had moved to the right facing the enemy ships that had moved to the opposite side once they had all passed through. Shiro turned to him. "You got this?"

Lotor glanced down at his sword and then at him. "I got this."

Shiro nodded and a second later the Black Lion bowed its head and the ramp was dropped. Moment of truth. He turned to his generals and only when they nodded back did Lotor began to exit.

The sky was as dark as ever. The sun never really shined on this planet anymore. It always looked dark and cloudy. The stadium was the same. Spikes shooting out from the top. Five rows of seats all around for those who didn't wish to participate. And there, in the center, was a large area big enough to fit three hundred people. And big enough to accommodate separate fights going on at the same time.

In the center was a set of stairs leading up to a giant sword. At the bottom of the stairs were about a dozen purple torches for anyone to use.

Lotor and his generals began to make their way down.

Everyone glared.

Lotor, who was used to being glared at, continued walking at a leisurely pace. The Black Lion closed its mouth and that's when the crowd parted to make way for someone bigger. Someone they all feared and respected, although begrudgingly.

His father.

Zarkon was decked in full body armor. The thing was bright enough to have people squinting. Two black swords were clipped to his side. Those yellow eyes of his narrowed on Lotor. "So," his voice was like gravel. "You actually came."

"I was one of the chosen."

His father scoffed. "You? Lead the Galra?" a few people laughed. "What could possibly make you think that _you_ could be Emperor?"

"Because unlike you," Lotor began to walk, the crowd parting for him as he walked toward his father. "I actually want the best for the Galra. It's time for a better world. Time for the Galra to change their ways." Lotor pointed at him. Zarkon narrowed his eyes. "I will light the flame, and not because I'm the strongest Galra here but because I did something no one else could do." The Black Lion let out a roar. "I returned with all five lions of Voltron at my side." The crowd broke in murmurs. "Stand aside, Zarkon."

Zarkon raised a single armored hand.

The crowd went quiet.

Zarkon stared down at him. "Time to prove yourself in combat boy." He unsheathed his swords.

"No," Lotor took out his own sword. The one Lance and Zooey had given to him. Just holding it in his grasp felt like they were right there with him, backing him up, encouraging him, giving him strength. Lotor had never felt so calm during a battle before. "It's time to end this."

"Enough!"

All eyes turned to the speaker. Haggar.

Lotor didn't put his sword down. Neither did Zarkon.

"Lotor," Haggar stepped out from the crowd. She was wearing her usual black cloak, the hood covering everything but her white long hair and yellow glowing eyes. Her blue hands were fisted. Two druids were at her side. That explained the stench at least. "You cannot lead the Galra."

"You think you can stop me, witch?"

"You are not full Galra. You are a _half-breed."_ She practically spat the word, yellow eyes narrowed to slits. "And we don't tolerate any half-breeds."

"Everyone here knows my lineage, but that will not keep me from the throne. It's time to put an end to this war so I can save my friends and everyone whose lives the Galra have ruined since Zarkon became Emperor."

Zarkon glared at him.

Haggar scoffed. "Friends? You mean those women warriors who you befriended?"

Lotor narrowed his eyes. It felt like bugs were crawling up his arms.

"You should have stayed in that planet you stupid boy." Haggar's lips turned into a wicked smile. "It doesn't matter who ends up becoming Emperor, either way, all those women will die today. I made sure of that."

The Red and Blue Lion let out a low growl where they hovered in the sky.

"Here," Haggar lifted a hand. Dozen of small little triangle robots shot from the ground and flew to the sky at her command. "I'll show you."

The triangles lit up and moments later heaps of images of a planet Lotor had come to love was being displayed from every direction. Ezor gasped. He could hear the gasps of shock from his allies through the comm he had on his ear. Keith was furious. More than one voice began to speak. Others were saying that they should send a few people to Cloyetera. Lotor tried to steel himself, but when his gaze drew up toward the images being displayed, it still felt like a punch in the stomach. The sea was on fire. Ships were firing at the underwater city of the Myr. Black clouds of smoke billowed out from every building. It filled the sky as though to swallow it completely.

The images changed.

There were Amazons gutted on the floor. Valkyries with wings ripped off. Creatures that Lotor had never seen before fighting over the corpses on the floor. The streets where he had walked hundreds of time were coated in blood and gore. Buildings were he had ate, were he had gotten coffee; buildings where he had greeted women that he had befriended were all but falling apart. And there, in the center of the main island, all the way at the end, was a black tower. It was bigger than the ones he had seen before. Stronger too, no doubt.

What happened to the people Lotor had messaged? Were they not there yet?

What had happened to his friends?

Lance?

Zooey?

Lance's family? Her guards?

Were they okay? Had they taken the cure? Or were they…?

Lotor dug a fingernail into his palm, letting the sharp pain clear his head just long enough to blink away any tears that threatened to fall. Tears were useless. He couldn't help out his friends by crying. The only way he could help them was to defeat his father and all those who tried to interfere, before lighting the Kral Zera to become Emperor.

Once he did that, he could order the Galra at Cloyetera to stand down. Not all of them would. But most would obey the order if given to them by their Emperor.

"No more talk," Lotor snarled, turning back to his father. "Now I'm taking what's rightfully mine. I am lighting that flame, and my first act as Emperor will be to put a stop to that massacre being showed behind me!"

Zarkon lifted his swords. "You're not setting one foot on those stairs boy!" he spread his arms. "Kill them!" he ordered, his voice loud and clear enough that even the ships that were hovering in the sky could hear him. "Kill them all!"

The Black Lion took to the skies, letting out a blast from its mouth when ships began to fire at him. The minute the Black Lion took to the skies, a particle barrier covered the whole arena, trapping those inside it with no way out.

The Lions took to the skies to form Voltron.

The sky exploded above.

The rest of the Voltron alliance members began to open fire on the Galra ships who did the same. Lights flashed in the dark morning sky. Debris fell as red streaks. They bounced off the particle barrier. The Blades of Marmora rappelled down from their ships to intercept with the enemies on the ground. King Reynfred and his men soon followed them. The Olkari in their robot suits, the Balmera with spears, and the rest of the rebels who had been with Matt Holt.

The war had begun.

* * *

Lance clasped the red pendant around her neck for courage. The place was eerily quiet as she wondered through the dark halls, which was strange, this place was always guarded. The few flickering bulbs she passed cast ominous shadows on the paintings that stretched over the ceilings.

The place she needed to go was all the way at the bottom. How to get there though? The elevator wasn't working. The emergency stairs seemed to be missing quite a few stairs and at her current state, Lance couldn't make that big of a leap to reach them.

Think Lance. Think.

She'd been in this building countless times.

She'd played hide and seek with Reyna here hundreds of times when they were small, even though they weren't supposed to, surely there were other ways to get to where she wanted.

Her head shot up.

The library!

There was a door in every floor that led to the library, it was that massive. If she could find the door to the library in _this_ floor, then all she had to do was climb down the spiral staircase inside the library until she reached the bottom at the sixth floor.

She headed back the way she had come and went to the right wing; a set of two golden doors immediately caught her attention. Found it. With a grunt, she pulled them apart just wide enough for her to slip through and stepped inside the library.

It was dark here as well.

She'd been here enough times to remember where she needed to go though. There were two spiral staircases on each floor. One on the right. And one on the left. She headed for the closest one. Her fingers brushed over the spines of old, crumbling books, worn down with time. She hadn't read a book in a while. Perhaps when this was all over she could curl up on the couch with a good book. Or perhaps she'd let Keith read to her as she laid between his legs, his chin on her shoulder, as he murmured quietly into her ear. His voice always lulled her to sleep as he read.

Her hand found a railing and further down the hall she found the spiral staircase. She sighed in relief, fingers brushing over her red pendant. So far so good. Lance had only made it down a few steps when the hairs on the back of her neck rose.

Lance froze.

Was it a druid?

She took a delicate sniff but the only scent she could catch was of leather and dust. Cautiously, she continued down her path, ears alert for the slightest noise, hand hovering above the dagger strapped to her waist. Now that she thought about it…this place shouldn't be completely silent. There was an old grandfather clock in every floor. Every little tick used to annoy the heck out of her, especially when it was the only sound she could hear while she was forced to study.

But right now…right now she couldn't hear a single one.

It's with this realization that she finally noticed that someone was watching her. Her skin prickled with unease. Blue eyes moved around her surroundings for any sign of movement but caught nothing. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness more or less but she couldn't make out anything yet.

Deep breaths Lance.

Lance shifted so the dagger strapped to her waist came out quietly out of its sheath and into her palm.

Let it just be her imagination, she prayed.

She continued down the stairs, goosebumps on her arms, when movement from the second floor caught her attention. Lance turned her head, eyes straining in the too dark room but saw nothing. She continued to stare, but after a minute of nothing, she continued down.

It's when she reached the stairs in the third floor that she heard the hissing and quiet laughter. A sound like someone repeatedly tapping their fingers on a surface accompanied it. Something was coming her way. Lance pursed her lips.

Screw it.

Lance began to run down the stairs.

The laughter rose in volume. It seemed to come from every direction.

 _Hurry. Hurry. Hurry._

Something slammed into her, knocking her back against the railing, Lance's dagger slipped from her hand, her fingers clasping on open air –

And then she was falling.

Lance screamed.

She had a moment of pure panic, of multiple sets of red eyes staring back at her, and then her back crashed into something hard. The table she'd landed on toppled to the floor with the force of her landing, the books and materials that were on it scattering to the floors, and all Lance felt was pain.

There were sharp points digging into her back. Tears poured from her eyes, coursing down her cheeks. The back of her head felt warm. She stared up at the high ceiling, her vision blurry, her body aching and panic flared, white-hot in her chest at the sight of hundred of red glowing eyes staring back at her. What were those things? Surely not the Synats she had seen. Those hadn't possessed eyes. Lance stared, body throbbing and aching, and those red eyes did the same. Past the ringing in her ears she could hear quiet laughter. Or maybe the ringing in her ears was blocking most of the sound.

Calm down, she told herself. Before you deal with that, check if you can even move first.

She tried her fingers first. They twitched. Toes next. She wiggled them inside her boots. Good. She attempted to sit up, her fingers brushing over scattered paper and pieces of wood, shattered glass from the lamp that had been on the table, and a low, pained moan broke past her lips at the slightest movement.

She lay back down, panting for breath.

"Look at the poor thing," a voice crooned in the darkness. "She can't get up."

"Let's just eat her already," another hissed.

"This one is mine," someone purred. "This last one wasn't as tasty."

Something heavy dropped beside her with a wet squelch. Panting through her teeth, she turned her head to the side, eyes squinting against the dark. She wanted to know what had landed next to her. At the same time, she had a feeling that she shouldn't look.

But Lance had always been a curious creature.

She _had_ to know.

Her fingers dragged against the floor and she felt something wet and sticky. Lance swallowed and moved her fingers further up. It was soft. Cold. Was that an arm?

"Give her some light!" someone cackled.

All at once, dozens of lamps that were posted on every table were lit on every floor. It cast the room in odd shadows and although it was still partially dark, the lights were enough to illuminate what was next to her.

A sob clawed its way up her throat.

It was a body.

A woman's body.

But that wasn't what made her cry out.

What made her cry out was the fact that the body next to her was missing a head. Lance's breaths came out fast, she was trembling. Blue eyes roamed over the body, her attention drifting to the green bracelet on the woman's wrist. It was one of the librarians who worked here.

Oh god.

"Smell that ladies?" a voice rasped. There was a sharp inhale. "It's fear."

One sighed dreamily. "She smells delicious."

"Why don't we just share?" another tempted. "She smells too good."

"What?" another shrieked. "I made her fall, she's mine!"

Bickering ensued.

But Lance was no longer paying attention. Thanks to the many now lit lamps, she could now get a good look at what her enemy looked like and the sight had her paralyzed with fear. Reeking limbs and dripping fangs, bulbous abdomens and more red eyes that she could count kept glancing at her as they fought over who would get to make her their meal.

They were Bekhanatons. Like the one she, Keith, and Lotor had encountered in Planet Zaebos. And unlike their counterparts, the Akhenaton's, these were _not_ vegetarians.

She had to get out of here.

Her eyes drifted to the body next to her, face etched in sorrow for not being able to save her, and murmured so quietly that her enemies couldn't hear, "Your fight is over. May we meet again."

While the Bekhanatons were still distracted, she gingerly used her elbows to drag herself back, wincing as her body throbbed with each move. Her vision swam. It wasn't the way she had wanted to get down but regardless; she was in the bottom floor. If she could just find the door leading out then she could make her way down the last few halls until she got to the meeting room where her parents would be.

At least, she hoped they were still there.

Please be there, she silently prayed.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Something pounced on her, blacklegged limbs caging her in, her wide-eyed appearance being reflected back in those multiple set of red glowing eyes. Lance couldn't hide her trembling. Ever since she was a little girl, Lance had been terrified of spiders. The way they looked, the way they pounced on their meals, the way they wrapped their victims in their silk only to eat them alive later. Not to mention those fangs of theirs. Lance hated them from the bottom of her heart, they scared the crap out of her, and just seeing one would usually make her faint.

She'd gotten better though.

She hadn't fainted at the sight of a spider in a while.

But they still scared the living daylights out of her.

And having one leaning into her personal was going to send her into cardiogenic shock. Lance turned her head to the side as the Bekhanatons leaned forward to take another sniff. It was practically salivating; drool coming out of that mouth. "You smell _fantastic_."

"W-well," Lance managed to stammer. Her body wouldn't stop trembling. "Personal h-hygiene is very important to me."

The Bekhanaton let out a low laugh. "Well, aren't you the funny one."

Lance licked her lips. "I'm g-great at p-parties."

Those red eyes narrowed at once. Something like amusement flickered in its gaze. "Tell you what, since you made me laugh, I'll give you a two minute head start."

"J-just two?" Lance managed to tease, heart pounding. Her eyes wondered around the room as discreetly as possible. She had to find that exit. "You s-said my scent was f-fantastic, I deserve at least f-five minutes."

"Three."

"Five."

" _Three_."

Lance swallowed as those fangs hovered dangerously close to her throat at the words. "O-okay, okay. Three minutes."

The Bekhanaton leaned back; Lance eyed it warily, cautiously lifting her upper body just to test the waters. By this point, the rest of the Bekhanatons were watching. Some were dangling upside down, spindly legs wrapped around their silk to keep them from falling, others were watching from the ceiling, and others were munching on something that Lance had no desire to see. There were six librarians, one for every floor, and Lance had a pretty good idea of what had happened to them.

"I'd hurry if I were you," the Bekhanaton purred, those multiple eyes of hers watching Lance's every move. "Time is wasting."

She pushed herself up, biting back a cry, snapping her teeth down on her bottom lip so hard that she felt copper in her mouth, and managed to stand. Her body swayed and she staggered back, hand bracing her against a bookshelf to keep her upright. The Bekhanatons around her took a sharp inhale at the scent of her blood. Lance had to hurry.

The Amazon took one step, then another, but the spiders around her made no move to approach her. At least they were keeping their word, she thought with relief. Lance didn't turn her back on them though, she wasn't _that_ stupid.

One hand wrapped around her side, Lance began to move as fast as she could, which wasn't much; breath coming out in shudders, and began to look for the exit. Every now and then her eyes roamed the ground for her dagger. She still had one more strapped to her thigh but having two would have been better.

Every now and then, her wondering hands were caught by silk, parts of it were on random bookshelves, others were on small patches on the floor, trapping her legs when she accidentally stepped on them. Every floor was long, and Lance was running out of time. That door was somewhere at the far end, her vision kept blurring at the edges with every step that she took.

Hurry. The word was a constant mantra in her head. _Hurry_.

Wait, she remembered this part of the library. There were the blue couches positioned in a circle for anyone who wanted to sit down and read comfortably. She was close. There were the two bookshelves, one on each side of the doors. Her breath hitched. She couldn't help the whimper of relief that escaped her. She was so _close_. Almost there. Almost there. Almost –

Lance's eyes widened in horror as she stumbled back. A gasp escaped her, "No…"

The Bekhanatons laughter echoed all around her. They were loud and mocking.

Lance had made it to the double doors that led out of the library. She'd found them, but it didn't matter. If the thick chain wrapped around the large door handle bars didn't make her want to cry out, the spider silk that engulfed both doors from head to toe definitely did. Even if she could remove the silk, she would still have the chain to deal with, and with one dagger strapped to her thigh and hardly any strength left, Lance wouldn't be able to break that chain.

She couldn't get out.

She was trapped.

"This isn't _fair_!" she cried, voice breaking despite herself. She dropped to her knees, and the wrenching agony that filled her at that moment had tears springing to her eyes. "I never had a chance to begin with!"

"Look at the despair in that pretty face!" One of them cackled.

"So close," another chuckled. "Poor thing."

"Your three minutes are up," the one Lance had spoken to drawled. The Amazon was pretty sure it had been _more_ than three minutes. They'd probably wanted to see the hope disappear from her eyes. "It's time to feast!"

The Bekhanatons didn't bother hiding their approach. Hissing and laughing, they skittered from every direction, climbing down from the ceiling, walking along the walls, laughter rising the closer they got, and halted when they beheld her on her knees, blood from the wound on her side, her legs, the back of her head. They drank the scent in, their eyes rolling to the back of their heads in ecstasy.

Something pulled at her hair, wrenching it back, and Lance cried out until her back was pressed against a giant mass. She was pushed to her knees. Her hair was pulled again, baring her throat to them all, and Lance couldn't help the whimper that escaped her. "I get the first bite," the Bekhanaton hissed near her ear. "It's only fair."

The others hissed their impatience but made no move to stop their companion. Just urged her to hurry. And then Lance felt something sharp and piercing wrap around her right upper arm, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help the scream that came out of her lips. She clenched her eyes shut, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Keith stirred in her mind. He'd probably felt her pain. She couldn't let him in. Couldn't distract him. She imagined the door leading to her thoughts, put lock after lock to keep him out, imagined covering it with cement, and no matter how much Keith pushed to gain entry into her thoughts, Lance didn't budge.

Out of the two of them, Lance had always been better at keeping him out.

The spider bit harder and Lance's screams turned into sobs, tears still running down her cheeks, and she just wanted it to be over. Please, let this be over.

Was this how she was going to die?

Eaten alive by a pair of spiders?

Her voice raw from screaming?

 _You have to live._

Lance blinked her eyes open.

 _You have to live._

She blinked them again.

 _You have to live._

She willed her tears to stop.

 _Make sure you come back to me._ Keith's words rang through her head _. Promise me._

That's right. She'd promised.

She couldn't die here.

If she did, then Zenaida, Vernada, and Thea's deaths would have been in vain. They'd given their lives just so she could escape. If Lance died now, without even trying to fight back, then that would be a mockery to their sacrifice.

No one was going to come save her this time.

She couldn't call for help.

She was on her own.

And if this _was_ the time for her to die, then she would go down swinging. First things first though. She had to put some distance. What could she do to achieve that? Oh. There was _one_ thing. Through clenched teeth, Lance's hand slid to the dagger strapped to her right thigh, unsheathed it, and gripped it in front of her with both hands.

The Bekhanatons around her laughed. The one behind her, the one still chewing on the chunk of flesh she'd just bitten off, scoffed. The grip on her hair tightened. "It's pointless little girl," the thing sneered, "You think that little toy will work on me? Keep dreaming."

With some effort, Lance managed to turn her head just enough to give the Bekhanaton a smirk. "Who said it was for you?"

The thing frowned in confusion and in one swift move, Lance moved the dagger to the back of her head, and sliced off her hair. With nothing to hold on to, the spider fell back, long brown strands still clutched in two of its spindly legs, and Lance stumbled forward, toward the silk covered door, uneven strands tickling the back of her neck.

Blood poured from her wound, coating her fingers.

"You bitch!" the thing snarled at her, jumping back to its eight feet, throwing Lance's long strands of hair in the space between them. The other Bekhanatons surrounding the area moved but the one that had taken a bite of Lance hissed at them. "She's mine!"

Lance stood her ground, back to the door, feet parted, grip tight on her dagger, and glared. The tears had stopped falling, though her cheeks still felt damp.

"It's pointless!" the spider snarled at her. "I've already taken a bite out of you! You should already be feeling its effects!"

Lance frowned. Effects? What effects?

As if to answer her, her legs suddenly gave out, and she dropped to the floor on her knees. What was happening? She curled a fist and struck her legs but she felt nothing. She tried to move them but got the same results.

The spider laughed, Lance's blood still on its mouth, and smirked. "Our saliva paralyzes our victims. It's only a matter of time before you lose movement in your arms as well."

"Boy," Lance rolled her eyes with a sigh. It was an attempt to look brave. She wasn't sure she succeeded. Her body had begun to tremble again. "You just love hearing yourself talk." The grip on her dagger was getting loose. She tried wiggling her fingers. Only three of them moved. Damn. "If you're going to kill me just get it over with." She should really stop talking. "All this chatter is boring me to death."

Lance should have kept her mouth shut.

With a roar, the spider lunged at her, and Lance closed her eyes, waiting for the impact when there was a deafening crash from behind her and the spider that had leaped at her let out a strangling sound. The Amazon felt a body press up to her back. There was someone behind her. Lance opened her eyes and a shuddering sob escaped her lips at the sight of a familiar muscled arm, veins all but popping at the restraint it was using not to snap the neck of the spider it had in its grasp. This hand had covered her from danger more times than she could count. Had placed Band-Aids on her skinned knees when she fell off her bike. Who had given her piggyback rides when she didn't feel like walking. She knew this hand anywhere. This was her brother's arm.

Mickey McLane looked murderous. The vein on his temple looked ready to burst. His nostrils flared.

Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. "Big brother." The words were a whisper.

Those dark blue eyes slid to her before narrowing to slits as they turned back to the spider in his grasp. "You made her cry." His voice was more of a throaty growl. He tightened his grip on the Bekhanatons throat. Spindly legs stabbed into her brother's arm, small trickles of blood pouring from the small wounds, but Mikey didn't even flinch. The wrath that twisted her brother's face was world ending. The Bekhanatons watching made to move forward but at the sight of her brothers' murderous face, they backed off. They were terrified. " _No one_ makes my sister cry and gets away with it."

With one last gurgling cry from the spider in his grasp, Mikey snapped the Bekhanatons neck and dropped the corpse on the bloody carpet, legs still twitching even in death. The Bekhanatons surrounding them hissed, one leaped at them in anger and was immediately shot down from the air before it could even get close, green gore covered the carpet as the body dropped to the floor. "Now I _know_ you weren't planning to attack our big brother." Another familiar voice drawled from behind her.

"It'd be down right suicidal." Another voice teased.

"Unless you were after our sister." Another guessed.

"Because I got to tell you ladies," the last voice warned. "If you were, that would just be _stupid_."

Lance began crying in earnest, the restraint she'd kept on herself snapping free as the rest of her brothers stepped in front of her, bodies covering her from view, faces etched into dark scowls, as they stared down at the horde of Bekhanatons surrounding them. The sight of her brothers standing before her…it was like coming home.

"Aiden." Mikey's eyes never left the enemies before him. "Take care of her."

Aiden took a step back, gun blaster gripped tight to his chest, and nodded. "I got this."

Blades flashed in the triplets' hands, they twirled the swords in their palms once, and took a fighting stance. "Ready when you are."

There was a beat of silence, both sides regarding each other, and then one of the spiders in the back let out a battle cry and leaped, the others following her lead, and then it was chaos. Aiden ran to the bookshelves on both sides of the doors, throwing them to the floor to make a sort of barricade, keeping both Lance and himself behind them. There was gaping hole to the right of the doors, big enough to let someone through, rubble on the floor.

The Bekhanatons began screaming and shrieking.

Aiden positioned his gun blaster on the bookshelf, turned it into its sniper form, and began to shoot any spider that managed to make it pass the rest of her brothers. Those blue eyes regarded her briefly before turning back. "You holding up Lei-Lei?"

"I can't move," she managed to say through clenched teeth. "Their saliva paralyses you."

Aiden glanced at her wounds, his eyes narrowing to slits, before he clenched his jaw and nodded. She must have looked pretty bad with her chopped off hair, tear-stained cheeks, and bloody arm for him not to make a joke. "I'll take care of it once we're done." He fired off another shot, the spider that had leaped down from the ceiling letting off a shriek as three of its legs were blown off. Aiden fired off another two shots to finish it. The thing was dead before it dropped to the floor. "Just hold on until then."

"Okay," she whispered, blue eyes taking in the rest of her brothers. "I can do that."

One lunged for Kyrian with its front two legs.

Her brother dodged and swung down, striking true.

Green blood sprayed, the spider shrieking – only to be caught off as Colt and Alan appeared next to their brother, swords flashing as they struck down to finish it off. They moved on to the next without pause.

A few feet away, Mikey McLane was a whirling of fury, his now gloved hands coated in green gore, as he lunged and shattered through the Bekhanatons ranks. His eyes were wild, his movements smooth, as he caught one spider, throwing it across the room so hard that it splattered, green ichor staining the wall.

The Bekhanatons didn't have a chance.

They'd pissed off her brothers, and most importantly, Mikey. Her older brother was truly terrifying when he got mad, nothing could make him stop his rampage once he began. Not that Lance was going to. She was a little pissed too.

The Bekhanatons must have noticed that they stood no chance against these five males because soon enough they were shrieking at each other to retreat. Spinnerets were pointed at the ceiling, silver silk shooting out and attaching itself to its directed destination, Bekhanatons disappearing one by one.

Mikey stood in the center, dark blue eyes looking up, and growled, "Aiden!"

"I'm on it!" Aiden was already shooting off a volley of shots at the ceiling; there were shrieks all around them, as one by one, the Bekhanatons began to drop to the floor like dead flies, right where Mikey and the triplets were waiting for them. The triplets began to hack away with their swords, Mikey crushing their heads, ripping their black legged limbs from their bodies before slamming them to the ground, his black military boots stomping on them to finish the job. Aiden kept shooting, eyes not blinking once as he fired off shot after shot.

The ground was littered with corpses.

Lance always forgot how strong her brothers were. She really shouldn't have. All of them had been trained by both of their parents so it shouldn't surprise her. They were amazing. Truly.

She'd missed them greatly in the short time they'd been apart.

It didn't take long after that. Every single Bekhanaton was dead. Her brothers had made sure. They'd done a sweep through the library, finding more of the librarians, or what was left of them. They'd made sure to cover their bodies with a tarp. Arms coated in green gore all the way to his elbows, Mikey stepped in front of her, his eyes softening at the sight of her, dark blue eyes taking in her chopped off hair, and opened his arms to embrace her.

Lance's throat tightened to the point of pain, and all she wanted was to throw her arms around his neck, and embrace him just as tightly, but she couldn't. She was still paralyzed, but the great thing about her big brother? He always knew her better than she knew herself. "I know," he murmured into her neck, squeezing her tight, aware of her wounds. Aiden and the triplets stepped forward, Mikey crushing all five of them into the hug. More hands were wrapped around her. "We missed you too."

And the tears began to flow once again.

* * *

"So you guys were looking for mom and dad too?" Lance voiced out a few minutes later. She was currently held tightly to Mikey's wide chest, his now _cleaned_ hands, holding her close. He'd wrapped his huge black coat around her shoulders. The thing practically dwarfed her. Aiden had cleaned and bandaged her wounds, even the one on her side and the back of her head. Out of all of them, only Aiden's bracelet seemed to be working. It's a good thing that Olwen had made it mandatory to carry a first-aid kit around; otherwise Lance would have bled to death.

Not that she wasn't feeling a little woozy. The orange juice she was made to drink had helped her a little.

"Yeah," Aiden replied, eyes scanning the hall in front of them for any danger, blue gun blaster pressed to his chest. The triplets had a small lantern, courtesy of Aiden, clipped to their belts, to light the way. "One of the Amazons told us that you'd called a meeting and were on your way here with mom and dad."

"We were halfway across the city," Colt added, turning to her. "When the Galra attacked."

"Mikey all but bolted," Kyrian teased their big brother. "Said we should find you first and started running in random directions."

Mikey huffed.

"We managed to reign him in," Alan continued with a dimpled smile. "and were able to get quite a few Amazons to safety before making our way over here."

Lance tried to nod but forgot that she couldn't do it. She was still, annoyingly enough, paralyzed. Neither her nor her brothers knew when it would wear off, hence Mikey carrying her. "I see," she finally murmured. "That's good." Her blue eyes slid to Aiden at the front. "But how'd you know I'd definitely be here?"

"Oh." Aiden avoided her eyes. "Well, you see –"

"Because of the tracker," was Mikey's response. Aiden stiffened. The triplets started whistling innocently and avoided eye contact with her. If she could, Lance would have glared. Mikey shrugged. "Aiden's bracelet was still working and when we saw that your dot was on the other side of town, we tried to catch up."

Lance's tone could have frozen the halls. "You guys put a tracker on me?" Her brothers swallowed. Mikey pursed his lips. "Where?"

Her brothers responded as one. "You don't want to know."

Lance breathed through her nose to calm herself. A part of her wanted to lash out. How _dare_ they put a tracker on her? And another thing, how long ago had she had it? Is that how Mikey was able to find her all those times she wanted to be alone? And _where_ had they put it that was so bad they didn't want to tell her?

She quickly reigned herself in.

She didn't like having her movements tracked, and once this was over she was going to have _words_ with her brothers, but for right now…she was grateful.

Mikey glanced uneasily at her. "Are you mad?"

Lance slid her eyes to her brother. "What do you think?"

Her brothers winced. Mikey held her stare and prompted her. "But?"

Lance huffed through her nose and slid her eyes to her fingers. The blood had been wiped off. "But," she finally said. "I guess it came in handy." Her brothers shared relieved smiled. " _This_ time." She looked at them all one by one before settling on Mikey. "When this is over I want it gone though."

Mikey shrugged and kept walking. "We'll see."

"What do you mean, 'we'll see'," Lance snapped. "You _will_."

"Sure."

"Mikey."

"Leah."

"I'm serious."

"I can see that," Mikey replied, mouth curling into a smirk. "It's downright adorable."

Her brothers snickered up ahead.

" _Mikey_."

Lance didn't need to look at him to see the amused smile he had on his face. She could practically _feel_ it. "I just said we'd see."

Lance would have punched him if she could. "You're impossible." She finally said. "That practically means no."

"Well, if you knew why'd you even ask?"

Aiden and the triplets burst into laughter. Lance looked at them all in annoyance. "You all suck."

"Come on Lei-Lei," Kyrian said between chuckles. "You know you love us."

Yeah, she really did.

Aiden held up a fist at the front. Immediately, all laughter stopped and her brothers came to a halt. "Do you guys hear that?"

Her brothers cocked their heads to the side, ears straining, and waited. There. It sounded like a crash.

"I think I hear shouting." Colt announced, raking a hand through his sweaty black hair. "What about the rest of you?"

"Same," Kyrian replied, chocolate brown eyes narrowing. "You guys think its mom and dad?"

"Might be," Colt pursed his lips, hands still tucked in his blue and gray camouflage pants. All five of her brothers were wearing the same outfit. Blacks shirts were tucked in camouflage pants, and black laced up combat boots adorned their feet. The males in her family had been given these customized clothes made out of the same material as the Amazons armor to keep them safe. "Should we check it out?"

"Yeah," Mikey replied, eyes glancing down at her before looking at the rest of their siblings. "Carefully though. We don't know what they're facing and I refuse to put Leah in any more danger."

"Understood." Aiden took the lead. The lanterns were dimmed. "Watch out for anything."

"Right." The triplets unsheathed their swords. The three of them positioning themselves around her and Mikey. "Let's go then."

Lance counted every step. Not that it helped slow her thundering heart as they got closer and closer to the noise they had heard moments ago. There was definitely a fight going on further down. They found the stairs leading to the hall where the meeting room was usually held until they reached the bottom.

Aiden plunged ahead, gun blaster aimed in front of him, as they followed the noise. The lights kept flickering in this hall. The temperature dropped. Her skin prickled.

"It's through here," Aiden breathed, and drew to a stop, the grip on his blaster tightening. The hall before them was lit by a single light bulb, and there at the end were two double doors. They were sealed shut. The noises were definitely louder from here. Lance could hear gun blasters going off, battle cries that were swallowed up, orders being shouted from more than one person. "Should we go in?"

The question was directed at Mikey who was the oldest. Her brother seemed to consider it, then nodded. Carefully, her brothers walked forward until they reached the doors, and the triplets began to push the doors with their shoulders, Aiden soon joining them.

With a mighty groan, the doors began to pry open, and with one last burst, her brothers stumbled into the room and dropped to the floor with pained gasp. His eyes wide, Mikey ran after them, Lance still clutched to his chest, and that's when she felt it.

A bloodlust so heavy that it could paralyze you. It felt like dread. The sensation kept hitting them in waves. Like a wave of nausea, rocking from feet to head, sending hands to throats and knees to pavement. Mikey dropped to his knees behind Aiden and the triplets, breaths coming out in small gasps. Lance felt bile go up her throat. In front of them, Kyrian leaned to his side and hurled. What was this?

In an instant.

That was all it took for them to know that whatever was the cause of this painful pressure was something they wouldn't be able to beat. Her brothers were frozen in fear. They couldn't stop trembling. Whispered voices and hallucinations of death flashed through their minds. Colt began to sob. Aiden's forehead was covered with sweat. Alan's nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. Mikey's chest heaved up and down, hands still wrapped around her, as tears began to pour down her cheeks.

"New prey," a voice purred, words echoing down the massive room, bouncing off the walls. "I _was_ starting to get hungry."

Something was coming their way.

Lance could _feel_ it.

Voices shouted from further down, weapons were fired, and that same voice let out a throaty laugh. There was a crash, followed by painful wails, and then the laughing increased. She could hear something skittering along the ceiling, laughter growing in volume as it neared them.

Mikey tried to move, his legs shaking with the effort, but managed to heave himself up with one knee. He had to swallow twice. "G-get up." He ordered through clenched teeth. "W-we have to g-get u-up."

Aiden and the triplets slid their eyes to him, legs trembling as they tried to stand.

" _YOU_." Everyone froze. Eyes slid to the ceiling. Gasps were released. Dozens of red eyes zeroed in on her. "You're the one that killed my daughter in Planet Zaebos." The giant spider looking down at them from the ceiling sneered. "I've been waiting for you little princess," the spider spat. It was huge. Bigger than all the ones they had seen and definitely wider. Unlike the other spiders they had faced, this one was white and blue, bright blue wings stretched out behind her, fangs dripping venom judging by the smoke coming out from them.

This was a Queen.

The Queen of the Bekhanatons.

The thing about being in this insects' presence was that it got worse instead of better. It felt like a wound that increased from ache to a stab. The whispers were getting hard to bear, the pressure seemed to increase, like gravity was pushing them down, and the hallucinations began to grow worse.

Lance could see people she knew in those illusions. It wasn't real. She knew it wasn't but it felt so _real_. A sob escaped her lips. The voices were increasing in pitch. It felt like her head was going to explode from the overload.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

The spider lunged, mouth open wide, and her brothers kept trying to make their limbs move. Mikey growled in frustration. Lance's breaths were ragged. Her brother's didn't budge. They wouldn't. Couldn't.

" _GET AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN!"_

A figure slammed into the spider from the side, tackling her to the floor, and suddenly Lance felt like she could breathe again. Around her, her brothers let out a gasp, as if they too had been holding their breath. All eyes went to the side where the spider queen and the figure that had tackled her had landed.

Lance saw long black hair.

Pale skin.

Brown fur shawl wrapped around slim shoulders.

It was her _mother_.

Both queens leaped back, the spider lifting two of its front legs to stomp on her mother, when two shots blew the appendages clean off. Green blood sprayed and the spider queen shrieked, stumbling back, and then there were footsteps, and suddenly, Lance's father stood protectively in front of them, legs parted, his back to them, gun blaster still letting off smoke from the shots it just fired. He glanced at them over his shoulder. "Can you get up?"

Her brothers nodded in a daze and immediately struggled to their feet.

"Dad?" Aiden took a step forward. "What's going on?"

The spider queen screamed in rage, leaping to the ceiling, its movements too fast for Lance's eyes. Their father let out a round of shots, Aiden quickly joining him, but the spider was too fast, even with two of its legs gone. The sound of flapping wings was the only warning they got before the Valkyrie Queen slammed her flame-covered mace into the spiders giant blue and white abdomen.

The thing was hurtled across the room with a deafening crash.

"Keep her busy!" Lance's mother shouted.

"Yes, your highness!"

Rhea, Alsie, Clio, and Daria, her mother's guards stepped forward to engage the spider. There was no stiffness to their movements, no signs that their lungs were on fire, they were moving well. Had they taken the cure?

"You too ladies!" Queen Afya ordered.

"Understood your majesty!"

Hadriana, Liviana, Octavia, and Valeria, Queen Afya's personal guards went to assist the four Amazons. Making sure that the spider queen was occupied, Lance's parents ran to them, relief evident in their faces.

Cheeks were cupped, heads were turned from side to side, and hugs were shared. "We were so worried," Queen Lexi murmured between the triplets. She had her arms wrapped around the three of them tightly, her brothers sniffling as they hugged her back.

"But my children are _strong_ ," her father praised them all, Aiden, Mikey, and her held tightly in his strong arms. "I knew you were all right."

Though all her training and the battles she'd faced had prepared her for life after her parents passed away, she still longed to hear their comforting, if stern, voices. And being here, enfolded in her fathers' arms, for a moment she felt like a child again. Safe, snug. If she could, Lance would stay wrapped in her parent's embrace for the rest of her life if it meant this feeling of safeness never went away.

"Leah?" her mother made her way over to her, pale hands cupping her cheeks, smoothing back her hair. "What's wrong?"

"Paralyzed," Mikey murmured. "It hasn't worn off yet."

Her mother frowned, brown orbs going to the wound on her arm. Her eyes narrowed. "Did you not take the cure yet?"

"Didn't have time to visit the Healing Chamber."

Her mother's frown deepened. "Did you not get Olwen's message?" Lance blinked. "She and the rest of the healers sent a few to everyone."

"I didn't get anything." Blue eyes went to the bracelet wrapped around her wrist. "My bracelet isn't working at the moment."

"Neither is mine." Mikey murmured.

"Same here." The triplets announced.

"Mine is." Aiden raised his hand.

Her parents shared a glance. The two sharing a silent conversation that Lance and her brothers were not privy to. Finally, her father nodded and their mom turned to them. "You'll have to get some." Her eyes went to the battle still going on at a distance. "And when you do, you have to take down that tower and save the rest of our people."

Lance rapidly blinked. "W-what do you mean _I_ have to take the tower down?" Her mother turned back to her with a frown. "Are you not coming with us?"

"I can't." her eyes slid to the spider. "We can't leave without taking that thing down. If it gets to the outside…"

Her father narrowed his eyes. "It'll be chaos." He glanced at them, head cocked to the side. "You felt what that thing can do. It can also regenerate. If it gets outside we'll only lose more warriors."

"We have to take her down here," her mother continued. "It's why I put the particle barrier around this place. To make sure no one but a royal could come in."

"Then why don't we all just run and leave that thing trapped in here?" Aiden pleaded. "You could still come with us."

Their parents shook their heads. Her father smirked. "Our family doesn't run from things."

Lance couldn't believe this. After coming all this way, after losing Thea, Zenaida, and Vernada, outrunning all those Galra and Synats, and almost dying at the hands of those Bekhanatons just to get here, just so she could get her mother to help her take down that tower…her mother was saying she wasn't going with them?

" _I can't_." How could her mother even think that Lance of all people could take down that tower _and_ save all their people? "I, I'm not _strong_ enough."

Damn it.

There came the tears again.

Her mother's gaze was unwavering. "Yes, you _are_." Her mother cupped her cheeks, thumbs wiping away her tears. "Be proud." Her mother pulled her into her chest. "You have grown in strength beyond what your father and I could ever imagine. You have this _spark_." She glanced at her brothers. " _All_ of you."

"We're so proud of you," her father murmured, his accent leaking out, smile gentle. Aiden tucked himself to his side like he used to when he was he was small, hand curling around their father's black shirt. "Do you realize what you've gone through? What you have faced? The odds were stacked against you time and time again, and you have pulled through each and every time." His baby blue eyes glanced at her and Lance felt fresh tears flow from her eyes. The triplets sniffled. "You especially, my sirenita." He tweaked her nose. "You just have to get that little anger of yours in check," Lance barked out a laugh.

"You have so much power in you sweetie," her mother took over. "More than you're aware of. But you need to remember, too much power brings burden to the wielder, they could become a rampaging and mindless monster." Her gaze went hard. "So you have to keep it in check. You can do it. I know you can."

"Don't wield your power in anger," her father washed away her new set of tears, "your powers will respond accordingly."

"It's fine to get angry," her mother said, contrary to what her father had just said. He shot her a look. She hurriedly continued. "It can be a source of power, but that's exactly why you must have careful, extreme, control over that anger." Her mother glanced at her bracelet. "You have to save our people. You have to let them know that the royals have not abandoned them," she hesitated, as if debating with herself, before she clenched her jaw and nodded resolutely. "And that's why I'm going to give these to you. Because these are a symbol of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, and right now, those ladies up there _need_ that hope."

Her mother pointed her bracelet at her and then a warm blue light enveloped her whole body and Lance suddenly felt heavy. Her brothers gasped. Blinking, she glanced at the people around her and noticed that they were all looking at her. Her _outfit_ to be more precise.

Lance's eyes slid down and she took a sharp breath.

This _outfit…_ these three weapons…

"That outfit will activate when its senses you're ready."

" _I can't."_ Lance's voice sounded hoarse. She looked away from the outfit and its weapons now attached to her hip and back. It was too much. "I'm not ready for this."

"Yes, you are." Her mother pressed. "You just don't know it yet." Her eyes went to Mikey and the rest of her brothers. "You keep each other _safe_ , do you hear me?" her brothers vehemently nodded their heads at her tone of voice. She pointed at Lance. "When she's ready, you will let her go, you can follow behind her, but when that outfit activates, you have to let her go. No more pampering her. Is that understood?" this was said to Mikey.

Her older brother clenched his jaw but nodded resolutely. It looked like it pained him to make that promise.

"You should go while you still can," her father urged, wiping a beat of sweat from his forehead. "You got this. You've all grown up to be so extraordinary." His arms opened and all at once, her brothers and even her mother stepped into the embrace. God, how Lance wished she could hug them back. "Be brave, be true, and go save the world. Your mother and I love you all so much."

"More than anything in the world." Her mother sniffled. "We'll catch up to you, we _promise_."

"When the particle barrier goes down, it'll mean we're done and on our way. Now go," her father gave them a little push, pointing them to across the room. "Leave this to us."

Her brothers sprinted into action but her thoughts were still in turmoil. Mikey had only taken a few steps when Lance blurted. "W-wait!" Mikey slid to a halt, body turning to face their parents. Lance locked eyes with her mom. The Queen of the Amazons had taken out a sword, her father at her side, weapon ready for use. "When will I know I'm ready?"

She had to _know_.

Her mother's gaze softened. "You won't." Lance stared in confusion. "It's a leap of faith sweetie." She shrugged helplessly. "That's all it is."

When she didn't say anything more, Mikey turned and ran to catch up to the rest of their brothers.

A leap of faith? What the heck did that mean?

That didn't answer _anything_.

Why couldn't her mom just tell her something straight out instead of speaking in riddles?

"Wait!" Queen Afya flew over to them, wings black as tar behind her. Mikey paused. "I want you to give something to my daughter." The Valkyrie Queen took hold of Lance's hand, the one where her transparent bracelet was. "I know its not working right now, but when it does, send this to her immediately. _Please_."

Placing her bracelet on top of Lance's own, the two devices let off a ding to let them know that the transfer had been complete, and Queen Afya stepped back. "Save our people."

And then she was off to rejoin the battle.

"Mikey!" Kyrian shouted up ahead. "We think we found an exit!"

"Let's go!" Colt urged.

"Coming!" Mikey shouted back, feet already moving across the room. The long table they'd all sat around during official meetings was broken in half. Chairs lay strewn around the room, some broken, others covered in silk. "Don't worry." Those dark blue eyes glanced down at her. "Until you know you're ready, I'm not leaving your side." He smiled. "I promise."

"Okay," she breathed out. Having her big brother at her side was definitely reassuring. "I just hope I _will_ be ready." If she could, Lance would have rolled her eyes. "Apparently, our world depends on it."

Mikey smirked. "So no pressure, right?"

Ugh.

" _Too_ _much_ pressure, you mean."

* * *

Lance's brothers raced down the bloodied streets, weapons out, and stepped into the heart of the city. She was starting to get feeling back in her limbs. She could wriggle her toes. Move her fingers. Turn her head. Her legs were still out of commission but it was only a matter of time before feeling came back to them as well.

Still, Mikey refused to put her down until she could move all her limbs. She would have slowed them down anyway. They were heading towards the tower and the closer they got, the worse she was beginning to feel.

The tower itself was easy to spot. It was taller than any building they had in Cloyetera and behind it, airborne, was a Galra ship. Lance hadn't seen this one before. It must have been hiding inside the clouds. This one was larger than all the other ships that Lance had seen so far. There was no doubt in her mind that a commander was inside that ship, issuing out orders, as they watched the proceedings from the safety of the ship.

Lance couldn't wait to destroy it. But to get there…her eyes drifted to the other side, right where the floating islands, and in them Nyx and the rest of the gryphons were. If they freed the gryphons, then the firebirds hiding in the forest would join the fight as well.

The streets they'd passed had been empty. Corpses were the only things they found. Lance tried not to look at them too long. The purple flame that was surrounding the island had grown taller. Lance could see the flames jutting out behind buildings. Could feel the heat of them even from this far. Was it the same for the other islands as well? Lance couldn't see them anymore.

There was more wreckage here. Shop windows had been smashed and their contents looted and strewn around the street. The smell of blood and gore was heavier here as well.

"Where is everyone?" Aiden panted. "We haven't come across anyone for a while."

"Don't know," Kyrian puffed. "Let's hope they're okay."

"It's awfully quiet," Alan said, looking around in surprise. "Where is everybody?"

Though they were all half-braced for an attack, they didn't encounter a single enemy as they moved through the streets. There were no Galra. No Synats. Even the Galra ships weren't flying in the sky. All six of them shared an uneasy look.

"This way," Mikey hissed. They ducked through another, narrower street. A fire was burning in an upper floor of one of the houses lining the road. And then Mikey stopped, pushing himself into a narrow alley, shifting her in his arms to get a better angle. The rest of her brothers followed suit, placing their backs to the wall. They didn't know why they were hiding in an alley but their older brother must have a pretty good reason. "Everyone quiet."

Brown strands from her brothers' ponytail tickled her nose. Kyrian quickly put his finger under her nose when it looked like she was going to sneeze. Taking the small ponytail, Aiden tucked it over Mikey's shoulder. "Thanks." She mouthed back.

They nodded.

"What is it?" Colt whispered across from them, face anxious.

"Is there something here?" Alan added, hand going to the sword at his hip.

Mikey opened his mouth to answer when he suddenly stiffened all over. A moment later they all heard it too. Rhythmic pounding, like a multiple set of footprints.

"Synats." Aiden was staring past them. Following his gaze, they saw them, coming out of a burning building like a spreading shadow. There were so many of them. They were coming out from everywhere. There were dozens of them. No, a hundred. Possibly even more. The snarling and growling each one emitted was growing louder the closer they got.

There was so much noise, the silence was long gone.

Is this why the streets had been empty?

Lance's stomach churned.

"Maybe they won't notice us?" Colt fearfully prayed.

But they _had_ noticed them.

They figured that out pretty quickly when the Synats changed direction and began to head towards them. Jaws were opened wide, revealing row after row of teeth, forked tails were raised in the air, and then Lance's brothers were barreling out of the alley and into the street.

"There's too many of them!" Mikey barked, teeth gritted. "We can't protect Leah _and_ face all those things at the same time!"

The Synats split up. Some continued running after them on the streets while the others leaped toward the rows of houses and were running along the buildings. They were a flood of shadows, their coats as black as tar, to Lance they looked like a single, moving black river.

"Where do we go?" Aiden had changed his sniper rifle to something smaller and was firing away at any Synats that got too close. Though all of her brothers had been trained to use both guns and arrows by their father, only she and Aiden had really taken a shine to it.

There were dozens of those triangle bots Lance had seen in Planet Zaebos following after them from the sky, no doubt recording everything back to the Galra back in the Kral Zera ceremony. Probably to lower morale.

The triplets and Mikey could fire no problem, but the chance that they actually _hit_ their targets was a four out of ten chance.

Lance wriggled her fingers, she tried doing a fist, but apparently that was still something couldn't do.

Damn it.

If she wasn't still partially paralyzed she could have helped even a little. How long until it wore off? Surely it'd been more than half an hour by now.

"Aiden, look out!" Colt shouted.

All eyes turned to the front just in time to see one of the Synats that had come out of another burning building they'd passed earlier leap at their brother. Aiden let out a startled yelp and was roughly pushed to the ground. Everyone slid to a stop. There were Synats coming out from _everywhere_.

They were surrounded from all sides.

"Aiden!" Lance cried.

Alan darted forward, slashing down with his sword, the weapon sinking down on the Synats neck and beheading it, before hauling Aiden out by his collar. With a grunt, Aiden kicked the rest of the Synats dead body off him and the two stumbled back to them. Her brothers took back-to-back positions.

"You doing okay Aids?" Mikey's eyes never left their enemies and his hold on her was starting to hurt. "Nothing broken?"

Aiden wiped at his face with a grimace, smears of orange blood on his arm, and pointed his gun blaster at the Synats in front of him. "A little disgusted but fine." He paused. "And don't call me that."

"What was that Aids?" Colt teased.

"I couldn't quite hear that Aids." Kyrian joined in.

"Speak louder Aids." Alan snickered.

Aiden huffed. "Assholes."

"Hey," Mikey barked. "No cursing in front of our sister!"

"As fun as teasing Aiden is," Lance started, ignoring Aiden's spluttering, "How are we going to get out of this? We're surrounded."

"Use your feminine charm?" Colt suggested.

"Someone hit him for me," Lance deadpanned.

Kyrian and Alan were more than happy to do it and normally, hearing the offended yelp Colt released at having the back of his head smacked would have had her laughing if they weren't surrounded by enemies and no means of escape.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!"

All heads whirled up at the sound, even the Synats, and Lance felt her eyes widen at the sight of a flaming arrow being fired high into the sky.

It was a signal, Lance realized as dozens and dozens of Amazons suddenly appeared on top of random buildings, bow and arrows in their hands, and took aim. As the first arrow embedded itself into one of the Synats throats, the thing shrieking and buckling in pain, hundreds of more flaming arrows were shot downward to join it.

It was like a rain of shooting stars, the arrows striking true, and Synat after Synat went down in the aftermath. They reared back, others flawlessly avoiding each attack, and began to climb the buildings the Amazons were shooting from.

"Now's our chance!" Lance barked, startling her brothers who were staring open-mouthed. "Get moving!"

Her brothers broke into a sprint, all of them heading to the rest of the Amazons who were firing back as they began to retreat. Lance took in the scene before her with narrowed eyes. Even with the arrival of these women, who had clearly taken the cure because they were moving well, there were still too many Synats for them to take on. They had to hurry and get somewhere safe.

Perhaps these Amazons were hiding out somewhere. Lance and her brothers needed to go with them.

Something moved at the edge of Lance's vision. A flicker of black and orange, moving fast. Her eyes widening, Lance shouted, "Mikey! Behind you!"

Mikey whirled, arms shielding her from view, just as the Synat launched itself at them both, mouth drawn wide in a snarl, and Mikey lost his hold on her, the two of them landing in opposite sides of the street.

Her brothers ahead slid to a stop and started heading back. "Leah! Mikey!"

Lance spat out a mouthful of blood, she'd bitten her bottom lip, and tried to stand. Across from her, Mikey was fighting the Synat that had leaped at them, his face etched in a scowl as his arms took hold of that snapping jaw and pulled at both sides to rip it apart. Just as he tossed the now dead corpse off him, two more Synats leaped at him, and then another, and another.

She couldn't even see him anymore.

"Mikey!" Lance screamed, willing her legs to move, but the best she could do was drag herself forward using her elbows. Her brothers' black coat was weighing her down. "Damn it!"

"Get off him!" Aiden screamed, shooting at the creatures on top of their brother as the triplets slashed their way over to her.

Lance gritted her teeth, dragging herself toward her big brother, she had to help him. Her hand came across an arrow, the flame out, and she picked it up, dragging it with her. "Hey!" she shouted. "Tasty meal over here!"

A few Synats snapped their head at her voice.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aiden snapped at her. He'd been backed against the wall, his gun blaster going off non-stop. "Stop that!"

"Come and get me you fudge nuggets!" Lance continued.

"Leah!" Alan shouted, slashing down at a leaping Synat.

"I taste frickin delicious!" Lance continued to taunt.

"Leah, shut up!" Kyrian warned, kicking a Synat in the face.

"Come on!" Lance pounded the ground. "Are you guys deaf or something!"

"Leah, seriously!" Colt shrieked, beheading a Synat and stabbing another that had been coming at his left. There were too many Synats between her and her brothers. Mikey needed help _now_. "Just stay down and shut up!"

But it was already too late.

The Synats had heard her, and more than one head turned towards her, but that was okay. It's what she'd wanted. And now, with most of them moving towards her, she finally caught a glimpse of her brother.

He had blood running down his arms and a slash down the side of his cheek but he was okay. He was _alive_.

Mikey shouted something; Lance didn't know what, but she saw the wild look in his eyes, even as she gripped the arrow in her hand and pointed the tip upward. The Synats were almost on her, Mikey was sprinting toward her, Aiden and the triplets were yelling, and then Lance saw a blur of blue and pink sail by her head, claws outstretched, bodies arced – and struck their targets, the Synats, knocking them flat to the ground before they began tearing at them with bared teeth.

It was Shadow and Radiance.

The Synats shrieked, painful whining sounds, but Shadow and Radiance were relentless. They teared and clawed a path for Mikey who sprinted past them and scooped her up in his arms. "You idiot!" he snapped at her, blood pouring down the cut on his left cheek. "You could have died!"

"But I didn't," Lance panted, head turning to glance back at her companions. Her wolves had the Synats pinned, their muzzles buried deep in their hides, a fury of wind courtesy of Radiance, slashing at the rest of the Synats who tried to approach.

Fire arrows rained down, their numbers cut by a fourth of what they'd previously been, and struck down the Synats who had chosen not to engage neither of her wolves and instead headed toward her and Mikey.

Aiden let out a loud whistle, twin howls responding in unison, and suddenly both wolves were at their side. Shadow on the right. Radiance at the left.

Purple eyes narrowing, Radiance let out a blast of wind towards her brothers, the Synats surrounding them were blown away, and her brothers broke free and caught up to them.

"This way!"

Lance glanced up at the roof and saw a breathless Amazon; black sweaty strands stuck to her cheeks, blood on her clothes, and saw her green hand point at somewhere further ahead. Her brothers changed direction, Shadow and Radiance following close behind, occasionally breaking off to deal with a few Synats that got too close.

Other Amazons were running and leaping from roof to roof, some shooting at the Synats chasing after them, others just running to catch up to the rest of the retreating women.

Lance recognized where they were going the second she saw the shimmering rectangular building ahead of them. The cathedral was an imposing structure. Massive and bleak, with grand cylinder spires and huge stained glass windows. The entrance was a huge gate and above there was a small bell tower at the very top side of the building facing the entrance. They were coming toward the back entrance. The Amazons picked up speed, and then there were gunshots, men began to shout, the sound of machine guns going off.

Everyone screamed.

Amazons and Synats fell.

"We're almost there!" one of the Amazons shouted further ahead. "Pick up the speed ladies, we're running out of time!"

Legs strained themselves to go faster, more Amazons fell, there were Galra chasing after them now. Some were shooting from the roofs; others came out of buildings, tackling women to the ground.

Shadow and Radiance broke free and descended on them, clawing and slashing before dragging the women to safety.

"I'm out of time!" someone shouted, and promptly dropped to the ground, panting and shaking.

"M-me too!" someone else said, tripping on the ground, before turning to her side and hurtling her guts out.

As Lance watched, more and more Amazons began to drop to the floor, their bodies shaking, pants coming out in harsh breaths, Synats and Galra heading toward them to finish them off.

"Help them!" Lance screamed at her brothers. "Please!"

They didn't need to be told, they were already backtracking, draping women over their shoulders, lifting them by their waist, all but dragging them forward. Shadow and Radiance lowered themselves to a crouch and easily accepted the bodies her brothers were placing on them.

They were almost there.

She could see the shimmering of the particle barrier surrounding the cathedral.

Women began to shout.

"Put down the barrier!"

"Hurry!"

The barrier surrounding the building shimmered, and then an opening, tall and big enough to fit a few dozen people was opened as women burst out of the backdoors of the cathedral and urged them to hurry up. Amazons began to cross the barrier in groups, Mikey made it through, then the rest of her brothers with the women they were carrying and finally Shadow and Radiance with their own cargo passed.

"Close it!" an Amazon urged.

The Galra were already retreating but the Synats kept coming. The opening they'd just passed through remained open.

"No!" Lance barked. "Don't close it!"

"What are you doing?" someone snapped.

"Close the barrier!"

"They're almost here!"

"Not yet!" Lance shouted, and more heads whirled towards her, and gaped. "Wait for it!"

"But your highness –"

" _Not yet_!"

This particle barrier would bounce off anyone that tried to enter, injuring them heavily, if they could get enough Synats to touch it, then all the better.

The Synats were almost on them, they'd spread out into a long horizontal line, all the noise the women were making behind Lance keeping their attention on them.

"Your highness!"

"Just a little longer!"

Weapons were drawn, women backed away, others stared wide-eyed at the approaching mass of black.

"Now?" someone shouted.

Eight feet.

Six feet.

Four feet.

Two feet.

"Your highness!" someone cried.

Lance narrowed her eyes. "Now!"

The particle barrier closed with a snap. Synats who had leaped towards them had their limbs cleanly sliced off, a small pile of clawed hands forming at the floor before them, while the ones who had crashed into it were bounced back, bodies burned from head to toe.

The women behind her gaped.

And then the cheering began.

Not a single Synat remained standing.

* * *

With every step she took, Lance's injuries throbbed. The cuts on her legs, the bite on her upper arm, the back of her head where she'd crashed into the table at the library. In truth, finding a place where her injuries _didn't_ hurt was a difficult job.

But it was the sight of rows upon rows of injured women that caused her the most agony. The place was packed. The cathedral's interior was composed of a long wide hallway, with sets of long benches, two rows of six decorated windows at each side and twelve pillars underpinning the structure.

Lance walked further into room, keeping Mikey's cloak tightly wrapped around her body, her brothers a step behind, and took in the faces of the women here. Her bracelet let out a ding. It seemed it was working again. To the left of her, there was Olivia who was hauling a bucket of bloody water. Her broad, dark forehead furrowed in concentration or perhaps exhaustion. Another two women, Sophia and Stella, were on their knees in front of an injured Amazon, one was holding her down as the other Amazon began to stitch a wound closed.

There were a few Valkyries around as well. Lance saw one of them with her back to Lance, one of her beautiful white wings bent at an odd angle. A handful of women were sprawled on the pews, others were resting against the walls, or on the pillars, ration bars and a water bottle for each of them.

There were so many gaunt faces, so many bruises, and so many sunken eyes.

But they were _alive_.

Lance felt a sort of insane joy and sadness rising in her, higher and higher. There had to be more than a hundred and fifty women here. At least.

As Lance walked further down the hall, women began to notice her. Heads turned. Voices broke into murmurs. Women began to rise to their feet. Soon enough, the voices rose in volume and all too soon Lance was engulfed in way too many hugs. Women burst into tears, sobbing in relief that she was okay.

Someone broke the crowd of excited women and put a fist over her heart. "Your highness," Kaia greeted. One of her eyes was swollen shut and tufts of light blue hair had been pulled free of her tight braids, but she stood with the same fearlessness she always exuded as she stood guard at the city gates. "I am glad to see you're all right."

Something hit the cathedral all of a sudden and everyone inside stumbled, the lights flickered, before everything went back to normal. Letting go of Mikey's arm, she asked, "What was that?"

Kaia's face sobered. "The enemy." She turned. "Follow me."

The crowd parted, some returned to their posts, while the others walked with them. Kaia took them to the front and then took a right before climbing one of the stools by the window. "Take a look."

Lance stepped beside her and peered through the glass window. Her eyes widened. Beyond the cathedral was a trail of bodies. Amazons and Valkyries. Some had their throats slashed. Others had holes in them. And the ones that made Lance pale had their ribs ripped open, glassy eyes staring at the sky.

There were rows and rows upon houses on both sides of the road, a long barricade with Galra on the other side, machine guns and gun blasters propped on the sand bags in front of them, but it was the sight of that tower beyond that barricade all the way at the end of the road that caught Lance's attention.

"The tower."

Kaia nodded grimly.

One of the Amazons from the crowd burst into tears. "They've taken everything!" she cried. "Homes, food, and the ones who couldn't escape were taken as hostage."

Lance hopped down from the stool and placed her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Calm down," she soothed. "Where did this happen?"

Another Amazon spoke up, Grace, face scrunching up in pain. "On the other side, right where that tower is."

"We tried to get to them," Lilah whispered, her white-blond hair coated in dried blood. Both her own and her enemies. "But the effects of that tower are too strong, and we can't even get far with all those Galra behind the barricades."

"Have you guys not taken the cure?" Aiden furrowed his brows.

Kaia shook her head, blue braids swaying. "Even with the cure, the effects are too strong, we're not used it, we've tried and lost so many women along the way."

Lance furrowed her brows when a shout coming from outside had her head turning. "What was that?"

Scrambling forward, Lance broke through the crowd to peer out the glass window. There was movement from outside, Lance couldn't see who it was, but they were being shot at. The cloaked figure tripped and dropped to the ground, a shield lifting to take the force of the attacks before curling their body as tightly as they could. They hood fell and Lance caught a glimpse of light blue pixie cut and a pretty face.

It was an Amazon.

The women behind Lance gasped. "It's Maisie!"

"She's alive!"

"You think she still has the device?"

Lance hopped off the stool and started heading for the giant door. "We have to go help her."

A warm hand pulled her back. Kaia. "Are you crazy? You can't go out there!"

"We can't leave her there by herself!" Lance argued. "And that goes for the rest of the women on the other side who have been taken hostage!"

"It's suicide!"

"So we do nothing? That Amazon outside won't last long if we don't go help her now," Lance continued, pointing outside. Why wasn't Kaia listening? They couldn't just abandon one of their comrades! "She'll die!"

"I understand that your highness but –"

"And the rest of the women near the tower," Lance cut in. "How long have they been there without any aid? They could be waiting for help and here we are –"

"Your highness –"

"We can go help them right now and –"

"We've already tried!" Kaia snapped. Her voice was loud enough that it instantly silenced the room. Her brothers were holding back Mikey who looked ready to cause some damage. "We've been here for hours and we've barely gained an inch!" Lance opened her mouth. Kaia cut in once again. "And you want to know why? Because on the other side there are snipers and Galra pointing machines guns at every square inch of the place. And if that wasn't bad enough, that tower is making us puke our guts out! This is not something you can cross!" Kaia grabbed her by her shoulders hard enough that Lance winced. "And I'll be _damned_ if I let you go out there and get yourself killed! I'll knock you out if I must. You are our princess! Our future queen, and we will not lose you! Not here!" Kaia's eye softened. "You can hate me if you want, but I'm not letting you take one single step outside." Kaia stepped back and looked away. "I'm sorry your highness."

Lance's hands curled into fists. She was angry but one glance around the gathered women proved that Kaia wasn't the only one who would knock her out if Lance so much as took another step toward the door. Huffing, Lance gave a sharp nod and took a step back.

The women visibly relaxed.

"Forgive us your highness," Kaia murmured. "But you're just too important to lose." She gave what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "We'll find another way to take down that tower. For now, just get some rest."

And with that last note, Kaia turned her back on her and went to sit by one of the pews, a set of papers in front of her. After another uneasy glance in Lance's direction, the rest of the women joined her and began to discuss their plans in low murmurs.

A big hand settled on her head. "You want me to beat them up?"

Lance shook her head at her older brother. "No." she sighed. "It's all right."

"So," Aiden glanced at the room. "What do we do now?"

The triplets scratched at their temples. Shadow and Radiance quietly watching.

Lance considered it, her mind going through the conversation she'd just had, and felt her brows furrow. "I need to check on something."

Lance looked through the crowd of women, looking for a specific one, trying to ignore the cries for help that she could help coming from outside. She wanted to help, and judging by the few Amazons who flinched, she wasn't the only one.

Not yet though.

She had to check something first. Blue eyes swept the room with a little more urgency, until they caught sight of freckled cheeks, red curly hair, and bandaged arms. Hallie was leaning on a stone pillar, her red hair looking like a rats nest. Though Lance's hair couldn't look any better. "Hallie."

"The woman choked on her ration bar, immediately straightening once she caught her breath, and rapidly blinked. "Y-your highness!" her voice was small, it always had been. Those hazel of hers wearily glanced behind Lance at her brothers before looking back at her. "W-what can I do for you?"

"Earlier," Lance began slowly; voice low so as not to be overheard. "You said something about a device?" Hallie paled. "What did you mean by that?"

Hallie looked around uneasily. "I really shouldn't tell you, your highness."

Lance narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Hallie swallowed, nervously picking at the bandages wrapped around her arms. "Because if I tell you, you might go outside and try to help…"her voice cracked. "M-Maisie."

"Tell me anyway."

Hallie furrowed her brows and then her eyes shot upward to where Mikey was towering over Lance. The cracking of his knuckles had Hallie squeaking. Her voice came out in a quiet rush. "We were trying to take down the tower," she began quickly. "And some of the girls from the science division came up with a device that could do it." Lance made a go on gesture, her brothers taking positions around them and trying to be nonchalant. They were failing quite badly. "It's a-actually four devices. They look like little squares with pointy spikes." She hesitated. Mikey cracked his fingers. Hallie hurried on. "A-anyway, if you attach all four devices to the particle barrier around the tower before ten seconds of each other, the particle barrier would burst."

Lance's brows shot up. When this was over, Lance was going to give the science division a raise. Seeing her eager expression, Hallie flailed her hands. "It won't work though! Four of the science division girls came with us and we lost sight of them when the Galra began to attack us. We thought they were dead."

"But then Maisie appeared."

"Yes," Hallie sighed. "But even if she's still alive, she won't be for long, and she might have lost the device she had with her. And we don't have the other three either. We can't take down that tower."

Hallie went on, speaking softly with downcast eyes but Lance had stopped listening. Her thoughts were going a hundred miles a minute. She thought about the women from the science division and how proud they got whenever they invented something new. They were a lot like Pidge, and if they were anything like the green paladin, then there was a pretty good chance that Maisie, as well as the other three Amazons from the science division, still had the device on them. They were proud of their inventions.

Someone just had to go out there and find them. Why not let it be her? No one else was willing to do it. If Lance could make it to Maisie, pass the Galra and their machine guns, somehow free the rest of the Amazons being held hostage, find the other three science division ladies and get that device from them…then Lance could take down that tower. She could ride on either Shadow or Radiance but something told her that it'd be better for her people to see her walk on her own. "Thanks," she waved good-bye at a flustered looking Hallie and went to sit by one of the empty pews.

"You're going," Aiden guessed quietly. "Aren't you?"

Lance's head snapped up. She'd forgotten that her brothers were here. Her lips pursed, Lance cast her eyes downward. "Am I that obvious?"

Kyrian snorted. "Only to us."

"I know it seems dangerous," Lance started.

Colt snorted, brown eyes rolling at the back of his head. "No, really?"

"And the odds are stacked against me –"

"They have machine guns!" Alan hissed.

"But if I don't do something, then I'll regret it."

"I know," Mikey's voice was quiet. He sat next to her on the pew, legs wide, hands gripping his knees. "So you have to go." He scrunched up his brows and stared back at her. "You're ready, aren't you?"

His eyes glanced down at her clothes, at the outfit she had hidden away under his cloak. Lance pursed her lips and laced her fingers with his own. They were bigger than hers, her hand easily being swallowed up as he tightened his hold. "I don't know if I'll ever ready." She admitted quietly. "I'll admit, the thought of going out there and facing all those enemies is scary, especially with no cure, but I do know that if I don't do something to help my people, then what kind of queen will I be? The one that does nothing while her people are out there fighting? Or the one that goes out there even with the odds are stacked against her and fights anyway?"

Mikey gave her long look, his eyes looked pained, but after a moment of silence where Lance and her brothers were holding their breaths, Mikey finally nodded. "Okay," he sighed heavily and reached into his back pocket. Whatever he pulled out was too small for Lance to see. "Okay, but you're not leaving without this."

Mikey opened his palm and a small vial with dark blue liquid, no taller than her pinky, was presented to her. Lance gasped. "Is that –"

Mikey nodded. "The cure?"

"If you had that all along," Kyrian glared. "Why didn't you give it to her?"

Mikey glared right back. "It would have been useless when she was still paralyzed."

"When the heck did you even get that?" Aiden asked him, brows furrowed.

"I stole some from the Healing Chamber last night."

Everyone gaped at him.

"You stole from _Olwen_?" Aiden's eyes were wide.

Lance shuddered. The head healer was going to be pissed.

"Dude." Kyrian breathed.

"She's going to kill you when she finds out," Colt shook his head.

"She'll make you do hard labor for weeks!" Alan shuddered from experience.

Mikey huffed. "What?" he grumbled. "I had a bad feeling and figured we'd need it." He pursed his lips. "She won't find out." They looked at him dubiously. "Probably." He placed it in her palm. "You're welcome."

Kyrian peered down at the vial. "Is it me or does that one look smaller than the usual ones?"

"Nope." Alan agreed. "I think it does look smaller."

Colt snorted. "That's because it is."

"They were still working on the regular vials that can last for one hour when I got there," Mikey confessed, "so I only managed to get these incomplete ones."

Lance glanced at the vial in her palm. "And how long will this one last?"

Mikey's voice was grim. "Twenty-two minutes."

"So I have twenty-two minutes to get to the tower before the cure wears off?"

"No pressure." Kyrian grumbled.

"I have more," Mikey huffed, reaching into his back pocket once more. When he opened his palms there were more than twenty. "it takes a few seconds to work once you ingest it. After it wears off, you have to wait ten minutes before you can take another dose," he pushed them into her hands. "So be careful."

Lance handed all but two of them back. "Keep these for me," she said when Mikey looked ready to protest. "You can keep them safe. If I need more I'll just go find you."

Mikey nodded and put them away.

"So," Aiden asked, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smirk. "How can we help?"

Lance grinned.

* * *

"Everyone come quick!" Colt shouted a few minutes later by the back door. "A bunch Synats are breaking through the particle barrier!"

" _What_?" Kaia shot to her feet. "How did they get in?"

Alan helplessly shrugged next to him. "Beats me!" he jumped at the sound of growling coming from outside. "Help us get rid of them!"

Kaia began to snap orders. "Those who aren't injured come and help, those who can shoot a bow get to the second floor and ready your weapons!"

Women scurried to their feet.

Weapons were drawn.

Amazons began to climb the stairs to the second floor.

Among the frenzied crowd, no one noticed as Lance sneaked to the large gate that would take her outside. Maisie was still alive. Her pleas for help still going unanswered. Not for long though. Aiden had already disappeared into one of the spires. They needed a good sniper for what she had planned, and her brother was definitely better than most. Next to her, of course. Shadow and Radiance were the ones making all that noise outside. Colt and Alan were taking the women out to where the Synats had supposedly broken in.

Lance stopped a few feet in front of the gate. Once it was opened and she went outside and stepped outside of the particle barrier…she really _would_ be alone. At least for a little while.

Lance took a breath.

She was really doing this wasn't she?

Her palms felt sweaty. Her heart was racing.

Mikey and Kyrian stood on both sides of the gate, ready to open it, when she gave them the go ahead.

Blue eyes went to the black coat she was enveloped in. She hadn't looked at the outfit or weapons her mother had given to her what felt like hours ago. All her life, Lance had seen paintings of previous queens wearing this outfit into battle, had even seen her own mother wear it when she went to save the Valkyries, and Lance had dreamed dream after dream of herself someday wearing this outfit when she became queen after her mother passed on the job to her.

For it was an outfit that only a _queen_ could, and was _allowed_ , to wear.

Lance never imagined she'd wear it now, when she was still a princess, still inexperienced, still, in her mind, unworthy.

But she hadn't been given much of a choice.

Everyone would see. All eyes would lock on that outfit the minute she took off that coat. On her.

And somehow, Lance wasn't scared of that fact anymore. Let them see. Let them all see that she hadn't, and wouldn't, be giving up. That she was still fighting.

Her outfit began to grow warm. Lance nodded at her brothers and they began to pry the door open. Lance was an Amazon. She was the blue paladin. She was a princess.

The outfit began to change, growing warmer by the second, as Lance began to walk; her thoughts helping the outfit change to something that was just _her_.

She'd been through worse things than this. Had suffered greater injuries. Had saved countless of people. She'd lost some too. And all those experiences had made her stronger, fiercer, more determined to win.

Lance began to slide the coat off.

So what if there were machine-guns out there?

The coat slid off her shoulders, revealing a black and blue crop jacket, underneath it was a red tight fitting top with hints of yellow.

So what if there were more Galra hiding out inside random buildings?

The coat slid off her back, revealing a shield with the Voltron logo in the center, the rest of the paladin colors all around it. It didn't matter that she was no longer a pilot. She'd always be the blue paladin and she wanted the world to know.

The coat dropped to the floor.

Black leggings, black boots that reached her ankles, and a golden bird with its wings spread as a belt appeared. The appearance of the bird was to let all those who looked at it know that the Amazons were longtime allies with the Valkyries. Her gauntlets were red. A golden lasso and a sword were at her hip.

The outfit was almost complete.

Lance tapped her bracelet, quickly sending Queen Afya's package to Zooey while she still had the chance, and took out her crown. As always, the thing was beautiful, but if she put it on right now, she'd surely lose it.

Her grip tightened on the crown, and it began to glow, it began to change.

Lance didn't wait to see what it looked like as she placed it on her forehead where it attached by itself, she already knew. After all, Lance had thought about it.

One more step took her outside.

Maisie was still there.

Hold on, she prayed. I'm coming.

She clasped the red necklace for a little bit of courage before letting go.

Lance climbed down the steps of the cathedral.

"Your highness?" Running footsteps began to head her way. Lance threw her head back and drank the cure. It was slightly sweet. "Someone stop her!" But it was already too late. Lance's next step took her further away from their reach, and the next step after that took her outside the safety of the particle barrier and into the battlefield once more.

* * *

It felt like time slowed down just for her.

The heavy weight Lance had felt when she'd first seen the outfit was no longer there. She felt lighter. More confident. And, as strange as it sounded, it felt like all the queens from the previous generations were right there with her, walking down this dangerous path with her, giving her strength, urging her forward.

She didn't dare glance at the bodies all around her. Not now. She'll mourn them later.

As the first shot was fired in her direction, Lance saw the black bullet heading her way as if in slow motion. Her hand raised automatically, head tilting as the bullet came closer, blue eyes taking in all the little details, the pointy tip, how black it was, her gauntlet took the impact, and the bullet bounced away slowly, sparks left in its wake, and Lance continued to walk.

"What the hell is she doing?" Kaia screamed in the background.

"Being a badass!" Kyrian whooped.

The Galra began to shout orders, four more pointing their gun blasters at her, and began to fire.

Each and every shot was deflected by raising her arms, gauntlets taking the impact.

Maisie was close.

Lance picked up speed.

The Galra began to shoot faster.

It didn't work on her.

Something that looked like a grenade was thrown next.

Lance took out the shield on her back and struck the thing away towards a random building, a small explosion causing dust to rain down the streets.

Machine guns replaced the gun blasters and Lance ran the last few feet toward Maisie who was still curled on the ground, shield looking ready to shatter, and placed herself in front of her, Lance's own shield growing a little in size to cover the both of them.

"Y-your highness?" Maisie gasped, green eyes widening in shock at the sight of her. Her cheeks were wet. "W-what are you doing here?"

"The device," Lance grunted, getting down to one knee as the barrage of the machine guns increased. "Do you have it?"

"W-what?"

"Do you have it or not?"

"Y-yes!"

"Good."

Gunshots from behind her began to fire. Maisie changed positions, lifting her shield to cover their back from the snipers who'd begun to fire at them. The Galra snipers began to scream. Lance grinned. Her brothers had made it to the rooftops. Now she just hoped that Aiden would be able to do his part as well.

She just had to hold on until her brothers took down the Galra with the machine guns. Not all of them. Just enough that Lance could deal with. If only Reyna and the rest of her guards were here with her. The rest of the Amazons hadn't experienced the loss of losing their powers because of the Dampening Stones. But Lance and her team had. More times than she could count. They were used to it. They _had_ to get used to it. And having them at her side would be a godsend.

The sound of the machines guns firing at her was hideously loud. Her arm was beginning to strain with the effort of keeping it up. Maisie was no help with her, 'please leave me and save yourself' talk. If she kept that up, Lance was going to smack her.

The Amazon Princess was done losing people.

She wasn't leaving anyone behind.

Not this time.

"You dumb ho," Reyna huffed. Lance whirled, her eyes widening as Reyna slammed her own shield to the right of her and gave Lance a cocky grin. The side of her face had dried blood on it. "You just had to walk into enemy fire didn't you?"

"It's not much of a surprise really," Adina said next, slamming her shield to Lance's left to take some of the damage. Her clothes looked very grubby. "I stopped being surprised a long time ago."

"Still," Cyra added, one side of her cheek swollen as she placed her own shield besides Reyna's own. "Did you _have_ to take the path with the machines guns?"

"It wouldn't be fun otherwise though," Cesti grinned, blond curls bouncing, as she took a position next to Adina. There were handprints around her throat, as if someone had tried to strangle her.

"Her highness is just so cool!" Ami gushed, taking position next to Cesti. "Isn't that right sis?"

"You know it!" Tami whooped, and placed her shield besides Cyra. Both twins had cuts on their cheeks and slashes down their arms.

As Lance watched the rest of her guards took positons down the line. There was Dolly, one eye swollen shut, Diona whose blue hair was coated in blood, Erie and Echo who had claw marks running down their cheeks, and then Harley and Harmony with bandages wrapped around their torsos.

Lance couldn't immediately find her voice, and when she did, she said, "You guys look like crap."

"Excuse you!" Reyna screeched. "I don't want to hear that from miss chopped off hair!"

"Yeah!" Cesti added, getting down to one knee for a better position. "Is that a new fashion statement?"

"I _am_ loving that jacket though," Harley praised.

"Excuse you," Diona sniffed, red eyes narrowing. "The shield is the best part of the outfit!"

"The shield is nice," Echo admitted. "But look at that golden whip!"

"And what happened to your arm?" Adina shrieked, Dolly and Erie nodding along with her. "It's still bleeding!"

Was it?

She hadn't noticed.

"And another thing," Cyra piped in. "Why would you go alone?"

"Yeah!" Ami yelled.

"What she said!" Tami agreed.

"I was trying to be heroic," Lance mumbled quietly.

Her guards let out annoyed groans at her words and started scolding her. Lance felt her cheeks warm.

They were real. They were all real. And they'd come for her, in the middle of all this chaos. "No one else was willing to come," Lance mumbled. "So I figured I should go instead."

Harmony rolled her eyes, "You dumb ho."

They laughed restlessly, joylessly, because they needed it. They'd all been worried for each other since the Galra attacked. Wondering and praying that they were all right, wherever they were. And now that they were finally reunited, the relief they all felt, the joy they could see in each other's eyes, and they had to release it _some_ way.

Maisie looked at them all incredulously and that just made them laugh harder, shields pressing close to each other to make sure no stray bullets made its way through. Lance could still hear her brothers fighting their way over to them from the rooftops. She could hear growling from the Synats that had no doubt found them.

"How did you guys find me?"

Reyna's blunt reply was, "Tracker."

Lance felt her eye twitch. Her voice low and dangerous, she said, "Where?"

Her guards answered as one. "You don't want to know."

How many frickin trackers did she have on her person?

"Tell us what to do," Reyna sobered up first. Her guards turned to her, waiting. "We've already taken the cure from your pervy brother."

Lance had never liked giving out orders. She asked, and they complied, most of the time.

But.

They'd come for her. They'd come for her.

 _They'd come for her._

Lance was used to doing the hard things alone. She'd always thought that if anyone had to get their hands dirty, then let it be her. And each and every time she'd gotten injured for it. Sometimes she'd almost died. And every time it happened, her guards would reprimand her. Demanding why she wouldn't ask for their help. Looking on the verge of tears when they found her, bloody and ready to kick the bucket.

She didn't _have_ to do this alone. She never had to. Not anymore. All her guards had ever wanted from her was to ask them for help. To be included.

"Please," Lance said, turning to look at them all one by one. "Please help me save our people."

Reyna's proud smile could have lit the entire island. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

Lance wasn't sure how long they'd stayed like that, down to one knee, shields raised to block any attacks, as she relayed her plan to her guards. Two minutes tops probably. They all quietly listened, every now and then asking a question, making sure they knew what to do, what to look for.

But when Mikey gave the okay for them to move, letting them know that enough Galra had been taken down for them to continue advancing, Lance couldn't help but want to say something inspiring to get her guards motivated.

Her eyes went to the sky, blue eyes catching sight of those triangle bots recording everything back to the rest of the Galra, the rest of their allies, the other islands in Cloyetera, to _Keith,_ there was only one thing that Lance _could_ say.

Banging her shield twice on the ground, Lance raised her voice and shouted at the top of her lungs, "WE ARE THE AMAZONS! KILLERS OF MEN!"

Her guards picked up the cheer, shields banging on the floor twice, and shouted just as loudly, "ONLY THE FEEBLE-HEADED TRY THEIR LUCK WITH US!"

"GO!"

And then they began to move.

Kyrian jumped down from the roof, scooped Maisie up, and began to head back to the cathedral.

Stride never breaking, Lance and her guards split up into groups of two, and one with three, and began to make their way inside the rows and rows of houses. Lance, Reyna, and Adina kept going straight, leaping just to the other side of the make-made barricade the Galra had made in the middle of the street, and began to trash all the machine guns, hurtling Galra away, and continued to run.

All around them, her guards were breaking into houses, Galra began to shout, and gun blasters started going off and suddenly, the sky began to screech.

The sound came from everywhere. It started from a squawk. Then a wild scream. And finally a battle cry. It got louder and louder, and Lance felt her mouth curl into a wide smile as she continued to run down the road with Reyna and Adina.

Reyna shouted something in delight, Adina letting out a whoop of her own, but the sounds were drowned out by the cries going on around them. It drowned out the sound of the battles going on, and it drowned the sound of Lance's wild laughter as she threw her head back to look at the sky.

Aiden had done it.

He'd _done_ it.

The gryphons were free. And they were everywhere. Different colored feathers rained down from the sky. The gryphons swirled and dove and plummeted around the neighborhood streets, picking up Synats with their claws, throwing bolts of lightning at Galra who fired back, claws hooking around injured Amazons that her guards had just rescued and taking them to safety. And then the firebirds appeared from the forest with their own battle cries, their bodies coated in fire as they flew beside the gryphons, they were so much smaller, before diving down and lighting up enemy after enemy because unlike the Amazons, these men were not pure hearted.

A flock of them split up and went to the other islands; ships that had been dormant in the sky immediately took chase. Valkyries with flame-covered maces soon joined them. The door to the cathedral burst open and a horde of Amazons, a battle cry on their lips, began to run down the street.

It was downright breathtaking.

Gryphons and fire birds swirled around Lance and her friends, it was Nyx as well as Reyna and Adina's own mounts, wings brushing against them, feathers touching their cheeks, asking in their own way if they were all right. Lance's heart was beating like crazy.

Men began to fire at them from inside the buildings. Nyx crashed through the building with such force that half of it when down in a swirl of dust.

The Galra ships were back. Gryphons with riders on the back took to the skies to deal with them. Even the biggest ship of them all seemed to be coming back from where it had been shooting at the Myr city underground. It was slow though; it'd take it a while to reach them.

The flock dipped away and Lance and her group made their way into one of the buildings where they could hear gunfire and screaming. The Amazon picked up speed, leaped toward the opposite building, her fingers embedding themselves in the stone bricks, before using the momentum to leap at the second floor of the house across from her. Lance burst through the window, hands in an X to cover her face, and met the stunned faces of six Galra.

Reyna and Adina shouted in annoyance but burst through the first floor of the same building she was in. They'd be okay.

The Galra stared at her in disbelief. Lance took in the enemies before her and immediately kicked the coffee table in front of her to the Galra standing across from her. The man went down on impact. Gun blasters began to go off in every direction and Lance was a whirlwind of movement.

Her arms were raised to bounce off any bullets. Her shield she used to knock out anyone who got too close to her. She rammed her elbow into one Galra who tried to attack her from behind. She picked up one and threw him out the window.

With those enemies taken care of, she crashed through the wall of the next room, debris falling all over her hair, and she came sliding in, her sword out and slashing at the legs of the Galra. A sword came at her face and Lance had that same feeling of time slowing down, her outfit getting warm, and immediately leaped back, sword slashing at the stunned Galra woman who'd been taking aim.

Lance hit her on the back of the head with the hack of her sword and knocked her out. Someone hit her in the abdomen with a chair, the thing breaking to pieces on impact, Lance hardly feeing a thing, before she grabbed the man who had hit her by the throat and and slammed him down to the first floor.

Lance looked around the room when no one else came at her and met the eyes of a trembling Galra standing by the window. Her smirk wide, Lance kneed him out the window, pieces of glass probably in her hair, and ran along the roof she'd landed.

There were simultaneous crashes all around her and Lance caught sight of the rest of her guards running along the rooftops, gryphons picking up the women they'd just saved by their claws. The triangle bots followed their every move from a safe distance.

Where the other women in Cloyetera watching?

Was _Keith_ watching?

See what I can do, Lance thought. I _can_ do this.

The buildings here were close together, their eaves almost touching. It was easy to jump from this roof to the next, and then to the other one after that. Lance caught sight of violet and black blurs and then Reyna and Adina were there with her, the two looking giddy, as the three of them kept going straight.

Right where the tower was.

Lance caught sight of even more Galra here, things that looked a lot like purple tanks with them, and resisted the urge to growl. Lance and her guards were on a time limit; they needed to take down that particle barrier and then head to the ship hovering just behind it to really take down that tower.

If they could do that, in less than twenty-two minutes, that would be really great.

Hopefully the rest of her guards had found the rest of those devices to take down the particle barrier. The last roof they had to step on was steeply pitched. Lance, Reyna, and Adina skidded down the side of it, boots knocking against loose dingles, landed on the ground in a crouch, and were immediately shot at.

Reyna and Adina whirled, hands raised to bounce the bullets off with their silver gauntlets and Lance took the opportunity to run ahead. She'd just passed a building when what sounded like a machine gun began to fire at her. It was coming from one of those things that looked like a tank. Lance raised her shield and moved forward to protect her front, knocking any Galra that stood in her way, moving in a zig-sag to make the tank firing at her have a hard time.

Once she was close enough, Lance rammed her shoulder into the machine, making the thing bounce, and then Lance was crouching, lifting it up and hurtling the great machine across the street to the unsuspecting Galra just behind it.

Their screams of horror were cut short as the thing landed on them.

Her victory was short lived as shots began to fire at her back. Lance raised her arm, the bullets bouncing off her red gauntlets, and then a fireball sailed past her left ear and landed on one of the shooters, his purple hands coming up to put the fire away but it was already too late.

The fire was spreading too fast.

Lance whirled to see who her savior was and felt her mouth open in astonishment as she caught sight of black wings, red hair, and green eyes from behind a golden helmet with two yellow wings facing outward, three green stripes on the top, and black shading around the eyeholds.

The Valkyrie before her was wearing a green and reddish-brown leather breast plating and a yellow leather collar that reached up beyond her neck. Brown and yellow armbands were on both arms, brown leather fingerless gloves with arm guards, black skintight pants, and to finish the look were reddish-brown high knee boots with golden talons.

It looked like her friend had gotten her mother's package after all.

Damn.

Zooey had never looked so cool.

"Nice outfit," Lance grinned at the Valkyrie Princess.

Zooey smirked. "You're not too bad yourself blue eyes."

No other words were said, without even discussing it, the two placed their back to the other and began to deal with the enemies before them. Not wanting to leave her friends side, Lance took out the golden lasso at her hip and began to drag enemies to her, kicking them in the face, pulling them off their feet to hurl them at other Galra, knowing that she didn't need to worry about the enemies at her back because Zooey was there.

And Zooey wouldn't let anything happen to her either, just as Lance wouldn't let anything get to her friend, no matter how annoying the other claimed they were.

They were friends.

And friends watched out for each other.

Through the battle, Lance caught glimpses of the rest of her guards fighting their own battles. Her brothers had joined the fray, Aiden on top of Nyx as he and a few archers from the cathedral fired from the skies. Even Kaia was there, her back to Kyrian. Alan and Colt were fighting alongside Nagini and Nagg, her two-headed snake, who had grown a considerable size. Kaltenecker was there too, kicking Galra in the face next to Cesti who was laughing her butt off. Shadow and Radiance were clawing and tearing a path for the inured. Valkyries were using their maces to take down the ships that had come, the sky exploding in colors before they moved on. Everyone seemed to be holding their own just fine. There was no need to worry.

All too soon it was over and Lance and Zooey gave each other a quick over before glancing around them for more enemies.

"Your highness!"

Both Lance and Zooey turned toward the voice. It was coming near the tower.

Diona was waving an object in her hand. "I found one of the pieces!"

Harmony waved her hands in the air. "Same here!"

"Me too!" Echo announced.

Lance reached into her pocket and pulled out the small squared object she'd tucked into her belt. "Then let's go take down that particle barrier!"

The three of them nodded and began to head to the tower. Lance was about to follow when Synats suddenly flooded the streets. Lance hesitated and then Zooey was standing before her, black wings obscuring her view. "Go," a tattooed hand twirled a lightning covered mace before gripping it. "Me and the Valkyries got this."

Lance nodded in gratitude and began to move.

The Synats were crawling along the buildings, Valkyries and the rest of Lance's guards tackling them when they made to leap at her. Harmony, Echo, and Diona were already at the tower, the three of them taking a position around it. A few Synats made it past the Valkyries and ran right to them.

Lance took out her lasso, intending to pull the Synats away from them when someone landed in front of her so hard the ground cracked. Lance stumbled back and looked up, and up, and up at a very familiar face.

It was the Warden in charge of Beta Traz. The place where they had been holding Slav as a prisoner. He still looked the same. Blue-gray Mohawk for hair. Yellow eyes that were looking at her like she was trash. One side of his face was red while the other was blue. And he still had that same robotic pack attached to his body by shoulder straps.

"You," he growled. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

Lance took a step back. "Because you're a fan?"

He snarled in her face. Rude. "Thanks to you and your friends, my Laika was sent back to the wild as punishment for losing that little shit named Slav!"

"If you're trying to make me feel bad," Lance started, eyes looking behind him. Harley, Diona, and Echo were engaged in battle with a couple of Synats. She didn't have time for this. "Then you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm actually happy for her." And then, because she'd been around Keith too much, she added, "You're kind of an asshole."

She should have kept her mouth shut.

Keith was a bad influence on her.

The Warden let out a roar of rage, and the two vials behind his shoulders began to drain as they pumped him full of, what was no doubt, alien steroids. Lance took a step back, and then another, and another as veins began to show on his face, arms, and pretty much everywhere. He grew three times in size, his hands so big that they dragged on the floor. Lance had seen him transform once already but watching the process was still pretty gross.

His fists pounding on his chest like frickin King Kong, he lunged toward her and Lance stumbled back once again as somebody else dropped in front of her so hard that the ground cracked. It was Mikey.

Her brother widened his stance and locked arms with the Warden, muscles protruding from both males. "Don't touch my sister!"

The warden let out a growl and pushed back, the ground beneath Mikey crumbling as he was pushed down but he didn't let go. In fact, with a battle cry of his own, Mikey began to push the Warden _back_. The complete shock on the Galra's face was downright amusing.

"What the hell are you so surprised about?" Mikey growled, pushing him back toward a building, the wall crumbling as Mikey pushed the Warden's back further in. "Muscles built using steroids don't stand a chance against muscles built by training diligently everyday!" he glanced behind his shoulder at her. "Go on, I'll take care of him."

Lance beamed and took off at a run. "Don't you dare lose big brother!"

"How can I?" Mikey laughed. "When my little sister tells me not to!"

Lance took to the roofs, there weren't as many Synats up here and began to head toward the tower. Harmony, Echo, and Diona were a good distance away from the tower now. But if they could throw the devices at the same time…

"Harmony! Echo! Diona!"

Heads snapped her way.

"At the count of three," Lance jumped to the next rooftop, squared device on her left hand. "Throw these babies at the tower at the same time!"

"Understood!"

"Just waiting on you!"

"I'm ready!"

Lance leaped to the next rooftop. Was this close enough? Probably, right? Lance gripped the device in her hand and threw her hand back. "One!" Echo, Harmony, and Echo got into position. "Two!" they could make it. "Thre –"

Lance never got to finish counting because at that moment a dozen more Synats flooded the roof she'd just been on. Her jaw dropped. What the hell man?

"Your highness!"

Lance snapped her head at the voice, her eyes turning toward the tower to see the three-square devices that her guards previously had already attached to the particle barrier. They were glowing, the particle barrier shimmering, and Lance had less than ten seconds to attach her own device to that tower so that particle barrier could go down.

Synats began to run at her.

Lance let out a frustrated growl and leaped to the next tower and immediately skids to a halt as Synats appeared before her _again_. Lance jumped to the roof to her left. The Synats followed after her with shrieking wails. "Seriously?"

Six seconds.

Lance leaped to the next roof.

Five seconds.

She began to slash her way out with her sword.

Four seconds.

Synats were hit aside with her shield.

Three seconds.

Her lasso wrapped around a Synat and was flung to the next three behind her.

Two seconds.

She gripped the device in her hand.

One second.

Her path was open and with a last burst, Lance leaped toward the tower and slammed the device on the particle barrier just as the other Synats reached her.

All four devices changed to a green color, Lance felt heat coming off the one she'd was hanging on to by her fingertips, and then she was thrown back by some kind of explosion, the sound of glass breaking loud in her ears, and Lance was tossed to a random building so hard the she left a crater where she landed.

There was a ringing in her ears. Dust seemed to rain down. Everything sounded muted. Her arms felt like they'd been burned. With some effort, Lance turned to her side and got up with a wince. Had it worked? Was the particle barrier down? Had they succeeded?

Lance walked all the way to the edge of the roof, one hand at her throbbing side, and was instantly met with deafening applause coming from the streets. Lance could only stare at the joyful faces around her in confusion. Why were they applauding?

What was –

And that's when Lance saw it.

The particle barrier around the tower was gone.

She'd made it.

They could take down the tower now.

* * *

Matt was a veteran of countless battles. That is, if you counted battles he'd done while playing Dungeons and Dragons with his fellow geeks. When it came to battles, Matt always thought of two groups of people advancing at each other across a flat expanse of land where they would fight to the death or until one side raised the white flag for surrender. He'd seen it in movies and plenty of TV shows.

This, however, was nothing like that.

This was chaos. There were shouts coming from everywhere. The ground was not flat, it was bumpy. Both sides had crashed into each other with a battle cry on their lips. Even from his seat piloting one of the rebel ships, Matt couldn't quite make out who was an enemy and who was an ally.

But one thing was for sure.

They were outnumbered.

The huge gap the Amazons and the Valkyries had left behind was evident.

He couldn't help but glance at the screens in the sky where they displayed what was happening in Cloyetera. Did the Galra think they would lose morale by seeing this? Because it was kind of working.

Matt was a big fan of Cloyetera. The place was amazing. And the women living there? Even better.

Watching those beautiful buildings on fire, seeing corpses upon corpses of Amazons just lying there on the street, made his blood boil.

And where was Lance? Was his friend okay? They hadn't heard or seen a single sign of her.

Matt was already a bundle of nerves. He couldn't imagine what Keith, Lance's mate, was thinking by seeing all those images of Cloyetera. The red paladin usually lost his marbles when it came to Lance.

Further up in the sky, Katie and the rest of the paladins were fighting against the never-ending stream of Robeasts and more than a hundred ships trailing after them. Lotor was off fighting his father and any other candidate that got in his way for the throne.

"We've got incoming!" Nyma screamed from across from him. "Two Galra ships are heading right for us!"

Matt dodged, barely, his hands sweaty on the controls. "They're fast!"

"We should fall back!" Rolo urged.

"I can hit it!" Nyma protested, the light from the controls in front of her glowed as she powered up a long-range shot.

The two Galra ships swarmed toward them, firing again.

Matt swallowed. "Nyma?"

Nyma grinned, pink lips stretching to a smile, and fired off a shot that took both ships down at the same time. Rolo let out a cheer.

"Good job guys!" Matt praised.

Nyma gasped.

Matt turned to her, brows pinched in worry. "What? What is it?"

Nyma raised a single yellow finger outside the window. "Look."

Matt followed her gaze, trying to take the ship somewhere they wouldn't be shot at, but it wouldn't have mattered. Every single ship had stopped moving. Even Voltron up in the sky stood still. Fingers were pointed. Gasps could be heard through the comms.

Taking one last sweep just to make sure they weren't going to be shot, Matt finally looked out the window to see what all the fuss was about. He gasped.

The Amazon Princess was on camera.

And she was fighting _back_.

She was a whirlwind of movement and though it was clear she'd been injured, she wasn't backing down. No one seemed to be able to stop her. She was taking down foe after foe without a moments rest. Switching from shield to sword, then to the golden lasso, and then her fists. Man, Amazons were _so cool_.

" _Matt."_ Katie gasped through the comms. " _It's Wonder Woman."_

" _Dude."_ Hunk breathed.

" _She's representing us!"_ Allura praised. " _Look at that shield!"_

As everyone watched in stunned silence, Lance took any bullets thrown her way and bounced them off with her gauntlets. And she wasn't alone. Reyna and the rest of Lance's guards were there with her. A whole horde of women were coming out of the cathedral, arrows were thrown up at the rooftops. Women who'd been injured were picked up and taken to safety. Princess Zooey in her awesome new armor joined them, along with a dozen or so Valkyries at her heels. The streets were on fire. The gryphons were free and the Galra were _losing._

Their allies broke into cheers, the noise so loud, Matt could hear it all the way from where he was flying.

"Her poor hair though," Nyma murmured.

Rolo grinned. "She looks better with it short."

Matt silently agreed.

" _That's my girl,"_ Keith praised. " _Told you she'd be fine."_

" _Says the guy who was cursing up a storm when you sensed she was injured,"_ Katie deadpanned.

" _Shut up gremlin_."

" _Come on guys,_ " Hunk pleaded. " _Don't start fighting_."

" _They're doing it,"_ Shiro whispered in awe. _"They're really doing it."_

"I don't know about you guys," Matt smirked. "But seeing them just got me all pumped up."

" _Let's take down these assholes!_ " Katie whooped.

Seven voices cheerily answered at once. "Language!"

" _Oh, suck it."_

* * *

They'd taken back the main island.

Any Galra who surrendered was taken prisoner. Those who fought back were taken care of immediately. The Synats were gone. Now, if they could do the rest to the rest of the other islands, that'd be even better.

The battle in the other five islands was still raging she noticed, which was good, because it meant they hadn't all died yet. Lance had sent Zooey and the rest of the Valkyries to the other islands in hopes pf taking down those walls of flames that surrounded each island. If they could do that then the Myr could come and give them aid.

The tower was still perfectly intact. They'd had Maisie come in and try to take it down manually but no matter what she tried, nothing seemed to be working. Even shooting it wasn't making much of a difference.

With another dose of the cure, Lance and her guards had taken off to the skies in their gryphons to try and take down that giant ship. Only problem though? The rest of the Galra ships were after them and trying to avoid them or take them down was taking up precious time. The skies were a jumble of wings and claws and shrieks.

Lance and her team dove high and low, dodged and soared over Valkyries and Galra ships who were engaged in a chase of their own. They flew in formation: Lance at the head, Reyna and Adina flanking behind, three rows of three with Cesti, Cyra, and Diona behind Lance, the other row behind Reyna which consisted of Ami, Tami, and Dolly, behind Adina were Erie, Echo, and Harley, and lastly Harmony bringing up the rear because she was good at both long-distance and close-range.

The Galra were trying to break their formation but Lance and her team didn't yield them one inch as their gryphons flawlessly kept in formation even as they were being shot at. Her hands were stiff, but her grip on the saddle was tight, Nyx was flying fast, if she wasn't careful Lance might fall to her death.

She gritted her teeth in frustration; they needed to get inside that ship!

"Leave it to us!"

Lance whipped her head toward the voice, blue eyes findings Kaia's own determined ones as she flew on the back of her white gryphon, another ten women riding behind her. She looked pale as hell. "We'll take care of this!" she drew out her sword, the tip already coated in purple blood. "You bring down that ship!"

Lance nodded in gratitude and then she and her team were diving through the enemy ranks, Kaia and the group of Amazons trailing behind her letting out battle cries as they began to leap off their mounts to take down the Galra ships.

The ship that Lance and her team were on was also firing back, it had way too many weapons, ships still departing from the inside. Reyna and she shared a grinned. That was their entrance. The Galra must have figured out what they wanted because soon after all weapons were trained on them. Nyx and the rest of the gryphons opened their mouths, letting out a stream of electricity, as Lance and her guards raised their shields.

Balls of flames, arrows, and lightning from their other allies in arial battles of their own intercepted them before they could give chase and with a last burst of speed all thirteen of them dove into one of the openings where the rest of the enemy ships were being deployed.

An instant later, a loud alarm blared throughout the ship.

Black and purple metal walls greeted them. Sentries that had been on guard opened fire, Cesti and her mount pounced on them, claws and sword cleaving through them in half. There was an enemy pilot in one of the cruisers. When he scrambled out of the thing and began to shoot at them, Echo let an arrow loose through his chest, and the man stopped moving.

"Okay ladies," Lance quickly dismounted, patting Nyx's golden feathers in gratitude. She lifted a small squared device with wires wrapped all around it and a digital timer in the middle. "Looking for the main control room would take too long, so instead, each of us had been given two of these time bombs." Her guards picked up their own devices. "All of us will split up. Plant them wherever you think will have the most impact. When all of them are placed, set the timer to ten minutes, alert the rest of us, and get the hell out. We have less than fifteen minutes left before the cure running through our veins runs out. Be as quick as you can."

"And this will take down the tower?" Diona guessed, her hands quickly re-braiding her blue hair into a something simple.

Lance nodded. "That's what Maisie said." She pocketed the small device.

Harmony raised her pale hand, her eyes looking green in this light. "What if we encounter any enemies?"

Reyna widely grinned. "Hit them in the crotch and _then_ take them down."

Snickers erupted from the rest of her guards and Lance let herself join in. They were almost done. Once that tower was down then the battle would quickly turn in their favor. They could do this. "All right ladies," she looked them all one by one and nodded. "You know what to do. Be careful and don't you _dare_ die on me."

"Is that an order?" Reyna's yellow cat eyes glittered.

Lance put her hands at her hips. "Damn straight."

Their right fist placed over their hearts, her guards said, "Yes, your highness!"

Nyx and the rest of her guards mount took to the skies with the orders to remain close so they could quickly leave when they needed to. With one last glance shared between them, Cyra slashed the keypad by the door leading to the rest of the ship and were immediately shot at.

Reyna and Cesti, the tallest among them, barreled into them and opened up a path to the rest of them who quickly took to random hallways. Lance took the one to the left, Ami and Tami going with her before the two sisters took another turn and left her alone.

The fight behind her had stopped, Reyna and Cesti must have taken care of their enemies. Sentries began to appear before her, and with a quick swipe of her sword, they went down. Where could she place the bombs?

All of the hallways looked the same. There weren't any frickin signs t tell her where she was either and it just made the whole running thing a little more confusing.

Ah, screw it.

Coming to a stop, Lance snatched one of the time bombs she had on her, stuck it to the wall, set it to ten minutes, and continued to run. Once her guards had put up their own bombs they would start the countdown. Lance tried to conjure up what the Galra ship had looked like from the outside. Where had the engines been? There were two on all four corners so if Lance kept going in this direction then she could place her last time bomb.

And then someone tackled her to the floor.

This is what she got for getting distracted.

Lance rammed her elbow back, a smirk curling her lips as the crunching of bone met her ears. The person behind her swore but Lance managed to turn, her right leg meeting flesh, and she scrambled back as the Galra in front of her growled. His long, sharp, angular features reminded her of one of the monsters her father used to frighten her with when she was a child.

Blood rained down from his nose, and before he could get his bearings, she launched herself at him. She caught him with a hard kick that knocked him back into the wall and then ran down the hall and was met with more gunfire. Her hands raised on instinct, the bullets bouncing off, some catching the sentries and rendering them useless.

Her sword was out the next second, hacking into the silver sentries as they tried to surround her. More were coming down the halls.

" _Adina here!_ " her black-haired friend said through the comms. " _I've set up my bombs!"_

" _Same here!_ " Echo replied.

" _I put mine in the men's locker room_ ," Cyra cackled, the sound of gun fire in the background. _"I don't_ _think they liked that though."_

" _Nice_ ," Ami and Tami praised. " _We're almost done on our side too._ "

" _I still need a little more time,"_ Cesti said next. " _Can't find a good spot."_

" _Harmony and I are putting ours on the upper floors,"_ Diona informed them.

" _That's a good idea,"_ Echo murmured _. "Dolly and I will head over there."_

" _How are you doing your highness?"_ Cesti wondered _. "Everything okay?"_

Lance punched a sentry in the face and hurled the next one to the Galra who had come. The three men dropped to the ground with the added weight and Lance leaped over them before continuing down the hall. "Just peachy."

Reyna groaned. " _Translation: I have enemies after me."_ Her guards snickered _. "Don't worry, I'm on my way to help our princess out."_

Lance rolled her eyes but was actually thankful. "Much appreciated."

She paused and backtracked before looking through the little window at the door. There were a lot of glowing machines in this room. Was this one of the communications room? There was no sign of any Galra here. Taking out her sword, Lance cut the keypad and the door slid open immediately.

"Nice." Lance all but skipped into the room before reaching for the last bomb. Taking in the room, she finally decided to put it under the desk with the glowing keys on it. She tapped the spot behind her ears. "Lance here, I've set up my last time bomb. Are you all ready?"

Twelve voices answered in affirmative. "Then I'm setting off the timers." She clicked the small red button of the remote control and behind her, the time bomb began to countdown. "Let's get out of here!"

Her guards answered back with a quick, " _Yes, your highness!_ "

The clock began to tick down from ten minutes.

 _10:59_

 _10:58_

 _10:57_

Lance synchronized the time on her bracelet to the time bombs so she could see how much time they had an turned to the door, a squeak escaping her lips, she barely had time to raise her shield as two Galra began to fire at her from the door. She was about to ram into them with her shield when a violet blur tackled both men to the ground with a war cry. Blinking rapidly, Lance ran to the hallway and was met with a grinning Reyna sitting calmly on top of two unconscious Galra. Lance crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow at her friend. "You're late super buff."

Reyna looked offended. "Don't act all uppity when you ran ahead on your own, you moron!"

Lance scoffed but helped her friend up, the two of them running for the closest exit, the rest of Lance's guards doing the same, and then –

There was a flash to her right. A sound zipped past her ear, through her brown hair, a dampening bullet missing her by a fraction of an inch. The two Amazons hissed, hitting the ground just in time, as whatever had shot at them let out another round of ammunition. The black bullets embedded themselves in the black metal wall where Lance and Reyna had stood, smoke still coming out.

Standing before them was a sentry. But unlike the ones they'd encountered, this one was buff. And unlike the originals who had no eyes, this one had two glowing orbs on its face counting as them. There was a gun blaster in one of its black metal arms while the other one had a sword.

"We don't have time for this!" Lance snapped.

She and Reyna shared a glance, and the next second they launched themselves at the sentry. Both of their shoulders slammed into its wide chest. It stumbled away from them, trying to keep its balance. Lance and Reyna rammed their shoulders into its chest one more time and the thing fell to the floor with a crash.

As soon as it was down, they ran down the next hallway. The comm-link in Lance's ear began to blare up with noise.

" _Anyone else have a buff sentry chasing after them as they run for dear life?_ " Cyra shrieked.

" _What are they feeding these things?"_ Cesti snapped. " _One threw me through a wall!"_

" _We're having the same problem here,"_ Erie hissed _. "Harley and I got tackled by one not too long ago."_

" _We really don't have time for this!"_ Ami snapped. Tami could be heard shrieking in the background. _"We have to go!"_

" _Harmony and I are on our way to help Ami," Adina said next. "I've sent Echo to your location Cyra."_

" _Thanks," Cyra and Ami said in relief._

"If possible, don't engage them!" Lance said through the comms. She and Reyna were almost out. "Throw them off balance, it takes them a while to get up again."

"Take the time to run while it tries to stand," Reyna added, silver swords twirling in her hands before slicing through a sentry, this one normal. "We need to get out before times runs out."

" _What if they say something mean?"_ Adina hissed.

"Stop running." A robotic voice said just ahead. Lance made a face as another buff sentry stepped into the hall. It pointed its gun blaster at them. "It is useless." Reyna cut its head off.

Everyone answered at the same time. " _Beat the crap out of them._ "

A second one appeared when they turned the next hall. "You can not escape." Lance ran her sword through its chest.

"You will all die today." That one she and Reyna hacked into pieces. It was enough to work up a sweat. Muttering a string of words that would have made Keith proud, the two wrenched their swords from the last buff sentry they'd just taken down and continued toward outside. The outer wall of the hallway they were in was a sheet of glass that looked out to Cloyetera, Lane could see the fight still going on, both in the skies and on the ground, the purple walls of flames that had surrounded each island looked a foot smaller.

Lance hoped Zooey had found a way to get rid of those purple flames. Once they were down, the Myr could come and give them aid.

There was a door at the end of the hallway. It was closed. Reyna and Lance slashed a line down the door. With both hands, the two of them pried the door apart and slipped inside. It was dark, the consoles and panels dead. All windows looked out into the docking bay below. There were no walls between it, just a flat platform where the ships could dock and open skies.

Jackpot.

Once they broke one of the windows, it'd be a leap straight down, and they'd be on the docking bay. They'd be outside.

Reyna wasted no time in hurtling one of the chairs into the window. Lance winced at the noise it made and tapped the spot behind her ear to call the others as Reyna cleared away most of the glass. "Lance here, Reyna and I will be out in just a few moments. How is everyone else doing?"

There was static across the comms for a moment, and then it crackled, and one by once her guards began to speak all at once. Lance sagged in relief.

" _Lost a bit of my hair because a Galra pulled it too hard_ ," Cyra huffed. " _But Echo and I made it to one of the docking bays."_

" _Bummer," Harmony sympathized. "Sorry for your loss. "I've got Adina and the two lizard twins with me. We'll be outside in just a few moments."_

 _Ami and Tami screeched. "Lizard twins? How dare you!"_

" _On the bright side," Adina chirped in. "Her highness is no longer the only one who had their hair chopped off."_

Lance and Cyra grumbled as Reyna let out a booming laugh.

" _I've reconvened with Erie and Dolly," Diona informed them after a few chuckles. "I think we found a docking bay here as well."_

" _Yo!" Cesti made herself known. "I've got Harley with me. The two of us are already on our mounts! Should we all meet up with her highness?"_

All of them agreed.

Taking Reyna's hand, the two of them crouched at the open window and jumped down. Wind whipped at their face, hair slapped their cheeks, and then it was over. They landed on the metal platform with a small thud.

Once they were on their feet, the two of them released a high-pitched whistle, each one a different note that their mounts would recognize, and started running to the edge. A line of Galra cruisers stretched out across the landing area. As Reyna and she made their way across, the Galra cruisers in the sky must had finally noticed them because they changed directions and began to fire at them.

The two of them cursed.

Suddenly, a streak of brown and the sound of mighty wings cut through the Galra cruisers, lightning and arrows hit their marks, and Galra cruisers exploded one by one.

It was Adina and the rest of her friends.

They'd arrived.

"We'll keep them busy!" Cesti shouted through the comm-link. Lance could see her blond friend and her gryphon circling a Galra cruiser, Cesti shooting arrows into the windshield. "You two get to your mounts!"

"Thanks!"

Two familiar cries reached their ears soon after, and then Nyx's golden wings appeared, behind her, Reyna's own mount, Callista, flapped her brown wings, the two of them ducking and diving to avoid being hit by one of the many Galra cruisers in the sky.

Callista broke through first, Nyx letting out a stream of lightning at a cruiser's engine, the ship letting out a stream of black smoke before it began to go down. Reyna threw her hand out and with a grunt, pushed herself onto Callista, the bird adjusting herself. Whipping around in her seat, Reyna threw out her arm to reach her. The previous blue paladin stretched out her hand.

"LANCE!"

The Amazon Princess could read the fright on her friend's face, and then the horror –a moment before she realized that there was someone behind her. Lance had been mid-leap, hand outstretched toward Reyna when a hand grabbed hold of her hair and wrenched her back.

One second she was in the air, and the next she was on the floor, hissing through her teeth as she was thrown back to the ground roughly. Reyna let out a shout, Nyx screeched in anger, and then a violet beam of light whizzed by Lance at an incredible speed and made contact with Callista's side.

The bird let out a pained shriek, blood streaming upward out of its wound in rivers, Reyna was screaming or sobbing, Lance couldn't tell, as Callista tried to keep afloat, tried to keep her passenger safe. Another beam of violet light flew past her, its direction straight at Reyna but Callista must have seen that and reared up, blocking Reyna from view and taking a second shot to herself. Lance was screaming, everyone was screaming, and then Callista's wings flapped once more, and finally gave out.

The next moment, Reyna and Callista were falling.

The scream that erupted from Adina was the worst sound that Lance had ever heard.

"Save them!" Lance hardly recognized her own voice. It sounded broken and pleading. "Please!" Either way, Adina didn't hesitate; she and her mount had already been diving after them before Lance uttered the command.

Lance's guards were scattered all over the place, half of them dove after Reyna and Callista. The other half went for Lance. The comm-links was a mix of screaming and roaring, cursing and rage.

More streams of violet light shot out from behind her, this time accompanied by a dozen or red lights, the heat coming from them enough to make Lance hiss and her guards had no choice but to scatter lest they get hit. Galra cruisers followed after them. Lance scrambled to her feet, she had to get off this ship, not only was the time running out for ship, but the cure running through Lance's veins was starting to fade.

She could feel it.

She brought another dose with her but she wouldn't be able to take it for another ten minutes after the last one wore off.

And Reyna…was her friend all right? Had the others managed to get to them in time?

Should she just jump off and hope she landed on a cruiser so Nyx could get her? As if her mount had been summoned, Nyx stuck her wings to her side and twisted between two battle cruisers and headed straight for her. She was going to make it. Lance inched back. And then –

Nyx slammed into a particle barrier. Lance's stomach twisted with dread. There was a particle barrier around the ship? Since when? Nyx was clawing at the thing, squawking in anger, shooting off a stream of lightning from her mouth but the particle barrier didn't so much as crack.

Nyx couldn't get reach her. And Lance couldn't get out. She was trapped.

"You didn't think I'd let you go that easily, did you?"

Lance turned and was met with a very tall Galra with mauve fur and yellow eyes, though his right eye seemed to have been replaced with a red prosthetic. In place of his left arm he had a large, powerful looking, and definitely terrifying clawed gauntlet attached to his shoulder by a violet energy chain.

There was something familiar about him. She'd him somewhere. She was sure.

There was an insistent nudge from Keith through the bond. Lance's eyes widened. That's why he seemed so familiar. She'd seen him through Keith's memories. The paladins had fought him before.

"You're…Sendak, aren't you?" Lance guessed. Her brows furrowed. "You're dead…or…you're supposed to be."

And he wasn't alone. There were about a dozen or so of those buff sentries with him. They were the ones that had been shooting at her guards.

Sendak's face turned into a sneer. "And you smell just like that pathetic half-breed that pilots the Red Lion." His face twitched into a knowing smirk. "You too are bonded." Lance didn't say anything. "Which means that any damage done to you gets passed down to him."

Lance drew out her sword. Her eyes narrowed to slits. "And you're the one that shot down my friends."

She glanced at the time.

 _4:32_

 _4:31_

 _4:30_

She was running out of time. "Look, I'd love to take you on any time but if we stay here, we'll both die." Sendak didn't say anything. "You need to take down that particle barrier so we can get out. We'll fight somewhere else."

Please say yes. Her powers should return as soon as the ship was destroyed but if she was still _on_ the ship then she'd die.

Sendak's face twisted in rage. She took a step back. The buff sentries pointed their gun blasters toward her. Sendak waved them back. "Stand down. Nobody move. She's mine."

Lance growled. "We don't have time for this!"

"Don't worry," Sendak stalked toward her with a roll of his shoulders. "Once I'm done with you I'll personally go down there myself and kill off the rest of those pathetic women who call themselves warriors." Lance twitched. "How did you like the Synats? We made sure to starve them for the past week. I wanted them to be hungry before I let them loose on an all you can eat buffet." Sendak let out harsh laugh. "Even from here I could hear the screams coming from every island. It's like music to my ears. And let's not forget the tower that Lady Haggar and her druids made. With that thing active, killing you all was so easy it was kind of boring."

Staring Sendak in the face, Lance waited for the sense of calm that usually took over her senses, that numbness that made her lethal in battle, but all she felt, burning from within, was fury.

Sendak grinned, and then he came at her, fast as a striking snake. Lance barely had time to bring up her shield, that huge terrifying clawed gauntlet making contact, and Lance's arm sang with the reverberation.

She instantly parried, slashing upward with her sword. Sendak saw the attack coming and dodged with a leap to the side. He didn't give her time to catch her breath. As soon as he dodged her attack, he was launching for her from the other side. She was able to duck away from his first punch, but the second one caught her in the stomach, stealing her breath. His next punch came at her face, and Lance went down.

Sendak stood over her, terrifyingly massive. He aimed a kick at her side but Lance rolled to the side and came up on one knee, her golden lasso wrapping around his leg to throw him off balance. Sendak went down with a roar, his clawed hand lifting to fire at her but Lance pulled on the lasso, hurtling him toward one of the battle cruisers parked on the platform.

"Take down the particle barrier!"

Sendak shot to his feet and hurled a battle cruiser her way.

Lance wrapped her lasso around it and hurled it toward the buff sentries. They went down like a bunch of bowling pins. When she turned back toward Sendak, Lance's eyes widened at the sight of his clawed hand flying at her, before it punched her in the stomach, and hurled her across the platform. The hand returned to Sendak's side the next instant.

Gasping for breath, she struggled to her knees, blood dripping from her mouth. "You realize this is all your fault, don't you?" Sendak paced her, taking his time. "You're the one who angered Lady Haggar, even after all the chances she gave you to turn yourself into her care. But you didn't listen, did you?" he reached down and picked her up by her hair. She bit back a cry and aimed a kick at him. It hardly faced him. The cure was running out. She was getting weaker. He lifted her until her feet were dangling, and pulled her close, until their noses were an inch apart. "And now, because of you, all your people get to suffer in your place."

Despite Lotor's words, Lance knew that all of this, the hunting of the Amazons, the discovery of the Dampening Stones, Cloyetera getting attacked, was all her fault. Haggar had warned her. But if Lance had given herself to Haggar so she could become the witches' new body, then the consequences would have been much worse.

"I have to thank you though," Sendak dropped her. Lance scrambled back. He stalked after her. "I'd been feeling bored lately and when Lady Haggar personally came to me to give me this mission, I was so thrilled, I almost smiled. If you hadn't angered Lady Haggar she and druids wouldn't have worked so tirelessly to make new weapons out of those Dampening Stones." He pulled some kind of remote from his red armor. "This is one of my favorites."

He pushed the button and Lance's hands went to her ears, trying to block out the noise, but it seemed to cut through anyway. No one but her seemed to be affected. She couldn't even hear herself screaming. The high-pitch noise sunk into her brain like an ax. Lance felt something warm trickle down her eyes and ears.

Blood.

She was bleeding from her eyes and ears.

 _It hurt, it hurt, it hurt._

Through the noise Lance could just barely hear the sound of Sendak's dark laugh. Lance fell to her hands and knees, wiping at the blood on her face, and stumbled to one knee. Hands hanging at her side, Lance took a step forward. And then another.

The noise disappeared.

Her brain was still thrumming from the effects of that noise, but Lance managed to stay upright even as Sendak brought out an armored glove and put it on his right arm. "Not bad, you didn't die immediately." Lance took another step. "We tested that little baby out on a few Amazons we caught coming back from a mission." Lance stiffened. Was he talking about Calixta and her team? "One died instantly, though that was partially because we put the speaker right by her ears." He shrugged and smirked at his armored glove. "This one though, this one was very nice."

He lifted his hand and Lance could hear the tearing of metal, the screeching it made as it was ripped away, and then suddenly, pieces of metal from the battle cruisers were floating in the air behind him. Sendak's fingers twitched, and Lance watched in horror as those metal pieces twisted in the air until they resembled javelins. Lance's blood ran cold. This power…

Sendak laughed. "You recognize this don't you?"

This had been Liya's power.

Lance saw red. With a raged cry, Lance launched herself at the laughing Galra, shield up to throw those javelins heading toward her, away, and reached Sendak within seconds, a punch aimed at his face.

Sendak didn't move. He only smiled.

And as Lance's fist connected with his right cheek, all the power seemed to drain out of her. The cure had worn off. Her punch might as well been a love tap for all it did. She crumbled to her knees, coughing, her lungs seizing, and Sendak pulled back his leg and kicked her away. She hit the concrete hard, her ankle twisting under her.

He stalked toward her, metal pieces floating around him, amusement flashing in his eyes. "I am a bit surprised to see you though. That Bekhanaton Queen and her little spiders said they'd take care of you and your mother at another location," he spread his arms. "And yet here you are." He kicked her again, and Lance was sent flying, crashing into one of the battle cruisers, coughing up blood.

A roar built throughout the area. Lance had time to note that the Amazons, her guards included, were banging on the particle barrier. They were _screaming_. Throwing obscenities at Sendak as he stalked toward her. Nyx was clawing at the barrier, desperation in those blue eyes of hers. Others were shouting at her to get up. Run away.

 _1:48_

 _1:47_

 _1:46_

The whole ship suddenly rocked. The sound of explosions going off from the farthest corners were beginning to go off one by one. Surely the control room for the particle barrier would be destroyed before the bombs on this side went off.

Right?

God, she hoped so.

With trembling fingers, Lance tapped the spot behind her ears for her comm-links. The deafening noise coming from all her guards had her hissing through her teeth, but at the sound, they all stopped. Lance took the chance to speak before they talked over her. "You have to get away." Multiple voices argued at once. "The ship is going to explode soon. My powers will be back before then." Probably. "I can conjure up my shield to keep myself safe. Just get some distance for now." The arguing rose in volume. "That is an _order_."

She turned off the comm-link before they could respond.

"So tell me," Sendak said, not looking bothered that parts of the ship were starting to blow up. He dodged the punch she threw at him and backhanded her. She toppled backwards. "Where _is_ your mother? The _Queen_ of the Amazons?" he scoffed. Lance struggled to her feet, aiming another punch, when pieces of metal appeared at her side and wrapped around her body. Lance struggled, one hand managing to break out but Sendak made a clawing motion with his right hand and the metal tightened around her so tightly that she gasped. The weight was too much and Lance dropped to the floor, the floor cracking beneath her. Every time she struggled only had the metal tightening. She was right at the edge. The particle barrier mere inches away from the back of her head.

"Did she run away?" Sendak pressed on, pressing his foot on top of the metal curled around her body to lean into her face. Lance coughed out blood with the added weight. Her only free hand wrapped around his ankle in hopes of removing it but it was like moving a wall. Another explosion rocked the ship. "Or is she still somewhere down there?"

Lance made the mistake of turning her head to glance down at the island, toward the building with the blue particle barrier around it, where both of her parents, where Zooey's mom and all of their guards were still fighting the Queen of the Bekhanatons.

At least, they must be.

Her mom had said she'd take down the barrier when they took that spider queen down.

Were they still fighting?

"Ah, I see."

Lance looked away, too quickly, but it was too late. Sendak had seen.

"So she's in that building." He snapped his fingers. "Bring it out." Sendak pointed behind him and Lance felt a bolt of fear shoot through her system as two Galra wheeled out something that looked like a cannon. Because it _was_.

It was an ion cannon.

No.

 _No_.

Anything but this.

Her parents were there. Zooey's mom was there. Valkyries and Amazons who were risking their lives to keep them safe were there. Lance felt tears run down her cheeks. She struggled and that only made the metal bindings around her torso tighten to the point where breathing was becoming difficult.

" _PLEASE_." Her scream carried across the platform, across the world. " _PLEASE_."

Sendak smiled. "Ready the ion cannon."

" _PLEASE, STOP!"_

The ion cannon began to glow.

" _I'LL DO ANYTHING!"_

The ion cannon was adjusted.

" _DON'T!"_

Sendak's smile widened to the point that it looked demonic. "Fire."

And then four things happened at once:

The ion cannon fired off a long stream of violet light, leaving nothing but a crater where a building used to be.

A giant golden ship with a black skeleton as its sail crashed into the black tower, destroying it.

The ship she was on exploded.

And Lance's powers came back with a vengeance.

* * *

The sheer agony coursing through the bond on Lance's side was so strong, so powerful that Keith felt tears pour down his cheeks. Her parents… _Oh God._

" _Where is she?_ " Pidge screamed through the comms. " _Keith!_ "

" _I don't see her!"_ Hunk cried. " _Where is she? Where's my friend?"_

" _Keith_!" Allura bawled. " _Answer us!"_

" _Keith_ ," Shiro gasped, his voice cracking. " _Where's Lance?_ "

She was alive. He knew she was. But he couldn't find her anywhere in the footage.

The ship she and Sendak had been on blew up. The tower had been taken down. But through all the chaos, and the smoke and debris falling from the sky, Keith had lost track of her.

But the sadness radiating off Lance was soon replaced with unyielding fury.

His friends gasped.

And Keith, with a sense of dread, lifted his gaze to see Lance emerge from a sea of fire. The wreck from the ship she'd been on was behind her still burning. She'd landed in the entertainment island. Galra who had previously been fighting wearily pointed their guns at her. Lance's hands were at her sides. Her head was bowed down. There were tears running down her cheeks. Lightning crackled in the sky in random spots. The sky turned a deep red. A blizzard seemed to have taken over. There was frost in the air.

Keith had heard stories of Lance's rampage. They told him that the second Keith had been struck, when he'd lost consciousness, that Lance had brought all her fury raining down. Her powers had changed the weather. She'd summoned lightning. They striked anyone and anything. Be it friend or foe, it didn't matter. Seeing it in person though…

Keith was not the type of man to get scared, but he felt his heart skip a beat as Lance finally moved. She launched forward at the group of Galra without warning. One second she was there, the next she was on them. A ball of lightning grew in the palm of her hand and with a wicked smile, she threw it to the ground, bolts of lightning shooting out in all directions and wiping out every Galra that had been standing there into dust and a good chunk of the wall from a building close by.

The Galra must have sensed that she was the real danger here because soon enough, battle cruiser after battle cruiser went after, shooting down at her. Long spikes of ice sprouted from the ground and pierced through the metal of each and every single one.

They exploded soon after, a blue shield wrapping around Lance to avoid getting struck by any falling debris.

Without looking back, Lance continued to walk, she lifted her head, and Keith and his friends gasped at the sight before them. Lance's eyes were glowing a bright blue. Sparks of lightning shooting out from the corner of her eyes. He couldn't even see her pupils. Her fingers were coated in frost.

More and more Galra came and Lance sliced them in two. She beheaded another one. Blood arced through the air and spattered upon the cobblestone floor, as Lance flashed like a whirlwind and the Galra fell away in pieces.

The storm bellowed around her, slashing and clawing. Her wounds were closing. Waves surged and roiled, the surface of the water lifting as if something monstrous was shifting just below. He's not wrong. Tentacles soon sprouted from the ocean, catching Galra cruisers mid-flight before crushing them in their grips. The ocean surged up once again, but this time, when it receded, standing before where there was nothing were the Myr people.

Queen Luxia was seated atop of what looked like a shark, her skin was covered in shiny silvery scales that seemed to be both metallic and to have grown straight from her skin. Her tail was gone, replaced by long legs covered in armor of shell. The rest of the Myr people, all of them riding enormous turtles and sharks, were carrying a blue fan with what looked like an image of a mermaid on it.

The Myr people had come to help.

And they weren't the only ones. The pirates Keith had met a few months back were there too, slashing away at any Galra that stepped in their way. The red paladin swore he saw Mrs. Dossier in a black choker shooting from the safety of a ship but he couldn't be sure.

He saw Amaya and Annabelle shooting arrow after arrow as they drove in Lance's old hoverboard, she'd given it to Annabelle as a present, the two silver haired Amazons not missing their target.

Below on another island was Acacia, Amaya and Annabelle's mother, ice spreading around her, up the legs of shocked Galra, freezing Synats in the air when they launched for her. She made ice statues of resembling Synats, these a little bigger, and sent them away to help anyone else.

They weren't the only ones who'd come to help. Up in the sky reinforcements were still coming, ships with the Amazon logo spray painted on the sides were raining down a hailstorm of bullets into any Galra cruiser they spotted. The Amazons had their powers back. The Valkyries were putting out the fires, taking injured women somewhere safe with the help of the gryphons.

And Lance…

A group of Amazons who'd been hiding behind a building tried to go near her and a wall of ice shot out from the ground to keep them away. Another group came up to her left and a blot of lightning rained down before them. She wasn't letting anyone get in her way. She was looking for Sendak. He was alive. She somehow just knew.

 _Lance!_

Something dark and powerful pushed him back.

Keith's eyes widened.

Mad laughter echoed in his mind.

There was someone else in Lance's mind.

Someone powerful.

But this energy…he'd sensed this energy before…

But where –

Keith whipped his head back to the stadium where Lotor was still fighting his father, blue-gray eyes seeking out a familiar hooded figure.

There.

Haggar was standing a good distance away from the fight going on inside. Her shoulders were shaking and Keith realized it wasn't with fright.

She was laughing.

Downright cackling.

 _Haggar_ was in Lance's mind.

Keith saw red. " _YOU BITCH!"_

His friends startled at his outburst, all of them jumping in their seat from where they were being displayed on the four corners of his screen. Shiro opened his mouth to speak when the Robeasts around them began to fire at them. Pidge brought up the shield to cover but the impact still had everyone inside Voltron holding on for dear life.

Shiro moved them a safe distance away, Keith bringing up the sword as Allura and Hunk gave the legs they were in charge of more fuel to fly faster. The Robeast they caught up to was sliced in half before they moved on to the next. Friendly fire keeping the other cruisers away which was good because Keith needed some time. His team was already looking at him.

"Haggar is in Lance's mind."

They gasped.

"And I think she's the one telling Lance what to do, and Lance doesn't seem to care at the moment because she just wants to make the Galra pay."

" _B-but how is Haggar in Lance's head?"_ Hunk stammered.

" _Yeah_ ," Pidge narrowed her eyes. " _How the hell is Haggar in her head?"_

Shiro gasped. " _Maybe it was that time Lance went inside my head."_

Allura looked to her boyfriend with a wide-eyed look. " _You think that witch somehow managed to transfer a strand of her magic to Lance before she was erased from Shiro's mind?"_

Keith growled, his head was starting to throb. Despite the fact that Lance had closed the door to her side of the bond, Keith could still feel all her emotions as clear as day.

Sadness.

Rage.

Fury.

There was so much anger in the bond that Keith was starting to feel suffocated. He kept pushing at the door leading to Lance's mind, but no matter how much he banged his fists, no matter how much he kicked, punched, and screamed, the door remained shut. He could see the black tendril of magic from Haggar taking over, encouraging Lance to kill more, to completely obliterate anyone standing in her way.

But.

Lance hadn't completely given in to her anger. She was killing the Galra no problem. But as for her allies? She was keeping them at bay, but she wasn't killing them. Lance was still in there and she was still fighting back.

 _Keep fighting! Don't you dare give in!_

Lance's energy surged.

 _That's right! Don't let that bitch tell you what to do!_

The blackness began to recede.

And then Sendak appeared on top of one of the shooting galleries and the darkness that had begun to recede increased tenfold.

 _Shit_.

* * *

Lance had always felt that there were two of her: the Lance who was in control, able to handle any situation, able to talk to anyone as if they were old friends, able to put anyone at ease, and then, there was the other, more violent Lance, pissed off and ready to spring if someone so much as breathed too loudly, eager to tear and destroy anything standing in her way.

That Lance was always kept at the very recesses of her mind, buried under lock and key, for if she got out, she would destroy everything.

And now…

Now she was out.

And Lance was glad for it. She wanted to scream. She wanted to burn everything. Kill everything. She wanted her enemies to feel her rage. She wanted them to feel the same loss she had experienced.

She wanted them to hurt like she was hurting.

But more than anything…

She wanted to stop _feeling_.

A Galra came at her side, sword raised high to cut her down, and Lance stretched her frost-covered fingers out, and raked her digits against his chest. Ice crept up his neck and onto his face before he fell, the light flickering out of his eyes.

There was someone she was looking for.

 _He_ had to pay first.

There'd be no more lullabies sang to her in Spanish by her dad.

No more waking up to the smell of smoke as her mother attempted to cook.

No more long nights spent at the piano with her dad as the two tried out a new song.

No more mother-daughter outings at the mall.

No more diving in to her parent's bed because she had a nightmare.

Because they were dead.

The reality of it made the tears start pouring all over again.

Another group of Galra had surrounded her while she stood there reminiscing.

"Stand down or we will shoot!"

Lightning crackled at her fingertips.

"Our orders were to take you alive or dead!"

Ice began to sprout at her feet.

"This is your last chance!"

This was their fault.

Her parents weren't the only ones who had been killed.

Dozens of other Amazons that she had known her whole life had lost their lives too.

 _Yes, a voice purred in her mind. It is their fault._

If they'd wanted Lance, then they should have come for _her_.

 _That's right, the voice said. They should have. So what will you do now?_

Kill them.

"Don't you know?" Lance murmured to the crowd. She lifted her gaze. "When in the company of a royal, it is polite to bow."

The Galra in front of her sneered and said, "Open fire!"

The deafening sound of dozens of gun blasters going off came to an abrupt stop as every single one of them stopped mere inches from her body. With a twitch of her fingers, the black bullets dropped to the ground, useless.

"You _will_ bow."

She made sure to put emphasis in her voice.

And with a sick satisfaction, Lance watched as every single Galra dropped down to one knee and bowed their heads. The horror in their faces made her want to laugh.

She had more important things to do though.

She began to walk away, the Galra still kneeling trembling as she passed.

"Y-you can't just leave us h-here!"

Lance paused. "You're right." They exhaled in relief. "Kill yourselves."

"W-wait!"

"P-please!"

"We're sorry!"

Lance didn't watch as they each took out their gun blaster, pointed it at their neighbor, and shot themselves. The thud that each body made as it dropped to the ground had her smirking though.

 _Good, the voice approved. Very good._

"Your highness!"

Lance came to a stop. She turned her head to the right. There were two Amazons standing there looking pale-faced and bloody.

"You have to stop this!"

"Yes," the other urged. "This isn't you!"

 _Kill them, the voice urged. How dare they stand in your way._

Lance threw out a hand and a wall of ice slid between her and the two women.

The voice in her head hissed in anger.

Lance didn't give a damn.

She wasn't _that_ far gone.

… _p figh…g…! don't…yo…d..re..gi..in!_

What was that?

This comforting feeling…it was like warm fire.

The voice in her trashed.

Lance blinked. What was she doing?

 _That's right! Don't let that bitch tell you what to do!_

Whose voice did this belong to? She liked this one. It was comforting.

The lightning flashing in the sky diminished. The blizzard she'd conjured up came to a slow stop.

The other voice in her head began to snarl.

"Your highness, please!"

They banged on the wall but Lance was already walking away, her head was hurting. She'd been looking for someone. Her hands went to her head. Sendak. She was looking for him.

Where was he?

 _Where was he?_

He wasn't dead.

She was sure of it; after all, she'd covered the area they'd been in with her blue shield as soon as her powers came back. She didn't know where he landed though. And Reyna. Were was Reyna and the rest of her guards? Her thoughts began to clear. What had she been doing?

"Looking for someone?"

Lance froze.

At the sound of that voice, every single anger that had been fading came back with a vengeance.

The voice in her head cackled.

It was louder than before.

Standing on top of one of the shooting ranges was none other Sendak; his smile was wide as he looked down on her.

Lance saw red.

* * *

The image of the building being completely obliterated thanks to this man came flashing back in her mind. She remembered her pleading, his laughter as she cried for him to stop, and with all the anger bubbling up inside her Lance released a scream and launched herself at him.

Synats appeared before she could.

Her hands went to their throats, snapping their necks.

She ripped off their tails.

Hurtled their bodies to the wall until there was nothing but splatter.

Her hands were coated in orange blood but she kept pounding away.

Sendak was moving farther away, laughing into the air, and people were standing in her way.

She made lightning rain down from the sky on the whole island.

She couldn't let him get away.

She _wouldn't_.

Placing her hands together, she summoned ice to make her faster.

"What's wrong?" Sendak crooned. "I don't understand why you're mad at _me_."

Lance threw half a dead battle cruiser lying on the side at him. Sendak hurled it to the side with a simple swipe. With his gloved hand he broke pieces of metal from the rides around them and threw them at her. All of them turned to ice before they could reach her and shattered to the floor.

"I'm not the one who killed your parents." Sendak went on, laughing. "I gave the orders true, but you shouldn't be going after me. You should be finding those men instead."

Lightning flashed very few minutes, casting the island into stark black and white. It'd begun to rain.

Why wouldn't he go _down_?

She'd burn this whole island down if it meant she got to kill _him_.

 _Yes, the voice in her head said. Destroy everything. You can't let him get away. He's so close._

Ice spread all around her. It spread to the fallen bodies on the floor, covered the rides, spikes of ice shot from the ground. Everything was turning to ice.

People began to scream, the island seemed to shudder, and Lance didn't care.

 _Show your rage! Seek more power! And kill everything in your path!_

Yes.

 _They did this! They killed your loved ones! They killed your parents!_

Black tendrils of magic began to wrap around her body. Her eyes were turning pitch black. She could let her anger out and destroy everything!

 _Yes! You're so close! Just a little more!_

Hands wrapped around her middle. She gritted her teeth and tried to take another step but the hands around her only tightened.

"Come back to us Lance."

Who was this?

Sendak was getting away.

Another pair of hands wrapped around her right hand. "This isn't like you."

She couldn't let him get away.

Someone clenched her left hand. "Don't give in to your anger bitch! What would your father say?"

…Her father?

A big hand settled on the top of her hand. "Mom and dad wouldn't want this Lei-Lei."

"I know it hurts," the first voice murmured into her ear. It was a female. "And I know you're in pain, but you don't have to do this alone."

She knew this voice.

The second voice sniffled and tightened her hold on her right arm. "I was so happy when you asked us to help you save our people. Do you know how rare that is? The stakes were stacked against us, but we preserved. By working _together_. You can't lose control. You need to come back and work with us because when we do, we're invincible."

This one too.

"You're the very first friend I ever made in my life," the third voice grumbled. "And even though you're a pain most of the time, I still like you. You helped change me into someone I can be proud of, and I'll be damned if I let that bitch of a witch manipulate you like this! Fight back damn it!"

This one as well.

"You're my baby sister," the last voice murmured. "I know you like the back of my hand. I love you. I always will. But if you could see yourself now, you wouldn't like what you see." The hand on her head patted her hair.

Friends, her mind conjured the word. Family.

Yes.

The ice in her fingers began to recede.

The lightning flashing in the sky began to stop.

The voice in her head was screaming, but growing fainter.

Lance felt so warm.

"I love you Lance, my _princess_ ," the first voice murmured into her neck, squeezing her tightly. "And I'll do all I can to share in your pain just like you did with me when _I_ lost my mom. You were there for me then so this time, I'll be there for you."

Her struggles began to cease.

"We'll eat up all of your pain," the second voice sniffled. "We are your swords and your shields. It is our job to keep you safe."

Her eyelids began to droop.

"I'm not good with the whole touchy feely things," the third voice murmured. "But I will be there to listen and I'll be there if you need to cry, because honestly?" the voice cracked. "I think I might need you do that for me too." Fingernails pressed to her left arm, digging into her flesh. "So come back, because I need you. I need my friend back. _Please_."

Her arms sagged to her side.

"Just step into my arms little sister," the last voice said. "I'll be there, I'll always be there. So come back to me."

She closed her eyes and went into her mind.

* * *

It was like waking up from a nightmare.

One minute she was surrounded by darkness, no light in sight, anger and fury, bloodlust and vengeance all around her, and then there had been cracks of light in the room. The voice in her head had completely disappeared. Lance had made sure of it by throwing her power at it.

With every word spoken to her, Lance's power flared brighter.

Bit by bit, she burned the witch in her mind.

Haggar raged and trashed but whatever power she had gained by feeding into Lance's dark energy had begun to fade.

Lance watched in silence, Keith's comforting energy rising as Haggar began to disappear. She felt his relief, his joy, and his love.

How she missed him.

A wave of black lunged for her. Lance lifted a single hand, lightning and ice merged as one, and the darkness was shoved aside. This was _her_ mind. _She_ was in control.

"Pretty clever of you to leave a trail of your magic behind," Lance said to the witch. "I was so busy making sure that you'd completely disappeared from Shiro's head that I didn't notice you slither your way into mine." She approached the witch. Ice began to cover whatever was left of her. "If it wasn't for my friends, you might have won."

"You stupid little girl!" Haggar spat. "This was the most painless way for me to take over your body and now that you're about to cast me out, the next time I see you, you're _dead_!"

Lance just smiled. "We'll see, but I have a feeling that with all of my friends helping me out, that won't be happening any time soon."

"You'll regret this!"

Lance smiled. "I hardly doubt that."

With another twitch, the ice completed covered the witch before shattering into tiny little pieces.

Lance turned her head to the light at the end of the tunnel and stepped through.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she was crying, and four people were hugging her close. The sky was no longer red. It had hints of blue and purple, and a little bit of orange. The dark clouds were gone. The blizzard she'd summoned was gone.

"I'm sorry!" she bawled, sagging against the person at her back, Reyna, she was suddenly so tired. The two slid to the floor, Reyna holding her tightly to her chest as she shuddered in relief against her neck. Adina and Zooey kneeled with them, gripping her arms in a death grip as Mikey engulfed them all in a hug. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"We know," Reyna murmured. "We know."

"It was that witch," Adina sniffled, her eyes red-rimmed. "She was taking over."

"It's a good thing we got that call," Zooey smiled, squeezing her arm, black wings tucked close. "We were almost too late."

"I knew I gave my blessing to someone worthy," Mikey grinned, patting her head.

"Keith called you," Lance deduced, eyes closing as Adina gently wiped at her tears. "Didn't he?"

"Yeah," Reyna sat up to a proper sitting position, adjusting Lance in her hold. "Called us in a panic and said we had to save your pretty butt because that creepy witch was in your head."

"We almost couldn't understand him," Mikey rolled his eyes. "He was speaking too fast and cursing at us to hurry our asses up."

That was just like Keith.

Always coming to her rescue.

The thought made her smile.

 _Thank you_ , she said in her head.

 _Don't worry me so much you damn idiot_ , was the instant response.

"At least finding you wasn't very hard," Zooey grumbled.

Adina shot her a disapproving look. "We told the others to keep him busy while we saved you."

Lance frowned "Him?"

Zooey's eyes sharpened behind her mask. "The asshole who had our parents killed." She gripped the mace lying beside her. "He's going to _pay_."

Her friend looked like she was trying very hard not to cry but Lance could see right through her. Her fingers inched toward her friends and laced them together. Lance didn't say anything. And neither did Zooey. But the message was clear.

I'm here.

At the mention of Sendak still walking around, still alive, wreaking havoc somewhere made her blood boil. Her fist clenched. Her friends eyed her cautiously.

Lance took a deep breath. She unclenched her fist. "I'm okay." She hesitated. "Did I hurt anyone while I wasn't myself?"

Her friends shared a look.

"I see."

"N-nothing they couldn't handle though!" Adina was quick to reassure her. "Just a little frostbite, nothing too bad!"

Lance glanced at the sky. Her powers were back. There was something she'd always wanted to try. Could she do it?

She closed her eyes, concentrating, and moments later it began to snow. Only this wasn't normal snow. She'd mixed in her healing abilities with it as well. It wasn't much but it would certainly help with the frostbite.

Her friends gasped in awe.

Zooey raised her free hand and the slash she had on her forearm began to close. "Nice."

"It won't last very long," Lance apologized, taking Mikey's hand to help her to her feet. She sagged against him, and Mikey slipped a hand around her waist to hold her up. How much power had she released while she'd been on a rampage? "But its one of many apologies that I have to do."

Reyna snorted and punched her in the shoulder. Lance stumbled back. Mikey glared. "It's okay, seriously! So a few women got hit by some lightning and got frostbite," she shrugged. "Big deal. They can handle it."

That was probably true. "How is Callista? Is she all right? And what about you?"

Reyna straightened, her face going serious, as she gazed into the distance. "She almost didn't make it, but as soon as that tower was taken down, Adi and the rest of the healers around ran to our side and began to heal us." Reyna smiled. "My girl is tough. She'll pull through."

"We're winning by the way," Zooey suddenly said. Her black wings stretched and she grinned. "With that tower gone, all the Amazons have their powers back. The Valkyries and I put most of the flames surrounding the islands down so the Myr were finally allowed to help." She pursed her lips. "I think I saw some of them munching on a few Galra but I'm not sure."

They definitely were.

"No to mention all the extra reinforces that arrived to lend a hand," Adina chirped with a smile. "The tide quickly turned in our favor."

"Reinforcements?" Lance blinked. "What reinforcements?"

"Oh, just everyone we saved in the past few months of our journey," Mikey teased. "Even the pirates are here. And those cat people. And not to mention Amaya and her family as well. They're all kicking butt last I checked."

The sound of metal screeching, battle cries following after it, is what caught Lance's attention. She looked in the direction of the noise and felt her eyes widen at the sight of the roller coaster she and her friends had ridden months ago breaking apart into pieces.

There were Valkyries in the air.

Her guards in their gryphons avoiding flying projectiles.

Amaya and Annabelle on the hoverboard she'd won from Captain Cedric shooting arrows at the few Galra standing on the rooftops firing back. Acacia and her flying ice creations right by their side as she threw arrows made out of ice at the rooftops.

And…was that Mrs. Dossier in a black choker? Nah, she must be seeing things.

Lance narrowed her eyes. "Is Sendak over there?"

"Yeah," Zooey went to stand beside her. "He's not making taking him down easy."

"I can bring him down," her friends scowled at her. "With your help of course!"

Reyna smashed her fist into her palm and grinned. "What's the plan princess?"

Lance grinned right back. "Something awesome."

* * *

Sendak snapped his head to the sky as Lance and her party arrived on Nyx and Adina's mount. Giant chunks of metal shaped like cubes were immediately thrown their way.

Acacia threw her hands out and all of them turned to ice, falling to the ground, before shattering into pieces.

Cesti and the rest of her guards circled around him in their mounts, lightning striking him in every direction.

Sendak lifted his hand and he was cocooned into dozens and dozens of metal pieces, keeping him safe from harm. He broke through soon enough, his clawed prosthetic shooting out and chasing after Amaya and Annabelle.

Nyx gently dropped to the ground, she and Mikey climbing out. Zooey dropped from the sky to land next to her.

Lance extended her hand.

Zooey took it and clasped it with her own.

Mikey, Reyna and Adina went to join the fight.

Everyone already knew what to do.

And as everyone around began to fire non-stop at Sendak, keeping him busy, Lance and Zooey gathered their energy between their hands.

Lance didn't have a lot of power left but with Zooey's own, they were invincible.

Their clasped hands began to glow.

Sendak gaped where he dodged a stream of lightning and punched Kyrian back into Colt and Alan. The Galra growled and pointed his clawed hand in their direction.

The thing went flying at an incredible speed straight at them but Mikey and Reyna both launched themselves in the air and held it back, Amaya jumping down from the hoverboard to give them a hand when they began to slip forward.

Adina and Cesti, followed by Ami and Tami, Dolly and Erie, all tackled him to the floor, trying to take his glove off.

He trashed in their hold.

The rest of the Galra had been taken down. Captain Cedric and Mrs. Dossier who _was_ wearing a black choker next to her pale looking husband were tying those who had surrendered up. The three of them were covered in blood.

Aiden took Amaya's spot next to Annabelle and the two fired off explosive arrows at the metal javelins being launched in the air.

The power between Lance and Zooey was merging.

Their clenched hands began to burn brighter.

His hand slipping free, he waved at whatever was left of the Ferris wheel and hurtled those dozens and dozens of small projectiles her and Zooey.

Her friends managed to hit a few but a large handful of them still headed their way.

Their friends cried out but they needn't had worried.

Lance threw out a small trickle of her power and the small javelins disintegrated before they could reach them.

Sendak broke free of her guards, throwing them a good feet away, and started running toward Lance and Zooey, giant pieces of metal shaped into squares covering him as he ran toward them. He was screaming something, his face etched into a sneer.

But it didn't matter.

Lance and Zooey were ready.

The two raised their hands, and their power broke down his metal shields, destroyed the clawed hand he thrust their way, as he screamed and raged.

The power between Lance and Zooey was full of lightning, of fire and ice. They let it all flow out of them, let it go free, and it together, it snapped away the final metal shield he had left, burning it up and shattering it until it was nothing.

The silver glove in his hand burst into flames, lightning and fire wrapping around it.

Sendak cried out as he dropped to his knees, the ground cracking slightly at the weight.

"The thing about Cloyetera," Lance murmured. "Is that when you attack one of us, you attack all of us."

"It's time for you to go," Zooey said next, green eyes blazing, her voice cold. "You've more than overstayed your welcome."

The two stretched their palm out to him and let out a roar.

Fire.

Ice.

Lightning.

All of it wrapped around Sendak as he screamed, as he trashed, and took his final breath before falling to the floor in nothing but a layer of dust.

The battle in Cloyetera was finally over.

* * *

The Healing Chamber smelled like chemicals, blood and sweat. It was nothing she hadn't smelled before but this was the first time the smell was so overpowering. It burned the nose and stung her eyes and at the back of her throat.

There were healers running around in every direction, every single gurney had someone lying on top, whether it be a Valkyrie, an Amazon, a pirate, or even a cat person, the place was occupied.

Lance wanted to help out but at the news she'd received from Olwen, she suddenly felt ill. The whole Healing Chamber was packed but beyond the door in front of her, in the room inside, were her parents.

 _Alive_.

Zooey stood next to her, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Queen Afya was also inside.

As well as the guards who were in charge of keeping both queens safe.

They were all alive.

Barely.

But alive.

The door opened, Lance and Zooey stiffened, before Olwen beckoned them forward with her long fingers. It was strange, standing over the bodies of her parents where they lay inside the healing pods, the machine showing all the damage that it was trying to heal.

All her life, she'd never seen her parents hurt.

They'd never even caught a cold as far as she knew.

And now here they lay, side by side, fighting with all their might to stay alive.

Lance placed her hands on both healing pods, bowing her head, so many emotions swirling inside her at the sight of her parents.

Relief.

Joy.

Sadness.

To her right, Zooey was looking up at her own mother, her eyes mixed with a touch of sadness and relief.

A hand touched her shoulder, "They're in critical condition," Olwen murmured. "But I have faith that they'll pull through."

Letting out a slow breath, Lance nodded. "So do I." Glancing up at her parents, she swallowed. "I'm sorry mom and dad. I lost control." She felt a little silly talking to her parents like this but she'd already started and the words came tumbling out. "I put people in danger because I gave in to my anger. That witch was in my head, and I didn't even notice." She clenched her fists. "But thanks to my friends I managed to regain control and guess what?" she allowed herself a small smile. "We won. We beat the Galra. And now it's time for the final battle." She hesitated. "They want to name me queen," she barked out a small laugh. "Can you believe that? Me? Being made queen when you're still alive and kicking? Absurd."

Olwen frowned at her.

"I know the Amazons have never gone into battle without their queen, I _know_ that, but can you blame me for being a little hesitant?" Lance took a breath, her eyes catching Olwen's own in the reflection. "But I'll do it. Because I know its what you would have wanted. I honestly don't think I'm ready. But its like you said mom," Lance smiled at both of her parents. "You never know when you're ready. It's just a leap of faith."

"What she said," Zooey whispered next to her. "I don't know if I'm ready to lead the Valkyries either but," she chanced a glance at Lance before looking away. "I won't be alone, so I think I'll be okay." She clenched her jaw and put her right fist over her heart. "I'll make you proud."

Lance followed suit. "We both will."

"So take your time healing," Zooey whispered.

"Because when you wake up, the fight will be over," Lance finished.

Words swirled through her mind, words that might have sounded better, but there wasn't time for that. Keith and the others were waiting. They needed to go.

There was a knock at her door before a Valkyrie and an Amazon stepped in. "Are you two ready?"

Lance and Zooey glanced at each other and then back at the two women. "Yes, we're ready."

* * *

Lance had visualized this day more than any other moment in her life. To her, it marked the day her life would forever change.

She imagined wearing the most beautiful dress ever created, blue because it was her color, tailored made just for the occasion.

Her hair would be done in the most intricate design, her crown marking her as a princess on full display.

She'd imagined walking through that cobblestone street, rows and rows of Amazons cheering and congratulating her as Lance walked all the way to the cathedral, roses guiding her way as they were tossed into the air.

She'd imagined a red carpet laid before her as she stepped inside the church.

She had visualized passing those stone statues on both sides of the room with all the previous queens looking straight ahead, their faces proud as she walked past them to the altar.

The pews would have ropes made out of roses on each one. The cathedral would have been done beautifully, the windows polished.

She would bow her head and kneel down as one of the oldest Amazon made her swear to be a good and just queen.

And then –

Then her mother would step forward and put the crown that had belonged to her all these years on Lance's head. As soon as it touched her hair, Lance would stand, no longer a princess but a _queen_.

But that wasn't mean to be.

She wasn't wearing a fancy dress; instead she was wearing the armor for a queen, dirty and bloodied, but still perfectly in tact.

Her hair wasn't done in fancy swirls, it was a chopped up mess.

There weren't rows and rows of women standing before her as she walked.

There were corpses on the streets where she walked.

There was no red carpet before her.

Just blood and gore and pieces of buildings.

The cathedral still had injured women lying about the pews as the rest of them who had greater injuries were taken out in gurneys.

The statue heads of every previous queen was still in storage.

Lance and Zooey stepped into the altar where Myah, one of the oldest Amazons, and Aelia, one of the oldest among the Valkyries, were waiting, golden crowns in their hands.

The bell at the top of the tower rang.

The cathedral began to fill up.

Lance saw her brothers.

Reyna and the rest of her guards.

Shadow and Radiance and the rest of her companions.

Mr. and Mrs. Dossier along with little Leah and Dyron with a waving Mykal. Apparently the three had sneaked in the ship before their parents left their home planet. Mrs. Dossier had been giving them a lecture last Lance saw them.

"Welcome," Myah addressed the crowd, "to the ceremony of queens!"

All eyes locked on them.

Lance took a breath.

"Leah," Myah said to her, a hand at her shoulder, "daughter of Lexi, step forward."

Lance did.

Beside her, Aelia was repeating the same motions to Zooey.

"Within the armor created by the first queen of the Amazons, Queen Diana, is the wisdom of your ancestors. Listen to it," Myah said, golden eyes looking back at her, "so that you will enjoin fairness and mercy on all your judgements."

Myah lifted the sword that came with the armor, recently cleaned, and held it between two palms. "Within the sword named Godslayer by the first queen, is the strength of your ancestors. Respect it, for it can be deadly. Use it to cut down any enemy that stands in your way."

The sword was placed back in its scabbard and attached to Lance's back.

The shield was raised next. "And finally, the shield that carries the weight of your responsibilities and the lives of your people. We are now in your care, use it to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to shield them from any attack, use it to fight for a new future."

The shield was strapped to her back as well.

This was it.

Warm fingers laced with her own and Lance didn't need to turn to see that it was Zooey.

Her friend didn't speak.

And neither did she.

But the message the two passed to the other was the same.

I am here.

The two gripped their hands tightly.

"Women of Cloyetera," Myah lifted her hands in the air, the golden crown tight in her grasp, "It is with great pride that I present you, Leah, daughter of Lexi, daughter of Javier, and your new queen!"

The queen was placed on her head and beside her, Zooey, too, was given one as well.

The crowd let out a long cheer and though she had been expecting it, Lance's breath still hitched as one by one, every single person inside and outside the cathedral dropped to one knee and shouted, " _LONG MAY THEY REIGN!"_

Lance and Zooey were queens now.

She still wasn't sure that she was worthy of this, but she the Amazons had never gone into battle without their queen, and they weren't going to start now.

She and Zooey would lead them the best they could.

And they had to start _now_.

Her feet were carrying her toward the edge of the altar, almost without her volition, and then she and Zooey were standing on the dais and facing the crowd. All eyes followed their every step.

"I know you're all tired," Lance began, casting her voice as far and as loudly as she could. "And I know we've lost people. But this isn't over yet."

"At this moment," Zooey took over, her face as clear as day now that she'd removed the mask, "the rest of our allies from the Voltron alliance are fighting with all their might in what is indeed the final battle with the Galra."

"They're greatly outnumbered," Lance spoke, "and still they went to fight an army that has ruled for over ten thousand years, holding on with all they can, because we gave them our word that we would be there. But most importantly, they have waited that long because they _believe_ in us."

"It's time for us to repay the favor," Zooey's green eyes seemed to sparkle. "We have to enter the battlefield once more and put an end to this war once and for all."

"Those who aren't too badly injured, please pick up the bodies of our fallen." Lance clenched her jaw. "They were our sisters and they do not deserve to left in some alley like a bunch of animals. When we win the last battle we will be back to give them a proper farewell."

"Those who have great injuries, get into a healing pod."

"You have one hour," Lance announced. "When that time is up, gather up your weapons and pick out your armor," Lance eyes narrowed to slits. "We're going to war."

* * *

Check out this awesome fan art that my sister did just for this chapter!

I personally thought it was beautiful but let me know what you guys think!

post/186556356825/lance-mclain-chapter-46-from-the-amazon-of-voltron


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